The Emerald Dragon

Chapters

Going Over the Basics
A New Hero In Town
Down In Flames
Reap The Rewards
Dueling Dragons
Day in the Green
Not So Secret
All Consuming Rage
Questioning Oneself
The Shadows Cast by the Lantern
Fears Made Into Light
Cracks in the Core
The Will to Win
Back To Normal?
The Corps
Feeling Blue
Kingdom to the North
Northern Lights
Intergalactic Police Member and Party Planner
What I Want
Party Time
Fall From the Skies
The Dead Shall Rise
Where There's A Will
Green Lantern's Light
He Who Wields the Ring
It All Belongs to Me
Orange Definitely Isn't Your Color

Going Over the Basics

Spike awoke the next morning to a beautiful sunrise and the sounds of birds chirping. He looked out of the window from his bed to see the peaceful sunrise casting a golden glow on the town of Ponyville, where it was just early enough so that none of the ponies were in the streets yet, so there was no one to obstruct his view. It was a picture-perfect morning. But he was still miserable. Spike kicked off the covers and jumped out of bed, looking over to Twilight's empty bed, which reminded him that she was going to go away again. He sighed to himself sadly and slowly walked over to the stairs to descend into the kitchen. He found Twilight walking back and forth across the room, floating a checklist in front of her eyes as she went over a final check to make sure that she had everything.

"Hey, Twilight," Spike said to her with as much enthusiam as he could muster, despite how he felt.

"Good morning Spike," she replied with a warm smile before turning back to her list, and she started to mutter to herself about what else she might need to bring along to Canterlot. Spike's smile fell as he descended the stairs and looked at the table, noticing that there were no plates on it. He shook his head with a bit of a smile, realizing that she had forgotten to eat again. He opened the fridge and began to gather things to make a quick salad so that she wouldn't be late. Spike was quite the chef, despite being a bit lazy and had a nearly perfect salad for her with all of her favorite dressings on it.

"Here you go, Twilight, one of your brain salads that you love so much," he called over to her as he placed the bowl down at her place at the table. Twilight snapped out of her list-checking and looked over at the table, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Oh Spike, you didn't have to do that for me," she said as she sat down to eat after placing the list on the table. She quickly downed the salad, Spike raising an eyebrow at her eating habits.

"Judging by the way you destroyed that salad, I'd say it's a good thing I did," Spike commented with a smile, but the smile fell when he saw her saddle bags all packed up by the door, the size telling him that she was going to be gone for a while. "Are you sure that I can't come along? We can find somepony else to watch the library. I'm sure that Rainbow Dash is free." Twilight looked at her assistant with sad eyes, her heart aching for having to leave him behind again.

"You know that Rainbow Dash is away teaching young pegasi how to fly, and that none of my other friends can watch the library," she said as she walked over to him and wrapped a wing around him. "And I want you to come along, but I don't think that you would like it. All we're going to do for a few days is talk politics." Spike shrugged off her hug, still feeling a bit dejected. Twilight reflected on his sadness with a sigh.

"Alright, how about this: When I get back, I promise to take you out for a full day of fun and we can go wherever you want. Deal?" she asked him with a smile as she saw his spines stick up a bit. Spike turned his head slightly and thought about it for a minute.

"Alright, deal," he said with a small smile. Twilight grinned in return and pulled him into a big hug as the sounds of pegasi wings came to a stop outside the door. Twilight released the hug and immediatly went for her bags.

"That'll be the guards who are going to escort me to Canterlot," she informed him as she quickly placed her bags on her back, whipping out the checklist one last time before leaving. "I need to get going now. I don't think I've forgotten anything," she muttered to herself.

"Um, Twilight?"

"Yes, Spike?"

"Crown." Twilight swung her head to see that he was pointing at her desk, where her crown and also the Element of Magic was laying forgotten on the table. She let out a quick cry and levitated it over to her, placing it in her bag with a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Spike, don't know what I'd do without you!" she yelled as she ran out the door with one last wave before slamming it, waking up some of the neighbors. Spike stood there with his hand still raised in one last wave goodbye as the sound of wingbeats picked up and got softer and softer.

"Then, what will you do when I'm not there?" He sighed sadly and lowered his hand, walking over to the table to clean up after her. He lifted her plate and placed it in the sink, turning around and looking at the empty library. Since he had fixed it all up last night, he couldn't even clean up the library to try and take his mind off of the fact that he was left behind again. With nothing better to do, Spike slowly walked up the stairs and back to their room, sighing at the emptiness of it. He didn't mind Twilight being a princess and was happy that she had managed to achieve her destiny, but it seemed that now she had even less time to spend with him. He noticed that she had forgotten to make her bed before she had left, something that she often did when she was in a rush. Spike rolled his eyes and made it for her, making a mental note to remind her about it for the fifth time when she got back. He then noticed that he hadn't made his bed either.

"Might as well make my own," he said as he walked over to his bed and began to fold his sheets. "Don't want to be thought of as a hypocrite." Spike folded up his sheets and placed them back on the bed before picking up his pillow to fluff it. As he picked it up, a small green ring fell out from under his pillow. Spike looked at it as he placed his pillow back down on the bed and bent over to pick up the ring.

"That's odd, i thought that you were just part of a weird dream," he muttered to himself as he looked over the ring in his claws. It was a small green ring that had an odd shape in the center of it, like a circle with two lines above and below it. It gave off a small green glow, but it seemed much weaker than it had in his dream. Spike shrugged and slipped it onto a finger on his right hand, surprised that it fit so well over his finger. He held out his hand to look at it when a voice spoke to him.

'Spike of Frontier...You have the...to overcome great...Welcome to the...'

"GAH! What the...?" Spike cried out as he looked at his arm, realizing that he now had a green suit covering it. In fact, when he looked down at his body, he saw that his entire body was covered in a green suit that hummed with power. Spike barely had time to register what had happened before it vanished in a flash of green. Spike looked down at himself and blinked, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he had not been seeing things. "Well, that was weird," he muttered to himself, looking back at the ring that seemed to have lost some of its light. He shrugged it off and figured that he was tired, so he went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. Once he was certain that he had woken up, he headed downstairs to make himself something to eat. He was passing by Twilight's most prized books when he heard a voice.

'Ring power at .5 percent.' Spike screamed as the voice reached his ears and backed up into the bookshelf, knocking a number of books off the shelf. Spike saw the books falling and dove to try and catch them, but he fell short.

"Nonono!" he cried out as he stretched out his claw to try and catch them despite being too far away...but he still caught them. Spike looked forwards with widening eyes as he realized that a glowing green claw was floating in front of him, holding the books in the center of it. Spike backed away in fear and the moment he did, the claw vanished into thin air and the books fell to the ground. Spike looked around the room, panting in fear and confusion.

'Ring power at .5 percent. Recommend recharging.' Spike shrieked again and looked around the room, looking for whoever it was that had spoken. Unless Owliscious could talk, Spike was certain that he was alone in the room. Spike shakily stood back up and twisted his tail nervously. The voice rang out again and Spike's heartbeat shot up as he dove behind a table, nervously peeking out from behind it.

"H-hello?" he asked weakly, looking around the room with fear-filled eyes. "A-anypony there?" Spike's eyes scanned the room, looking for any sign of movement. But now that he had a moment to think about it, the voice had said ring power at .5 percent. Spike looked down at the ring and realized that it was what was talking to him. "How are you talking?" he asked it in awe.

'Ring power at .5 percent. Recommend recharging,' it said again in an emotionless voice. Spike looked at it sitting there on his hand, terrified that it would try to kill him at any moment. 'Recommend recharge.'

"O-okay then, where do I recharge you?" Spike asked nervously, not sure if this was a good idea.

'Use the power core.' Spike was about to ask what that was when the ring gave out another flash of light that temporarily blinded him. Spike rubbed his eyes to clear the green light and opened his eyes, which widened with shock when he saw what was now in the room. A massive lantern was sitting on the table in the center of the room, flooding the room with a powerful green light. Spike could feel the power fueling it, but instead of filling him with fear, it instead gave him strength.

"So, this must be the power core," Spike muttered to himself as he approached it with curiosity. It was a massive green lantern, that shone with power that seemed to cause the ring on his finger to glow as well. It was big and looked larger than he was, but for some reason he felt like he would have no trouble carrying it. "Um...how do I use it? I don't see an 'on' switch or something."

'Hold the ring up to the lantern and say the oath as it charges,' the ring said to him. Spike looked down at the ring, confused by what it said and still by the fact that it was talking.

"Um, what oath? I don't know any oaths," he said to it in confusion.

'Hold the ring to the lantern center,' it ordered. Spike sighed and held his hand up to the lantern, feeling strength flow through him as the ring touched the center of it. He could feel the lantern flooding him with power, inundating him with what felt like pure willpower coursing through him. 'Now say this oath: "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escaped my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, green lantern's light.'"

"Is the oath necessary?" Spike asked the ring, thinking that the oath sounded a little silly.

'No, but it makes the charging process go by faster.' Spike didn't know if it was joking or not, but he did notice that the ring's light seemed to have almost gone out. So while he thought it was still a bad idea, Spike inhaled deeply and recited the oath that the ring had told him:

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, green lantern's light." Spike yelled as the lantern gave off a much more powerful glow than before, and his body was suddenly filled with power. He pulled his hand back as he felt his hand go numb, looking down at the ring that--unlike a few seconds ago--now glowed with a burning green light.

'Power level one hundred percent,' the ring said in a stronger voice.

"W-what was that?" Spike asked himself as he looked down at himself again, groaning when he realized that the green suit was back. The suit was a combination of green and black, with green covering his chest and arms, while his legs had the black material covering them. Despite working with Rarity for days on end, Spike had never seen a material like this before. There were also veins running through his suit that had the same green light coursing through him. And in the center of his chest was the same symbol that he had seen on his ring. "What happened to me?"

'You are now wearing the symbol of the Green Lanterns,' the ring said to him.

"Who are the Green Lanterns?" Spike asked it in a panicked voice, trying not to freak out over what was happening.

'The Green Lanterns are the guardians of all of space. The rings are the source of their willpower and the symbol of what they fight for. They fight for freedom and for the safety of all.'

"Then how did I get one?" Spike asked it, thinking less about the fact that a ring was talking to him and a giant lantern was sitting on his table.

'Whenever a Lantern falls, the ring seeks out a new host that it deems worthy of wielding the power.'

"And...I was chosen to wield this power?" Spike asked it in disbelief, never once thinking that he had done something to earn this power.

'No. The one who was chosen was the one called Twilight Sparkle. However, she rejected the power of the ring, so it chose the next best host.' Spike frowned as he heard the explanation, a little sad but not surprised. Twilight had proven time and time again that she was more than worthy for a power that was used to protect the galaxy than he ever was.

"But now I have these powers, right?" he asked it with a bit of hope.

'Yes, you have been chosen.' Spike wasn't sure what he should do. Should he write Celestia that he found a mystical power ring that could talk to him and was giving him power beyond belief? Or should he keep it and see what this power could do?

"Alright, so how do I use this power?" Spike asked the ring.

'Will.'

"Can you be more specific?"

'The ring is channeled by willpower. If you will it, so shall it be.' Spike thought about that, not sure if he understood what it was saying. He had thought that the ring had been a magic source at first, with the way it glowed and all, but it had just said that it was fueled by something else.

"So, if I were to imagine a giant emerald, it would..." Spike began as he thought hard about a giant green emerald. But no matter how hard he thought or wanted it, the emerald did not appear. "What the heck? I thought that you said that if I willed it, whatever I wanted would appear."

'Will it into being, don't want it.' Spike sighed and cleared his mind before trying again. This time he tried his best to flood his will through his arm and into his ring the best he could. But unlike his previous attempt, this time he felt something happening. Spike opened his eyes slowly, but they shot wide open when he saw that floating in front of him was the giant emerald that he had been longing for. His eyes widened and he started to drool at the sight of it.

"It's the most delicious thing I've ever seen," Spike said as he wiped his mouth on his arm to stop the drooling. Spike walked over to he emerald that floated in front of him, taking a moment to appreciate its beauty right before he tried to sink his teeth into it. "AHH! Ow, ow that hurt," he moaned as his teeth almost shattered against the energy construct.

'You cannot eat a constuct. It is a representation of what you will, not what your stomach wills.'

"Could've told me that sooner," Spike muttered as he rubbed his jaw, wincing in pain. The emerald vanished the moment he lost his concentration, leaving only him and his green ring. "And can't you do something about this suit? I don't want to really wear it right now." The ring flashed and the suit vanished into thin air. Spike groaned as he walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for himself, sitting down on it with another moan. "Can you do something about the jaw pain too?"

'No.'

"Well then, what else can you do?" Spike asked the ring as he rummaged around in the fridge for an ice pack.

'I am capable of flight, shielding and anything else that the wielder wills.' Spike looked down at the ring with a massive smile when he heard it say that it was capable of flight.

"How do I fly?" he asked it with glee in his voice, holding the ring close to his face with a toothy smile.

'Will yourself to fly.' Spike's smile turned into a frown as he started to hate the way that the ring never gave him a straight answer, or at least an answer that he could understand. But he really wanted to fly since he was currently a wingless dragon, so just as the ring had instructed, he closed his eyes and focused all his will into the ring. Even after what felt like ages to the little dragon, Spike thought that his feet were still on the ground. He was just about to consider giving up when he felt the top if his scales hit the ceiling. Spike's eyes snapped open and filled with awe as he realized that he was indeed flying...or at least floating at the top of the library. The sheer joy of the fact that he was flying was enough to make Spike whoop in happiness...which also broke his concentration. The green aura that had been the source of his levitation faded and Spike found himself hurtling towards the floor. Spike closed his eyes to focus again and re-engaged the green aura, stopping his descent right above the floorboards.

"That was way too close," Spike said with a sigh as he used his other arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead, while the ring gently lowered him to the ground. "Okay, so I can fly. I think that's enough ring practice for today. On to my next problem," Spike grumbled to himself as he turned to the giant lantern that was still sitting on the table. "How am I supposed to get rid of this thing?"

'The power source can be stored in a pocket dimension that only you can access,' the ring told him before lifting his arm and covering the lantern in its light, leaving Spike to watch with wide eyes as the lantern simply vanished from his sight. If it wasn't for the green ring burned into the table, Spike might have believed that there was never a lantern there to begin with. 'The lantern will be accessible whenever you need it, just use your ring.'

"I have to admit, if I didn't live with Twilight, this whole situation would seem really weird," Spike muttered to himself as he looked down at the ring on his finger. If what the ring had told him was true, he was now in control of a weapon of sorts that was fueled by his will and imagination, that was sent her by a larger organization that consisted of hundreds if not thousands of heroes that fought against evil. And now he had been chosen to be one of them. This was a lot to handle for a Tuesday.

"I think I've had enough of this weirdness for now," Spike said with a sigh, walking over to Twilight's desk, where she had left a list of chores and ways to help keep the library standing. He picked up the list and smiled as he saw that the first thing on the list was to try and avoid sneezing inside. The next item on the list was one he hated. Reorganizing the books from the top shelves to the bottom. This was one of his least favorite tasks because his short stature forced him to use a ladder that seemed to hate him. "I really hate this ladder," Spike muttered as he opened the closet door and looked up at the rickety ladder that he had come to hate. He reached one hand forward and grabbed the ladder, pulling it out of the closet like one would a creature from its den.

"Okay you, I don't like you and you don't like me," Spike said as he stared down possibly his greatest foe. "But both of us need to work together if we want to finish what Twilight left us. You wouldn't want to upset Twilight, would you?"

'You realize that you are talking to a ladder?'

"I'm also talking to a ring. What's your point?" Spike snapped back, smiling when the ring didn't answer him. Spike slowly moved the ladder over to the first shelf, preparing himself mentally for the task that he had ahead of him. Spike placed the ladder up to the bookshelf and braced it firmly so that it wouldn't fall. "Okay, let's try this without me falling to my death," Spike muttered weakly as he placed one claw on the second rung, making sure that it didn't break. Spike then placed his foot on the rung below his hand, swallowing down his fear as he began to climb up. His confidence rose with each rung until he was pratically at the top. Spike looked over at the books that Twilight had left out of order in her hurry to pack and very gently reached out to grab the first book.

"Steady Spike, steady..." Spike's claws were just a few inches from the book when the rung he was standing on snapped under his weight and dropped the dragon to the floor. Spike landed flat on his back and felt the wind leave his lungs upon landing. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his head as he glared at the ladder. "I should have known that you coudln't be trusted."

'Suggestion. Why do you not use the ring to move the books?'

"Wait, I can do that?" Spike asked it. "Aren't I suposed to use this power for like, good and justice?"

'You can use it for almost whatever you will.' Spike smiled at that line and pointed the ring at the ladder, willing the ring move it. The ladder was surrounded by a green energy sphere that shot out from Spike's ring and was lifted off the floor by the sphere. Spike smiled as he pointed the ring at the closet and watched with a grin as the ladder sailed into it. Spike willed the ring to take on the form of a hand and slammed the door with a smile.

"So you can also lift items too. Let's see if you can lift multiple things," Spike said as he spun the ring towards the bookshelf and pointed the ring at the top of the shelves. He laughed out loud as the beam of green light encompassed the books that he had been trying to remove from the top of the shelves and pulled them out of their places. He then willed the ring to put them back in their right place, which it did to the letter. Seeing that the first attempt had worked so well, Spike then moved the ring to the shelf under it and performed the same trick, moving the books out of the wrong spots and putting them back in their right places. He moved to the other shelves to repeat the proceedure, getting faster and faster as he started to get the hang of his new powers. Once he was done with that bookshelf, he looked around at the rest of the library, a smile crossing his lips as he thought of something.

"Alright, that was pretty cool. But let's see if we can make it even cooler." Spike lifted his ring hand into the air, willing all of the books that were in the wrong spots into the air and letting out a laugh as all the books began to circle around him. "Alright, you go over there," Spike muttered while pointing his ring at one of the empty spots on the shelf and sent the book to the correct spot. He then spun and sent another book flying into the right spot. He continued to do so until he had put all the books in the right place, doing a little dance as he did so.

"Wow, I've never re-arranged the books so fast! This ring is awesome!" Spike yelled out in excitement. He looked down at the ring on his finger and stared at it like it was a gift from above...which it was. "Now that I'm done with that, what else did Twilight put on this list for me to do?" Spike pointed the ring at the list he had left on the desk and pulled it over to himself, grabbing it to see what else was on it. "Huh, she wants me to go shopping as well? But I can't carry everything she..." Spike looked back down at the ring, smiling to himself as he realized that there was no longer anything he couldn't do anymore. So as Spike ran to the door and threw it open to go shopping, he had a feeling that this was going to be a great day.

A New Hero In Town

Spike ran through the streets with a smile on his face, and with such high spirits that he actually waved to all of the ponies that he passed by, using the hand that didn't have the ring on it, of course. The bright sunlight managed to hide the bright glow of the ring more or less, so he didn't have to worry about somepony spotting it. But just to be safe, he turned the side of the ring with the symbol on it to the inside of his hand so that it looked like a regular green ring. Spike ran into the market place where a large number of ponies spent most of their days shopping and interacting with each other. He recognized most of them, whether they visited the library or not, while some of them seemed to be from out of town. He looked at the list and noticed that his first stop was Sugarcube Corners.

"Starting the day with Twilight leaving, then having a ring talk to me, and now Pinkie? This is going to be an odd day," he said to himself with a shrug as he walked to the shop. The shop was more of a giant gingerbread house than an actual building (Spike often wondered if Pinkie had anything to do with that). As the name implied, she sold sweets and party supplies for all of Ponyville. Pinkie was a bit of an odd one, but was still a good friend of his. Spike opened the door to the shop and walked inside, his eyes on the lookout for the pink pony who seemed to be come out of anywhere. But instead of Pinkie bouncing around the shop and taking orders, he found that Mr. Cake was behind the counter today.

"Hiya Mr. Cake, how ya doing?" Spike asked him as he walked up to the counter, looking over the sweets in the glass case under the counter.

"Hi there, Spike. What can I do for you today?" he asked with a smile as Spike tore his eyes away from the sweets and looked down at his list.

"Um, about three cookies, two brownies, and maybe a sapphire cupcake while you're at it," Spike ordered, adding the last one for himself. Mr. Cake nodded and went into the back to get the order, leaving Spike alone for a moment. Or so he thought.

WHUMP!

"Ow! What the?" he muttered to himself as he felt something soft land on his head. He reached up and picked up whatever was on his head, bringing it down in front of his eyes. "Pumpkin Cake?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, when he saw that the Cakes' baby unicorn had somehow ended up on his head. "What are you doing up there?" he asked the baby unicorn, who giggled in response and tried to grab his face. Her giggling was followed by the sound of a door bursting open and hooves sprinting overhead, the owner of said hooves came flying down the stairs a moment later.

"PUMPKIN!" Mrs. Cake cried out as she looked around the shop in desperation. Her panicked eyes fell on Spike who was still holding Pumpkin, and a wave of relief washed over her face. "Oh, thank goodness," she said with a shaky voice as she walked over to Spike and gently took her filly from him, placing her on a baby carrier on her back. "Thank you for catching her Spike. I turned around for one minute and when I looked back, she was gone. I was so worried about her."

"It's no problem, but how did she get down here anyway?" Spike asked as the filly tried to escape the carrier.

"She's getting to the age where she'll start to perform random magic on her own," Mrs. Cake explained as she tried to wrestle the squirming filly back into the carrier. "Yesterday she floated around the place, winding up in all sorts of different places. Today it seems like she's going to be teleporting around the shop."

"Sounds like Twilight when she was first learning how to use magic," Spike said with a smile, not so much remembering the actual events but the stories her parents had told him, much to her embarassment. "Don't worry, from what Twilight told me she'll stop soon enough."

"That's good to hear. I hate the thought of waking up in the morning and finding my baby in the middle of a force field while her brother flies around the room dropping things," Mrs. Cake said with a sigh as the baby teleported herself out of her carrier and re-appeared on a table, where she began to chow down on a cupcake that a pony had left laying out. Mrs. Cake told her daughter not to eat that and ran over to pick her back up, just as Mr. Cake came back out with Spike's order.

"Here ya go Spike. Sorry it took so long; the sapphire cupcake took longer to make than usual," he explained as he placed each of the items on the counter and rang them up for Spike, watching his daughter teleport around the room, filling it with laughter as her terrified mother chased after her. Spike looked at the scene with a shake of his head, thinking to himself how much trouble foals were. "Alright, that will come to fifteen bits please." Spike rummaged around and pulled out the requested amount, placing them on the counter as Mr. Cake put the items in a bag.

"Anything else I can do for you?"

"Nope, that'll do it," Spike said with a smile and a wave as he picked up the bag, swinging it over his shoulder and heading for the door. He opened the door and stepped outside to be immediately greeted by big blue eyes and a massive smile. "Gah!" Spike yelled as he fell back on his tail and dropped his bag. The sight of the startled Spike caused Pinkie to begin laughing at him. "Pinkie! What-hic-was that-hic-for?" Spike yelled as the hiccups came on, which only caused Pinkie to fall over backwards from her laughter and clutch her stomach.

"Sorry, Spikey, but it's just so funny when you get scared," Pinkie said with a massive smile as she got back to her hooves and wiped a tear out from under her eye. "You just look so adorable when you're mad, and you get the funniest of hiccups."

"Glad to see that my pain amuses you," Spike grumbled to himself as he bent over and picked up his bag. Pinkie walked over to help when she noticed a small green band on his finger.

"Spike, what's that on your hand?" she asked with curiosity and excitement. Spike's eyes shrunk when she said this, and he immediately hid his hand behind his back while he turned to face her.

"Nothing! It's nothing! Why, don't you have something on your hand?" Spike stalled while trying to slip the ring off behind his back, giving Pinkie an unsuspecting smile to distract her. She frowned at his feeble attempt to lie to her and sped over behind him faster than he thought she could move, snatching the ring right out of his hands the moment that he took it off. "Hey, give it back!" Spike yelled as he ran at her, but she placed one hoof on his head to keep him at bay while she looked over the ring in the other one.

"This is a really weird ring," she muttered to herself as Spike still struggled to get past her hoof. She pointed the ring up into the sky and closed one eye. "Abracadabra!" When nothing happened, Pinkie took a closer look at it, searching for a button or instructions. "Where did you get this ring?" she asked him, moving her hoof and taking a step back as Spike continued his charge into a wall. Spike collapsed to the ground and struggled back to his feet, stomping over to Pinkie and snatching the ring from her hoof with a glare.

"I found it on the ground," he said with a bit of pain in his voice, slipping the ring back on before rubbing his head. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't take my things from me without ask-hic-dang it!"

"Sorry Spikey, it's just that this ring feels...odd," she muttered while moving her head closer to get a better look, but Spike hid the ring behind his other hand and moved it away from her. "There's a power coming from it that I've never felt before. Are you sure that you found it on the ground?" she asked as she looked at Spike with one wide eye, who shuffled back uncomfortably. Spike knew better than to lie to Pinkie, but he was telling the truth this time.

"I'm telling the truth, I swear!" Spike said nervously.

"Pinkie swear?" Pinkie asked in a whisper. Spike gulped nervously at this, for no pony said a Pinkie swear unless they were certain that they would never break it, or if they were ready to die. But Spike swore anyway, knowing that he couldn't break this promise because it was the truth. Pinkie glared at him for a minute with an intense stare, as if gazing into his soul to see if he were lying. Her smile returned a minute later and she sprang up. "Okie-Dokie then. I'll see you later. Keep an eye on that ring, it's giving off a weird power." Spike sighed in relief as she bounced off while humming to herself, opening his hand and looking at his ring that had began to glow again.

"That was a close one. If you had decided to work for her she would have seen what you really are," Spike said as he tried to calm his heart. He then looked at the ring with a curious expression. "Why didn't you work for her anyway?"

'She was not chosen.'

"Neither was I," Spike reminded it.

'No, but the original chosen one rejected the power. You wield it now.' Spike wanted to point out the flaws in its reasoning, but he noticed that a number of ponies had been watching while Pinkie had talked with him--and were now watching him apparently talk to himself. He smiled at them awkwardly and picked up his bag before running off to his next stop, looking down at his list again.

"Alright, now with that little distraction out of the way, my next stop is...Rarity!" he said with a squeal before clamping his hand over his mouth, while looking around to make sure that none of the ponies had heard him. His smile returned a moment later as he sprinted off towards Rarity's home that was not too far off. On his way over, he heard somepony grunting and looked to his side, noticing that Fluttershy was struggling to drag two bags of bird food back to her home. Spike looked from her to Rarity's Boutique off in the distance, struggling with what he should do before letting out a sigh and rushing over to Fluttershy.

"Hi, Fluttershy. Need some help?" Spike asked her. She 'eeped' in surprise, not hearing him approach and spun to face him, smiling when she saw who had spoken to her.

"Oh, hello Spike," she said in her naturally gentle tone while hiding her face behind her long pink mane. "Thank you for offering, but I'm fine," she said with a soft smile before straining her body against the bags, using all of her might to move them an inch.

"Uh-huh," Spike replied totally unconvinced. "Yeah, you need my help. Here, I'll trade you." He walked over to Fluttershy and handed her his bag of sweets before turning his attention to one of the bags, wrapped his arms around it and struggling to lift it. Even though he had the strength of the dragons, he was still having a hard time.

"Oh, please be careful. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself," Fluttershy said with concern from behind her hooves as he continued to struggle. Spike gave up on lifting either of the bags and leaned against them, panting heavily and wondering how the heck he was going to move them. But after a quick glance at the ring on his finger, he got an idea. Spike bent down again to try and lift them, but this time he willed the ring to slip a green claw under the bag and lift it for him. Fluttershy gasped as Spike lifted up both bags over his head with one hand and a triumphant smile on his face.

"How did you do that?" she asked him with awe in her voice as she walked over to Spike, looking up at the bird seed with a bit of curiousity.

"I'm stronger than I look!" Spike said triumphantly as he started to walk towards Fluttershy's cottage, a little amazed himself at the power of the ring. He had made the claw under the bags as small as possible, but it still lifted the bags with no problems and placed no weight on Spike's arm. Fluttershy walked along side him, keeping an eye on the bags in case his arm gave out. Fluttershy eventually asked him about how he was doing with Twilight gone again, which he didn't answer immediately. She sensed that she had upset him and changed the topic, hoping that he would quickly forget about Twilight being gone. She instead asked him what it was like when he helped to defeat Sombra awhile back, a story that he didn't mind re-telling.

"...and that's when I dove down after the Crystal Heart while Sombra jumped up in his Pillar of Darkness to try and beat me to it. However, I was fast enough to...Um, should those birds be doing that?" Fluttershy turned her attention from Spike to a number of baby birds that were tightrope walking on Fluttershy's laundry line, chirping to themselves as they moved quickly on the lines. Fluttershy's heart nearly fell out of her chest when she looked upon the baby birds and realized the danger they were in. Fluttershy screamed and rushed over to the wire faster than Spike would have believed possible for her.

"What do you three think you're doing? It's dangerous. Get down here this instant!" Fluttershy demanded of the baby birds, while she stared up at them from under the wire. The baby birds looked down at her and started to chirp in laughter, ignoring her pleas and continuing to dance on the wire. Fluttershy frowned and flapped her wings weakly, but with enough force to lift her small body into the air and slowly up to the wire. "You three could get hurt! Come on, we're getting down from there," she said with a stern tone as she scooped the birds up into her arms and started to float them down to the ground. Spike started to look around, as Fluttershy gave the birds a scolding that he had been on the receiving end of a few times. But while she scolded the baby birds in a tone that she rarely used, Spike noticed that there had been a fourth bird that was a lot smaller than its brothers and had only just now built up the confidence to walk across the wire. Unlike its brethern, this one did not have the balancing skills of the other three, so as it took one wrong step forward it quickly found itself falling towards the ground with a chirp. Fluttershy was too busy dealing with the other three birds to notice that it was falling, but fortunately for it, Spike saw it fall.

"I gotcha," Spike told it as he pointed his ring at the ground where the baby bird was falling, willing a green construct of a baseball glove to appear on the ground. The baby bird fell into the glove, bounced once and found itself sitting in a green glove a few inches above the ground, shaking slightly. Spike quickly changed the glove to a claw and gently placed the bird on the ground, before cutting off his will to the ring so that Fluttershy wouldn't notice. "See, told you that I had you," Spike said to the trembling bird as he walked over to it, placing a hand on the ground and allowing it to climb into his hand so that he could take it over to Fluttershy. Once Spike told her what had happened (cutting out the part about the green ring and simply telling her that he caught it) she immediately responded by taking the bird from him and holding it close to her, while singing to it until it had finally stopped shaking, eventually looking up at her with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Spike," Fluttershy said with tears of relief falling down her face as she clutched the bird to her chest. "I don't know what I would have done if he had gotten hurt. All of my little animals mean so much to me," she said as she gently placed the bird in a ground nest and wrapped her hooves around Spike's shoulders in a hug.

"It's no problem. Really, no prob," Spike said quickly, trying to wriggle out of Fluttershy's death hug so that he could go to Rarity's as soon as possible. Fluttershy let go as he finally got free and waved to him with a few tears in her eyes, while he ran off down the road with a wave goodbye and a smile on his face at the thought of going to Rarity's. Rarity (to him and many others) was the most beautiful pony in all of Equestria, and considering all the beautiful ponies in the land including the princesses, that was saying something. But Spike knew that despite all the stallions that said they loved her, he knew that his feelings for her were the truest of them all. In fact, as Spike skipped down the road to where the Carousel Boutique was, he was considering showing the green ring to her and telling her all about his new powers. Then she would fall for him like a knight in shining armor and they would have a happy life. Spike smiled to himself, feeling himself getting warmer at the thought of...no, it wasn't the thoughts that were making him warmer, it was something else. Spike heard the reason for the sudden heat before he actually saw it as he turned a corner into town.

"FIRE!" a number of ponies screamed as Spike saw the roaring inferno that was engulfing a number of buildings in the town. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the collumns of fire shoot into the sky, while ponies ran around him with buckets of water and hoses in a desperate effort to get the blaze under control. A number of buildings had already burned to the ground, but that wasn't what had interested Spike as he gazed into the blaze. He knew this kind of fire, a redish hue fire that seemed to change colors every few seconds. It was a magical fire. Spike didn't have time to think about who would do this as he ran into the town center along with all the other ponies, looking around to see what he could do.

"You have to let me go back in there!" Spike's heart dropped as he heard a very familiar voice call out on the edge of hysterics, turning slowly to see Mr. and Mrs. Cake covered head to hoof in soot as they tried to force their way past a number of fire ponies that were holding them back.

"We told you already, it's far too dangerous to go in there!" one of the fire ponies yelled at her, struggling to hold her back despite being the larger pony. "We barely managed to get you two out in time before the flames consumed the building. Two of our own were already lost in the blaze. If you were to go back in you would surely die!"

"But my babies are in there!" Mrs. Cake screamed, throwing him off of her and sprinting forward, only to be tackled to the ground by a number of other ponies. Despite her adrenaline, she was unable to shake these ones off of her, while Mr. Cake just stared at the inferno with a 'thousand-yard stare.' Spike could only watch as Mrs. Cake tried to get back up again, thinking about what he had just heard. A simple turn of his head showed him that Sugarcube Corners was indeed the main building that was burning, with flames covering it from top to bottom. And if what Mrs. Cake said was true...

"I have to get Twilight!" Spike yelled out as he spun towards the library, but then he remembered that Twilight wasn't there. "Then Rain..." She was off teaching a group of foals. Spike looked around in desperation, hoping that there was soempony that could help. But as the flames continued to spread and the cries of the Cakes got louder, he realized that no pony could do anything. No pony could stop the fire in time to save everypony.

'There is still you.' Spike snapped out of his trance and looked down at his ring.

"How? The fires would consume me just as they did those firefighters!" Spike yelled at his ring, none of the ponies paying attention to him as they struggled with the flames. "I would barely last ten seconds against those flames, even with my dragon scales! I...can't. I'm too afraid," Spike said with spite in his voice as he glared at the ground, tears forming in his eyes.

'But you have the power to overcome great fear. You are a Green Lantern.' Spike looked down at the ring again, the device that had been given to him. Spike was powerless to stop the fires on his own; it would be a death sentence. But as he tightened his grip on the ring, he realized that he was no longer the powerless dragon he had once been. And with all of the other ponies helpless, he was the only one with the power to help. So faster than a speeding bullet, Spike rushed behind a building that hadn't caught fire and looked down at his ring, ready for what he had to do.

"Ring...suit me up." The ring let loose a brilliant green glow which wrapped itself around Spike, crystalizing on him in the uniform of the Green Lanterns, with a completely green outfit that covered everything but his legs, which were instead covered with black energy. A green lantern appeared on the center of his chest, symbolizing his connection to the Corps. Spike opened his eyes and looked down at his body, a smile spreading across his face as he 'fan boyed.'

"Okay, this is all levels of cool. But I need a mask," Spike mumbled to himself as he felt his face, thinking that the others would still recognize him. No sooner had he thought of it did the green mask appear, covering about seventy percent of his face. And while he couldn't see it, the ring also turned the purple scales on his face green as well to complete the mask. Spike was about to comment on how the outfit even covered his tail, but another cry brought him back to reality. He turned towards the flames, looking down one last time at the ring that said if he willed it, it would happen. "Right now, I will myself to be a hero." Spike pointed his arm forward and shot off into the sky...overshooting the fire a bit, but he managed to catch himself and redirect back. The ponies who had gathered around the burning buildings and given up on trying to stop the fire, had just decided to try and control it, but they stared in awe as a blur of green shot past them, flying right through the center of the flames. Spike burst through the wall of fire and came to a stop inside of the burning Sugarcube Corners, looking around desperately for the two foals.

"Ring, how long can this suit hold back the flames?" Spike asked the ring as he started to look under tables for the two.

'Ring is now operating at one hundred percent, so hours. But those inside do not have the same protection,' it replied. So that gave Spike even more incentive to rush through the building, rushing upstairs first in hopes that they were still in their rooms. He reached their room to find a blazing door blocking his path and since he was in a rush he decided just to blast the door down instead of putting out the flames. So he pointed the ring at the door and concentrated a single blast into the door, blasting it off its hinges and turning it into ash. Spike willed a green sphere around himself as he leapt through the flames, looking in the room with a smile. The two foals were both under a force field in the center of the room, rolling a ball back and forth between them, unaware of the flames. As he walked towards them, he noticed that Pumpkin's horn was glowing and he figured that she was the cause of the barrier.

"Hey there, you two," he said in as calm a voice possible as he kept a careful eye on the roof, noticing that it was beginning to give out. "How about you lower that shield and we get the two of you out of here to see your mom?" The two foals looked at him with narrow eyes, not recognizing him. They stuck out their tongues and went back to playing with their ball, not caring when a chunk of the ceiling gave out and nearly hit Spike. Spike looked up at the roof again, knowing that his ring would hold if it fell, but wasn't certain that theirs would. So he walked over to their shield and knelt down, reaching up and removing his mask. "Come on you two, it's me." Pound looked at him funny, but Pumpkin immediately recognized him with a smile and lowered the shield so that she could crawl over to him. Pound followed her example and crawled over to Spike as well while he scooped both of them into his arms. He was just about to make his escape when the roof finally gave, becoming a blazing death trap. Spike was quick enough to erect a shield around them, but the flames were getting through to the foals and almost set them ablaze. The sight of the foals in danger strengthened Spike's resolve to levels that even he didn't know it could go, and he poured all of it into his ring, willing himself to be the hero that was needed.

Outside, the ponies had watched in pure horror as the building began to collapse upon itself, shooting flames into the air. The Cakes, along with the rest of the pony populace, had just about given up hope when a sight greeted them that would be forever ingrained into their minds. With a roar that shook the earth, a massive emerald-colored dragon the size of a building came bursting out of the flaming structure. It rose up and out of the fire until it sat well above the flames, letting out another roar that forced the ponies to cover their ears. Then with a few flaps of its mighty wings, it quickly extinguished the flames that had covered the buildings. The ponies in the streets had no idea what to think as the massive dragon landed on the ground in front of them, looking down on all of them with its emerald gaze. Then it vanished in a flash of green light, leaving a sight that many would recall for the rest of their lives. It was the sight of a small dragon with a green mask and suit holding two soot-covered foals.

"There's no need to fear. I got them."

Down In Flames

"MY BABIES!" Mrs. Cake cried as she pulled herself out of the grasps of the fireponies and barreled into Spike, grabbing her children out of his claws while knocking him into the dirt, face first. She clutched them close as they giggled at Spike, who sighed into the ground. Spike pulled his face out of the dirt and rubbed it off as he got back to his feet, looking around to realize that the crowd of ponies were all looking at him with awe in their eyes. Spike didn't know what to say to them, although he was a bit afraid that they'd recognize him, not knowing that the ring had re-constructed his green mask back onto his face. The crowd of ponies looked at him in awe for only a minute before Spike found himself surrounded by a swarm of ponies, each of whom was asking him a different question.

"Who are you?" one of them to his left asked. He tried to answer but was cut off by another question.

"Are you a super pony?" another asked. Again he tried to answer, but was once again cut off.

"Why are you wearing all green?" Spike was now completely swarmed by the ponies who were all either trying to get into his face or poked at his suit, scaring him a little but also making him angry.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled with a bit of rage, as he willed a shield to push all the ponies back, the ring doing as he willed. The large crowd shrieked as the green energy burst from his ring and formed a barrier around him, that quickly removed them from his personal space. Once they were all away from him, Spike let out a sigh of relief. "Alright. Now you can ask your questions."

"Who are you?" was the first question that was yelled out from the crowd, the question being asked by a unicorn reporter that had forced his way to the front of the crowd. "Are you a super pony or what?" Spike looked down at his ring, wondering if having this power actually DID make him a super pony...dragon. But if he were a superdragon, then he would need a cool name. What had the ring said he was a part of again?

"Call me...the Green Lantern," Spike said with a smile as he held up the ring for all the ponies to see, letting it glow with power. The crowd went silent for a minute before they began to laugh. "What's wrong with Green Lantern?" Spike asked softly as he felt his face go red under the green mask as the crowd laughed at the name.

"No, that name won't do," the reporter said as he leviated the notepad in front of him, placing his pen under his chin as he started to think. "Well after that display and the fact that you're a dragon, how about you call yourself...the Emerald Dragon." The reporter looked to Spike for some sign of praise, but Spike had begun to laugh at the name just as hard as the crowd had at his name. "What's wrong with the Emerald Dragon?"

"It sounds like something out a bad comic," Spike said as he tried to wipe a tear from his eye, only to be stopped by the mask. "Thanks for the suggestion, but I'll stick with the Green Lantern." The reporter shrugged and decided to write down the Emerald Dragon for his column anyway. The crowd had gathered around him again to continue their questioning, but they were all interupted by Mrs. and Mr. Cake, who pushed their way to the front.

"Um, can I help you two?" he asked them nervously, hoping that they wouldn't see through his disguise.

"We...just wanted to thank you for rescuing our children," Mrs. Cake said with a soft smile, watching as her two foals tried to crawl off her back to get to Spike. "They mean everything to us, and to think that we almost lost them in the fire..." Mrs. Cake teared up at that part and couldn't continue due to emotion. Spike smiled at the foals before he looked past them towards the buildings that were still a smoldering mess, sighing sadly at the sight of what used to be everypony's favorite place to hang out.

"I'm sorry about your home," Spike said with guilt, upset that he hadn't been able to save the homes or the ponies that had been trapped inside. "If I had arrived sooner, I would have been able to help more." Mrs. Cake hoofed the babies over to her husband before placing Spike in a hug.

"We can live without our home for a while," she said with a smile, gently hugging him. "But I wouldn't be able to live without my babies. Pumpkin was only supposed to be teleporting, but then she started shooting fire and...Thank you for saving them. It may not be much, but here." Spike looked at her hoof with wide eyes, not believing the sapphire that she was offering him. It was incredible, something that he had only dreamed of seeing in his lifetime. "It was given to me by my mother, but I think you should have it for saving us." He looked up at her to make sure that it was okay and gently held it in his claws when she nodded. He used the ring's power to levitate it in the air beside him before looking around at the crowd, all of them looking at him while waiting to see if he'd do something else incredible. He decided that it was time to leave and head over to Rarity's, so he raised his ring into the air and willed a flash of green to go off. It did so, causing the ponies to scream and cover their eyes to protect them from the green light. When the light died down and they were finally able to see again, they found to their disappointment that the dragon was gone.

IOI

Spike had flown off the moment that the flash of light had gone off, heading back home to recharge. He landed behind the three after looking around to make sure that no other ponies were around to see him and his secret. He willed the suit back into the ring and smiled to himself when he watched the green suit become one with the ring. He looked down at himself, just to be certain that the green suit was gone, before he headed to the front of the library, opening the door and going inside, careful to keep his sapphire out of sight.

"Well that was something," Spike said to no one in particular, as he placed his back on the door and slid down to the floor. Spike closed his eyes and began to rub them, trying to get the smoke out of his eyes. Only now after everypony was safe did Spike finally begin to panic, panicking about the fact that he had thrown himself into a raging inferno! 'Who in their right mind does that?' Spike asked himself as he placed his hands on his head and began to rock back and forth, unaware of the fact that his fear had broken the ring's hold on the sapphire and had dropped it to the floor.

"Woo?" Owliscious asked as he opened an eye at the sound of the gem hitting the floor. Owliscious stretched his wings while cracking his neck before he flew off his perch and gently landed next to Spike, looking at him with a curious look. "Woo?" he asked Spike again, pecking his foot with his beak and startling Spike out of his panic attack.

"Oh, sorry about that Owliscious, I guess that I panicked a bit," Spike said with a shaky laugh as he got back up and began to walk over to his friend. "I'm really lucky that I had the ring with me, or else I would have been a crispy dragon," he said with a small laugh as he showed Owliscious his ring. The owl tilted his head to the side as he looked at the ring with interest, the green glow of the ring reflecting in his eyes.

"Woo?" he asked Spike as he titled his head to the other side, changing his gaze from the ring to Spike and giving him a curious glance.

"Yeah, this is what I used to save the foals, although I couldn't completely save the buildings," he said with a sad sigh, turning his fist towards him and looking at the ring with a confused look. "Although there is one thing I didn't get. Why did you create that massive dragon when I didn't will it? I thought you only listened to me?"

'You willed to save the young ones, but you did not specify how. I simply turned that will into a construction of your inner self,' the ring explained, causing Owliscious to hop over and look at the ring with narrowed eyes. Spike had to pull the ring away when Owliscious began to peck at it, Spike assuming that he didn't like the ring.

"Leave it alone, it won't hurt you," Spike said as he used his hand to try and keep Owliscious away from the ring. Spike was amazed though, that the ring had actually converted his sheer willpower into the dragon he had always dreamed himself of being, even if he wasn't sure he liked the fact that it could do that without his approval. But at the moment, he had more pressing matters to attend to, the other matter being the sapphire that he had been given by the Cakes. It was a thing of beauty, truly something that he would treasure for all time. But what interested him was that normally Mrs. Cake would fight tooth and nail to protect this, but she just gave it away when he helped her family. Spike looked at the jewel in his claw, a thought beginning to come to him. If he was rewarded this handsomely for saving two foals, what else could he get for helping others with his new powers? He looked from the sapphire to the ring, realizing that this ring might have been the best thing to ever happen to him.

"Oh crap, I'm going to be late for my meeting with Rarity!" Spike yelped in realization, snapping his thoughts away from his ring and scaring Owlscious into jumping off the floor. He used his ring to encompass the sapphire and moved it up the stairs to his room. "Bye Owliscious, I promise to let you fly around outside when you get back!" he yelled to his friend as he threw open the door and raced out into the streets, leaving Owliscious to close the door behind him. Owliscious hooted as he shut the door and flew back to his perch near the window, closing his eyes and trying to ignore what he had just seen. It was weird, since he didn't remember Spike having orange eyes.

IOI

Spike raced down the street on cloud nine as he headed towards Rarity's house, his heart already feeling better about the day and the thought of being re-united with her again. He was practically skipping down the street with joy, gaining him some odd looks from the ponies, considering the fire that had nearly burned down the town. He tried to ignore the looks and the destruction as he finally came to a stop out front of the Carousel Boutique, slicking his scales back so that he looked good and turning the ring inward so that she didn't get suspicious. He then gathered up his courage and grabbed the door handle, opening the door to heaven.

"Rarity, I'm..." Spike began as he ran into the store, but his words came to a stop as he saw what the place looked like. The store looked like a hurricane had run through it and personally re-located all of Rarity's material all across the shop. Thread was strewn across the ceiling like rainbow-colored cobwebs, while most of her fabrics were ripped to shreads on the floor. A normal pony would have thought that something had happened, but Spike spent most of his time around Rarity and knew that all of this chaos ment that she was on the verge of an idea. The shop never stayed clean, no matter how hard Rarity (and Sweetie Belle) tried to keep it clean. Spike began to tread carefully through the minefield that was her store, making his way to the back where Rarity should be hard at work. Just as he had suspected, he found Rarity running back and forth, levitating a number of materials and items with her magic as she seemed to be completely freaking out.

"AUGH! There simply isn't enough time!" she screamed to herself, as she tossed a number of fabrics onto a sewing table and began to tear them apart with her scissors, her bloodstained eyes constantly looking back up at the clock in the corner of her room that was going fast just for her. "With that monstrous blaze earlier, I haven't been able to get anything done. Oh, why in all of Equestria did Sapphire Shores have to pick tomorrow of all days to show up?" Spike watched her panic from the doorway, a stupid smile plastered on his face as he watched the beauty that was Rarity. Everything about her was beautiful, from her frazzled mane to her worried expression. Minute after minute went by, with Spike just staring at her before he snapped out of his stupor and remembered the reason that he had come here in the first place.

"Rarity, your help has arrived!" Spike proclaimed as he stepped out from behind the doorway in a triumphant voice, smiling at her with his chest held out. All of his bravado was immediately ruined by the fact that Rarity didn't notice him, since she rushed right by him and started to try multiple different hats on a model with a very odd dress on it. Spike stood silently with his chest still stuck out, hoping that Rarity would notice him. After five minutes of waiting, Spike's chest (along with his ego) deflated like a balloon, and he let his arms down with a frown. He then walked over to Rarity and gently pulled on her tail to gain her attention, which had the unintended consequence of freaking her out.

"O-oh, I'm sorry Spikey-Wikey, I didn't see you come in," Rarity said as she clutched her chest, her heart beating fast. "I've just been so busy with my work of late, that I haven't been able to get much sleep, and so I'm a little tired."

"I can see that," Spike muttered, as he looked at her mane and the bags under her eyes that he hadn't noticed until he had gotten close to her. "But fortunately for you, your knight has arrived to help you out!" he said with a huge smile as he puffed out his chest again. Rarity, in her tired state, once again walked right by him and back to her sewing machine, causing Spike to roll his eyes with a sigh. "Rarity, do you need any help?" he asked as he walked up beside her, waving his hand in her face to gain her attention.

"Help? Why yes, that sounds lovely," she said , giving him a grateful smile so beautiful that it nearly melted his heart. "How about you go get the boxs of thread from the top of the wardrobe in the other room. I seem to have run out." Spike did as she requested, but as he walked out into the other room, he noticed with a sigh that the thread that was supposed to be in the box was still all over the ceiling. He placed his hands on his hips and looked up at the thread with a frown, wondering how he was going to get all of it down. He normally would use a ladder, but he stopped trusting those years ago. Then he smiled to himself, wondering what he was thinking. Somepony like him didn't use ladders. Spike held up his right hand and flipped the ring around so that the symbol was facing forward. He then pointed it at the ceiling, aiming with one eye closed. He willed a giant pair of green scissors into the ring and smiled as they formed in front of him. With three well place cuts and a bit of pulling, he managed to make most of the thread come down into one giant bundle.

"Ha, that was a lot easier than usual," he said with a grin as he turned around and headed back to Rarity, holding the massive bundle of thread in his arms. Since there was so much thread, he actually had trouble seeing where he was going and ran into a wall twice, before he managed to make it through the door frame. "Rarity, I got the thread like you wanted!"

"Thank you, Spike. Um, why are almost all my threads cut?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow, to which he responded with whistling and avoiding her gaze. She sighed as she levitated the thread from him and headed back over to the sewing table, placing the threads down and starting to get back to work. "Ugh, I wouldn't be this far behind if it hadn't been for the blaze that nearly burned down the town. But I am glad that nopony got hurt," she quickly added with a blush. "Fortunately, there was that Emerald Dragon that everypony's talking about there to save the foals." Spike's ears pricked up at the sound of Rarity mentioning his...well, his alias' name.

"So...you've heard about the Emerald Dragon, huh?" he asked her nonchalantly as he sat down on a chair while avoiding her gaze, but looked over at her when he hoped she wasn't looking. "What do you think of him?"

"I think that it's amazing that Ponyville has its own hero again," Rarity said with a sigh as she walked over to her window, looking out of it as her fatigue faded away at the thought of the hero. "Yes, a hero that's kind and strong. Oh, how I've wanted a pony like that to come and sweep me off my hooves for the longest time," she whispered to herself with dreamy eyes. Spike could barely hold back his excitement at what he was hearing, not believing that Rarity had fallen for the Emerald Dragon. This could finally be his chance.

"Rarity, I kinda have something to tell you," Spike began as he hopped off his chair and slowly powered up the ring to show her. That's when Rarity let out her sigh of frustration.

"But why did he have to wear green?" she groaned to herself with a huff, a huff that stopped Spike in his tracks. "Oh, he would be the perfect stallion...dragon for me...if only he didn't wear the color green." Spike looked down at the green ring, his face and hopes falling at what Rarity had said. She hated the color green, which happened to be the same color of his ring.

"Is the green really that bad?" he asked her, trying to see if he had a chance.

"Of course, Spike. You remember what Trixie did to me back when she first arrived here, don't you?" Rarity reminded him with a look of rage, remembering that shame and humiliation that had been cast upon her. Spike saw the familiar fire in her eyes and decided that even with his ring, pushing this conversation further would most likely get him killed. Fortunately, he was saved from a rant from Rarity by the sound of the front door bursting open, and what sounded like books being thrown to the floor. "That would be Sweetie Belle...and from the sound of things it sounds like another bad day," Rarity said with a groan as she placed her hoof to her forehead. "Let us go see what is the matter this time." Rarity walked out of the room with Spike closely following her, as the two of them went to check up on Sweetie. Rarity shook her head when she saw Sweetie's books strewn all over the living room, before noticing that there was a yellow note on the rug as well. Rarity levitated it over to her and quickly read it, shaking her head with a sigh when she finished.

"What's wrong?" Spike asked her as she set the note down and walked over to the kitchen, where the sounds of pots crashing onto the floor and doors being slammed could be heard.

"Nothing that you need to worry yourself over," she told him with a tired sigh, as she walked into the kitchen and closed the door behind her while Spike stood behind the door, pressing his ear against it so that he could hear what they were saying. "Sweetie, why do you have this note from your teacher in your bag?" Spike couldn't hear Sweetie's reply since her voice sounded muffled, but he could hear a bit of sorrow in her tone. He could hear Rarity sigh in response which was followed by the sound of a chair being pulled across the kitchen. "Sweetie, I know that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon can be mean sometimes, but violence isn't the answer. There's nothing beautiful about violence," Rarity said to her gently, followed by more mumbling from Sweetie. "Yes, I know that as the Elements of Harmony we sometimes have to use violence, but that's only as a last resort--and not because we were called a blank flank or a failure. We are sophisticated ponies; we must act better than that." Spike frowned when Rarity mentioned Diamond Tiara, because Scootaloo and Applebloom had both said that they had been having problems with her as well. He wasn't paying attention as Sweetie jumped out of her chair and stalked over to the door, kicking it open and right into the purple dragon's face.

"OHMYGOSH! Spike, are you alright?" she asked him with a sceam as he fell flat on his back. The designs that Rarity had crafted onto the door were now ingrained on his face. Sweetie and Rarity both rushed to his side as he slowly started rubbing his head, blinking as he saw little spots flashing before his eyes. "I am so sorry, I didn't know you were there," she said as she and Rarity helped him to sit up, wincing at the marks on his face.

"That's...alright," he said weakly as the two mares helped him back to his feet, staggering a bit as he rubbed his eyes to help clear his vision. While Rarity was too busy looking over his face to make sure that nothing was broken, Sweetie looked down at his hand and noticed a small green ring with an odd symbol on it. She only had a second to look at it before Spike placed that hand behind his head and started to rub the back of it, while bashfully smiling as Rarity started to mend his wounds. "Aw, come on Rarity, you really don't need to do this. I'm fine, just hurt my nose a bit."

"Poor Spikey-Wikey. I'm terrible sorry this happened," Rarity said sympathetically, casting a mad glance at her sister and indicating that she apologize again. Sweetie shuffled her hooves and looked away from Spike's eyes.

"S-sorry about that, Spike," she said sadly. "I didn't mean to hit you."

"That's alright, dragons are tough anyway," Spike said with a grin, trying not to blush at the fact that Rarity was putting banadages on his face. Rarity finished up and backed away with a sigh, looking over his face to make sure that she hadn't missed a spot.

"I think that I got all of the scratches, so you're good to go," Rarity said with a smile, which quickly turned into a frown when she turned around to see all the work she had left to do. "I'm never going to finish all of this work in time," she said with a groan, putting both hooves over her eyes.

"I'll help you Rarity!" Spike said eagerly as he raced to her side.

"Thank you, Spike, but I couldn't ask you to..." she began to say, but the desperate look in his eyes convinced her that maybe she could use his help. "Very well, but I don't want you to overtax yourself. As for you Sweetie," Rarity said to her sister, turning her head to catch Sweetie Belle, who had been trying to sneak out of the room. "Your punishment for getting into a fight at school and for smashing Spike's face in with a door, will be to help me and Spike with work tonight."

"But tomorrow, me and the girls were going to..." Sweetie began, but a look from Rarity silenced anything she was going to say. Sweetie gave a defeated sigh with a hang of her head and walked over to join the two. Rarity began to order them around as she started constructing the lower half of the dress on which she had been working. Spike started working with a smile, turning himself into a pin cushion while holding a huge stack of fabric for Rarity. Sweetie started working with a sigh as she gathered up sewing needles, but watched Spike the entire time they worked. She was wondering why he had a ring like that or why it was so odd. She shook her head with a sigh as Rarity called out for her to join them in the crafting room, and she yelled out that she was coming, all thoughts of the green ring leaving her mind for the time being.

Reap The Rewards

Spike had been having so much fun helping Rarity that he barely even noticed that it had gone from day to night in what he thought was a matter of minutes, but when he looked at the clock he realized that hours had instead flown by. He probably wouldn't have even noticed that so much time had passed if his ring had spoken in front of everypony.

'Power levels below fifty percent.' Spike's heart dropped as he heard that and he quickly looked at the other two ponies, hoping that neither of them had heard it speak.

"Did you say something Sweetie?" Rarity asked her sister groggily.

"No. I think you're tired Rarity," Sweetie had responded, moving her weary eyes to the clock and yawning. "It's gotten really late and I have school in the morning. Can't we call it for tonight?" Rarity wanted to continue working since the presentation of her outfit was in the morning, but she realized that Sweetie was right and it had gotten really late. Sweetie could barely keep her eyes open and had started to nod off. Spike was still eager to help, but even he was reaching his limits and she could see that he was barely keeping his eyes open as well.

"You are correct, Sweetie Belle, it has gotten very late indeed," Rarity agreed as she stood up, shaking the numbness out of her hind leg. "Alright Spike, I will continue to work on my own. You should go home and get some sleep." Spike opened his mouth to argue, but his protest turned into a yawn and he could only nod dumbly in response. Sweetie Belle yawned again and headed off to her room, mumbling something about how school was going to suck tomorrow. Rarity offered to take Spike home, but as much as he would love her to do that, he knew that she would question the giant ring of green energy infused with the table in the room. As much as he liked her, he didn't want anypony knowing about him being the Emerald Dragon...especially since Rarity said that she loathed the color green. Spike stood up sleepily and waved goodbye to Rarity, who waved at him from the kitchen where she was getting a massive jug of coffee out of a cabinet, preparing for another massive all-nighter. Spike walked himself to the front of the store, opening the door as he left.

The first thing that he noticed was that there was still ash in the air, covering the ground in black soot for quite a ways. Spike yawned again and started walking back to the library, too tired to think. His thought were a blur as the weariness from a long day overtook him, not even noticing that he had made it back to the library until he had smacked his head against the front door, where he rested it as he began to snore.

"Hoo?" Owlicious asked as he opened the door with his talons, wondering who would be bothering them this late at night. As the door opened, Spike's face slipped off the door and he landed face first on the ground where he continued to snore. Owlicious looked down at him with a hoot before landing next to him, where he began to peck Spike in the face with his beak.

"Ow! Jeez, can't you wake a dragon up in a nicer way? My face has taken enough abuse for today," Spike muttered to the owl as he picked himself slowly off the ground, glaring at Owlicious who simply stared back at him. Spike grumbled to himself and got back to his feet, heading up the stairs for the bedroom with Owlicious following him up. He followed Spike into the bedroom and landed on Twilight's desk, hooting at him as Spike climbed the stairs to his bed. "Can you please go away? Just because YOU'RE nocturnal doesn't mean the rest of us are." Spike passed out only a few seconds later, not even bothering to remove his ring from his finger as he started to drool. Owlicious shook his head slightly at the dragon's tone, but silently flew over to him and pulled the covers over Spike. Once he was certain that Spike was comfortable, he flew back down the stairs to his own perch and looked out at the sky, blinking twice as he saw what looked like a small meteor falling across the sky.

"Hoo," he said with a small shrug as he closed his eyes as well, allowing himself to sip off into dream land. What Owlicious hadn't noticed about the small meteor was that it gave off an unusual color for a meteor. The color it gave off was a dark orange.

IOI

Spike woke up the next morning to the sounds of chirping birds, a beautiful sunrise and a certain owl that had placed himself on Spike's chest. Spike yawned and opened his eyes to look into the eyes of Owlicious, who hooted his good mornings to Spike.

"GAH!" Spike yelled as he shot out of the bed in shock at waking up to find an owl on his chest. His Green Lantern ring read what his will demanded and threw up a green barrier around Spike while moving him to the back of the room far away from the owl, who flapped his wings to keep himself airborne as the ring threw him off of Spike. Owlicious turned his head slightly to the side as he looked at Spike, who was clutching his chest and breathing heavily, his face turning quiet white as he struggled to get control of his breathing. "Owlicious, what the heck? Why did you decide to sit on my chest and wait for me to wake up? Don't you know that waking a sleeping dragon is bad luck?"

"Hoo?" Owlicious asked in confusion as Spike sighed, closing his eyes as he willed the barrier around him to go back into the ring, which it did so quickly. Now that his horrific morning of terror was over, Spike threw open the door to the bedroom and headed down stairs to the kitchen to feed himself, but allowed Owlicious to ride on his arm when the owl asked. Spike let Owlicious off on the table and walked over to the shelves in the kitchen, pulling out a large gem that Twilight had left him for his dinner. So naturally he was going to eat it for breakfast. Owlicious hooted and flew out the window to go catch his own breakfast, leaving Spike alone to eat his breakfast.

"Wonder what's up with him?" Spike asked himself as he chomped down on the ruby's side, smiling as the flavor filled up his mouth. Spike looked down at the green ring, thinking about what he had planned out for today. Today was the day that he finally started going out and helping the ponies in any way he could, hopefully earning some gems or other form of reward in the process. He smiled dreamily as he thought about all the rewards that he might get, since most ponies were very generous when their life or something else they cared about was saved. And lately there had been a lot of problems around the town, from Timberwolves making off with some of Applejacks' pigs to thieves breaking into ponies homes and taking their possessions. Twilight's library was safe because most feared what she would do to them if they damaged one of her books, a fear that Spike equally shared. So Spike figured that Ponyville could be using a heroic character to help with all the troubles that they were having. And more trouble meant more loot.

"Hoo?" Owlicious asked Spike as he downed the rest of the ruby with a huge smile as he hopped out of his chair and ran to the center of the room. Owlicious landed on his perch with the mouse that he had caught in his beak, looking at Spike with some confusion. Normally the dragon would have gone right back to bed this early in the morning, but he looked wide awake for some reason.

"I'll see you later Owlicious, because today I start my career as a...SUPERHERO!" Spike yelled with triumph in his voice as he lifted his ring hand above his head and cast down a green light upon himself. Green energy emerged from the ring and started to wrap itself around his body, forming his uniform and just like last time it also gave him a mask that changed his scales from purple to green. "Alright, I think it's time for me to-"

'I would recommend charging the ring before leaving,' the ring interrupted. Spike sighed in frustration and pointed his ring at the ground to summon the battery unit. The ring opened the portal to where the battery was kept and brought it into the room with a flash of light, leaving the steaming battery on the center of the floor with another green ring in the floor beneath it.

"Oh great, not again," Spike growled as he saw the ring, remembering that there was also the one in the table that he had to get rid of at some point. He picked up the battery by the handle and pointed his ring at it, feeling it's power course through his claws.

'Do you remember the oath?' the ring asked.

"Yeah yeah, I got it," he said, hating that he had to go through the oath every time he wanted to charge the ring. "In brightest day in blackest night no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might beware my power Green Lanterns light," he said rather quickly, wanting to get that part of the charging process done as quickly as possible. But all his frustration melted away into a smile when he saw the ring glowing even brighter as it charged to full power. "Alright, now I'm off for real. Emerald Dragon, AWAY!" he yelled as he thrust his hand over his head and shot through the roof in a burst of speed, causing a number of planks and branches to fall down inside the library. Owlicious watched him fly away, looking from the hole in the ceiling to the unlocked door that he could have taken instead. The owl sighed and flew over to the closet, grabbing the broom and started to pick up after Spike. Spike meanwhile was shooting through the sky over Ponyville, laughing to himself happily as he started to roll and weave through the clouds in sheer bliss.

"I'm starting to get what Rainbow Dash meant by how awesome it is to fly," he chuckled to himself as he ascended even higher into the sky, using the ring to start bringing clouds together for no other purpose that he could. He looked at the giant ball of cloud with a smile before he willed a giant baseball bat to materialize in his hands. He aimed the bat at the back of the cloud ball and brought it back to his shoulders before he swung for the fences, laughing as the cloud sailed off into the sky. "Oh man, is there nothing this ring can't do?"

'I am detecting cries for help coming from the southernmost part of the town,' the ring said to him. Spike turned towards the southern part of town with a smile on his face, ready for his first real day as a hero for Equestria.

"Alrighty then, let's go save the day!" he yelled into the sky as he pointed his ring forward and rocketed himself towards where the cry for help was supposed to have come from. He flew down to the streets in a flash of green, ready for whatever was causing the trouble. Would it be a hydra? A manticore? Maybe Chrysalis was back? What he found though was a small crying filly who stood under a tree that had a grey cat in one of its branches, clearly stuck in the tree. Spike looked at the scene with crushed hopes.

'A cat in a tree?' he asked himself. 'THIS is the first act of heroism that I get to perform as my first day as a hero? Saving a stupid cat?' While he stood there cursing his luck, the crying filly rubbed her eyes and looked over at him, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the glowing green dragon. All of her sorrow vanished as hope took its place and she rushed over to him with a huge smile.

"Oh my gosh, you're the Emerald Dragon right?" she asked him with giddiness in her voice, trying to contain her excitement at meeting Equestria's newest hero. Spike noticed that she wore a pair of earrings with two beautiful looking emeralds in them and emeralds were some of the tastier gems. "Please, you have to help me. My kitty ran up a tree and I can't get her down, no matter what I do. You'll save her, won't you?" Spike, while still upset about this being his first act as a hero, couldn't look into the young filly's pleading eyes and tell her no. So as he muttered under his breath about how much this sucked, he pointed his ring at the tree and willed a giant green axe to materialize out of the ring. He swung the axe down through the branch was on in one clean swipe, causing the filly to scream in horror as her cat started to fall to the ground. Spike smiled thought as the cat fell and quickly willed the giant axe to turn into one of the cushions that he saw often at Rarity's, moving the cushion under the falling branch and cat before either could hit the ground.

"Tada! One kitty cat in perfect condition!" Spike exclaimed with a bow as he pried the cat off the branch with a crowbar before it unleashed it's fury upon his face, only stopping when the filly pulled it off.

"Oh thank you! How can I ever repay you?" she asked him while Spike held his face in pain. Spike eyed her earrings with greed, knowing exactly what he wanted.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice that you had a pair of lovely earrings there," he said as nonchalantly as he could, keeping his eyes on them as he placed both his hands behind his head. "Now I'm not going to ask you to give them to me, but if you don't mind..."

"Oh of course," she said quickly as she placed her cat on the ground, taking off her earrings and offering them to Spike. "They're my moms, but you saved my kitty so it's the least I can do!" She picked her cat back up again and placed it on her back. "Thanks again for the help!" she called out as she started to walk away, waving at him as she did so. Spike gave a halfhearted wave back at her as he eyed the emeralds with hungry eyes, tossing them into the air over his mouth and crunching down on them in a single bite.

"Ah, nothing tastes better than a pair of emeralds earned through a good deed. You've done good Spike," he said, continuing to praise himself on his good deed as he ascended back into the sky. Spike felt great about his noble action and the gems tasted great as well. He was considering heading over to where most of the robberies had taken place when he heard another cry from help coming from the distance, so with a smile on his face he flew off towards the sound of the distress call. His ring told him when he had gotten close to the source of the call and he descended in a flash of green light...only to once again find that it was not what he had been expecting. Granny Smith was standing on one end of the street and couldn't make it across due to the insane amount of ponies that were in the road.

"Ah, yer that Emerald character, aren't you?" she asked with a smile as he landed next to her, looking around at all the other ponies just to make sure that she had really been the one who called out for help. When he could no longer deny it, he turned towards her with a sigh and a look of annoyance.

"Are...you the one who's been asking for help?" he asked her with a groan, secretly hoping that she wasn't.

"Yes sirey! Ah been standing here for nearly ten minutes trying to get across this road but none of these young whipper snappers seem to want to help an old pony across the street," she said as she gave an evil glare to all the ponies in the streets. "But ah bet that a hero such as yourself would have no problem helping me out, would ya?" Spike muttered under his breath again as he pointed his ring at the group of ponies in the street, shooting two green brick walls that moved the ponies in the streets to the side and made a path for Granny Smith so she could get across. She did so slowly, forcing Spike to stand there holding up the brick walls while the ponies all complained at him for what he was doing.

"Whooee! Ah haven't seen a ring that fancy since mah daughter’s wedding day," Granny Smith said with a smile as she finally reached the other side and looked at Spike's green ring. Spike grumbled to himself as he willed away the constructs that he had made and allowed traffic to start moving again. "Ah feel like ah should reward ya for your good deed. Now hold out that green claw of yours." Spike did as she asked with a hidden smile on his face, wondering what sort of gem he would get for his act of goodness this time. Ruby? Sapphire? Maybe the elusive pearl? He felt something heavy being placed in his claw and he looked down excitedly to see...

"An apple," he said in the most deadpan voice that he could muster as he looked at the green apple in his claw. "How...nice."

"Ah figured that a green apple would go well with yer green outfit," she said with a chuckle as she started to head towards the marketplace with one last wave. "Thanks again." Spike waved back only once before looking down at the apple with a scowl. This was not what he had wanted for his works, he could get apples anywhere, so he took careful aim at a trash can and threw the apple in a perfect arc, smiling to himself as it landed square in the center of the can.

"Alright, I'm one for two right now," he muttered to himself as he once again flew back up into the sky. "Let's hope the next cry for help is actually one that has something rewarding about it." He looked down when he noticed that a large crowd of ponies had formed underneath him, most of them looking up in awe at the sight of the glowing green dragon. Spike smiled down at them and struck a few poses, getting the crowd to cheer for him. "Yeah, that's more like it!" His little show was interrupted when a rainbow blur blew right by him and almost knocked the dragon out of the air, forcing him to concentrate to keep himself upright. "That looked like Rainbow Dash and she was really moving," he muttered to himself as he watched the rainbow trail headed towards what looked to be the Ponyville Dam. "Maybe there's a fire or some sort of trouble. And if there's trouble, I'll be there!" Spike shot off after RD, his rings speed amazingly was able to not only keep up with the fastest flier, but he over took her in a few seconds. Spike would never forget the look on her face when he shot right by her and reached the dam first, taking him only a few seconds to realize what was wrong. The dam had a large number of cracks running along the front end of it and water was already starting to leak through, the extra pressure making the cracks growing even larger.

"That dam doesn't have long until it breaks," Spike muttered to himself as he looked around the dam, noticing a large number of unicorns standing at the bottom of the dam and trying to repair it with their magic, but the cracks were growing faster than they could be repaired. It was only a matter of time until the dam burst and would unleash a torrent of water upon the land.

"And just who the heck are you?" RD asked him as she screeched to a halt next to him, looking up and down at his outfit with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm the Emerald Dragon!" Spike exclaimed heroically as he placed both hands on his hips and stuck his chest out, glowing with energy.

"Wait a second...I think I've heard your voice somewhere before..." she muttered to herself. Fortunately for Spike, any thoughts she was having were cut off by the sound of ponies screaming as another massive crack spread on the dam.

"Everypony get back! The dam is going to burst any minute!" Spike shot up into the air again to get an aerial view of the situation, his eyes widening in horror as he realized that there were only seconds until the entire thing broke apart.

"There's no way they can repair the dam in time! And I can't stop all that water from breaking free...Can I?" he asked the ring.

'As long as you have the will, it can be done.' Spike found hope in those simple words and he looked up at the dam as the wall finally gave out, sending a cascade of water storming down upon the land. The ponies that had been trying to fix the dam barely had time to throw their hooves over their heads in a futile effort to protect themselves, bracing themselves for the end...that never came. The ponies all uncovered their heads and looked up in confusion, confusion that turned into sheer awe as they saw that all of the water had been trapped inside of a giant green aquarium. All eyes turned to the floating green dragon who was pointing a green beam at the water, his teeth gritted as he tried to hold it all back.

"Hurry up and fix the dam! I don't know how long it will hold!" he yelled out to them, sweat running down his face as he struggled to maintain his concentration. The unicorns nodded at each other and doubled their efforts to repair that wall, having it repaired within a minute. Once the wall had been completely repaired, Spike let go of the water with a sigh of relief and sunk down to the ground. The ponies all cheered and rushed to him, swarming him to the point where he had to throw up a barrier around himself to keep them all back.

"That was incredible!" one of the unicorns in a workers outfit exclaimed, walking up as close to the barrier as he could get without touching it. "You just stopped an entire dam's worth of water with ease! How can we ever repay you?"

"One, it wasn't that easy," Spike panted as he tried to regain his breath, having no will to move after pulling a stunt like that. "Second, what kind of reward are you offering?" The unicorn reached inside his outfits pocket and pulled out a blacked ruby, with cracks and chunks of it missing.

"This was the gem that was supposed to be keeping the dam from breaking," he explained. "Normally we switch them out every few months, but somepony forgot to this time and you were here to see the result. But while we can't use it for keeping the dam up, I believe that dragons can still eat it." Spike lowered the barrier and took the dark red ruby in his claws, drool starting to come out of his mouth at the smell of it.

"It looks awesome! Thanks for the gift," he said with a smile, tucking it under his arm, planning to save it for later. He pointed his ring arm into the air and shot up into the sky, but before he could head back a rainbow blur shot in front of him.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily. I have some questions for you," Rainbow Dash said, floating in front of him with her arms crossed. Spike raised an eyebrow at her before looking down at his ring. He then looked back up at her with a smile and pointed his ring at her, willing a green bubble to form around her. "HEY! What did you do?" she roared at him as she started hitting her hooves on the side of the bubble to no avail, while Spike just smiled and waved to her before he flew off back to the library. He landed at the front door after making sure that nopony had been watching, closing the door gently behind him as he slipped inside. He let out a sigh and slid to the ground, his suit and mask went back into his ring at his thought.

"Hoo?" Owlicious asked as he floated down next to Spike, happy to see that he was back unharmed. Owlicious also noticed the ruby and hopped over to get a better look at it, but leapt back with a shriek when a green shield shot up in front of him.

"It's my ruby! MINE!" Spike half yelled at Owlicious as he cradled the ruby with an evil glare, his eyes a pure orange. Owlicious backed away slowly, watching as Spike slowly began to relax and stopped cuddling the gem. He stood up and started to head for the stairs, not taking his still orange eyes off of the gem as he walked. Another hoot from Owlicious snapped him out of his trance. "What...oh right, I left Rainbow in that bubble. Ring, get rid of that for me will you? I want to be alone with this baby right here." Owlicious watched Spike as he headed back up the stairs, eyes narrowed at what he had just seen. Spike might be a little greedy at times, but he had never seen that level of greed before. Something was seriously wrong. Spike spent the rest of the day in his room, simply marveling at the ruby which he broke chunks off to eat. Owlicious watched him the entire time, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of him acting weird.

"Alright, Owlicious, I think that it's time for bed," Spike said with a yawn as he looked out the window at the setting sun, picking up the ruby and putting it in the closet after one last look of live at it. He walked over to his bed and face-planted onto it, falling asleep within seconds. Owlicious continued his watch, but eventually closed his eyes as well and drifted off to sleep. If he had stayed awake for a few more seconds as the light died, he would have seen a tiny orange light that sat on top of one of the bookshelves and seemed to be pointing right at Spike.

IOI

Spike awoke the next morning to another perfect day, with sunlight beaming through the windows and not a cloud in the sky. He hopped out of bed and reached under the pillow to grab his ring, slipping it on with a smile as he used its power to open the closet door to pull out his ruby. A look of confusion spread on his face when the ring came out with nothing, forcing him to look inside the closet himself.

"Hey, where's my ruby?" he asked as he shot out of the closet, looking around the room for it, using his ring to lift up the heavier stuff just in case it had somehow rolled under there. Spike looked up to Owlicious to see if he was still there, but his perch for their room was empty. So Spike opened the bedroom door and ran down the stairs to see if Owlicious had seen the ruby. "Hey Owlicious, have you seen-?" He came to a dead stop when he reached the bottom stair, his heart sinking into the basement at the sight. His ruby was on the table next to Owlicious, who looked at him with an apologetic stare. But neither of that was what terrified Spike. What terrified him was the purple alicorn sitting at the table with her hooves crossed and an angry look on her face.

"Hi Twilight," Spike said weakly.

Dueling Dragons

"It will all be mine." Both Spike and Twilight backed away slowly as the orange version of Spike slowly started to walk towards them, reaching out with his ring hand in an attempt to grab the Element of Harmony off Twilight's neck. Twilight responded by firing a blast of magic into the false Spike's chest, sending him skidding backwards into the buildings wall. She smiled in triumph as the orange dragon was blasted apart, but the ring that fell to the ground began to glow again and it rematerialized the false Spike in a matter of seconds. Spike and Twilight watched as the orange dragon stood back up and slowly turned around to face them as the ring slipped itself back on.

"What's happening?" Twilight asked as she started to fire more and more magic into the dragon, having the same result as before. The false Spike threw up an orange barrier around himself that deflected her spells while the real Spike could only watch. "Why won't this thing die?!" she screamed as she threw herself to the side to avoid a giant orange nail that the false dragon threw at her, watching as it impaled itself into the side of one of the other buildings.

'It is a manifestation if the greed that the former Green Lantern held in his heart,' the ring said to Twilight as she placed a barrier between the orange Spike and the real one, leaving herself open so that the ring would only have her to go after. The false Spike roared with rage as he started to fire orange missiles into the barrier, which just barely managed to hold up under the assault. Twilight picked up the greed Spike with her magic and tossed him across the sky, buying herself some time to get Spike to safety.

"Come on Spike, we're getting you out of here," Twilight said as she levitated Spike onto her back and ran off to find the others, magic still flowing through her horn in case she needed to use it again. "What do you mean a manifestation of Spike's greed? The Elements of Harmony should have destroyed all the greed in his body."

'In actuality, the greed was expelled from his body from the magic power that you used, it was not destroyed,' the ring explained as a massive explosion of orange went off in the distance, telling the two that the greed Spike was back up. 'The greed that was expelled was cast into the ring, allowing it to make a construct of Spike to sustain it. It cannot be completely destroyed. Only temporarily.'

"Then how do we stop it?" Spike asked, having bent over to listen in on the conversation. "Can't we take the ring off its finger or hit it with another blast of the Elements?"

'It would be unlikely that taking the ring off would stop it,' the ring answered. 'But analysis of the Elements powers shows that there is a small percentage of a chance that another blast would completely drive the greed away. That is the only solution outside of finding a Blue Lantern.' Spike and Twilight didn't know what a Blue Lantern was, but now that they had a plan they had a way to fight back. Twilight and Spike raced over to where the other Elements of Harmony had been assisting ponies who had been trapped under rubble or had been hurt in the attack.

"Twilight, there you are," Pinkie said as Twilight and Spike came running up to them. "I was worried about you, what with the giant orange explosion that we saw just a minute ago."

"I thought that we destroyed that orange dragon, why is there still orange explosions going off?" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew up to Twilight. "And...Why is Spike here?"

"I grabbed him to get him out of harm’s way," Twilight explained quickly as she let Spike off of her back before looking back to her friends. "We're going to need the Elements of Harmony again to stop the Orange Dragon. Unfortunately, the dragon somehow managed to survive and is coming back for round two. I think that another shot of Harmony will be enough to stop it." The ponies looked at her with uncertainty, but the orange dragon chose that moment to slam into the ground in front of them.

"Give them to me!" he roared as he threw himself at the ponies. Twilight and Rarity combined their magic in one giant blast that threw the fake Spike backwards. His ring caught him before he could hit the ground and threw himself back at the ponies.

"Girls, take positions!" Twilight yelled out to the others as she used her magic to pick Spike up and place him behind a large chunk of rubble to keep him out of harm’s way. The six ponies stood in the circle as the Elements began to flow through them again and formed the Storm of Harmony. Twilight and the others rose into the air as Spike started firing orange bolts at them, roaring about how he would take their lives along with their Elements. Just like before, when the Elements collided with the orange energy of the ring, the ring was overpowered and the Elements consumed the fake Spike. But while the ponies smiled at the sound of the fake Spike being defeated by the Elements, none of them noticed that an orange light appeared behind them.

"TWILIGHT! Behind you!" Spike yelled out as the fake Spike appeared behind the ponies. Twilight turned around as an orange claw grabbed the tiara on her head and tore it off, breaking the Elements power as well as throwing Twilight backwards from the force of the impact. Twilight fell to the ground with a cry of pain as the false Spike grabbed the crown with his ring and brought it close to him, clutching it close to his heart once he had it.

"It's mine now," he said softly as the other Elements continued to fire upon him with their power, giving Spike the chance to race over to Twilight to see if she was alright. Twilight had a pretty sizeable cut on the side of her body that was bleeding and she was struggling slightly to breath, the pain keeping her from concentrating on her magic.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Spike asked her as Rarity let out a scream as she was tossed back by an orange boxing glove that drove itself into her chest. Fluttershy was the next to fall as the Spike copy created a massive flyswatter that he proceeded to crush her with. RD went in for a supersonic kick to the face, but she too was caught by the orange light and slammed to the ground repeatedly before he tossed her aside, grabbing her Element from off her neck and doing the same with Rarity and Fluttershy.

"Only two left now, then I will have them all," false Spike said as he turned towards Pinkie and AJ, each of whom snorted in rage as they flattened their ears before they charged at him, using their elemental power to fuel their attacks. Spike dodged a kick by AJ that tore apart the ground thanks to the magic that now ran through her body. However, fake Spike used the ring to shoot into the sky rain down a storm of meteors upon her, crushing her underneath of the orange rocks. Pinkie continued to fire her party cannon at Spike, who weaved through the sky to avoid her shots before he countered with by trapping her within a cage.

"Hey! Let me out!" she yelled as she tried to throw herself through the bars, but the structure was too strong and she bounced off without making a dent. "Oh you are in so much trouble when I figure out how to get out of here!" Fake Spike scowled at her before he used his ring to take the Element form her, turning to AJ and taking hers as well.

"Now they are all mine! And now that they are mine they are so much more valuable, making it even greater that they're mine!" Fake Spike yelled into the sky with a gleeful laugh, holding all the Elements above his head. The other Spike had been trying to wake Twilight up, letting out a sigh of relief as she groaned and opened her eyes.

"Twilight! Thank Celestia you're alright!" Spike yelled as he hugged her around the neck.

"I'm not alright Spike, I'm hurt pretty bad," Twilight said weakly as she struggled to get back up, but the wound on her side flooded her with pain again and she lay back down with a cry. "I can't get up and that fake you is still running loose. And it looks like he beat the others to."

"What do we do?" Spike asked her as he looked over his shoulder at his other self, who was too busy staring at the Elements to pay them any heed.

"What I want you to do is run back to the library and write to Celestia to get her to come here," Twilight panted as she used her magic to force herself back to her hooves, ignoring the pain as best she could as she turned to face the fake Spike. "I'll distract him for as long as possible while you run. Hurry." Spike looked up at Twilight one last time and turned to run towards the library, but something inside of him stopped him from running. He had been the one who gave into the greed, making him responsible for what happened to the town and to his friends. Twilight and her friends always helped him whenever he did something wrong or caused trouble, but he could never pay them back. But as he looked up at his closet friend who was wounded and bleeding, his fear for his life gave in to a desire to help her. To save them all.

"Stand back Twilight, I'll handle this one," Spike said as he stepped in front of Twilight, who looked down at him with pained and weak eyes.

"Are you...crazy? He'll-"

"Kill me? Maybe. But you're my best friend," Spike told her as he looked back at her with a smile. "And I'm willing to put my life on the line for you and the others. I willed myself to overcome the greed, so I will be the one to help you. And as an annoying ring once told me, as long as I will it, there is nothing I can't do!" Twilight was just about to teleport him back to the library herself when the ring on her horn began to glow as it flew off her horn and slipped back onto one of his fingers, letting its power run through him again. The Green Lantern suit of his materialized on his body and his ring glowed with power as it was now back onto the Lantern it had chosen. Twilight gasped when the transformation finished, with Spike no longer there, having been replaced by the Green Lantern. Spike looked down at himself with wide eyes before he looked at the ring with a smile, a smile that he then gave to Twilight.

"Like I said Twi, I got this. Hey, ugly!" Spike shouted at the fake him, shooting a blast of green energy out of his ring at the fakes head. The fake blocked the green blast with his own ring and slowly turned his head towards Spike, his eyes widening as he saw the green ring on his finger. "Guess what I have that you don't?" Spike taunted as he waved his ring finger at the orange dragon. The dragon's eyes narrowed as he reached out for it, dropping the Elements as his greed for something new.

"That ring...looks so much shinier than mine," the fake Spike muttered to himself in awe as he reached out with one hand towards the green ring. Then his face turned into a look of pure rage and he pointed his own ring at Spike to fire off a massive spear towards both Spike and Twilight. Twilight couldn't react in time due to the damage she had already sustained, but Spike was able to create a green shield in front of the both of them that stopped the spear. Fake Spike screamed in rage at his failed attempt and he flung himself towards Spike with both hands extended, his greed filled eyes focused on the ring on Spike's finger. Spike saw him coming and materialized a boxing glove on his hand, waiting until the copy was right in front of him before he drove his fist into his jaw and sent the fake skywards.

"Don't worry Twilight, I got this one," Spike said to Twilight with a smile before he launched himself into the sky after his copy. Twilight watched his green trail vanish into the clouds with fear in her eyes, hoping that Spike knew what he was doing. The other Elements of Harmony had woken up or managed to get to their hooves again and all of them walked over to Twilight, Rarity bringing their discarded Elements of Harmony with her.

"Is Spike that Emerald Dragon feller?" Applejack whispered into Twilight's ears so that the others wouldn't hear, looking at them to make sure that their eyes were only focused on the battle that was taking place above in the clouds. Twilight could only nod as she saw flashes of green and orange light up the sky. She didn't care if the other ponies knew about Spike's secret or what they thought about him being a hero, she just wanted him back safe.

"Think that the Emerald Dragon will be able to handle this one?" RD asked her friends as her eyes were cemented to the battle of colors that flashed across the sky. "I mean, that orange dragon seems to have him down move for move."

"I think he'll be just fine," Rarity said as her eyes lit up with colors. "After all, heroes never lose. And he is Ponyville's new hero." Twilight wished that she could share her friends confidence, but at that moment she was doing her best not to let her friends see just how scared she was and how concerned about Spike's safety. None of the ponies noticed that the citizens of Ponyville had started to return to the scene of the battle at the sight of the green light, all of them looking up in awe at the light show going on. While all of them had no idea where either of these dragons came from, they did know that the orange one had attacked them and the green one had helped them. So much to the six Elements surprise, the entire town of Ponyville started to cheer for the Emerald Dragon, calling out him to win and chanting his name.

"It seems that the ponies have taken him on as their hero as well," Fluttershy said with a smile as she looked around at all the ponies before turning her gaze skyward again. Despite the ponies faith in Spike, above the clouds where the battle raged he wasn't so sure that he could win this fight as he battled for his life against his counterpart. The battle between the two dragon's wasn't one of strength or skill, it was about who could think of something to make that the other couldn't think of something to counter with in time to protect themselves. Spike rolled out of the way of a swarm of massive orange claws that all attempted to grab him out of the air, weaving in and out of clouds in a desperate attempt to lose the claws. When his efforts to out maneuver them didn't work, Spike spun around with his ring pointed at the claws and fired a number of Twilight styled fireballs at them, laughing out loud as they all went up in green flames.

"Haha! Seems like my will is way too much for that greed of yours!" Spike taunted his counterpart as he made a face at him, causing his duplicate to roar in rage and create a giant sword that he started to swing at Spike. Spike willed into being a sword of his own and intercepted his foes swing with a strike of his own, the sound of the metallic clang echoing across the sky. "Why don't you give up and take the ring off?" Spike asked him as the two pressed their faces close to each other’s as they each tried to overpower the other. "You no longer have my greed, so you're going to run out of power eventually."

"I will have you and your ring!" the fake spat back. "Then I will take those ponies and their Elements! Then I will have the town! Then I will take the whole-!" Spike changed his construct from a sword to a boxing glove and rolled through the air under the orange blade, putting his opponent off balance for a second as he wound up his punch and drove his green glove into his foes gut, watching as he sent the other Spike flying across the sky.

"Yeah, how did you like my fist in your gut?" Spike asked as he placed his hands on his hips and threw back his head with a chuckle, but his laugh died as he saw the other Spike point his ring at the ground and rip a boulder out of the ground, which he then threw at Spike as well as firing a bolt of orange energy at him at the same time. Spike looked from the boulder to the energy blasts, having no idea what to stop first. He closed his eyes and held out his ring, hoping that he drew something good. What he willed up was a giant version of the Pinkie cannon that fired a giant blast of green at both the boulder and the incoming energy attack, shattering both of them and forced the fake to throw up one of the biggest shields that he could manage to stop the cannon. Fake Spike had finally given up on the tricks and clever attacks, so he fired a beam of pure greed at Spike, who countered with a beam of sheer will to intercept it. The two beams lit up the sky as green and orange collided, both of the dragons pouring all of their power into their attack.

"I will have you dragon, I want you more than anything else on this planet!" the fake Spike roared, the ring speaking through him. Spike realized that this was the ring talking, that the ring wanted Spike back more than anything. "You have the most greed inside of you than any other on this planet! I will have you back!"

"No, I will never allow myself to give into my greed again!" Spike roared as he pushed back on the orange beam with all of his will, both attacks at a standstill as their light lit up the sky. "I know that I may be greedy and it can get to the point of ridiculousness at times, but I can and WILL be better! So you better get used to being alone or find yourself a new host, because I will never give in. NEVER!" Spike roared as he put all of his power into the beam, willing his ring to overcome the greed that he had to overcome. And just as he willed, the ring obeyed. His green beam started to push back the orange one, slowly at first but gained more and more speed as greed gave into will.

"NO! I will have this victory!" the copy screamed as it tried to push back but to no avail. "I will have it all."

"No, all you're getting is a beat down!" Spike yelled back as he gave the ring one last push as his will finally overcame the orange beam and struck the copy square in the chest, causing it to cry out as it was consumed by his will. Spike willed the copy to be stuck to the end of a giant rock that he then threw at the ground with a yell, watching as the boulder headed straight for the outskirts of Ponyville. Then, to make sure that it was over, he willed another rock above the first one and threw it down after him. Spike watched along with the rest of the ponies down below as the first rock crashed into the ground, followed a second later by the next rock which broke the first one apart and buried the copy beneath it. Only after waiting a minute to make sure that he had truly beaten his foe did Spike let out a sigh and slowly allowed himself to sink down towards the town, landing in the center of it next to the Elements of Harmony, who looked at him for the most part like the rest of the town did: with awe.

"You did it..." Fluttershy said in amazement. "You beat him."

"Um, yeah. I guess I did," Spike said with a shrug, the realization of what he had just done was completely lost on him. Then came something he had not been expecting: the cheering. Spike and the ponies all looked around at all of the ponies who had been watching the battle, each of whom was cheering for the Emerald Dragon. Spike looked around at all the cheering ponies with a blush hidden by the green mask, having no idea how to react to all the cheering. He looked over at Twilight who simply nodded with a smile. And that was all he needed to smile as well and start to drink in the cheers, doing a few bows as well. But then all of the ponies heard the sound of rocks being thrown and they all looked towards the edge of the town, where a flash of orange light could be seen followed by an orange trail that landed in front of the ponies. The orange ring floated in front of them as it slowly began to reconstruct the false Spike again, who glared at Spike as his eyes returned. He said nothing, but lifted his ring into the air and started to grow, getting bigger and bigger until he was bigger than most of the buildings that were still standing. The Elements of Harmony and Spike watched as the giant Spike glared down at them, roaring at them as it lifted one of its giant hands up in preparation to smash them.

"Get the Elements of Harmony ready to fire again!" Spike yelled at Twilight as he turned back towards his giant counterpart and looked down at his ring with a smile full of determination. "I think it's time for the hero they've all been demanding for to appear!" Spike lifted his ring into the air as he said this, wanting to take off into the sky, but instead green energy shot out of the ring and he started to change forms from the Green Lantern...to the Emerald Dragon. The green energy began to construct itself around Spike's body, forming an exoskeleton of sorts in the shape of a giant green dragon with giant muscles and wings that stretched across the buildings that made him big enough to match the giant Spike. The Emerald Dragon reached out with one of its massive claws to catch the arm of the giant Spike before it could slam it's fist into the ponies.

"You will not hurt them," the Emerald Dragon said in a deep voice very different from Spike's that echoed across the land before it brought back its fist and drove it into the gut of the giant Spike. The orange dragon doubled over as the Emerald Dragon lifted both claws over its head and drove them onto the Spike's back, sending him crashing into the ground. The Emerald Dragon inhaled deeply and let loose a torrent of flames upon his fallen foe, the orange construct barely able to hold up to the will of the flames. Under the unrelenting flames the orange construct began to break down, shrinking in size until it was back to Spike's original size. The Emerald Dragon let out a roar and ascended into the sky, coming to a stop above the fake Spike as it let loose one last fireball down towards it. The fake Spike could only look up as the giant green ball came hurtling towards, lifting its ring on last time to try and protect itself before it was consumed by the green fire. The Dragon landed in front of the ponies and vanished back into the ring, returning Spike to his original size and Green Lantern outfit. Looking through the green flames that burned on the ground, Spike saw that the fake him was completely gone and only the ring remained.

"Alright girls, NOW!" Spike yelled as he flew out of the way of the six Elements of Harmony, who had completed the preparations for their spell and floated in the air behind them, a white magic connecting all of them together. When the six opened their eyes, the torrent of magic emerged from them in the form of a giant rainbow that shot into the sky. The rainbow of magic swirled twice above the ring before it came cascading down upon it in a storm of magic and light, putting out the green fires as well as preventing the ring from giving off any more of its power. Spike watched as the Elements wrapped themselves around the ring, consuming it in their magic. A giant flash of white light went off when the spell was complete and when Spike could finally see again, the ring was now made entirely of stone and lay on the ground, no orange energy coming off of it. Spike walked over and scooped the stone ring up before he looked back at all the ponies and the Elements with a smile.

"It's alright everypony. You're all safe now." And then the cheering began again. Spike looked at all the cheering ponies as they all started to run towards him, never noticing the look that Twilight was giving him as the other Elements of Harmony ran over as well. If he could have seen her eyes he would have been shocked by what was in them.

Her eyes were filled with pride.

Day in the Green

After the massive battle between the two ring wearers, ponies everywhere were talking about the new hero in green. And it wasn't just Ponyville that was talking about him, all the cities and towns all of Equestria were. Ponies wanted to know who this mysterious hero was and where did he come from. How did he do the things he did? Naturally, Twilight kept the reporters who came to the princess at bay by telling them that it wasn't anypony she knew. This was correct because Spike was a dragon. So with all the praise going around about how he had saved the town and defeated a giant monster, Spike did what any hero would do after such a great victory.

He slept through the next day.

When he eventually did wake up on the following day, his entire body was stiff and sore, not helped by the fact that he was hungry. So as Spike got out of his bed with a yawn, he noticed that the ring was still on his hand, which was weird to him because Twilight had seemed to want to examine it earlier. He fell out of his bed (his legs still being asleep) and floated himself down the stairs into the kitchen, a frown crossing his face when he noticed that Twilight wasn't there either.

"Where are you Twilight?" Spike asked as he started to look around the room.

'She is in the basement with the other ring,' the green ring answered for him after scanning the whole house. 'It also seems that she is suffering from severe stress and lack of sleep.' Spike wondered how the ring knew that, but he simply shrugged it off and floated to the stairs that led to the basement. Just as the ring had said, Spike found Twilight at her work bench with a certain stone object under her microscope. He heard the furious scribbling of a pen on parchment and knew that Twilight was hard at work with something.

"Hey Twilight, what are you doing?" Spike asked as he landed next to her. She stuck out a hoof to tell him to shush as she continued her research, leaving Spike to sit in the air for a minute as he waited for her to finish. After about three minutes of waiting, Twilight finally turned around to look at Spike.

"Well look who's finally up," she said with a tired smile. "With the way you slept yesterday I thought that it would take a crane to get you out of bed. I had been planning on let you sleep through today as well, but you managed to get yourself up."

"Wait, I can sleep through today as well?" Spike asked with a smile as he hopped to the floor and started to head towards the stairs. "If that's the case then I'll see you tomorrow." Spike didn't even make it to the first step as Twilight grabbed a hold of him and brought him back over to her.

"Since you're awake, can you tell me what you know about this ring?" Twilight asked, indicating to the stone ring that lay under the microscope on her table. Spike walked over to it with a frown, wondering how something so small could have caused so much trouble for him and Twilight. Then again, his ring was an incredible source of power in its own right and the orange one fed off greed, something that all dragons struggled with. "I've been observing it for over a full day now and I still can't figure out how it works."

"It runs on greed, that's about it," Spike said as he picked it up, feeling a small desire to take something for himself. Despite the ring being encased in stone by the Elements, it power and desires still radiated through.

"I know it runs on greed, but it's a piece of technology that I've never seen before," Twilight said as she levitated some books down next to her. "I don't think its runs on electricity and it certainly doesn't have any wiring, it's...just a ring."

"That's what I thought at first, then my ring let me fly and shoot lasers with it," Spike said as he looked down at the green ring to avoid looking at the stone one for too long. "Sometimes there are things that we don't understand, like how you don't understand how the rings work or I don't understand why I have to arrange the library ever two days."

"That's different Spike, these...weapons are dangerous!" Twilight said as she walked back over to the ring. "Just the orange one nearly wiped out our home alone and I'm worried about what would happen if another were to fall into somepony else's hooves," Twilight muttered as she looked at Spike's ring, which he hid with his other hand.

"Please Twilight, how could there be more than two of these things?" Spike asked with a laugh before remembering what his own ring had told him about the multitude of other Lanterns out there. "Besides, even if there were more rings, what are the odds they'd land on our planet? I think we just got a few lost ones." Twilight looked back at the stone ring, which was even tapping into her desire to take and own.

"I hope you're right Spike, because we had a hoofful of a time just trying to deal with one of these things," Twilight said as she looked at his ring. "We're lucky that you had the green one as well or else we'd probably be down a town. Why does it work for you but not me anyway?" Spike wasn't sure of that either, since he knew that the ring originally was supposed to go to Twilight. But if he told her that she might try to take the best thing that happened to him since he met Rarity.

"It said that it chose me after its previous host died," Spike explained quickly, hoping that Twilight didn't catch on. "And that only one who can...do something with it is worthy to wield it. So I guess I'm worthy of whatever it’s talking about." He could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't buying the whole thing, but she gave a shrug that told him he was out of danger for now.

"Speaking of responsibility, I believe that you wanted to help Rarity finish the designs she never got around to finishing due to the attack?" Twilight said, smiling when she saw Spike's eyes light up. "And that was a promise for yesterday."

"Nice talking to you Twilight, but there's somewhere I need to be!" Spike yelled as he shot up into the air and flew up the steps, just barely hearing Twilight tell him not to use the ring in public. Twilight watched until the green trail that followed him vanished before she turned and headed back to her microscope.

'I don't know how I feel about letting him hold onto something that powerful, but it seems to be in safe claws for now,' she thought to herself as she looked down at the stone ring, wondering how something so small could have caused so much damage. 'Then again, maybe this will help him become more responsible. And it's not like I can't take it from him if he abuses it...oh...right.' While Twilight continued to examine the ring, Spike was running down the street as fast as his dragon legs could carry him. He enjoyed spending ever moment at Rarity's and always hated having to miss a day, so he had a huge smile on his face as he ran to the front doors of the Carousel, stopping to make sure that it didn't seem like he rushed to get there. He took one last breath before opening the front doors and walked inside.

"Hello everypony!" Spike called out to the shop, looking around to see if anypony was home. He heard the sound of hooves on the floor as he turned to see Rarity come walking out from the back of the shop, looking a little tired but as beautiful as he remembered her. Her mane sparkled in the sun and her eyes were like a gate way to a sea of stars that he wished that he could fall into forever and...

"Um, Spikey? Are you paying attention?" Rarity asked him politely as her words brought him back to reality from his beautiful day dream. When he nodded to show her he was paying attention, Rarity continued on. "Well, I know that I told you that I had a large number of orders to finish, but the pony that hired me sent me a letter earlier today to tell me that the order was to only be done by me. My client asked that only I work on the designs, so I will probably need to pull another all-nighter in order to finish it on time. I hope you understand." Spike's scales on his head had slowly drooped as she explained what happened, telling him that she wouldn't need him today. He turned around and started to head to the door sadly, but was stopped when it was flung open as a white blur ran past her.

"Rarity! It's almost time!" Sweetie said with a huge smile as she raced over to her sister, Spike having to throw himself to the floor to dodge the backpack that she threw off as she entered. "Today's the big school party and you promised to be one of the chaperones for it!...So why aren't you ready? You should have gotten dressed hours ago since you hate being in the park without your park outfit." Rarity bit her lip as she looked down at the confused face of her little sister, trying to figure out a way to break the news to her as gently as she could.

"Sweetie...now don't yell at me, but something has come up that might require me to stay home tonight," Rarity said slowly, sadness filling her eyes as she watched the realization dawning on her little sisters’ face. "It's not that I don't enjoy spending time with you, but this order is really important."

"But...you said that we'd get to spend time together," Sweetie said with a trembling lip, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"I know dear, but this order is very important," Rarity said gently, but Sweetie looked away from her older sister.

"Every order's important, more important than me," she whispered to herself, with Spike hearing what she said but Rarity didn't.

"Don't look so glum, your friends will be there to keep you company," Rarity said, hoping to lift her sister's spirits. Sweetie looked back up to her sister with a forced smile on her face, trying to be positive.

"You're right, I'll have my friends there with me to keep me company. And maybe we'll finally get our cutie marks at the party," Sweetie said.

"Now that's my sister," Rarity said as she pulled Sweetie into a hug. "Strong and unshakable. Now you should get going, you said that the party was going to be held in the park right?" Sweetie nodded and headed to the door, coming to a stop and looking over her shoulder one last time before she left.

"Wait a minute," Rarity said quickly before she could leave, seeing the sadness in her sisters eyes. "Why don't you take Spike with you?"

"What?" both Sweetie and Spike said at the same time, both giving Rarity a look of confusion. "Why would I take Spike with me to the party?"

"Yeah, I don't want to go to a lame party," Spike said with a huff, not noticing the glare Sweetie gave him. Rarity motioned for Spike to come over to her and quickly pulled him close.

"I don't want Sweetie to go to the party all alone, the bullies at school have been very hard on her lately. I also want somepony I trust to be there to keep an eye on things."

"I don't know..." Spike muttered.

"I'll let you help me clean the Carousel tomorrow," Rarity said as she gave him her pleading eyes.

"Alright Sweetie, let's go to that party," Spike said with a smile as he shot by her to open the door with a bow, Sweetie looking at Rarity with a sad glare as she headed out the door with a huff. Spike smiled to himself at his good fortune and the fact that he got to spend a full day with Rarity the next day as he closed the door behind him as he and Sweetie walked down the street.

"So why did you bother to come to the party?" Sweetie asked in an unfriendly tone, looking at Spike with suspicion in her eyes.

"Because Rarity asked me to," Spike said with a shrug, turning the ring again so that she wouldn't see it. "And a gentlecolt never refuses a request from a lady."

"Then why do I hear you and Twilight constantly argue?" Spike opened his mouth to answer, then realized what she was trying to do and quickly shut it, giving her a look this time as she giggled to herself.

"Yeah yeah. So what's this whole party about? I'm fairly certain that school for you girls doesn't end for a few more weeks," Spike said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well. since the me and the other CMC kinda ruined last year’s party, Cheerilee decided to throw a second party before the school year comes to an end so we can wreak this one," Sweetie said with a embarrassed smile. "But she made us promise this year that we wouldn't burn the park this time."

"This time?" Spike asked with a smile, having heard the horror stories from Twilight's friends enough times to know what the girls could do when they put their minds to something. The two of them eventually reached the Ponyville Park where a large number of foals were all playing, with a magenta pony trying to keep them all under control despite the futile battle that it was.

"Oh Sweetie Belle, there you are," Cheerilee said with a smile as she tried to help a filly out of the tree that she had managed to get herself into. "I thought you said that Rarity was coming with you today? Where is she?" Sweetie's face fell again and Cheerilee could guess why. "She's not going to show up, is she?"

"No and she stuck me with Spike instead."

"Hey, what's wrong with me?" Spike asked only to be ignored.

"Well, I'm certain that she has a good reason for it," Cheerilee said as she tried to cheer Sweetie up. "I think I see Applebloom and Scootaloo over there. How about you three go have fun without burning the park down." Sweetie looked to her friends who were under another tree with a smile, leaving Spike alone with Cheerilee with a frown.

"Now what am I supposed to do for another two hours?" Spike grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms.

"Well, you can go through the snack bar if you want," Cheerilee suggested, pointing her hoof towards a massive table filled with food and drinks. Spike's smile grew at the sight of it and he raced over to the table, stuffing his face with a number of treats and snacks. While he decimated the food, three little fillies started to prepare for what they were going to do.

"Alright girls, today will finally be the day that we get our cutie marks or die trying," Scootaloo said in a serious tone as the other two looked at her like she was crazy.

"Ah hope yer not being serious," Applebloom muttered as she leaned back against the tree they rested under, looking up through the leaves to the blue sky that rested above them. "Ah think that ah want to take a break from crusading today and just enjoy the day. It's not often that ah get to enjoy a day off from farm or school work."

"But these are our cutie marks!" Scootaloo argued as Sweetie Belle rested against the tree next to her friend and closed her eyes. "These are the sole reason we founded the CMC and the two of you are telling me that you'd rather just waste a perfect day like this away to relax? What happened to the brave crusaders I once knew?"

"They got tired of being yelled at by their teacher and decided not to burn down another park," Sweetie said as she half opened her eyes. "Besides, one day won't make any difference. Also, I don't really feel like crusading right now," she said in a sad tone that neither of her friends picked up on. Scootaloo went on for a few more minutes, but in the face of her friends laziness she eventually gave up and joined them resting under the tree. The other colts and fillies ran around while finding a number of ways for them to entertain themselves, despite the teacher trying to bring them together to do the games she had planned out. Hours passed while the ponies played and during that time Spike had completely destroyed the buffet by himself, also nearly doing the same to the punch bowl when he noticed that it had gotten darker all of a sudden. He stopped eating long enough to look into the sky to see dark rain clouds forming in the sky.

"Odd, the Pegasus ponies weren't supposed to have a rain storm today," Spike muttered through his stuffed cheeks as he looked at the clouds. "Wonder why they would suddenly change their minds all of a sudden?"

'This is not a natural occurrence,' the green ring said, causing Spike to become slightly worried. A natural disaster in a town where the ponies controlled everything was never a good sigh, especially with everything that had been going on as of late with the rings.

"Is this another one of the rings?" Spike whispered to the ring after looking around to make sure no pony had been looking at him. "Should I suit up?"

'...No, scans of the immediate area show no other ring nearby,' the ring said. 'But the wielder should be on guard in case something happens. I will alert you should any danger appear.' Spike nodded as he turned the ring back inside and looked up at the sky, watching with a frown as lightning crackled across it and the first signs of rain began to come down on them. The foals all groaned as they felt the rain drops hit them and Cheerilee decided that it was time to call it a day.

"I'm sorry my ponies, but it's a bad idea to play outside in the rain," she explained to them as they started to boo her for telling them to go home. "Now I trust that each of you can get home safely, but for those who can't I'll be willing to walk each of you home. Spike, would you please help clean up the snack table since you were the one who wrecked it?" Spike grumbled to himself about having to clean up the mess, especially since he couldn't use his ring, but he started to anyway as ponies around him began to leave. The CMC all said farewell to each other and Scootaloo and Applebloom each headed in their separate directions, while Sweetie Belle stood off to the side and waited for Spike to finish up.

"Well well, look who's all by herself," a cruel voice said from behind Sweetie Belle. Sweetie turned around to see that the two worst ponies in her class, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, were standing behind her with arrogant and cruel smiles on their faces. "What's a blank flank like you doing all alone? I thought that your sister was supposed to be here with you?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tiara asked in a whisper so that only the three of them (and Spike) could hear. "It's obvious that her sister doesn't love her anymore and sends her off so that she can finally have some peace and quiet. I don't blame her, why would anypony love a blank flank like you?" Sweetie gritted her teeth as the insults dug into her like knives, but refused to say anything back. Her sister had told her that a lady never responds with violence when she doesn't have to, only as a means of self-defense.

"My sister loves me no matter if I have my cutie mark or not," Sweetie said through her clenched teeth, closing her eyes and trying to ignore what they were saying. Over the past few weeks, these two bullies had singled Sweetie out from the rest of the CMC to target because of how sensitive she was.

"Why would she love you? You're nothing but a mess up who can't do anything right," Tiara said with venom in her voice that pierced through Sweetie Belle. "I've heard that you can't even cook without blowing up the kitchen. What use are you anyway?" Sweetie started to tear up as she closed her eyes to avoid looking at the two, trying to avoid looking into their evil eyes. Unbeknownst to the three ponies, Spike himself wasn't able to listen to these insults either as his claws trembled with rage at what they were saying to her. He wanted to do something so badly, but didn't know what. But as he looked down at the punch bowl in his claws and the green ring on his finger, a smile spread on his face as he figured out exactly what to do.

"Besides, it not like anypony really likes you besides those other two blank flanks you hang out with," Tiara continued. "All the colts in our class find you annoying and all of the fillies don't like you because of your sister. Really, it makes me wonder why you even bother showing up to class when all you can do is mess up." Sweetie bit her lip as the tears started to fall, the words beginning to get to her. Maybe Tiara was right and she wasn't any good. Maybe she really was hopeless-

SPLASH!

Tiara screamed as a punch bowl flew through the air and landed smack on top of her head, drenching her in fruit punch and knocked her to the ground. Silver Spoon immediately began to try and get the bowl off her head while Spike laughed to himself, the green claw he had used to throw the bowl receding into the ring.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Tiara screamed as she turned to face the laughing Spike, rage filling her eyes as well as the punch. "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" Spike stopped laughing as she said this and looked at her with rage in his eyes, causing the two to back away from him.

"Do you know what's one of the dumber things a pony can do?" Spike asked as he slowly walked up to them, glaring into their eyes. "Upset a dragon." As he said this he let loose a blast of fire from his mouth in front of the two fillies, both of whom screamed and ran as fast as their hooves could carry them away from Spike, yelling at him that they would get back at him. The dragon chuckled as they ran before looking down at Sweetie Belle, who was looking at him with both gratitude and confusion in her eyes.

"T-thanks for doing that," she said as she took the claw he offered and pulled her up. "But why did you do that? Twilight doesn't like it when you use you fire breath on other ponies."

"Eh, I just don't like bullies too much," Spike said with a shrug as he looked up at the sky, which was starting to rain harder on them. "Come on, let's get you home before this rain really starts to pour. I don't like getting my scales wet." Spike and Sweetie both started to run through the streets of Ponyville as the rain started to come down harder, so that by the time the two of them finally reached the Carousel Boutique both of them were completely soaked to the skin.

"Are you sure I can't invite you in until the rain passes?" Sweetie asked as she stood in the doorway to her home, Spike standing inside just enough so that the rain didn't hit him. "I don't want you to have to run home in this weather."

"I'll be fine, my fire keeps me warm," he said with a wave of his hand as he turned to leave, wanting to get home quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow when I come over to help Rarity. Oh, forget what those bullies told you. Just because you mess up doesn't mean that your sister doesn't love you or that you have no talents. It just takes time. Trust me, if Twilight hasn't kicked me out for all the times I've messed up I'm sure Rarity won't get rid of you. Bye."

"Hey Spike?" she called out, Spike coming to a stop and looking back at her. "Thanks...for saying that." He waved and ran off, Sweetie shaking her head with a smile at what he had said. She knew that he had messed up a few times with Twilight but that the two of them were still close, so why was she worrying about her own sister not wanting her.

"Sweetie, you can be so stupid sometimes," she said to herself as she closed the door, a smile spreading on her face. Spike smiled to himself when he saw the door close behind him since he was tired of standing in the rain. The moment he knew that Sweetie wasn't looking, he surrounded himself in a green aura that kept out the rain and kept him dry. That didn't stop him from running into somepony and falling over.

"Hey, watch where you're going shrimp!" the griffon Gilda yelled as Spike shook his head and got up. "I don't have time to deal with somepony like you. Y'know where Crash is?" When Spike shook his head, she growled and walked past him.

'Wonder what's in her feathers?' Spike thought before deciding he needed to get home quick. With a laugh he flew into the sky and back towards the library, cringing at the scolding he was going to get from Twilight when he got there. He landed on the doorstep and dried himself off the bet he could before placing a claw on the door and opening it, expecting Twilight to be there waiting for him. When she wasn't he figured that she was out doing something important and decided to head upstairs to sleep. He passed out in his bed the moment he laid down on it and slept through to the next morning, where he woke with a yawn and after charging the ring, headed downstairs to see if Twilight was back.

"Hey Twi, sorry I'm..." Spike's words died in his mouth as he saw not one, but two princesses sitting at the table, drinking tea and talking with each other as he came downstairs. "Celestia?"

"Hello young dragon," Celestia said with a smile. "Twilight tells me that you have quiet the tale for me. So, care to share it?"

IOI

In the storm that shook the town below it, a single red light could be seen sailing through the clouds towards a city in the far off distance. Nopony saw the light due to the dark clouds surrounding it, but as it passed overhead, ponies started to feel angry with each other for no reason that they could think of. But the ring never stopped for any of them, for there was only one the ring had in mind. A ring a crimson red.

Not So Secret

"I thought that you said that you weren't going to tell anypony!" Spike yelled as he threw his arms in the air, not believing that Twilight had broken her promise to him.

"By anypony I meant the ponies of this town! Of course I'm going to tell the leader of the land that my assistant has one of the most powerful and dangerous weapons that Equestria has ever seen!" Twilight shot back, rolling her eyes at the fact that Spike took this as a shock. She reported everything that happened to the princess, why would this be any different? And all the while the two argued Princess Celestia sat at Twilight's table drinking tea, looking back and forth between the two as they continued their heated debate.

"We agreed to keep this a secret! You promised that you wouldn't reveal the fact that I had the ring to anypony!" Spike said again with just as much annoyance. "And out of all the ponies you could have told, you tell the most powerful alicorn in all of Equestria who specializes in destroying anything that might hurt her subjects?! Twilight, if you hated me you just had to say so!"

"He has a point there, Twilight," Celestia said with a small smile.

"But I have to tell the princess Spike. You saw what one of those rings could do if they fell into the wrong hooves!" Twilight said, trying to reason with the dragon. "We are still repairing the town from the damage that was caused when your ring and the orange ring collided. She needs to know so that we can be ready in case another ring shows up."

"And what do you think of that Spike?" Celestia asked, secretly enjoying the debate. She should be in her castle right now discussing a new tax law with her advisors, something she greatly hated. So she took any excuse to escape the castle and a letter from Twilight saying that Spike had a dangerous weapon was a gift from the heavens.

"I think that she could have at least told me that she was going to tell you instead of leaving me in the dark like she normally does," Spike said with a huff as he sat down and folded his arms, avoiding looking at Twilight. "I'm really getting sick if being left out of the loop."

"I was going to tell you, but you didn't come back from Rarity's until after I had already sent the letter via derp mail," Twilight explained as she tried to get him to face her, but he turned away each time she tried to get close. "The other ring seemed to come for you along with the green one. With Celestia in the know, she can help keep you safe. Can't you see that I'm trying to help you?"

'She brings up valid points,' the green ring on Spike's right claw interjected.

"You stay out of it," Spike grumbled back, while Celestia raised her eyebrows at the fact that the ring could apparently talk.

"If I may," Celestia began as she placed her cup on the table and rose up, her regal appearance distracting the bickering duo long enough for her to speak. "I do agree with Twilight in saying that it was wise to alert me to the rings and their powers. When I saw the destruction the other day I thought that Sombra might be back again. However Twilight, you should have told Spike what you were planning to do before you did it. The two of you should be able to trust each other as a family, not having to argue about ever decision one of you makes. Now please apologize to each other." Spike rubbed his arm as a bit of guilt coursed through him while he looked at the floor, Twilight having similar feelings.

"...Sorry that I got mad at you Twilight. I just don't like not being told things," he said with guilt in his voice. Twilight sat behind him and wrapped a wing around his shoulder, pulling him into a hug.

"And I shouldn't have brought the princess down here without telling you," Twilight said as she gently nuzzled Spike. "I need to remember that you aren't as young as you used to be and I might need to start treating you as an adult dragon soon. Forgive me?"

"Sure." Celestia smiled as the two tightened their grip on each other as a certain owl who had just woken up fluttered down from his perch and landed on her should, looking at the two with somewhat bleary eyes.

"Hoo," he said with a small nod of his head.

"You said it," Celestia responded as the dragon and alicorn let go of each other, both facing her as she cleared her throat. "Now that the two of you have made up, may I please see the ring that has caused all this fuss?" Spike stood up and held out his right claw, allowing Celestia to bring her face close to his claw to see the green ring with the strange symbol in the center which caused her to furrow her brow. "Yes...this is definitely alien in design, but I have no clue as to where it might be from. Spike, in Twilight's report she said that you can do anything with the ring, correct? Can you give me a demonstration?" Spike nodded and pointed his ring in the air, smiling as Celestia's eyes widened when a small green dragon appeared and started to fly around the room.

"Pretty cool, huh?" he asked as Celestia blinked twice to make sure that she was seeing things clearly. "The ring told me that if I will it, it can happen. So far there hasn't been anything that I can't do with it, except get out of cleaning the library."

"Oh don't give me that, I only ask you to clean it once a week," Twilight shot back, the two of them starting to bicker again as Celestia held out a hoof to allow the small, snake like dragon to land on her hoof. She frowned slightly as the creature swayed back in fourth in her hoof, not liking the feel of it. It definitely felt foreign to her, like something that didn't belong in this world. Spike said something to Twilight that distracted him from the construct and the green dragon vanished from Celestia's hoof in a green light, leaving the alicorn princess worried.

"Twilight. Spike," Celestia said in her serious tone, causing the two to stop fighting and to turn their attention to her again. "I do not know what these rings are, but they are indeed a source of great power. Twilight, from what you told me Spike has been using the green one in a responsible manner, so I see no need to take it from him. I do want the orange one that was trapped by the Elements to come back with me to Canterlot for closer examination however. Is this okay with the two of you?"

"Sure, that rings caused nothing but trouble," Spike said with a frown, remembering how it had taken control of him.

"Hoo," Owlicious said as he floated near the clock, reminding the small dragon of a certain appointment that he needed to keep.

"GAH! I'm late for Rarity's again!" Spike said as he shot into the air and flew to the door, barely remembering to land before he threw the door open to leave. "By Twilight deal with this for me thanks bye!" he yelled all at once as he sprinted out the door and down the streets, leaving Twilight to growl in frustration.

"Sure, he'll run down the street as fast as he can to help Rarity, but the moment I need his help he'll do anything to get out of it," she grumbled as she levitated the ring covered in stone up from the basement, walking over to Celestia with it. "I know he likes her, but despite me raising him he won't race like that to reorganize some books for me. Why do you suppose that is?" Celestia gave Twilight no answer as she looked down at the small ring that floated before her, liking this one even less than the green one Spike had held. The green one had filled her with determination and the will to do, even making her think that the taxes weren't so hard. But this one was different, this one made her feel like she should take everything in the kingdom as her own. And that was with the Elements blocking out its true power.

"I do not know Twilight, but I hope that these are the only two of the rings that we have to deal with," Celestia muttered to herself as Owliscious sat back down on her shoulder, looking at the ring with a cold stare.

IOI

Spike hated running as he saw it as a pointless exercise that only ponies that couldn't fly or be carried someplace else should have to do, but he had no issues running as fast and tiringly as he could to his beloved. Any fatigue he had melted away when he saw her beautiful eyes and majestic mane. So he didn't care that all the ponies looked at him funny as he zipped in between them or that he occasionally stepped in a mud hole that slowed him down. It was all worth it. In fact, he could feel his fatigue already beginning to fade away when he saw the front doors of the Carousel and from the quick glimpses of a white mare running back and forth inside, he knew that Rarity was there.

"Rarity, I'm here!" Spike sang as he threw open the doors and ran inside, a huge smile crossing his face when he saw Rarity turn to look at him with relief spreading across her face.

"Oh Spikey-Wikey, thank heavens that you are here," she said as she rushed up to him, her mane once again frizzled and the bags under her eyes telling him that she had gotten no sleep again. "I desperately need your help."

"I live to serve," he said in a deep voice as he bowed. "What do you need?"

"Well, I was going to reorganize all of my material today, but then I remembered that I had Pinkie promised Pinkie that I would help her decorate the Cake's store since it has finally been rebuilt from that horrendous fire. And you know what would happen if I broke a Pinkie promise, don't you?" Spike shivered and held both his claws to his ears as he tried to silence the screams that echoed across his memory.

"I remember," he said in a whisper as the ghost went away, shaking silently.

"Then you'll reorganize the place for me?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Go help Pinkie." Rarity gave a squee of delight and shot out of the Boutique, leaving Spike to look around the room with a look of pain on his face. It looked like two tornados had hit the place and decided that they didn't like any of Rarity's things, since practically everything she owned was thrown around the room. "Spike, why do you keep getting yourself into these kinds of messes?" he asked himself as he pointed his ring at the first clump of fabrics, willing a claw to pick them up for him. He sighed as he created a second claw that pulled open a drawer where he began to place the fabrics inside one at a time by color.

"I swear that this ring makes everything easier," he muttered to himself with a small smile as he continued to work, quickly doing what would take him an hour in a little under ten minutes. "How I organized the library on a weekly basement without you is just-" Spike spun around with his ring claw extended as his eyes looked around the room, listening closely for a sound. He thought that he had heard something from the room, but he wasn't sure. "Ring, scan the room and tell me if there is anything alive in here." The ring let out a green light that slowly went around the entire room, not missing an inch of it.

'No other life forms detected,' it eventually said, allowing Spike to let loose a sigh of relief.

'Must've been my imagination,' he thought to himself as he went back to work, stacking boxes as he saw fit and fixing pictures that had somehow managed to get themselves lodged in the ceiling. He wondered sometimes how the place got that messy when the owner could be so artistic and find the perfect place for every strand of silk. He had to use multiple green claws to pick up all the pieces of paper of flawed designs, but he figured that he was just about finished with the-

TINK!

Spike swung his head to the side so quickly that he was certain that he had given himself whiplash, but that wasn't his biggest concern at the moment. What all his attention was focused on was the small white filly that was standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at him with a hot water bottle on her head and a towel that was wrapped around her body, a thermometer lying on the ground from where it had fallen from her awe struck mouth. Spike didn't know if his or Sweetie's eyes were wider at the moment, but he did know that her eyes were on the multiple green claws that were holding up the pieces of paper.

'It seems that you have been found out,' the ring said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Oh my Celestia," Sweetie whispered as she slowly walked forward, sliding the water bottle off of her head and looking up at the green claws that followed her with nothing but awe on her face. "You're the Emerald Dragon!" she screamed excitedly, before a bolt of realization hit her. "...Of course you’re the Emerald Dragon, you're the only dragon in all of Ponyville. How did we miss that? Oh who cares, you're a superhero!"

"Sweetie, I know that this must be a big shock and that you want to go tell everypony about it, but you need to promise me that you won't," Spike said quickly, retracting all of the claws back into the ring and rushing to the windows to close the blinds. He spun around once he had done so and glared down at his ring.

"What the heck ring? You said that there wasn't any other life in the room?!"

'There wasn't. You asked me to scan the room for life and I did so. You did not ask me to scan the entire structure.' Spike slammed is face into his hand as the ring said this, but he had to focus on the fact that another pony had figured out what he had. He looked up at Sweetie Belle, who seemed to be trying (and failing) to contain her excitement.

"I can't believe that the only dragon I know happens to be the new hero in Equestria!" she squealed as she started to bounce up and down excitedly with a huge smile on her face. "Rarity is going to freak when she finds out! I can't wait to-"

"Sweetie," Spike interrupted quickly before she could finish that train of thought. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anypony about what you found out."

"Why?" she asked in confusion. "If I was a hero I'd want everypony to know. You're everyponies hero! Heck, you're my hero!"

"I know that it would be cool but...I just want it kept secret for a while, until I'm ready to tell the others. Can you please keep it a secret?" Spike asked, practically begging at this point. The green ring was the only good thing to happen to him in a while and while Twilight and Celestia might be fine with him having it, he wasn't so sure that the others would be, especially after the incident with the orange him. Sweetie placed a hoof under her chin and thought about it for a minute, a minute that Spike had to spend waiting while wringing his tail in his claws.

"...Alright, I'll keep it a secret," she eventually agreed, letting Spike sigh in relief. "But..." she began quickly as she walked up to him with a smile on her face. "I want you to show me how the ring works. Or else I may let it slip that Spike is-"

"Okay, I'll show you," Spike grumbled as a question came to mind. "Why are you here anyway? Don't you have school today?"

"Yeah, but I woke up with a bad cold this morning, thanks to the rain we both got stuck in last night," she said with a bit of a cough as she pointed to the hot water bottle that lay on the floor. "Ugh...and now that the adrenaline’s worn off, I'm starting to feel terrible again. Whatever, just show me how the ring works!" Spike sighed and willed the ring to construct Twilight.

"The ring works by willing whatever you want to appear," he said as the full scale Twilight walked up to the amazed Sweetie and smiled before vanishing in a green light. "As long as I have the will to do something, the ring will do it."

"That is so cool! Can I try?" she asked him with a huge smile.

"Sorry, but the ring only works for a pony who it's chosen," Spike said quickly, glad that the ring had that rule or else he'd have to hand a weapon of unbelievable power to one of the filly's known for her destructive powers. "And I'm the only pony...dragon that it has chosen. So even if I gave the ring to you, it wouldn't work." Spike felt a quick twinge of guilt at the lie, but Sweetie staggered a bit and would have fallen over if he hadn't caught her.

"Ugh, I'm not feeling so well," she said weakly as she struggled back to her hooves. Spike rolled his eyes and figured that the sudden shock of finding out his identity had drained her. So he used the ring to construct a green bed for her to rest on as he walked her back up the stairs and to her room, placing her gently back in her bed with a shake of his head.

"Okay, you should probably rest up for a day or two. Trust me, when Twilight works herself to the point where she collapses, rest is the only answer." Sweetie mumbled in response and rolled over in her bed before she began to snore, telling Spike that it was time to leave. He left the room and closed the door behind him, sighing again as he looked down at the green ring.

"And another pony figures out that I have you. Can't you make yourself invisible or something?" he asked it.

'I have no such feature.'

"I figured as much. Come one, let's head home. I've picked up and I really don't feel like waiting for Rarity right now," Spike said as he headed down the stairs and for the door, never seeing the small smile that Sweetie had fallen asleep with.

IOI

Spike had thought that he had reached a new low upon being found out so easily and that his day couldn't get any worse. As usual, he was wrong. Upon leaving the Carousel, he had decided to clear his head by using the ring to fly, something that he hoped would clear his head. In a flash of green light he had donned the green suit of his corp and had taken to the skies, flying over the town and looking down on the ponies below, making sure that he made his light bright enough so that they could see him. A lot of the ponies waved to him, most of the foals actually tried to chase after him with excitement, but soon gave up when they realized that it was pointless. But just as he had expected, some of the ponies looked around at the destruction of their village and looked up at him with a less than friendly gaze, telling him that not all was forgiven.

'You'll have to find a way to make up to them Spike,' he thought to himself as he looked ahead to what looked like trouble. In the center of town, a griffon that he hadn't seen in a long time was yelling at a group of ponies that were cowering from her wrath. Spike was about to interfere when he saw a blur of rainbow below as a certain mare decided to get involved.

"Don't you get tired of being a bully, Gilda?" Rainbow Dash asked as she skidded to a stop in front of Gilda, who looked down at the rainbow mare with a growl.

"Get out of her Crash, I don't have time to see your ugly mug," Gilda growled as she went to walk by RD, but the mare moved in front of her with a defiant glare.

"I don't like it when you pick on others Gilda. Didn't you learn your lesson last time?" Rainbow asked with a growl as she cracked her shoulders in preparation of a fight. Gilda growled and leaned her face in close to Rainbows so that she was glaring into her eyes.

"Out of my way."

"No." Gilda growled and brought her claws back to strike down Dash, but a gasp escaped from both her and the ponies that had gathered around as a green clamp attached itself to her arm. All of the ponies and griffon turned to see the green clad figure float down in front of them, pointing his ring at Gilda's arm.

"You don't want to do this," he said in a deeper voice than his own, watching as Gilda struggled to break free.

"No...green wearing freak is going to hold me down," she grunted as she started slashing at the clamp with her other paw, but the construct held strong and refused to break. "I will break free!"

"By all means try. I have all day," the Emerald Dragon said with a smug smile, watching as Gilda tried to break free with no success. When she came to the realization that she couldn't get free, she looked at the Dragon and Rainbow with loathing in her eyes.

"Let me go," she growled.

"Not unless you promise to leave now," the Dragon responded, tightening the clamp to tell her that this was not open for debate. Gilda begrudgingly agreed and the Emerald Dragon released the clamp, allowing Gilda to turn around and skulk out of the town with one last glare at him before she left. Once she was gone, the ponies all gathered around him and started to thank him, but RD pushed her way to the front and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Thanks for the help, but don't think I've forgotten what happened the other day," she said with a hint of a threat in her voice. "You caused a lot of damage."

"And I'll make up for it," the Dragon said before he pointed his ring to the sky and flew off, leaving a green trail behind him as he did so. He came to a stop above the clouds, sighing as he sat down on one of them. "Well Rainbow doesn't like me."

'You did destroy her home,' the ring said. 'Why did you interfere when she had the situation under control?'

"I just want to try and make up for what I did," Spike said with a sigh. "Hope Gilda's not too mad."

'Ring in need of recharge.'

"Shut up."

IOI

"Stupid, no good, HERO!" Gilda spat as she slammed her paw into a tree, hearing the bark crack from the force of the blow. "Rainbow takes away my status as top griffon in Ponyville and now a hero takes my pride! He thinks he's so high and mighty with that special ring of his, but he's nothing. If I had a ring like that, I’d show both him and that rainbow mane loser who the real strongest was!" Gilda continued to grumble to herself as she walked further away from Ponyville, not coming to a stop until she noticed something floating down the road from her. "Wait a minute, is that...one of those rings?" She screamed as the red ring flew up to her and came to a stop in front of her, as if scanning her for a reason.

'Gilda of Equis, you have a great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.' Before she could say anything in response, the ring shot onto her front paw and attached itself to one of her fingers, letting out a crimson red light as it did so. She looked down at it in confusion before a brief second before she screamed in pain and fell to the ground, clutching at her heart with one paw. Agony surged through her body as it felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest, causing her to begin to cough up blood. She knelt on the ground vomiting blood for only a few seconds before the pain began to fade a bit, allowing her to slowly get back up. The pain had not completely gone away, but she just no longer cared about it. Only one thing went through her head right now.

Rage.

Gilda turned with a snarl to the town that she had just been kicked out of, remembering the two that had done it. She let loose a beastly roar to skies before throwing herself towards the town, the all-consuming rage flowing through her body.

'Burn them all with your hate.'

All Consuming Rage

Spike had just arrived back at the library to recharge his ring when he first heard the screaming coming from the town. He muttered something about the ponies going five minutes before he shot back out the front door, his lantern still grasped in his claw. He came to a stop at the scene, stopping dead in the air as he took in what he saw.

"Is that...Gilda?" he asked nopony in disbelief as he saw the red griffon destroying everything in sight. She laughed as she spat out a torrent of red energy onto the house, corroding them as she shot back into the sky. "What happened to her? And is that...another one of those rings?"

'She is a red lantern now, those who have been consumed by their rage,' the ring explained to him as he watched. 'They are powered by rage and tend to lose their minds to their hate once under the influence of the ring. Be careful, red lanterns are extremely dangerous. Ring at twenty percent.' Spike aimed his ring at her to hopefully take her down in one shot, but the griffon spun to face him and snarled at the green dragon.

"So, you finally bothered to show up?" she snarled with an evil smile, glaring at him through hate filled eyes. "You thought you were so tough when you were the only one with those rings, but now I've got one too. And I'm a lot stronger than you!"

"Gilda, you're not thinking straight, the ring is influencing you," Spike said, trying to reason with her. But his efforts were wasted when she vomited a torrent of red energy at him, which he moved to the side to dodge. She roared and threw herself at him, bolts of red shooting out of her ring. Spike dodged out of the way of the bolts before summoning a giant claw to grab her. "Gilda, that ring is making you hurt ponies and destroy their homes! You have to snap out of it!"

'It is no use. Once the ring is on, they will be consumed by their rage, one way or another,' the ring said as Gilda broke apart the claw with a burst of red energy. 'Nineteen percent.'

"I know exactly what I'm doing!" she roared as she flung herself at him, tackling him in midair and knocking the lantern out of his left claw, but he couldn't go after it as he had to focus on avoiding the beak that was going for his eyes. He slammed a wall of green into her face and drove her into the ground, where she struggled to escape.

"You can't beat me Gilda, I've had this ring longer than you," he said, trying to think of something that would make her give up. But all his words did was make her angrier, so angry that she was able to push the green construct off of her before shooting out from underneath of it, firing more red energy out of her beak towards him. He created a shield to defend himself, but when the red energy hit, he found that it began to eat away at his construct.

"What the heck ring?" Spike yelled as he moved out of the way of more red energy. "I thought these constructs were unbreakable!"

'The red lantern energy can eat through my green energy,' it said as Spike slammed Gilda in the face with a boxing glove, sending her crashing through a number of stands. 'It can also eat through the thin energy that protects you from attack.'

"And you didn't tell me this before I started fighting a red lantern?!" Spike yelled at it as he shot off, Gilda following him with a roar.

'You did not ask for such information.'

"You really can get me to hate you, you know that?" Spike growled at the ring as he picked up the statue of the mayor in a green claw and chucked it at Gilda, who dissolved it with her red energy.

'I am a green ring, I cannot make you hate. That would be the red ring you are currently battling.' Spike swore the ring was doing this on purpose, but that thought was sent to the back of his mind when Gilda slammed into his back, sending the both of them skidding across the ground, kicking up dirt and debris as they did so. Spike was the first back to his feet and he created a giant hammer over Gilda's head, driving it down upon the griffon with authority. He picked it out of the crater and drove it home again, repeating this action two more times until he was fairly certain that Gilda was done.

"Give up yet Gilda?" he asked the crushed griffon in the crater, but she roared with a savagery that Spike hadn't heard in her before and she sent tendrils of red energy towards him. He counted with a barrier, but one of the tendrils managed to snake around and latch onto his ring hand.

'Power levels at fifteen percent. Twelve percent,' the ring began to say, causing Spike's eyes to go wide before he shot into the air and dragged Gilda along with him. He then swung the griffon on the end of his hand into the ground, where her red lasso broke and freed him. He placed a green cage around Gilda, but knew that wouldn't hold her long. 'Power level at seven percent.'

'This isn't good,' he thought to himself as he began to look around for where he had dropped the Lantern. Ponies below him were running around in a panic and through the hundreds of legs he could see vaguely what looked like a green lantern getting kicked around. 'Okay, there it is. Now how do I get it without letting Gilda go?' He didn't need to worry about keeping Gilda trapped, since she used the red energy coming from her mouth to burn through the cage bars. Spike turned too late to stop the griffon that was charging towards him, but a blur of rainbow slammed into the side of the griffon and sent her crashing into the side of a building.

"And now she has one of those rings?!" Rainbow Dash asked in shock as Gilda pulled herself out of the hole in the building, turning her head to see the Emerald Dragon floating beside her. "Hey dragon, aren't you going to take her ring? That's how you stopped the orange you, right?" It had crossed Spike's mind to take her ring, but with his current level of energy, he wasn't sure if he could last in a drawn out battle with her. And since Gilda's ring was fueled by her rage, he figured that Dash showing up would only make her stronger.

"DDDAAASSSSHHHH!!" Gilda roared, the fire coming from her mouth blazing even hotter confirming Spike's fears. She threw herself at the two of them and plowed right through the shield Spike put around Dash and himself. Dash shot off and Gilda streaked after her, giving Spike a moment to regain his balance. But that moment quickly passed as he wobbled and fell to the ground, his shield surrounding him preventing him from breaking anything as he hit.

'Power levels at three percent,' the ring said in a softer voice, telling Spike that he was in trouble. He got back to his feet as he heard the sounds of hooves running behind him and he turned to see Twilight and the others run up to him.

"Are you alright?!" Twilight asked him, resisting the urge to call out by his name. Spike opened his mouth to answer before he heard a shriek and an explosion of red went off in the distance.

"Rainbow is battling Gilda, who now has a red ring," he said quickly, causing the Elements to gasp in unison. "I'll go help in a minute, but there's something I have to do first so just buy me as much time as you can."

"What could be so important that you'd leave fighting a...one of you to Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked in disbelief, but Twilight placed a hoof across her chest before looking at Spike.

"Alright, we'll buy you as much time as we can," she said before flying off towards the battle, the other Elements giving Spike a look before they followed her. Spike frowned as he watched them go before turning and running towards where he had last seen his lantern, coming out into the streets to still see the ponies panicking.

"Why don't they ever run away from the danger?" he muttered to himself before a smile crossed his face as he saw the lantern lying in the center of the road. He ran towards it and was just about to reach out for it when he heard a roar, causing him to look up to see Gilda crushing Twilight with her red energy lasso. Spike looked down at the ring that barely had any charge left before taking aim at the griffon and firing a blast into the back of her head, causing her to turn towards him with a snarl.

"Not my best idea," he muttered to himself as she tossed Twilight aside and lunged at him as he turned for the lantern, kicking it away from his grasp as she landed in front of him.

"You're so dead," she snarled at him as he raised his ring to shoot her, only to hear it say,

'Power levels...zero...' Spike's suit faded away as the last of his rings energy left him, leaving the baby dragon standing before the rage filled griffon without means of defense.

"Well, this is awkward," he said before Gilda picked him up and glared at him.

"YOU?! You're the Emerald Dragon?!" she asked with disgust before an angry smile spread across her face. "No, you WERE the Emerald Dragon," she said as she brought her claw back. Spike swallowed nervously as his eyes widened, but before Gilda could strike the final blow, a bolt of purple magic blew her away from Spike and sent her crashing through the side of a building.

"You will not TOUCH him!" Twilight yelled at Gilda as she continued to send more magic blasts into the griffon. Spike wanted to thank her, but he spent that time looking for the lantern instead. He spotted it rolling down the street and with a groan he ran after it, picking up speed when he heard Gilda fight her way out of the rubble. As he sprinted down the street after the rolling lantern, he was aware of the fact that the lantern was heading for a cliff at the edge of the town.

"Why is there even a cliff there?!" he yelled as he realized that he wouldn't get to the lantern in time. "And why does this always happen to me?" What made matters even worse was that Gilda had incapacitated Twilight and was looking around for him, so he was doubly screwed. He was wondering if he should dive off the cliff after the battery and hope he could recharge before he hit the ground when a white filly jumped out onto the lantern and managed to stop it. "SWEETIE!" Spike said before he doubled over, trying to catch his breath as Sweetie rolled his lantern over to him.

"Lose something?" she asked him with a smile as he did his best to thank her. Another shriek of rage was heard and the two of them looked back to see that Gilda had spotted Spike again and was hurling herself at them. Spike saw this only for a second before he had lifted the lantern and ran as fast as he could, placing the ring against the light as he said as fast as he could,

"InbrightestdayinblackestnightnoevilshallescapemysightletthosewhoworshipevilsmightbewaremypowerGREENLANTERNSLIGHT!" He spun around as he finished the oath and swung the lantern right into the side of Gilda's head, sending the red griffon into the ground. He smiled as the ring blazed with green energy and his suit returned, allowing him to float over the griffon with a smile as she pulled her head out of the ground.

"Okay, so you managed to get me at a bad time for round one," he said with a smirk as he spun the lantern around with one finger. "But's let try this again." He tossed the lantern into the air before constructing a giant battering ram, which he then introduced to Gilda's face. The griffon was sent hurtling off the side of the cliff and into the trees below as Spike caught his lantern, wondering what to do with it.

'Can't just fly home and leave Gilda out here on her own, who knows what would happen,' he thought to himself before spotting Sweetie Belle back where she had given him the lantern. With a smile he flew back over to her, knowing how he could get the lantern home. "Hey Sweetie can you do me a quick favor and take this to the library thanks bye!" he said quickly before flying off towards the griffon, while Sweetie looked at the lantern still trying to figure out what Spike had just said.

"I will kill you dragon and tear your heart from your chest!" she snarled as she sent tendrils of energy at him, but before they got close to him they were struck down by a beam of rainbow energy. "The Elements," Gilda said with a snarl as she turned to face the six ponies that were glowing with power, taking just a second to roar before she threw herself towards them. Spike constructed a pair of hoof cuffs that he wrapped around Gilda before attaching the other end to a building. The Elements began their magic, but Gilda broke through the cuffs with her energy and sent bolts of red energy towards the six, forcing them to scatter.

"Darn it! Emerald Dragon! Can you keep her still?" Twilight called out to Spike as he tried crushing Gilda under a book. "We need her to stay still if we want to get her with the Elements!"

"We gee Twilight, her I was just fine with letting her fly around and shoot lasers at me and what do you think I'm trying to do?!" he yelled back at her as Gilda caught him in the chest with a blast, sending him flying across town. He righted himself in the air and shot back towards the battle, but ran into a hammer that Gilda had constructed with her ring. "Okay, that's new," he muttered to himself.

'Some red lanterns are capable of using constructs, but only those with intense willpower,' the ring said. 'Or in the presence of a blue lantern.'

"I am tired of being a joke around here," Gilda said with a bit more control than she had a moment ago. "And I am tired of being second rate to a pony who dye’s her mane! So I'm going to...AAARRRRGGHHH!" she roared before throwing herself back into battle with the same intensity she had just a moment ago. Spike created a baseball bat that he used to swing for the fences, surprised when Gilda didn't construct something to defend herself with.

"Didn't she create a hammer just a moment ago?" Spike asked in confusion as Gilda landed in the square, creating a small crater with her impact. "Why didn't she make a shield?"

'She has lost control of her sense again,' the ring answer. 'I am curious to how she regained them for that brief time in the first place.' Spike couldn't think about it long as Gilda began to pull herself out of the crater and he sensed an opportunity to attack. Before she could fully regain her sense, he pulled two light posts out of the ground and wrapped them around the griffon, picking her up with his ring and throwing her in front of Twilight.

"Do it Twilight!" Spike yelled at her, Twilight nodding as she and the other Elements took up their positions. Gilda managed to break free just as they finished the spell, but instead of getting out of the way she threw herself right at them, taking a blast from the Storm of Harmony for her efforts. She screamed in fury as she tried to fight it, but the stone quickly began to form around her, trapping her within it. Spike let out a sigh as he floated down to the ground, the Elements walking towards him.

"Well that went better than last time," Pinkie said with a smile before getting glared down by the others.

"What happened to Gilda?" Twilight asked Spike. "Why was she wearing a red one of those rings?"

"I have no idea why she was wearing it, but my best guess is because she had a great rage in her heart," Spike answered as he looked at the stone griffon. "That's apparently what fuels a red lantern. Rage."

"Red Lantern?" Twilight asked in disbelief as she placed a hoof to her head with shock. "But I thought you said that there were only two of these rings! How could there possibly be more!?"

"How am I supposed to know? I just use the thing," Spike said in his defense. Twilight had to sit down for a moment as the other Elements looked to the stone statue.

"It was just two he said, no more," Twilight muttered to herself.

"That's what this stupid ring told me," Spike muttered.

'You never asked how many corps there were,' it answered, causing Spike to growl.

"Okay wise guy, how many-?"

"Did she just move?" Rainbow asked. All eyes turned towards the statue, each thinking RD had to be seeing something. When it didn't move for a moment, they all thought she had just thought it moved, but then red cracks began to form all along the stone.

"That can't be! Nopony can break free of the Elements!" Twilight said as she backed away. With an explosion of red, Gilda broke free of the stone, snarling at all of the ponies. Spike acted first by constructing a wall that he used to push her back.

"Any ideas?" he asked the ponies as Gilda began to eat her way through the shield.

"Get rid of the ring," Rainbow said. "That's how we stopped the orange dragon and I'll bet my Wonderbolt tickets that's how will stop Gilda! She wasn't this much of a pain before she put on the ring."

'Actually, there is something you should know about red lantern rings,' Spike's ring began, but he shushed it as he deflected a blast of red. With no other plan to go on, Spike tried using his construct to grab the ring off of Gilda's finger, but she snapped the construct in two with her red energy.

"No good, I won't be able to get it as long as she has the red barrier around herself," Spike said as he forced himself to strengthen the barrier. "I'll need one of you to get it while I keep her back!" RD nodded and shot over towards Gilda, but was knocked back by a red whip. Gilda finally managed to push through the green barrier and flew at Twilight, grabbing the unicorn by horn and driving her into the ground.

"This will be your fates!" she roared as she began to stomp on Twilight, who cried out in pain as the red energy began to eat away at her. Spike roared with a rage of his own and straight up punched Gilda in the face, knocking her back a few steps and off of Twilight. "You are weak without that ring! I am bigger and I am stronger than you!"

"You think you're bigger?! You think you're stronger?!" Spike roared as he looked down at his ring, allowing all of his will to flood into it. With a roar the green light began to wrap around him, causing him to grow bigger and bigger until he towered over Gilda as the Emerald Dragon, who glared down at Gilda through green eyes. "You know nothing of power!" he roared as he drove his fist down upon her. Gilda tried to intercept with her red energy, but the green fist was too large for her to dissolve all at once and she was crushed by it.

"I am stronger and faster and BETTER than all of you!" Gilda roared as she broke through the green fist, flying into the sky over Ponyville. The Emerald Dragon bent over as his massive wings began to unfold, allowing him to take to the skies much faster than Gilda was. He met her in the skies over the town, where she rained red fire down upon him. The Emerald Dragon held out a hand and allowed the fire to strike it, only somewhat dissolving the hand.

"My turn," he said as he opened his maw and let loose a torrent of green flame down upon the griffon, whose personal shielding barely protected her from the fires that now consumed her.

"You will burn with my hate!" she screamed as she created a spear of red energy and hurled it at the Emerald Dragon, who deflected the blow with one of his wings. He shot out a claw and grabbed Gilda with it, bringing the griffon close enough so that she had to look into his eyes.

"You have endangered the lives of those who reside in this town and those everywhere. As a member of the Green Lantern Corps, it is my duty to bring you down," he said with authority. Gilda broke free of the claw and circled above him, sending more tendrils of energy into the Emerald Dragon who never flinched from the attacks.

"Your authority means nothing! My wrath is absolute!" she screamed as she create a giant red claw and dove towards the dragon, screaming with rage as she did so. The Emerald Dragon chuckled as she dove at him before he vanished into green energy, causing Gilda to miss wildly with her attack. The moment she let her guard down in confusion, Spike fired a beam of green energy into her ring finger, severing it from her hand. She howled in fury as the red energy began to leave her and head back into the ring as the both of them fell to the ground.

"Gotcha!" Spike said with a smile as he created a pillow for Gilda to land on before she hit the ground, placing her down next to the ponies as he caught the ring as well. "One ring for the princess and one griffon for anger management, just as ordered," he said with a smirk as he tossed the ring to Twilight, who caught it with her magic.

"Alright girls, you know what to do with this," Twilight said as she channeled power through her Element, the other six following suit. The ring glowed red and started to float back to Gilda, but the Elements came crashing down upon it before it could reach her. Despite its resistance to magic, the Elements were still strong enough to encase it in stone and prevent it from moving; meaning all it could do was fall to the ground.

"And that's the end of that," Twilight said as she picked up the ring, all of the Elements walking over to the Emerald Dragon. They all congratulated him except for Fluttershy, who went to check on Gilda.

"Got to admit hero, that was pretty impressive," Rainbow said with a smile.

"Yes, thank goodness that we had a noble hero such as yourself there to protect us," Rarity said with a sigh of longing as she batted her eyelashes at him. Spike blushed in embarrassment before Twilight looked towards him with a sigh.

"I'm just glad that everyponies alright," she said, before a cry was heard from Fluttershy over by Gilda. The ponies all rushed over to their friend, who was pushing her hooves against Gilda's chest with tears falling down her face. "Fluttershy, what's happening?" Twilight asked as Fluttershy began giving Gilda mouth to beak.

"Her heart's stopped beating!" she exclaimed in between CPR attempts, trying with all of her might to keep the griffon alive. Twilight started to give out orders on what to do before Fluttershy let out a small sob and sat back on her hooves, tears streaming from her eyes.

"There's nothing I can do," she said sobbing. "She's dead." All of the ponies were dumbstruck by this and looked down at the unmoving body of Gilda, who's eyes still looked at them with rage within them. Spike used his claw to close her eyes and shuddered when he felt how body felt.

"How did this happen?" AJ asked. "Sp-The Dragon caught her before she hit the ground! She shouldn't have died from losing a finger!"

'That is what I was trying to say,' the ring said, all eyes turning towards it. 'When a red lantern takes on the ring, the red energy replaces all the blood in their body and takes the place of their heart. When you remove the ring, they will die not long after. That is the curse of their rage.' None of the ponies had anything they could say to this, all they could do was look down in horror at the red ring encased in stone.

IOI

"Are we there yet? I want it!"

"If you don't be quiet, I swear I'll-!"

"Calm down, he's just impatient. His copy didn't vanish after the twenty-four hours and now he wants to get it back, so just put up with him for now. The ring's in frontier space, so it's going to take a bit of time to find it."

"How long? I don't know how much longer I can put up with him...look, he's trying to take the toilet now."

"Your turn to stop him. And it's a week at most. I have a few stops I want to make and then we'll find the orange ring."

Questioning Oneself

Once again Ponyville had to clean up the mess after the battle between the two ring wielders, but unlike the last battle there was only one casualty this time and it was that one casualty that had Twilight run straight home with it so she could try to figure out more about the red ring of rage. She spent the better part of a day and a half on it, working around the clock. But just like the orange one that Celestia had taken, she found that it was almost completely immune to any kind of magic that she used on it and she couldn't observe it closer without freeing it from the power of the Elements, which, according to the green ring, means that it would fly off and seek a new host.

"And that's probably the last thing we need right now," she said for the tenth time to Spike, who was floating in the air beside her while watching her work.

"And I don't know if I could battle another red lantern right now, especially after...Gilda."

"Spike, her death wasn't your fault," Twilight said to him as she tried a calming spell on the stone ring, only to have the same results happen once again. Nothing. "You didn't know that the red ring would kill its wearer and Gilda was trying to destroy us. You protected us and-"

"But that's just it Twilight, I should have known that the ring would do that," Spike said bitterly as he floated to the ground, looking down at the green ring. "This ring was going to tell me about the red lantern ring and I ignored it, so it's my fault that Gilda's gone. I should have been more careful...I should have listened." Twilight sighed and looked up from her experiments to Spike, who was constructing things at random to try and take his mind off of what happened.

"Why don't you go see Rarity?" Twilight suggested. "That always cheers you up."

"How can I face her right now?" he said as he walked up the stairs towards the main room. "I can't even face myself." Twilight sadly watched him go and wished that there was something she could do to help him, but she knew that he needed to be alone for now. What was bugging her is how many of those rings had showed up shortly after Spike had gotten his.

'Could it be that all the rings are gathering here for some reason?' she thought to herself as she went back to experimenting on the red ring. 'Or maybe we just got unlucky and became the place where all of them are heading to? I should ask Spike, or his ring rather, how many of those damned corps there are. So far I've seen three and it mentioned a fourth, but what are the blue lanterns?' While she continued to work, Spike had gone upstairs to his bed, where he lay looking up at the ceiling, still not able to remove the image of Gilda lying dead on the ground, cold as the grave.

"It's all my fault," he said with an angry sigh as he moved his hand in front of his face, looking at the green ring on it. "If you had chosen Twilight like you were supposed to, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have become the orange lantern and Gilda would still be alive."

'You do not know that for certain,' the ring said.

"But you do," he snarled back. "You even said that I was the second choice to Twilight, that she was the perfect choice to be a lantern. I'm just a replacement."

'Lanterns get replaced all the time,' the ring responded. 'When a lantern dies, the ring seeks out who next has the will to wield its power. It has been that way ever since the guardians created the rings.'

"Yeah, whatever," Spike said as he reached up with his other hand and took the ring off, wondering if it was luck that he had been given a green one instead of red. If he had tried that with the red ring, he'd be dead now. "So what were you saying to me when I first found you? That I had the power to overcome great what?"

'Fear,' the ring answered. 'You have the power to overcome great fear.'

"And you're taking to the dragon who's scared of his own shadow sometimes," he said in a snarky tone as he put the ring on the small table next to him, getting up and looking out the window. "Are you sure that you picked the right backup lantern? Wouldn't Applejack or Rainbow Dash be a better choice than me?"

'I know who I pick,' the ring said. 'You have the will.' Spike shook his head a bit at that, but he turned towards the ring and reached out to grab it, finding to his amazement that when he reached for the ring it flew onto his finger, turning him into the Emerald Dragon.

"I didn't know you could do that," he muttered.

'If you will for me to come, I will.' Spike turned off the costume as he heard a knocking at the door, figuring that Twilight would be too busy to grab it. So he ran down to the library entrance and opened the door, shocked to see Sweetie Belle standing there.

"Oh, hey Sweetie," he said with little emotion. "What's up?"

"You okay? You don't sound too good?" she asked.

"Fine. Just tired from yesterday," he lied.

'That is a lie.'

"Stow it. So Sweetie, what can I do for you? I take it you need a book or something on whatever crusade you're going on today?" he asked, but raised an eyebrow suspiciously when she smiled at him.

"Actually, I came here so that you could repay me a favor. You know, since I lugged that giant, green lantern all across the town yesterday while you battled the red griffon," she said innocently, but Spike knew that she was playing the guilt card.

"What do you need?" he asked her with a sigh of defeat, not feeling like arguing.

"Just a quick favor," she said with a smile. "Something that only the Emerald Dragon can do." He was afraid that she would say that, but once he looked around to make sure that nopony was looking he thrust his ring into the air, the green costume materializing upon his body.

"Okay, what do you need?" he asked once he was in costume.

"I kinda...knocked over the clubhouse," she said innocently, but Spike still looked at her dumbstruck.

"How?"

"Not important. Let's go fix it!" she yelled into the air as she ran towards the CMC clubhouse. Spike shook his head as he flew past her, placing her in a green sphere as he flew by to carry her to the clubhouse, wanting to make this as quick as possible. They reached the clubhouse in seconds and Spike withdrew the sphere once he had landed, allowing Sweetie to come bouncing out. "That was so cool! Those rings are awesome!"

"Yeah, they're great," he said with a heavy sigh as he looked at what remained of the clubhouse lying at the bottom of the tree. He wondered how she had done that, but he wondered more was if the ring could actually fix that. "What do you think ring? Is that within your power?"

'Do you will it?'

"Yeah."

'Then it is.' Spike pointed the ring at the remains and placed the image of what the clubhouse looked like in his mind. A beam of green shot out of the ring and wrapped itself around all of the pieces, lifting them into the air as the energy began to construct what Spike was seeing in his mind. It took a minute, but Sweetie let out a gasp once it had finished.

"That is so cool!" she said with a smile, before tilting her head slightly to the side. "But why is our clubhouse shaped like a griffon?" Spike opened his eyes to see that he had made the clubhouse into a giant griffon, not really sure how he had done that. A quick change of thoughts fixed the problem, turning the clubhouse back to its usual state. "Okay, that looks better! Thanks Spike!"

"Sure," he muttered, causing Sweetie to tilt her head again.

"Spike, what's wrong? You're not your usual snarky self," she asked. Spike sighed and sat down on the air, looking off into the distance.

"I don't know. I'm just still thinking about what happened with Gilda yesterday," he said with a sigh. "It's my fault she's dead." Sweetie scratched her head as he said this until she realized what he was talking about.

"Wait a minute, I thought Rarity said that Gilda took on the ring that killed her and that you stopped her from killing everyone?" she asked bluntly, catching Spike off guard.

"W-well, I guess that's the short version of how it happened, but it was still my-"

"So all you did was stop a crazy pony...griffon with a ring like yours who wanted to hurt us," Sweetie continued.

"Yes, but-"

"Spike, I can't imagine what you went through in that battle, but Gilda attacked us. I'm sad that she had to die that way, but you weren't trying to kill her. You were only trying to keep us safe," Sweetie said with sadness in her eyes, but also some confidence. "My advice would be to do what Rarity does when she messes something up. Learn from it and move on. Because tomorrow will be brighter than today." Spike sighed as she said this, still feeling guilty about not being able to save Gilda. But he would remember what to do the next time he fought a Red Lantern.

"Thanks for the words Sweetie and I'm happy to help, but I've got to go," he said as he looked up at the sky. "I need to go talk to Twilight." He shot off before she could say anything and she watched him fly away, until she realized something.

"Wait, I forgot to ask him to put the stuff back inside," she muttered as she looked back at the clubhouse, seeing all of the girls stuff still lying on the ground. "Great."

IOI

Spike had headed back to the library, but was surprised to see that Twilight wasn't there. He did find a note from her however and frowned when he saw it.

Spike,

I'm out right now gathering the other Elements of Harmony and I'm planning to go up to Canterlot with them. I can't figure out anything about these rings here and I was hoping that Celestia or Luna might be able to help me figure out something about them. We'll be leaving on the three o clock train, so I would like you at the tracks by three. (PS burn this after you read it.)

Twilight.

"That's another thirty from now," he muttered to himself as he destroyed the note with his ring, getting rid of his suit as he went to grab something to eat from the fridge. He slammed the door behind him as he closed the fridge, waking up Owlicious who had been sleeping peacefully.

"Hoo?" the owl asked in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry, it's been a rough couple of days," Spike said as he sat down at the table and poured himself some cereal, Owlicious leaving his perch and flying onto the table in front of Spike, looking at the dragon with his large eyes. "Yes, I'm still upset over Gilda, but right now I'm curious about something. Ring, how many corps are there?"

'There are seven active corps, with two inactive ones,' the ring replied, causing Spike's eyes to go wide. He had figured there would have been five tops, but seven? And those were only the active ones, with two not active at the moment.

"Geez. What kind of corps are they?" he asked.

'Green Lantern Corps, the one you are in runs on will. Yellow Lantern corps, also referred to as Sinestro Corps, run on fear. Red and Orange you already know. Violet Lanterns run on love and are an all-female corps. Blue Lanterns are hope and Indigo Lanterns are compassion.'

"Man, I can't believe that there are so many. What about the other two?" Spike asked.

'I am currently instructed not to speak of those two corps,' the ring responded, taking Spike aback. This was the first time that the ring had known something but hadn't told him.

"Why not?"

'Guardians orders.'

"Okay, then who are the Guardians?" Spike growled.

'The Guardians protect the Galaxy from the planet of Oa and are the creators of the Green Lantern rings,' the ring replied. Spike was still wondering about what the other two corps were while Owlicious had begun to peck at the ring, which asked him to stop constantly. All of those Lanterns out there and yet he was chosen to be the one for Equestria.

'Not that it matters, I'm not even supposed to be a member of this corps,' he thought to himself. 'I don't really care about being part of a bigger organization anyway. Wonder if the others are like me or more like Twilight? Probably Twilight, given that she was the first choice. Heh, wonder what the others would think if they knew I wasn't supposed to wield the ring. What would Twilight think?' Spike didn't notice, but the ring flickered a bit as he thought this, gaining Owlicious attention.

"Hoo?" Owlicious eventually asked Spike, snapping him out of his thoughts of what the rest of the corps must be like.

"Sorry dude, my thoughts were elsewhere," Spike said as he looked up at the clock, surprised to see that it was already close to three. "Man, where did the time go?" He activated his suit and was heading for the door when Owlicious flew over to him and landed on his shoulder.

"Hoo."

"You want to come with me? Sure, Twi didn't say you couldn't," Spike said as he used his ring to place a shield around Owlicious. "Come on, we're going to fly now." Spike shot out of the library with Owlicious on his shoulder, the two reaching the train yard just as the train was about to leave. He changed back to his usual look behind some bushes and ran over to a pacing Twilight.

"You took your sweet time," she muttered before she noticed Owlicious on his shoulder. "Why'd you bring him?"

"He wanted to come," Spike said with a shrug, Owlicious hooting in agreement. Twilight wanted to scold him for leaving the library unattended, but the conductor yelled out that the train was leaving so she left her scolding for when they were on the train. The three headed to the seats where the other Elements were, as well as their sisters.

"Why are the CMC here?" Spike asked as Sweetie and the others waved him over.

"We have a project on Equestrian royalty over the ages, so we figured what better way to find out about the past than to ask the ponies that were alive for most of it?" Scootaloo said. Spike opened his mouth to answer but was drowned out from a Twilight scolding as the train left the station, heading up to Canterlot where the princesses were waiting for them. But before they had gone too far, Owlicious shot out the window and flew off, leaving Spike confused as to where he went.

IOI

"Thank you for coming as quickly as you did and I'm sorry if we interrupted any plans that you had going on for the day," Celestia said apologetically as the nine ponies and dragon all knelt before her and her sister in the throne room of Canterlot. Celestia seemed a bit on edge, something that was not lost on Twilight or Spike, although he was a bit afraid that his ring would suddenly speak out in front of the others.

"You brought the ring, did you not Twilight?" Luna asked, but Spike noticed that her eyes were quickly looking at him occasionally as well and he figured that Celestia had told Luna about him being the Emerald Dragon. Twilight nodded and reached inside her bag, grabbing the ring with her magic and pulling it out.

"Be careful princess, the ring still evokes some emotion in you even with the Elements imprisoning it," Twilight warned as Luna took the ring from her. Luna understood immediately why Twilight had given her to warning, for the moment she had taken the ring she felt a rage come over her, like the rage she felt as Nightmare Moon. Before the ring could take her rage any further, she placed it within a special box that Celestia was using to hold the rings. Luna placed the red one next to the orange one, wondering what would happen if a pony tried to use two rings at the same time.

'Avarice and Rage. What a scary combination,' she thought to herself as she closed the box, which was then given to a guard who went to place it within the science wing. "The reason we have asked you here today is to talk about the recent attacks on the town of Ponyville. Both of them, as you all know, were perpetrated by beings wielding rings of power that my sister and I have yet to understand."

"But you've had the orange ring for at least a few days," Twilight said. "You haven't made any progress on it?" Luna and Celestia both looked at each for a moment before Luna answered.

"We have tried, but every time we try to figure out what powers the ring, one of our guards or scientist try to take it. We have thrown three in the dungeon already until whatever spell they are under wears off." Twilight frowned at that and thanked Faust that Spike had managed to fight off its power. "So until we have a way that we can spend more than five minutes next to the rings without falling under their influences, we are simply going to lock them up for safe keeping."

"Because you can lock up rings that powerful," Spike muttered to himself, figuring that it was only a matter of time before the rings broke loose.

"But that is enough about the rings," Celestia said, changing the topic. "There is a second reason why you are here as well. Recently, guards have been disposed of and certain areas of the castle have been compromised. We currently have no idea who is doing it, but my sister and I agreed that some extra protection wouldn't go amiss." The ponies quickly agreed and the CMC ran up to Celestia and began to ask her their questions all at once, leaving Luna to motion for Spike and Twilight to come over to her.

"My sister told me about your new accessory," she whispered once the two of them were next to her. "I do not trust any of these rings, but as long as you are under Twilight's watchful eye, then I am fine with you having it."

"Jee, thanks. It’s not like I saved the town twice or anything," Spike grumbled.

"But in any case, I am certain that his is not the last we will hear of these rings and with Spike being the only one who can really combat them, my sister have no choice but to entrust the protection of the cities to the Emerald Dragon, Spike." Both Spike and Twilight looked at Luna as she said this, so neither one of them noticed when a shadow slipped past them and left the throne room, but a certain ring did.

'Potential threat detected,' it said, causing all three of them to look down at it. 'Target has left room. Be wary.'

"Does it always do that?" Luna asked.

"First time it's done it for me," Spike muttered as he looked down at the ring before looking back to the ponies, debating if he should transform.

"Any way Spike, my sister and I were wondering if we could ask you some questions about the ring and how it works," Luna said. Spike agreed to it, but his thoughts were on what the ring had said. It hadn't been wrong yet in telling him when there was danger and he doubted that it would lie to him now. But he wondered who could have alerted it, since the ring had only warned him of other rings in the past?

IOI

Beneath the Canterlot castle, a single shadow made its way to his hidden room, fuming with rage at the appearance of the new hero, but also mildly intrigued by him and the weapon he wielded.

"So, the little dragon from the Crystal Empire has a special weapon and now believes himself to be a hero?" he asked as he sauntered over to a cauldron in the middle of the room, looking into the bubbling brew with a toothy and dark smile. "But what does he know of evil? What does he know of darkness?" The shadow slinked over to a cabinet filled with a number of vials and ingredients, all of which he began to throw into the cauldron with an evil cackle.

"But his ring does prove to be a problem, since it has flattened all forces that have come at him and all of those forces have been rings of equal power. And my sources tell me that the griffon was able to overcome the Elements with her red ring, meaning that those rings are stronger than me." A smile crossed his face as he said this and he walked back over to the brew he was making, knowing just what to do.

"But all heroes have a weakness. All I have to do is find out what can break him," Sombra said with another chuckle as he finished the brew. "But in order to do so, I must first weaken the hero and tire him out. Which is why I will need...a monster to help me." Sombra began to laugh as the cauldron in front of him began to bubbles and a giant claw grabbed onto the edge of the cauldron, slowly pulling out the rest of the creature that would help the dark king conquer the land.

"Oh yes Spike, I will find what you fear," he said with an evil smile as he looked upon his creation with glee.

The Shadows Cast by the Lantern

"Ugh, I can't believe that the princesses interrogated me for over three hours," Spike groaned as he and Twilight left the castle, the setting sun on their backs as they walked into the city of Canterlot. "And I can't remember how many times I had to tell them I don't know. I just got the ring, it's not like I've spent years mastering it." He looked at Twilight's face as he said this and immediately regretted his words. "Oh no, I do not want to add mastering this ring on top of everything else I have to do."

"But it would be so beneficial to you Spike," Twilight pleaded with him, having tried this conversation with him back in the castle. "While you have adapted to the ring rather quickly, I still think that training and practice would be perfect for you. I mean, look what it's done for me." Spike raised an eyebrow as she said this before smirking to himself.

"That settles it, I'm definitely not practicing," he said. Twilight huffed at this, but figured that she had grilled Spike enough for one day. And he had just talked to the princesses about what he knew about the ring and the other Lanterns, so he was probably tired. "Now come on, Donut Joe's won't be open forever and I want to enjoy myself somewhat while I'm here."

"Well, while you go do that I want to visit my parents," Twilight said as she turned down another street. "Can I trust you to behave and stay out of trouble?" Spike showed her the ring to inspire confidence in her, but all it did was cause Twilight to worry even more as she left the dragon on his own. The moment he was alone, he ran off towards the donut store, ignoring all the looks he had gotten from the up class ponies of Canterlot.

'Just ignore them Spike,' he thought to himself as he ran. 'They have no idea just how awesome you are.' He flung open the door to the donut store as he thought this, getting a greeting from Joe as he hopped up onto one of the stools. "Hey there Joe. Give me the supreme combo." Joe nodded as he headed into the back, Spike glad that Twilight had the foresight to give him some money back in the castle. He'd hate to have to go running to her for money after he just told her he could handle himself.

"Here you go Spike, one supreme donut combo," Joe said as he placed the monstrous stack of donuts in front of Spike, who rubbed his hooves together with a smile as he looked at them. He dropped the bits on the counter and took the plate to a booth, where he prepared to dig in.

'Should you not be looking for the source of that evil?' the ring asked him right as he was about to begin eating. Spike thrust the ring under the table, looking around the donuts to make sure that Joe hadn't heard it.

"Will you keep it down?" Spike hissed at it. "What source of evil? What are you talking about?"

'The source that I registered back in the castle. You should be looking for the source instead of being here,' the ring replied.

"And why should I do it now?" Spike asked as he began to stuff his face full of donuts. "Not like we'll find anything and besides, we're in
Canterlot. There's no place in Equestria safer."

'It is your duty as a Green Lantern to be out there searching for the evil that might harm the innocent,' the ring said and if Spike was paying attention, he would have heard what sounded like a hint of annoyance in the ring.

"Maybe if I was the dragon that was supposed to be the Green Lantern, I would," Spike said bitterly. The ring said something else, but Spike simply shrugged his shoulders as he continued to eat, though he did stop when the door opened and a pony in a dark cloak walked in, making a quick order before sitting down in the booth next to Spike. Spike ignored him as he continued to eat, but eventually the pony began to speak Spike.

"A baby dragon all by himself, at this time of night?" the pony said with an oddly reserved voice. "Are you not afraid to be out all by yourself?"

"Please, I'm not afraid to be by myself nor am I dark," Spike said with a chuckle, trying to look brave in front of the pony. The ring began to glow a little brighter, but he hid it under the table before the other pony could see it. "Besides, I'm friends with all of the princesses, so all ponies know better than to mess with me."

"It is amazing that one as young as you could be without fear", the pony said as he silently ate in his booth. "No doubts holding you back or decision that you've made to hinder you. I truly envy one like you." The words hit Spike harder than he thought they would and looked under the table at the ring. His boost of confidence had emerged ever since he had gotten the ring, but now that he thought about it, he wondered what he'd be like if Twilight had taken the ring like he was supposed to.

'I would still just be the librarians assistant that nopony gave a second thought about,' he thought to himself. 'Heck, since this thing runs on willpower, Twilight would be perfect for it. I guess that's why she was chosen in the first place...why she'd make a better hero.' Spike's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of screaming outside in the streets and he could see ponies running by through the window. 'Really? It's barely been a day since the last attack? These ponies are helpless sometimes,' he thought to himself as he ran out of the store, never noticing the thin line of shadows retracting from where he head had been resting into the pony in the other booth.

"Sir, is the food alright?" Joe asked, having gotten used to the city being attacked and being more concerned with his business. The pony looked towards Joe, who couldn't see his face but could see a smile under the hood.

"Oh yes my friend. Everything is just perfect," he said with a smile. Outside, Spike had suited up and was flying over the city, looking around for whatever was causing the panic.

"Alright, come on out whatever you are and let's make this quick," Spike said into a green microphone as he looked around. "I have a lot of other things that I want to be doing and I'd rather we didn't..." His words died in his throat as he looked up to see what looked like a giant bat-hydra hybrid flying towards him, screeching as it tried to tear him in half with its claws. He used the microphone to bat it away, but it recovered quickly and circled around back towards him.

"Well, at least it's not a Lantern," he muttered as he created a giant boxing glove that he used to punch the bat in the gut, driving it into the side of the mountain as he changed the glove to a cage. The Batdra roared in rage as it slammed itself into the green bars, but all it did was further hurt itself. "Don't bother, you'd have to have a ring if you want to bust out of there," Spike said with a smile.

"Spike? What is this thing?" Spike turned his head to see Twilight flying over to him, looking through the green bars at the Batdra. "I've never seen a creature like this before. It looks like its half bat and half hydra."

"Yeah that's what I thought," Spike agreed as the creature continued to bang against the bars. "So what do we do with it? Give it to Fluttershy? She loves these kinds of things."

"Somehow I don't think that's a good idea," Twilight said as she created a barrier to protect herself form the ball of fire on of the three bat heads spat. "Don't remember them being able to do that."

"Well then, there's only one way to deal with this," Spike said as he turned the cage into a green ball, which he began to swing around until he released the ball, watching with a laugh as the Batdra went flying off into the distance. "And it's a new world record for the bat toss! So Twilight, care to give me the gold now or what till we're back at the castle?"

"I wish you wouldn't have done that," she grumbled with a look at him. "I wanted to learn more about that creature and where it came from. It's obvious that it's not natural which means that either something's wrong with its home or somepony made it. But now that it's flying off to Celestia knows where."

"My bad," Spike muttered sadly, but shook it off as he and Twilight flew back to the princesses, figuring that they'd want to know about this creature.

"Yes, this is the third time that we've been attacked by a hybrid creature like this before," Celestia muttered once Twilight and Spike had told her the news. "We do not know where these creatures are coming from, but the guards report that they never see them coming from the Everfree Forest or from the wild plains, so we currently have no idea where they could be coming from."

"Well you two work on that," Spike said with a yawn. "Ring, how much charge we got left?"

'Fifty percent.'

"Great," he said with another yawn. Celestia smiled at the little dragon before looking at Twilight.

"The two of you should probably get some sleep," she suggested. "It will be a long day tomorrow. Your friends are already in the guest rooms we have set up for them and I bet that they will want to see you." Twilight bowed to her as did Spike, but he fell asleep halfway and passed out on the floor, getting a chuckle from both Twilight and Celestia. Twilight picked up the baby dragon and placed him on her back as she carried the two of them to their guest quarters, where she dumped him on a bed in his own room.

"Little feller seems tired, but that's what being a superhero does to you ah guess." Twilight turned to see Applejack standing at the door, looking at Twilight with a raised eyebrow. "So, when are ya planning on telling the other girls?"

"Applejack...I know that I should tell the others, but Spike asked me to keep it a secret and...I haven't seen him this happy in a long time," Twilight said as she looked back towards the dragon with caring eyes. "Plus, the ponies would never leave him alone of the word got out that he was a hero. And I'm also afraid that the nastier crowd might come after him as well," she continued as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"It's not wise to keep this kind of secret from yer friends," AJ said as she followed Twilight to their rooms. "But ah'll respect his privacy, but ah think that the others deserve to know."

"I know, just not right now," Twilight said as she closed the door. "Spike isn't ready for that yet." The two went into their rooms, turning out the light for the night. A few minutes passed before a dark shadow slunk across the floor, slithering its way under the door to Spike's room and move right next to where the little dragon was sleeping. It quietly wrapped itself around his head and went inside, curious to see what it would find.

IOI

Sombra snickered to himself as he looked around at the young dragons dreams from the few shadows he could find, not believing how childish the dragon was.

'You have one of the greatest weapons known to ponies and all you can think of is that ugly ass mare and being muscular?' Sombra thought to himself as he looked upon the image of a much larger Spike holding Rarity in his arms, standing over the defeated foes of those who had tried to hurt her. 'But this isn't the memories I want to be in. Let's see, where do you keep the nightmares?' He slithered out of the shadows and moved towards a door marked personal, slipping underneath of it to get inside.

"Well this is interesting," Sombra muttered as he looked around at all the doors, not sure where to start. He saw one marked insecurities on to the left, but a few feet down was another marked anxieties. "Of course a dragon like him would have more than one door with his failings," Sombra growled to himself. "How did I let that foal defeat me at the Crystal Empire? I really must have been having an off day." Sombra didn't want to be in the dream world longer than he had to; knowing that there was a good chance that he could run into moon butt in here and then his whole plan would go to hell.

'But if I can find what he fears and use it against him, then I have a shot at beating him,' Sombra thought as he walked around a corner in the hallway of doors to see two giant doors. One was marked dreams and the other was fears. With a dark smile he walked up to the one on fears and placed his hoof against it, chuckling as it slowly creaked open. He looked around for the more recent fears and raised his eyebrows when he saw what it was. In it was Spike, surrounded by multiple Twilights with looks of rage and loathing that Sombra was certain that she hadn't even shown him.

"I just wanted to be one of you, to be a hero like you," Spike said to the angry Twilight in front of him, who glared down at the baby dragon with actual fire blazing along her mane. "I know I should have told you the truth, but I...I..."

"You were selfish! You wanted power!" the Twilight shrieked back at him, causing Spike to curl into a small ball at her hooves. "You should have told me that I was supposed to be the true Green Lantern! If you had, then all of Equestria wouldn't have fallen to the orange and red rings and Rarity would still be alive!" Sombra snickered as her words ripped into the dragon, enjoying all he was learning.

"I just wanted to help," Spike said back weakly, only to be silenced by a vicious back hoof from another one of the Twilight's.

"You couldn't help me! You can never help me," the Twilight said to him as a small green ring floated out of Spike's clutches and over to Twilight, who place it on her horn and was covered in the green energy. "You can't use its full power because you're always afraid! And fear is the enemy of will. Only one with a will such as mine should use it, not some dragon that chases around a pony he stands no chance with." Spike had ceased to make any sounds at this point and Sombra was loving every second of it, but what he loved more was the information that he was getting.

'So fear is the enemy of will, which I assume is what the green ring is powered by. That makes sense, considering how the other two were rage and greed,' Sombra thought, having studied the other two carefully as one of Celestia's "scientist". 'But what's even better is that the ring shouldn't be Spike's in the first place. It's Twilight's and he hasn't told her. Oh, this is good.' Sombra snapped out of his thoughts as he felt a presence approaching him, so with a snarl he closed the door to the fears and hid in the shadows, but to his surprise it wasn't Luna, but the green ring that Spike wore. Its light scanned each of the door, but the moment the ring turned away from him he slipped by it, now having an advantage over the "hero."

IOI

"So if I can make him afraid, I can weaken the rings power," Sombra muttered as he prepared a number of potions in his underground lair. But even though he knew Spike's fears and knew how the green ring worked didn't mean that his plan was foolproof. There was still a chance that Spike would be able to defeat him before he could use each of the fears and lies against him. 'After all, if I just say his fears to his face it might not have much value. I need to beat him with his fears, break him into so many pieces that there is no willpower left in him to make even a spark.'

Sombra walked over to his shelf and pulled out a vial, before shaking his head at it and putting it back on the shelf. He did this three more times before he became too frustrated and turned away from the shelves with a snarl.

"It's no good, I don't have anything in my current arsenal that can match that rings power," he muttered, having been observing the rings ever since they had shown up in Equestria. "And since the ring apparently chooses who they allow to use them, I can't just steal the red or orange one and use it myself. Then again, if it was that easy it wouldn't be worthy of my intellect. But there has to be a way.'

"But that will not stop me," he said with a cackle as he went back to his potion. "I will twist his fears until he is too paralyzed to speak! He will crawl at my hooves and beg me for mercy, the mercy of death! Only once he and the foolish protectors of Equestria have finally done the same will I finally end his fears...by ending him! Then the princesses shall be forced to witness what they fear the most...me, ruling over all of Equestria." He laughed at the thought of what their faces would look like once he was on the throne, but his thoughts were interrupted as a yellow light shone from behind him, forcing him to spin around to face whatever was causing it.

'Sombra of Equestria,' a solitary yellow ring said to him as a wicked smile crossed the dark pony's face. 'You have the ability to instill great fear.'

"You're damn right I do!" he said as he grabbed the ring out of the air and placed it on the stub where his horn had been blown off, watching with an evil smile as a yellow horn took its place and a yellow suit with a strange symbol appeared in the center of his chest. He then began to laugh as he felt the power of fear run through him, scaring away all of the rats and small animals that had been in the room with him. "And with this fear, I will be able to crush the Emerald Dragon and bring the princess...no, all of EQUESTRIA to its knees! No pony can stop me!"

He shot out of the hidden underground chamber as he said this and flew up into the sky, looking up at the rising sun with an evil smile. He could just fly into Canterlot and take it now, but he was a show pony first and he knew that he had to make this look good. After all, it would only be for the rest of eternity that ponies would talk about this day, so he had to make it one that they would never forget. He let out another cackle as he shot to the castle, while five little words whispered in his ear.

'Welcome to the Sinestro Corps.'

IOI

Spike awoke early the next morning, not sure why he did so but figured that he wasn't as tired as the last few times he had battled something. So with a stretch he stood up and opened the door, seeing as he stepped into the hallway that all of the other guest room doors were opened as well.

'So everypony else is up,' he thought as he walked down the hallway to where the great kitchen was, figuring that he'd meet everypony there for breakfast. 'Wonder why they didn't bother to wake me?' He reached the great kitchen a few minutes later, smiling when he saw that all of the ponies were in there. Twilight was talking with the other princesses while the CMC were getting chewed out by AJ. Spike assumed it was because of the inferno in the kitchen that the chefs were trying to put out as he walked down the stairs, gaining the attention of Twilight who nodded to the princesses and walked over to him.

"Glad to see that you're finally up," she said as she pulled him into a hug. "We have a big day today and you're going to be a big part of it."

"Going back to bed," Spike said as he turned around, but Twilight picked him up with her magic and dragged him over with her to the princesses.

"Not today. The princesses have asked you and me to look into the strange sightings that have been all around Canterlot and to try and find where those monsters keep coming from," she explained. The princesses asked all of the ponies to follow the two of them and the nine did so as Spike rested on Twilight's back, sneaking a look at his ring and noticing that it didn't look so bright.

"What's the matter? Feeling green?" he asked it with a smirk, but the ring didn't answer right away.

'Something feels wrong,' it said. 'Something is here that is messing with my power.' Spike did not like the sound of that, but he shrugged it off as the group arrived at the throne room, where Celestia turned around to look at all of them.

"Alright my little ponies, my sister and I just have something that we want to grab from the throne room and then we'll begin searching for any clues as to where those monsters are coming from." Since Celestia was the first to open the door, she was the first to gasp at the sight inside. The other ponies ran in as they heard her gasp and they in turn lost their breath as well. All of the room's guards lay dead on the floor, but what gained their attention was the single black stallion sitting on the throne, looking at the group with raised eyebrows.

"Sombra," Spike whispered.

Fears Made Into Light

"How the hell do you stand sitting on this throne all the time tank flank?" Sombra asked as he rubbed his flank, ignoring all of the looks he was getting or the fact that all of the magic users were preparing to blow him away. "I've been sitting here for little less than an hour and already my rear hurts. Does my butt have to have its own gravitational pull to sit in this thing comfortably?" Celestia would have killed him on the spot if Luna had not held out her hoof to stop her sister.

"What are you doing here Sombra?" Luna asked in disbelief as she looked at the dark stallion who was trying to find a comfortable spot on the throne.

"Trying to figure out how to sit on this thing," he muttered back as he lay on his back, letting out a growl as he flopped to his side.

"No, I mean...how are you alive?" she asked, still shocked over the fact that a pony they had killed twice was sitting on the throne in front of them. "We trapped you in ice and then Cadence destroyed you in the Crystal Empire, yet you're sitting on my sister’s throne in one piece. How?"

"Because I'm a mad genius and you're both foolish princesses that can't make a damned comfy throne to save your lives," he growled as he hopped off the throne and to the floor. "Seriously, I've sat on ice more comfy." Luna was still stunned by the fact that Sombra was alive, but Celestia took over at this point and pointed her horn at Sombra's chest.

"It matters not how he survived, all we need to know is that he's either going back to prison or we'll get Cadence to dispose of him again," Celestia said, before growling in anger as he floated over a pillow and put it on the throne. "You are facing three princesses and the Elements of Harmony and yet you're only concern is that throne? What is the matter with you?"

"It's important for the future ruler of all of Equestria to have a comfy throne to sit on for all eternity," he muttered back at her before he snarled and blew the throne apart with a blast of yellow magic. "Yep, that was the only good thing that could come form that piece of garbage. So princesses, you know a good throne store or-?" He threw himself to the ground as Celestia fired a bolt of magic that blew out the window behind Sombra, who stood back up with a whistle as Celestia began to march towards him with her magic crackling.

"I don't care what delude scheme you're up to, I will stop you," Celestia said with a growl, but yelled in surprise as yellow magic wrapped around her legs and quickly enveloped her. Luna and the other ponies screamed until they too were all crystalized in yellow energy, all except for Spike who glared at Sombra with rage.

"Save your pitiful rambling for somepony who actually views you and your Elements as a threat," Sombra said in an annoyed tone as he walked by her crystal, shaking his head at her as he walked by before looking at the dragon with a smile. "I have no desire to fight you or your ponies again, but there is a foe that I will consider battling. The Emerald Dragon."

"Wait a moment, Spike?" Rarity asked in disbelief as she looked at Spike, causing Sweetie next to her to sigh in frustration. Spike glared at Sombra before pulling out the green ring and placing it on his finger, letting the suit form on him in a burst of green energy. "IT IS SPIKE!" Rarity said before passing out, causing Sweetie to groan.

"Alright Sombra, you want the dragon, you got the dragon," Spike said with a growl as he thrust his ring at Sombra, sending out a beam of green light towards Sombra. Sombra turned himself into darkness to avoid it, but Spike noticed that his darkness was tinted with yellow as it swung around behind him. Spike turned and erected a green shield to deflect the bolt of magic that Sombra fired at him. "You can't beat me Sombra, not as long as I have this ring. Give it up."

"I may not be able to hurt you physically, but there are plenty of other ways to wound a hero!" Sombra cackled as he slipped back into the darkness. "Like the fact that you haven't told Twilight the truth behind the ring and who it originally chose." Spike's face went pale under the green mask as he heard these words, causing his shield to fail him for a moment and allowing Sombra to blast him with his magic. The green energy prevented Spike from being hurt by the spell, but the force of the impact still threw him to the ground.

"I...I have no idea what you're talking about!" Spike yelled as he shot a claw around Sombra and hurled him into the roof, where he grunted and fell to the ground. He shook his head and got back up just in time to take a blast of green to his face, sending him into the castle wall.

"Oh you're a liar through and through," Sombra said with an evil smile as he pulled himself out of the wall, firing more magic at Spike. "So then I guess you haven't told them about how all you want is to join in on their adventures with them, but all they do is leave you out and keep you in the library."

"Shut up!" Spike yelled as he created a giant fist and drove it into Sombra, crushing him against the wall. Spike brought it back and crushed him with it again, but Sombra kept on laughing all the while and looked up at Spike with a smirk as he pulled the fist back another time. He slipped into the darkness again and dodged the hit, wrapping the darkness around Spike with a sinister grin.

"Or maybe it's just how you're afraid of failing all of those ponies that you care about so much? That is why you are so desperate to hold onto that ring there, even if it is not yours. But you will fail them, I guarantee that." Spike roared as an explosion of green light came from him, knocking Sombra off of him and throwing him to the ground.

"I don't know how you got ahold on my fears, but it doesn't matter to me," Spike said with an angry stare as he pointed his ring at the downed Sombra. "I will protect Twilight and I am worthy of this ring. Your words mean nothing."

"A liar to the end, huh?" Sombra said with an evil smile as he looked right at Spike. "Then perhaps these words will mean something to you." Spike wondered what he meant before a giant yellow claw erupted from the ground and drove Spike into the ceiling before it tossed him to the ground. Spike shook his head as he got off the floor before his eyes went wide as he looked at Sombra, who was glowing with a yellow energy. But on is horn is what terrified Spike to his core. On his horn was a single yellow ring.

"In blackest day, in brightest night, beware your fears made into light! Let's those who try to stop what's right, burn like his power, SINESTRO'S MIGHT!" Spike had nothing to say as a brick wall of yellow energy slammed into him, sending him crashing out of the back of the castle and sent him into the streets, where the ponies all looked around him with awe.

"Look, it's the Emerald Dragon!"

"He's so much shorter in pony, but he looks so cool!"

"Maybe I can get his autograph!"

Spike picked himself off the ground and looked up to see a giant, yellow snake come bursting out of the side of the castle, causing the ponies to scream as it came barreling down towards Spike. He threw up a shield to defend himself and the ponies, but the shield shattered from the impact of the snake and sent Spike tumbling down the street. He pulled himself out of the ground again as Sombra landed in front of him, smiling down at Spike.

"Like it? While it's not my color, I must admit that I do enjoy accessorizing sometimes," he said with a smile before creating a pile driver over the dragon and dropping it onto Spike, who created a sphere to protect himself. The pile driver hit the top of the shield and sent Spike crashing into the next layer of Canterlot, but he came flying back up and drove his ring fist into Sombra's face, sending the dark horse skidding back.

"I will stop you," Spike said as he fired bolts of green at Sombra, who created a spiked shield to defend himself and rushed Spike with the shield. Spike created a giant hand to stop the attack, but much to his shock his green construct began to crack from the strain.

"It seems that your will is inferior to your fear," Sombra said with a smirk as he canceled his shield and made boulders of yellow rain down on Spike from above. Spike was crushed underneath one of the boulders and struggled to get it off of him as Sombra walked over to him, making a tsking sound as he looked down at the dragon. "How did you manage to defeat me back at the crystal empire? You're weak, pathetic and for lack of a better term, damn annoying. Why does the princess keep you around?"

"Because she loves me!" Spike yelled as he tossed the boulder off, thinking to all of the cool inventions he had seen in the comics to use against Sombra. He conjured a spiked baseball bat and went to swing at Sombra, who jumped back to avoid the blow. Spike smiled as he did this and switched from the bat to a giant slingshot that he created behind Sombra, who flew back right into the sling. Spike fired the dark horse towards him while getting out the bat again, driving it right into Sombra's chest as the horse came at him.

"And you're out of here!" Spike yelled with a smile as Sombra sailed away before he shot into the air after him. Sombra righted himself in the air and saw Spike flying towards him, smirking as he began to conjure something else. Spike noticed that Sombra wasn't moving so he took the opportunity to create a giant sword that he swung at Sombra. But right before he did, Sombra smirked and materialized...

"Twilight!" Spike yelled as he skidded to a halt in the air, realizing only a second too late that she was a fake. But a second was all the dark king needed to create a giant crossbow that he fired into Spike's chest, sending the little green dragon across the skies and crashing though a few buildings.

"Dammit. Why is he so strong?" Spike asked as he struggled back to his feet. "Gilda and the other me were strong as well, but why is he so darn powerful?"

'Because you are afraid,' the ring said. 'And his ring is powered by fear.'

"Of course I'm afraid, this is king Sombra that I'm fighting AND he has one of the rings!" Spike yelled at the ring. "How am I not supposed to be-?"

'He is not what you are afraid of. But you have the will to overcome those fears,' the ring said. 'And I know, because I chose you.' Spike didn't have any time to think about what the ring was saying as a giant bulldozer came barreling into the house Spike was in, forcing him to fly out of the house as it was crushed by the yellow energy.

"What's the matter Spike? Are you afraid?" Sombra asked him with a chuckle as he flew into the baby dragon, wrapping him in yellow chains before he began slamming Spike into the ground. Spike coughed hard as he felt the shield the surrounded him beginning to weaken with each impact and he knew that he had to act fast...or else. An idea popped into his head and he growled as he willed the thought to appear. Sombra had been too busy chuckling to notice what Spike was doing, so he was caught completely off guard when Spike broke free of the chains when a pair of giant, green dragon wings expanded from him.

"I'm not afraid of you Sombra," Spike growled as he pointed his ring at Sombra. "And I WILL stop you."

"Oh, you may not be afraid of me Spike, but there are things that you are afraid of," Sombra said with a chuckle as he sent crystalized spikes out of the ground towards Spike, who had to fly as best he could to keep from being impaled. Sombra added to the challenge by creating a swarm of yellow bats that swarmed Spike, causing him to lose focus and crash into one of the pillars, where he groaned as he fell to the ground. "But I know what you do fear. And I plan to make those fears into light. Don't fight it Spike, it's much faster this way."

"I won't quit," Spike groaned as he struggled back up, standing on shaky legs as he pointed his ring at Sombra, who sighed as he shook his head. "I have friends to protect and now I finally have the power to do so! I am a Green-!"

"What? A Green Lantern?" Sombra asked with a laugh as he deflected Spike's shot, wrapping the young dragon in serpents that erupted from the ground and held him in place. Spike tried to think of something to free him from the snakes, but Sombra smashed his hoof into Spike's face, nearly knocking the dragon out. "I have seen your fears Spike and I know the truth. The ring didn't choose you to be the lantern, it chose Twilight. A much better choice if you ask me but for reasons it went to you."

"Because I can overcome my fear," Spike said weakly, causing Sombra to shake his head at the dragon again.

"And yet you're afraid to tell Twilight the truth that she was supposed to be the Lantern. And in doing so, you took a weapon that runs on willpower away from one of the strongest willed mares in Equestria. All because you wanted to feel special," Sombra said with a mocking laugh as he punched Spike in the gut, doubling him over. "And now you're afraid that if you tell her, she will hate you forever. And you're right, she will. Because you're going to be the cause of their deaths. Because you held onto that ring, all of your friends are going to die now."

"No," Spike muttered weakly, but another blow from Sombra caused his vision to become blurry, giving Sombra little resistance as he picked up the dragon and flew him back to the castle, an evil grin spreading on his face as he did so. Spike mustered what little strength he had left to try and escape, but the serpents held strong.

'You must overcome your fear Spike,' the ring said to him. 'You are the only Lantern that can stop Sombra here and now.'

"I can't," Spike said weakly. "I'm not supposed to be a Green Lantern." Sombra threw Spike back through the hole that the two of them had made when he blasted Spike out of the castle and sent him sprawling across the floor, much to the horror of the ponies that were still trapped inside of the yellow crystals.

"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled as she began to throw herself against the crystal, the other ponies staring to do the same. Sombra floated through the hole and landed next to Spike, who could barely get to his knees. Sombra then smirked right at Twilight before he put a hoof on Spike's head, forcing the dragon back down. "SOMBRA! If you hurt him I swear I will kill you!"

"Twilight, what kind of monster do you think I am?" Sombra asked as he stepped away from Spike and lowered the crystals that had trapped Twilight, letting the princess run over to Spike's side. Tears filled her eyes as she pulled him into her hooves, seeing how bruised and beaten he looked. "As long as this remains fun for me, I won't kill him. But I will enjoy breaking him."

"What the hell do you mean?" Twilight asked with a venom, the only thing stopping her from trying to rip Sombra apart was the Spike needed her.

"Oh, didn't Spike tell you?" Sombra asked with a laugh. "See, those rings that he and I have aren't something that you can pick up and use. No, they have to choose their host."

"I know that."

"But did you know that they can choose somepony else if the first wielder choose not to accept them?" Sombra asked, a smile spreading on his face as he saw the confusion on Twilight's face. "No? That's odd; I thought for certain that you would know since it happened to you. You didn't know? You were the one who was supposed to be the Green Lantern Twilight, not Spike." He saw that she wasn't believing him, but he knew a simple way to probe that he was right. "Don't believe me? Then why don't you ask the ring."

"Ring?" Twilight began hesitantly. "Was Spike supposed to be the Emerald Dragon?"

'...No. You were supposed to be the Green Lantern of Equestria,' the ring replied.

"So as you can see, Spike lied to you and kept the ring for himself, meaning that every death that he failed to prevent is on him," Sombra said wickedly. "Along with his failure to stop me. See, if Twilight had the ring there was a chance that I might be able to be beaten, but with Spike not able to overcome his fears."

"That doesn't matter!" Twilight spat back. "He still chose to use the ring responsibly and he fought off all the other rings that tried to hurt us. He's-"

"What? A hero?" Sombra said with a laugh. "A tiny dragon that can't even tell when a mare is way out of his league or get when his "friends" don't love him is a hero? No, he is a failure who is a slave to his fears. The fear that he isn't supposed to be a hero, the fear that you will hate him for lying to you and the fear that because of his weakness, you will all die. A fear," Sombra began as he pointed his ring at Twilight. "That is about to come true."

"No!" Spike roared as green energy surrounded him again and he threw himself at Sombra, tackling the pony to the ground. Sombra retaliated with a scepter to the side of Spike's head and sent him sprawling again.

"You don't learn," Sombra said as he lifted Spike up with his energy, creating three blades that he pointed at Spike's throat. "But I'm done having my fun and that ring is so damn annoying...so there's no longer a need to keep you around." The three blades were about to impale Spike, but a blast of magic to the side of Sombra's head broke his concentration and caused the blades to disappear. "That's right; you're all as stupid as you are annoying. Might as well get rid of you first," Sombra muttered as he looked at Twilight. He tossed Spike to the side as he created three yellow claws to chase Twilight, who shot at them with her magic only to realize that her spells didn't work on the constructs.

'You have to get up Spike,' the ring said to Spike as the dragon watched the battle, vaguely aware of what was going on. 'Become the Lantern that I know you are.'

"I can't," he replied weakly. "I shouldn't even have this ring. I shouldn't have anything. All I do is screw things up." But despite the thoughts that were currently crushing his spirit, all of those vanished when one of the claws finally caught Twilight and brought her close to Sombra.

"Well, that was a nice waste of time," Sombra said as the claws began to crush her, with Twilight crying out in pain as they did so. "But then again, you did demonstrate what will happen if anypony does try to mess with me. So I thank you for that." Twilight cried out once again as the claws tightened and Spike let out a roar as green energy consumed him, causing him to grow larger and larger until he became the Emerald Dragon. "And so you finally appear."

"Sombra! This ends now!" The dragon roared as it swiped at Sombra with its claws, the dark king moving out of the way as the claws tore a hole in the floor. The Emerald Dragon followed up with a blast of emerald fire that Sombra had to create a shield to avoid from being burned, but left him open to another attack from the claws which sent him sprawling.

"Alright then, let's put an end to you!" Sombra roared as he concentrated all of his power into a single beam that he fired at the dragon, who responded with another blast of fire, creating a massive shockwave of green and yellow in the center of the chamber. Both the Emerald Dragon and Sombra were putting their everything into this attack, but Sombra was the only one smiling during it. "Give it up, dragon! You cannot overcome your fears!"

"I am not afraid!" The Emerald Dragon roared back.

"Then why did you not tell Twilight about the ring's true ownership? Why do you constantly want to be with everypony even when they don't want you around?" Sombra asked as his beam of yellow began to slowly push the green fire back. "Why are you so afraid of failing everypony?" The Emerald Dragon hesitated for a second, only a second, but that second was all Sombra needed to fire off all of his power through the dragons attack and straight into the heart of the Emerald Dragon, where it broke through the construct and sent Spike flying off into the distance as the yellow energy consumed him. Twilight watched in horror as the yellow energy hit the Everfree forest in the distance, following it up with a massive explosion of yellow.

"And that's the end of that," Sombra said with a maniacal laughter as Twilight fell to her knees. He prepared to fly after Spike, but then he saw Twilight's face and smiled. "Oh that look of yours is priceless. I got to see what the others look like." He released the others of the crystals and waited for them to attack, but all they did was look out the hole where Spike had been blasted, not one of them moving for the ten minutes. Sombra then shot out of the castle and flew to where the crater was in the forest, finding only greenish ash where the dragon had fallen. With a smirk he quickly flew back to the castle and landed in front of Twilight, looking right into her horrified eyes as he said,

"The Emerald Dragon is dead. All hail King Sombra."

Cracks in the Core

Luna growled as she slammed herself into the yellow bars that imprisoned her and the others, but they held firm as she bounced off of them and landed on the floor of the cell. After Sombra had defeated Spike, he had immediately thrown the princess and the other ponies into a dungeon he had constructed with his yellow energy, promising them that the kingdom was safe in his hooves until he came to get them. The ponies had spent the last few hours trying to escape, but their magic was ineffective against the yellow energy and without their Elements they were powerless.

"It is no good sister, the bars will not budge," Celestia said as she helped her sister back up, looking at the ponies in the room with sad eyes. The CMC were doing their best to keep from breaking down, although Sweetie didn't look as upset as her friends. But the pony that was truly broken was Twilight, who sat in the corner of the cell curled into a ball and looking away from everypony else. They had tried to talk to her a few times, but she hadn't said a word in response.

"But we have to get out of here!" Luna shot back as she fired a bolt of magic into the bars, only to snarls as it shattered against the construct, just like all of the spells before it. "We cannot allow Sombra to win! There has to be a way to-!"

"There is no hope, ponies." All of the ponies turned to see Sombra walking towards them, glowing with power as he descended down the stairs to the dungeon. "My ring makes me more powerfully than all of you combined and with your stupid little dragon dead, nopony can hold a candle to me." The moment he mentioned Spike Twilight shot up and threw herself against the bar, pure wrath in her eyes as she tried to get to Sombra, who chuckled at her as he moved his face just outside her reach. "Now now Twilight, that is no way for a princess to act."

"I. Will. End you," she whispered in a deadly voice.

"I doubt that," Sombra said as he looked at all of them with a smile, his ring glowing with power. The ponies all gasped as yellow chains formed all along their bodies, wrapping themselves around their horns and wings. "These chains will keep you from using your magic or your wings, so don't bother trying to break free."

"Why bother putting these on us?" Celestia asked. "We are already in prison."

"Because Celestia, what good is beating you if I don't get some slaves out of it?" Sombra asked as he lowered the cell bars, yanking on the chains to drag the ponies out. "And trust me Celestia, I am going to enjoy this. Now come with me, I finally got a throne that doesn't hurt to sit on." The ponies fought as best they could, but power of the ring was too strong as Sombra dragged them up the stairs into the throne room, where he had replaced all of the banners with the yellow rings symbol. He walked over to a throne made out of yellow energy and hopped down onto it, smiling at all the angry looks he was getting.

"So, what now?" Luna asked.

"Let's see...wow, I actually didn't think this far ahead," he said with a chuckle as he shrugged. "Never expected to get this far actually. Just give me a few minutes and I'll think of something terrible to do to all of you...like have Luna eat cake in front of you. Or make you eat the cake yourself, heaven knows if you eat anymore you'll explode."

"And if I refuse?" Celestia asked, furious at Sombra, who smiled wickedly at her.

"Then I'll do...this." The ponies all cried out as pain coursed through them, Sombra chuckling as the little ones fell to the ground exhausted. Fluttershy rushed to their side, checking to make sure they were okay before glaring at Sombra.

"How could you do that to them?! They are only fillies!" she yelled.

"Does that mean I should shock them again?" he asked in a bored tone. "I'm bad with foals, so I have no idea. But I'll make this clear so even the two idiots in the back can understand. If you mess with me or try anything, I won't kill you...I'll kill the fillies first and make you watch, then I'll kill your friends. And only after I have done all of that, then I'll finish you," he said with a smile at their horrified faces. "So don't any of you try anything." The ponies all looked at each other, but knew there was nothing they could do as long as the fillies were in danger. So all of them hung their heads in disgust, except for Sweetie who kept looking around.

"What are you doing?" AB hissed at her.

"Looking for somepony," she whispered back.

"Sweetie...noponies coming. Sombra won." Much to AB's surprise, Sweetie gave her a quick wink in response.

"Don't worry. I have hope that someone will."

IOI

Pain. That was all that flooded through Spike's mind as he felt his consciousness begin to return, causing him to cry out as he opened his eyes, wondering where he was before the pain took over him again.

"Wait a moment, I did not know you were awake," a voice said out of his view. "I will get rid of the pain, but a potion you must take." Spike looked to his side as a zebra he knew well walked over to him, placing a bowl by his mouth and helped him to drink what was inside down. He gagged at the taste, but in a few minutes he could feel the pain beginning to subside, allowing him to sit up.

"Zecora?" he asked weakly as he looked around the hut, having been here enough to know that this was the home of the shaman that lived in the Everfree Forest. He saw the number of jars on her selves and a strange staff that rested against her wall. "What happened to me? Why am I here?" Then it all came flooding back to him, the battle with Sombra in Canterlot and the blast that had shattered the Emerald Dragon and had flung him into the forest. He tried to get up, but Zecora placed a hoof on Spike and pushed him back down.

"You cannot get up yet little one or the healing properties might be undone," Zecora said as Spike laid back down, but he waited until she had turned her back before he hopped of her bed and almost immediately collapsed to the ground in pain. Zecora sighed as she hoisted him back onto the bed, but he remained sitting up this time instead of laying down. Spike tried to will himself off of the bed with his ring, but then he looked down and realized that the ring was no longer there. "Relax young man, I have the ring from your hand," she said as she hoofed a small ring to Spike.

"What...happened to it?" he asked as he looked down at the ring, which was now covered in cracks and had no glow whatsoever. He slipped it onto his finger and tried to conjure something, but nothing appeared from the ring. "Ring! Respond!" The ring said nothing, causing Spike to worry. But then his thoughts turned to Twilight and the others and what Sombra would have done if he had been out for a few hours. "Zecora! How long have I been out?"

"A week at least," she responded, causing Spike's heart to sink into his chest. He had failed them. There was no way that Twilight and the others could still be alive after a week under Sombra's rule. And all because he couldn't overcome his fears. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he sat down and pulled his knees up, crying into them as Zecora gently patted him on the back.

"Hoo." Spike looked up through tear stained eyes at the source of the hoot, seeing Owlicious sitting on Zecora's shoulder. He hooted again and fluttered over to Spike, landing on his head and hooting sympathetically. Spike looked up at him before he continued to cry, but looked up at Zecora when he ran out of tears.

"What happened to the others?" he asked her. "What happened to Canterlot?" Zecora bit her lip as he said this before allowing Spike to climb onto her back, walking him out the door and outside of her house, where even with the thick trees covering almost everything, Spike could still see the yellow symbols that were all over Canterlot.

"Canterlot has fallen to the yellow light," Zecora said sadly as Spike stared dumbfounded at the city, not believing that this was happening. "And so far nopony has had the courage to fight. It seems that the princesses have fallen to the evil king, all thanks to a strange, alien ring."

"I should have stopped him," Spike whispered as he hopped of Zecora's back, looking down at the ring that refused to work. "Maybe the reason that it's not working is because it's out of power." He looked to Owlicious as he said this, who had been floating close behind the two. "Owlicious, can you go back to the Ponyville Library and grab my Lantern? I left it in the closet on the second floor." Owlicious let out a hoot before he flew out of the forest, leaving Spike to look at his ring. "Why won't it work? What's the matter with it?"

"Maybe you should think at the reflecting pond. It could help you to divine what is going on," Zecora suggested as she picked him back up again. "I will take you there myself, but one there you must reflect without help." Zecora walked him through the forest until they came to a small pond surrounded by a number of torches. Zecora then gently lowered herself so that Spike could climb off, but as she said she turned and left the pool, leaving Spike alone to look into the water.

"Okay pool, tell me what's the matter with the ring," he said to it, but all he saw when he looked into the reflection was his face. He sighed and sat down on the bank, occasionally looking to the sky for Owlicious. "The ring is run on will and I have the will to fight, but it still doesn't work! Why?! What I am doing wrong?!" He yelled to the skies before lowering his head back into his knees, thinking about how many times Twilight had helped him in his time of need, but when she needed him he had failed her.

'Why...why do I always fail no matter what I do?' he thought to himself as he gazed into the pool, still waiting for something other than his reflection to show up and look at him. 'Did I do something to offend some powerful wizard and they cursed me with this infernal luck? Or maybe Faust just hates me and decided that the whole universe would hate me as well.' He sat in silence for over an hour, looking into the pool before he heard the flap of wings. He looked up to see Owlicious, who let out a tired hoot as he landed next to Spike with a green lantern in his talons.

"Thanks Owlicious, I owe you one," Spike said with a sad smile as he picked up the lantern, Owlicious letting out a small hoot before he flew into the trees and out of the sun. Spike then took his ring hand and placed it against the glowing green core of the battery, where it remained for a minute as fear began to cloud Spike's mind. 'But what if it still doesn't work?' he thought. 'What if the ring stopped because I'm not somepony who can overcome their fears...that I'm just a failure.' He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and glared into the lantern as he said,

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power. Green Lantern's light!" He waited a moment after he said this for the ring to glow or for the power to flow into him, but nothing happened at all. His heart sank to all new lows as he said the oath again, only to have the same results happen.

"No...It has to work! It has to!" he yelled as he pointed the ring at a rock and tried to create anything, but nothing came out of the ring, not even a few sparks. 'Why? Why!?' He closed his eyes as he felt just how powerless he was before falling to all floors, letting out a cry of anguish to the sky at his own powerlessness. He didn't know if Twilight was alive or if any of the others had survived the wrath of Sombra, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to change that.

'Here I am with the only thing in Equestria that has the power to stop him and I can't get it to work!' he screamed in his mind. 'Is it because I'm not willing hard enough...or maybe it's because I'm not supposed to be a lantern in the first place? Maybe the ring took pity on me when I tried to use and decided to humor me. I wasn't supposed to be its first pick, Twilight was. And she'd make such a better choice than me. Heck, who would even choose me to begin with? I'm just...' He looked down at the ring as he said this before he slipped it off, looking at the cracked symbol of the Lantern Corps on the front of it sadly.

'There are so many of them, heroes that fight across the galaxy to defend people from evil, yet this is the only place that got a dud,' he thought, throwing the ring away from him in disgust. All those heroes and the ring had picked him. 'It hadn't been joking when it said it was damaged by Twilight's spell, it sure picked a failure with me.' Spike couldn't see it, but Owlicious had flown down from his perch and had scooped the ring up in his beak, standing beside Spike and waiting him for look.

"Hoo," he said after a moment, causing Spike to look up at him.

"You want the ring? Sure, it would probably be better suited for you than me anyway," he said with complete despair in his voice. "Hell, anything on this planet would be better than me." Owlicious blinked once before he dropped the ring at Spike's feet, Spike looking at it for a moment before he picked it up and threw it again. And again, Owlicious hopped over to the ring and brought it back to Spike, who glared at the owl angrily when he dropped it at Spike's feet.

"Don't you get it, you stupid animal?!" Spike roared angrily as he took the ring and threw it as hard as he could into the forest before looking down at Owlicious with fury. "I am not a hero! I never was a hero! I was a pretender who was using something that didn't belong to him and now everypony I care about is either dead or trapped by one of the evilest pony’s know with one of the most powerful weapons! I am not a Green Lantern! I can't stop him!...I can't..." He sobbed slightly as he said this and looked back to the pond, which still only showed his reflection. Owlicious looked at him before he flapped his wings and flew away, leaving Spike alone on the shore.

'And now I'm alone, not that I deserve any better from the way I just yelled at him,' Spike thought as he gazed at the water, feeling hopeless. 'He's trying to help me and here I am shouting at him. That's not a way a hero would act. But maybe that's why the ring won't work. Because I'm not a Lantern. I never could be one of those heroes. They're fearless souls who battle everyday across space, yet I can't even defeat Sombra.' Spike stared at the water some more until he heard a sound next to him and he turned his head to see what it was, only to be stunned by the sight. It was Owlicious, holding the green ring in his beak with a look of fire in his eyes. He then hopped over to Spike and very deliberately dropped it at his feet, glaring into Spike's eyes.

"Why do you keep giving it back to me?" Spike asked as he looked away from Owlicious. "I can't be the hero. I never was the hero. You're better off just finding somepony else." Spike closed his eyes again as he said this, lowering his head back onto his knees. He wished that Owlicious would just take the ring to somepony else, anypony else who could use it. 'Anypony else.'

...

'But there isn't anypony else.' Spike opened an eye as that single thought ran through his mind, causing him to lift his head and look down at Owlicious, who still looked at Spike with a fierce fire in his eyes. 'There's nopony else who can fight against Sombra. The ring would have flown to that pony if there was. But it hasn't left my side, meaning that it still believes me to be worth of the Green Lantern.' Then Spike looked at Owlicious again and a tearful smile spread across his face. "And that's why you haven't left me either, because you believe in me."

"Hoo," Owlicious said in agreement, hitting the ring with his beak and looking up at Spike, who gently took the ring and looked at it with hesitation.

'But the Green Lanterns are supposed to have no fear and I'm still afraid,' Spike thought as he looked at the ring. 'I'm afraid of what will happen if it doesn't work or if I go back into battle and Twilight and the others are dead. What if I fail again? What if..." Spike shook his head as he tightened his grip on his ring, not sure if he could do it. But then another random thought crossed his mind that caused him to focus. 'But it's impossible to be completely unafraid, but the rings still choose Lanterns. Maybe...it's not that they aren't afraid of anything, but they overcome those fears whenever they're needed.'

"Hoo," Owlicious said.

"And I kept forgetting that," Spike said with a hint of fire in his voice as he got to his feet, clenching his claw around the ring. "That every day there are other Lanterns out there risking their lives to fight against foes that I probably have never seen before. And they fight despite being afraid and despite their shortcomings. Because they have the power to overcome great fear." He unclenched his claw and looked at the cracked ring laying on his palm, narrowing his eyes at it.

"And this ring chose Twilight, knowing that she was the perfect pony to be one," Spike said not with despair, but with power flooding through his voice. "But the ring knows who it picks and it only picks those who have what it takes to be a Green Lantern, those who have the will!...That's the reason the ring wouldn't work, not because I didn't have the will to beat Sombra, but because I didn't have the will to face my fears like the other Lanterns!"

"Hoo!"

"But no more," Spike said in a quiet tone as he took the ring and slipped it on his middle finger, clenching his fist as he looked down into the pond at his reflection, finally getting what Zecora had meant. "I don't care if I'm not supposed to be the true Green Lantern of Equestria, because right now Equestria doesn't need the first Green Lantern, it needs a Green Lantern! And Twilight wouldn't tell me to give the ring to her, she would tell me to fight! And this ring wouldn't have chosen me...if it didn't believe that I had what it took to be like all the other heroes who wield this ring!" Spike looked over to his lantern as he said this and picked it up, holding the ring against it with fear still in him, but it was being completely overpowered by the will he had.

"I will stop Sombra. I will save everypony. And this time, I will be the Lantern I was chosen to be," he said as he pushed his fist into the center of the lantern, feeling for the first time the weight of all the other Lanterns upon his shoulders, of what it meant to be a Lantern. Those that fought for justice all over the galaxy and all those who had fallen defending it, no matter the fear they had faced. And then he felt the weight of those who had wielded the ring before him, those who had died fighting for peace. And with those thoughts running through his head, for the first time he spoke those words that so many lanterns before him had said not just with will, but with belief in what he was saying as well. With belief in himself.

"In brightest day or in blackest night, I shall never again lose my will to fight! And let those who worship evil's might...beware my power...GREEN! LANTERN'S! LIGHT!" The lantern flashed with a light that sent a column of green energy into the air, filling Spike with its power. The cracks on his ring repaired themselves as the power of will flowed through him as his suit formed around him, glowing with the light of the Lantern itself. Spike pulled the ring away to from the lantern to look down at it, smiling when he saw it was all lit up.

'You finally listened to what I've been saying,' the ring said to him.

"You were right," Spike said as he looked up at the castle, the castle that still had the ensemble of Sombra all over it. "I have the will to be a Green Lantern. Now the time has come to see if I can defeat a yellow one."

'Are you afraid?' the ring asked him.

"Of course. But I will overcome it," Spike said with a smile as he looked back to Owlicious. "Thank you, for not giving up on me."

"Hoo," Owlicious said as he looked up at the castle, Spike nodding as he knew what the owl was thinking. So with determination in his eyes, Spike willed himself into the air as he flung himself towards the castle.

'I'm coming for you Sombra and this time I have the will to defeat you. Be afraid.'

The Will to Win

"Now this is the life," Sombra said to himself as he sat back on his throne, looking down at all the subjects who had come to bow before him and beg for his mercy. News had spread like wildfire during the past week that Sombra had not only overthrown the princesses, but also killed the Emerald Dragon in a battle that left the city in ruins. And once the ponies had heard this, they had they flocked from all over Equestria to give tribute and praise to their new king, afraid of what he would do to them if they tried to stand against him. The Royal Canterlot guard had learned the hard way what happens when they messed with him and the cleaners of the castle were still picking them off the ceiling. So with fear in their hearts of suffering the same fate, ponies from all over had come to pay respect to Sombra.

"Yes, I will spare your pathetic life, but only if you get out of my sight," he said to an older pair as his horn glowed, causing them to scream as they ran out of his throne room as fast as they could. "Now where was I? Right, comfy throne, total domination over all of my foes and the most powerful weapon in the known universe of my side," he said with a smile as he looked up at the ring. "Today is a good day. But some refreshments would make it even better! Oh maids!"

Sombra pulled on a pair of yellow chains as he said this, dragging out both Luna and Celestia who were in yellow maid’s outfits into the throne room. Sombra laughed at how they stupid looked in the maid outfits, but he laughed even harder at the looks of rage they gave him. But with the threat of death hanging over both them and their subjects, he knew that the princesses wouldn't try anything. And he made sure to take full advantage of that fact.

"Well you two took your sweet time," he said with a chuckle as they glared at him. "And I see that no matter how large I make you're outfit, it still doesn't fit. Now why do you think that is Celestia?"

"I have no idea," she whispered with venom in every word.

"It's because all you did was sit on your fat ass every day and stuffed your face full of cake," Sombra said. "You should be thanking me for taking your throne, because now you're actually working and burning off those calories. Oh, hey Luna." Luna seethed at his flippancy, but Celestia held out a hoof to stop her sister from trying anything. "Now then, I want lemonade, not too sweet and make sure to try and not poison it this time. Ruins the flavor." The two barely bent their knees to "bow" and turned in disgust to get him his drink while he looked down at the line of ponies waiting to see him.

"What's the matter, you all look terrified?" Sombra asked them, smiling when all of them averted their gazes to avoid his. "You look like you could use some encouragement to help pick yourselves up. How about princess Twilight comes out and tells you just what a great leader I am? Hell, let's bring em all out!" He pulled out another set of yellow chains as he said this and from another room came out the Elements of Harmony, all of whom looked to be in terrible shape and had black bags under their eyes. Twilight looked to be the worse out of all of them, with red eyes showing on her defeated face.

"What do you want now?" Rainbow asked, but there was none of her fire in her voice.

"Nothing much, just Twilight to tell these ponies that they have nothing to fear from me as long as they behave and act all nice," Sombra said.

"I'd rather die," Twilight responded, which only got a laugh at of Sombra.

"See how funny she is?" he asked the crowd of ponies. "She thinks that I would kill her first. No, I'd start with your friends and then work my way to you. It's much more fun that way."

"You're a monster," Twilight whispered.

"A monster with some kick-ass accessories," he reminded her as the ring flashed, causing the chain around Twilight's neck to pull her to the ground. "And don't any of you forget it. Now get your ugly faces out of my throne room or I might just hurl on the carpet again. And guess who has to pick that up?" he said with a wicked smile as Celestia and Luna entered again, carrying his drink. The ponies all bowed to him again as they left the throne room, two giant, constructed hands closing the door behind them as Sombra picked up his drink with his power and scanned it.

"And you didn't poison it? See, you can learn," he said as he kicked back on his throne of yellow and enjoyed his drink, the two princesses walking over to the Elements as they helped Twilight back up.

"How are all of you holding up?" Luna asked, but their eyes answered for her. There was still some fire in some of them, but she didn't need to look at Twilight to tell that she was suffering the worse out of all of them. Luna placed a wing over Twilight's shoulder as Celestia began to whisper.

"It doesn't matter what we try, his ring gives him the power to stop whatever we do," she whispered with a quick look at Sombra, who seemed blissfully ignorant of what they were saying. "I hate to say this, but we still need to go along with what he says. With the fillies in danger and no current way to stop him..."

"Are you all scheming over there?" Sombra asked with a smile at the group. "You're all so naïve at this. You scheme in the places where the pony you want to hurt can't see you and then when you're in front of them you use looks and signals to pass information. Geez, you're all so hopeless and boring. And speaking of boring, I could use some entertainment." He clapped his hooves as he said this and the chains pulled the CMC out, causing the Elements and the princesses to stop talking when they saw the fillies.

"What do ya want this time?" AB asked him.

"Do your crusading or whatever it's called, that always gets a laugh out of me," Sombra said, using his yellow ring to gather them some potion making supplies and a number of explosive. "Please don't hold back on my account. Go nuts." Applebloom and Scootaloo both sadly began to work, but Sweetie had a smile on her face as she began to work, something that wasn't lost on Sombra. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because you're not going to be on that throne for long," Sweetie said with an even bigger smile. Sombra narrowed his eyes at that remark and he floated off his throne and landed in front of her.

"What? Do you actually believe somepony is coming to save you?" Sombra asked with a chuckle of disbelief. "I have destroyed the only other being with power to match mine and all of the ponies in Equestria fear me! Nopony would dare to face me now."

"That's fine, but my hope isn't in a pony," Sweetie replied, causing Sombra to growl.

"Spike is dead," Sombra said. "I found the crater where I blasted him and there was nothing left of him, not even his ring. Why do you hold onto such false hope?!" The moment he said this, an explosion came from outside and all turned to see a column of green energy shooting into the sky. Sombra slowly turned to look back to Sweetie, who had the biggest, smuggest smile on her face.

"What were you saying?" Sombra barely had enough time to turn around and erect a barrier of yellow before a giant, green battering ram drove itself through the side of the castle wall and into his shield, sending Sombra flying through a wall and out of the throne room. All eyes turned towards the hole in the wall, where a single dragon in a green suit came floating in, fire blazing in his eyes.

"SPIKE!" Twilight called out in disbelief as the dragon floated over to them, giving them a quick smile before he materialized a jackhammer and used it to break their chains. He did the same for the CMC and princesses as well, lowering himself to the floor once everypony was free to be tackled by Twilight. "You're alive! You're alright!" she sobbed as she hugged him.

"I'm better than alright Twilight," he said as he showed them the ring, which was glowing with a power that they had never seen coming from it. "I'm a true Lantern now."

"What took you?" Sweetie asked with a smile. "It's been about a week. You're late."

"You knew I was alive?" Spike asked in disbelief, the other ponies faces telling him that they all thought he had been dead this past week.

"Nope. I just had hope," she said with another smile. Their reunion was cut short as the wall to the castle exploded and Sombra came sauntering it, rage on his face as he looked at the Emerald Dragon with a snarl.

"So, I see that I did fail to kill you last time we fought. Time to rectify that mistake." He created a giant wasp as he said this and had it fly towards Spike, but Spike smirked as he swatted the construct away with a fly swatter, crushing the wasp underneath of it. "Okay, have this!" This time he sent a barrage of snakes flying towards Spike, but once again the dragon countered his construct with a shield that he used to plow through the snakes, forcing Sombra to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed.

"You won't beat me this time Sombra," Spike said as he pointed the ring at Sombra. "I have overcome my fears." To prove his point, Spike sent tendrils of green that wrapped around Sombra's legs to hold him in place, allowing Spike to send him flying out of the castle when he followed up with a baseball bat to Sombra's jaw. "I need to go after him," Spike said to the ponies behind him.

"Good luck," Twilight said to him as he shot out of the castle, leaving the ponies to watch him go. "Will he be alright? Sombra already beat him once."

"He'll be fine Twilight," Sweetie said next to her with a smile. "Have some faith in him."

IOI

Sombra snarled as he caught himself in the air, amazed that the dragon had hit him so hard but even more amazed that the dragon had managed to survive the beating he had received at the hooves of Sombra.

'Little punk is tougher than I thought,' Sombra thought to himself as he turned to see Spike coming to a stop in the air in front of Sombra, crossing his arms as he glared at the pony. "I must say that I'm impressed that you managed to survive my yellow energy. Care to tell me, ring wielder to ring wielder, how you did it?"

"Simple. My will to fight is a lot stronger than yours," Spike replied before constructing a number of swords that he began to wing at Sombra, who weaved around them to avoid being hit. Sombra retaliated with a giant blade of his own that he swung towards Spike, who intercepted with another blade. Sombra smirked as Spike did this, knowing that fear had an advantage over will, but to his shock Spike's construct remained strong.

"How are you doing this?" Sombra asked as he fired bolts of fear at Spike, who caught them all in a giant net that he used to throw them back at Sombra. "My ring told me that fear will always be stronger than will! What are you doing different!?"

"Not much. I simply overcame my fears of not being chosen or of Twilight being disappointed in me by remembering that while I may not have been the first one chosen by the ring, I was still chosen," Spike said as spiked gloves formed on his fists and he began to swing them at Sombra, who growled as he created pillar after pillar of fear energy to try and stop the dragon, getting angrier each time Spike punched through them.

"Well it doesn't matter if you think you overcame your fears, because I know you're a liar," Sombra spat as he flew down into the town, planning on using the ponies there as shields to stop Spike it needed. He grabbed a number of civilians as he flew by, throwing them into the air behind him. "You still are afraid of Twilight hating you and you are still afraid of me, especially after a destroyed you in our last battle."

"You're right, I am afraid of you, but not for the reasons you think," Spike replied as he caught all of the thrown ponies in a number of huge catchers mits, dumping them all into a pond as he flew by it as he continued after Sombra. This time it was Spike who created the chains that brought his opponent down as he created green chains that wrapped around Sombra, slowing him to a halt as Spike dug his heels into the streets to stop the dark king. "I'm afraid of what you will do if I don't stop you, if somepony doesn't bring you down before you have the chance to hurt anypony. So trust me when I say I will stop you!"

"Impudent brat!" Sombra roared, but his words cost him a chance to deflect Spike's energy blast to his chest, sending Sombra skidding into the streets, where he got back to his hooves with a groan. He looked up just in time to see a giant green boot come stomping down on him. Spike lifted the boot and proceeded to crush Sombra two more times before Sombra escaped by drilling his way through the streets. He shot out behind Spike and fired a beam of yellow energy into his back, sending Spike through a building and crashing into a street lamp. "Do you really believe that you are a match for me?! I have had a thousand years to master my skills! What makes you think you can beat me?!"

"I already told you. Because I will," Spike said as he got to one knee, supporting himself on a fist to keep from falling over. Sombra saw this moment of weakness and charged at Spike, creating a giant axe over his head. Spike smirked at the predictability of the king as Sombra rushed towards him before a wall of emerald energy shot out of the ground under Sombra's hooves and sent him sailing into the air. Spike began some target practice as he fired multiple shots of energy at Sombra, who took them all head on. The dark king crashed into the street, where he struggled to get up from the pain.

"Now then, where were we?" Spike asked him as he floated down next to Sombra, who growled at the little dragon before trying to fire his energy at him. Spike was ready with a shield that he used to deflect the attack and crush Sombra underneath of it. "Your fear based attacks will no longer work on me. Just give it up."

"And who do you think you are to tell me, the KING of Equestria, to give up!?" Sombra spat back as he tried to escape. Spike smiled at his answer as he continued to apply the pressure.

"I'm the Emerald Dragon, the HERO of Equestria," Spike replied as he changed the shield into a clamp that clamped down on Sombra so that he couldn't escape. "And I believe that you have some ponies that you need to go answer to for your crimes." Spike took aim at the castle as he said this and flung Sombra with all of his might, sending the still trapped king flying into the castle wall. Sombra groaned as he struggled to get back up as Spike floated through the hole, smiling at the ponies who cheered when they saw him alive and well.

"What are you?" Sombra asked him as the ponies all began to surround him.

"Spike, Green Lantern of Frontier space," Spike replied. "Now then, take of the ring Sombra or I'll do it for you." Sombra lowered his head for a moment as he thought of his odds before he looked back up at Spike with defeated eyes.

"Alright Lantern, you can remove my ring," he began as he lowered his head, before it snapped back up with his eyes glowing with power. "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Spike crossed his arms to protect himself from the blast of yellow energy that knocked him back outside, catching himself in the air to see a nightmare of a yellow pony come out of the castle, similar to his dragon form but instead made entirely of yellow. "I rule Equestria! I am stronger than all of the princesses combined! I won't be beaten by a single, baby dragon!"

"Wanna bet?" Spike asked before he closed his eyes and let the power of his will flow through his body, before they snapped open to reveal the same power that Sombra had used. A massive swarm of energy consumed him and through the energy formed the massive form of the Emerald Dragon, who shattered the green energy around him with a might roar. But unlike the previous version of the dragon, this one now had a symbol in the center of its chest. The symbol of the Green Lanterns.

"Die!" Sombra's construct roared as it charged at Spike, it's yellow teeth gleaming as it rushed the Emerald Dragon, who caught the construct by its horn and flung it over his head, watching as it crashing in the Canterlot Gardens. The construct got back up with a roar and began to shoot blast of yellow energy out of its mouth towards the dragon. The Emerald Dragon closed his wings around his body and gritted his teeth as the blasts hit his wings, but they held. He opened his wings and dive bombed the Yellow Stallion, driving his fist into its face and sending it back into the dirt. With a massive inhale, the Dragon let loose a torrent of green energy upon Sombra's construct, slowly chipping off parts of it.

"Do you yield?" The Dragon asked as it drove it's fist into the constructs face, cracking it slightly. The construct roared, but only received another punch to its face for its efforts. Then the Emerald Dragon lifted it's right hand into the air and a sword of the purest emerald energy appeared in it, which the Dragon then drove straight into the chest of the construct. The Yellow Stallion screamed as it was impaled, but it shattered the sword as it scrambled back to its hooves.

"YOU WILL BURN LIKE MY POWER!" the Yellow Stallion yelled as it channeled all of its power into its mouth.

"And should beware mine," the Emerald Dragon replied as it did the same. The Yellow Stallion let out a massive surge of energy towards the Dragon, who retaliated in kind with a torrent of green flames. The two attacks collided and for a brief moment, neither having the edge. But one wielders will to wing was stronger than the other, so in the blink of an eye the green flames had consumed the yellow ones and then consumed the Yellow Stallion, who howled in pain. The Emerald Dragon ceased the flame attack to see that the construct was no more and only Sombra lay beaten and burned on the ground in front of him. The Emerald Dragon nodded once before he threw his head back and let loose a roar of victory to the skies, a roar that echoed not only across Canterlot, but all across Equestria.

"And that is that," the Emerald Dragon said before a flash of green light went off, leaving Spike standing next to Sombra. He let out a groan and held his head, but smiled as he looked down at Sombra, knowing that he had won. "And you have some ponies that want to have a talk with you, oh great king. Let's go." He wrapped up Sombra in green energy and took to the air, flying back to the castle where the ponies were waiting for him, all of them hugging him once he had dropped Sombra to the ground.

"So, dark king, what do you plan to do now?" Luna said with a smirk as she kicked his broken body, getting a weak growl out of him.

"I say we did to him what he did to us," Celestia said with a wicked smile at Sombra, causing Luna to gag.

"Ugh, do not put that image in my head sister, I do not want to hurl," Luna said before covering her mouth.

"First things first, we should remove his ring," Twilight said, the others nodding in agreement as Spike walked over to Sombra, who looked up at him with beaten eyes.

"You may have won this round child, but you have not won the war," he said weakly. "I have something that you do not have."

"Oh really? And what is that?" Spike asked.

"An escape plan." As Sombra said this, a column of darkness shot out of the ground and engulfed the dark king while all of the ponies shielded their eyes. When the torrent of darkness came to an end, they all were shocked to see that Sombra had vanished, along with the ring he had been wearing.

"He always was a crafty one," Celestia said with a sigh as she looked over to Spike. "There is nothing I can say to you young dragon...young hero to show my gratitude for what you have done for us. You have saved us from a terrible fate and Equestria from a terrible ruler. If there is anything I can do to show you my gratitude." The other ponies all began to applaud for Spike, who rubbed the back of his head with a smile before he realized that the Yellow Lantern symbols were still all over the castle.

"I don't need a reward right now, but there is one last thing I need to do," Spike said with a smile as he shot out through one of the many holes in the wall and floated over the city. He then pointed the ring at the city and let it's light flow over it, replacing all of the yellow lantern images with those of the princesses and the Elements. And once all of that had been done Spike thrust his right hand into the sky, letting a giant image of the Green Lanterns, of the Emerald Dragon, float above the city where all could see it.

"I cannot believe he won," Luna said to Twilight next to her as she and all of the other ponies looked out the castle at the symbol in the sky. Twilight gave no answer, since no amount of words could tell how proud she was of Spike.

'But I can say this,' she thought as Spike waved at them. 'You truly are a hero Spike. More than worthy to be a Green Lantern.'

Back To Normal?

If the ponies of Equestria had been worked up by the fact that Sombra had taken over Canterlot, then they lost their senses completely when the heard the news that the Emerald Dragon was not only alive, but had beaten Sombra and taken back the city. Ponies flocked from all over Equestria to see the hero in Canterlot, but little did they know that the hero had taken a break from all of the hero-ing back in his home of Ponyville for some much deserved R&R.

"OW! Darn it Twilight, that really hurt!" Spike said as Twilight pulled away the bandage. Spike had wanted to spend most of the time relaxing, but due to the shape he was in he had to constantly be monitored by Twilight.

"Well I'm sorry, but it's the only way that you're going to feel better, so suck it up," she said as she started to wipe the wounds again, getting another yelp out of Spike. "You fought Sombra and his ring of fear with no problem, yet something as trivial as applying antibiotics to your wound cause you to scream like that?"

"Hey, the ring protected me from most of his attacks," Spike replied as he winced in pain. "Plus, I was still under whatever Zecora used on me to get me back in fighting shape and I wasn't really feeling much of my body. Ow!" Twilight shook her head with a smile, knowing that despite the ribbing she was giving him that she truly was proud of him. Ponies had swarmed Canterlot to come and thank him, but he said that he was too tired to try and greet them all. So she had taken him back to Ponyville and given him the chance to rest.

'Your will is what gave me the power to stop the fear based attacks,' the ring said on the table next to him, gaining the attention of one previously sleeping Owlicious, who hooted once before flying down from his perch next to the ring, pecking at it with his beak. 'Please stop that. Stop it. Spike.'

"Sorry ring, when he gets set nothing can stop him," Spike said with a smile as Owlicious began to kick the ring back and forth, despite its complaints. Then a small smile spread on his face when he thought of how Owlicious had refused to give up on him, even when Spike had given up on himself. "Hey Owlicious." Owlicious hooted and stopped bothering the ring before flying over to Spike, resting on top of his head. "Just wanted to say, you know, thanks for not giving up on me back in the forest. I'd hate to think of what happen if you hadn't been there."

"Hoo," Owlicious said with a happy look on his face from atop Spike's head. Twilight smiled at the both of them, amazed at far the two of them had come in just a short time. Spike, being the hero of Equestria and Owlicious heading into the Everfree Forest to go assist Spike.

'You two have really grown,' she said with a smile as she pulled the both of them into a hug.

"Ow."

"Sorry." Twilight let go of them as she stood up and walked over to a map that she had pinned to her wall, a frown covering her face as she looked at all the marked spots on the map. "Where would Sombra have gone? It's been a few days and we've seen neither head nor tail of him. You'd think that he'd come back for revenge right away."

"Especially since he's the only opponent I've faced who still kept their ring at the end of the fight," Spike muttered as he walked up next to Twilight, thinking along the same lines. "Or maybe he's so embarrassed that a baby dragon kicked his butt in front of everypony in Canterlot. Celestia knows I wouldn't show my face after that." Twilight smiled at him before she heard a knocking at the door, Luna standing before her when she opened it.

"Greetings Twilight, I have come by just to see how the little hero was doing," Luna said as she walked inside, letting in the last lights of the setting sun. She smiled at Spike, who didn't seem to notice that Owlicious was still on his head.

"Hello princess, how are you doing?" Twilight asked as she pulled out a chair for the princess of the night.

"I am well, but I wish I could say the same for Canterlot," she said with a sigh as she sat down in the chair as Spike went to get her a drink. "Even though we have cleaned up most of the mess, ponies are still terrified at the news that Sombra managed to escape our grasps and none of them want to stay in Canterlot for long without the Emerald Dragon there to protect them. Oh, thank you Spike," she said as Spike placed her tea cup on the table and Owlicious then poured the tea for her. "And thank you Owlicious. I wish that we knew where Sombra went, but all of our searches have proven futile."

"At least we can relax for the time being," Twilight said as she sipped on her tea once Spike had served it.

"Yes and it is always nice to come visit Ponyville," Luna said as she looked out the window at the small town. "Plus, I got to see Scootaloo and her friends on the way over and help them out with some of their crusading. But what do three fillies need with jet skis and thirty feet of parachute rope?"

"Hey Twilight, can I go out?" Spike asked Twilight, remembering that there was another pony he had wanted to talk to but hadn't had the time to do so. Twilight gave him the go ahead and Spike grabbed his ring before he ran out the door, Owlicious waving goodbye at Twilight and Luna as he was still on Spike's head.

"He's always running around now a days," Twilight said with a small sigh as she watched him go. "He's growing up so fast. When did it start?"

"Probably when he found that ring," Luna replied. Spike had started to run down the street until his wounds got the better of him, meaning that he had to take a slower route, but that also allowed him to look around at all the ponies that he barely got to see. All of them had smiles on their faces and more than once he heard them talking about the Emerald dragon, making Spike smile.

"Man, haven't heard this much talk about me since the time I started to steal everything in Ponyville that one time," Spike said with a smile.

"Hoo."

"Oh hey bro, you coming with me?" Spike asked as he looked up at Owlicious, who was starting to wake up as the sun got lower on the horizon. He finally came to a stop outside the Carousel Boutique and hesitantly knocked on the door, humming to himself as he heard a pony coming to answer it.

"Yes, who is it?" Rarity asked as she opened the door before a huge smile spread on her face at the sight of Spike. "Oh, Spikey wikey," she said as she pulled him into a massive hug, something Spike would have normally enjoyed if it wasn't for the pain that coursed through his body. Rarity released him the moment she realized she was hurting him and brought him inside.

"Hoo."

"Of course it's lovely to see you again Owlicious," Rarity replied, bowing to the owl who bowed back. "So then Spike, what can I do for the hero of Equestria?" she asked with a smile. "Need a new outfit to replace your old one? Let me be honest with you dear, the old one kind of looked a bit tacky. Now then, I have five or six new designs that I think..."

"Rarity, while I would normally love to see your new designs, I'm actually here Sweetie Belle," Spike said as he avoided looking at her, causing both her and Owlicious to look at him in confusion. "Can you just tell me where she is?" he grumbled.

"Um, she's upstairs," Rarity said, looking at Spike as he walked by her. Spike wasn't lying when he had said that he'd love to see her outfit’s designs for him, but he had to talk to Sweetie. Twilight had informed him of what she had said in the castle while Sombra had been ruling it and frankly her faith in him confused him, especially since every other pony thought he was dead. He opened her door to see Sweetie writing something in a diary, but she smiled when she saw Spike enter and closed it before bounding over to him.

"Hey Spike, what's up?" she asked him before looking up to see Owlicious. "Enjoy the view up their Owlicious?"

"Hoo," Owlicious replied before he floated over to Sweetie and rested on her head, causing her to giggle.

"Not much, I was just...wondering if I could ask you something?" he said nervously, not sure what kind of answer he was going to get. Sweetie hopped down on her bed and gave him the go ahead. "Back when Sombra had defeated me and thrown you and the others in the dungeon, Twilight told me that everypony thought I was dead except for you. Is that right?"

"Yup," she answered.

"Okay, then how did you know that I was still alive?" Spike asked, confused by her. If even Twilight, the pony he was closest to, thought he was dead, then why didn't Sweetie Belle?

"I didn't," she replied, causing Spike to blink twice in confusion.

"What?"

"I didn't know you were alive. In fact, I was fairly certain that you were gone," she said. Spike blinked again before shaking his head; sure that he had heard her wrong.

"So let me get this straight. You were the only pony there who thought I was still alive, but at the same time you didn't think that I was still alive? How does that work?" Spike asked, causing Sweetie to groan.

"I said didn't think you were still alive. Yet in my heart I knew that you were and that you would come back to save us," she explained, letting out another groan at the confusion on Spike's face. "I may not have known, but I had hope that you were. I believed that you would come back and you did." Spike was still confused by the statement, wondering how she could have such faith in him.

"Because you're a hero," Sweetie said with a smile once he had asked her his thoughts. "And a hero always comes back to save the day. That's why I had such hope in you. Because you're my hero." Spike didn't notice the change in wording, but he did let a small smile cross his face, a bit touched by her faith in him.

"I didn't know you thought of me as a hero," Spike said with a smile.

"Well duh, you only saved us a whole bunch of times," Sweetie said as she looked out the window at the darkening sky to avoid looking at him. 'Not to mention helped me out when I needed it most. Like a hero would.' Spike followed her gaze and saw the moon rising, figuring that he had stayed a bit long. He said goodbye to her and Owlicious flew off her head and back to his as he left, waving to Rarity as he left.

"Wow, I've really moved up in the world," Spike said to Owlicious with a smile, the owl hooting in agreement before flapping his wings to take to the skies, enjoying the cool night air. Sweetie watched the two of them go from her window, a small smile on her face as well as a bit of guilt for not telling Spike the whole truth.

'I should have told him that my hope in him almost gave out when Sombra asked me to my face why I believed in him,' she thought to herself as she let out a yawn and climbed into her bed, tired from a long day of crusading with her friends. 'But then you restored my faith in you and saved the day, just like I knew you would.' She yawned once again as she thought this and rolled over, slipping off into her dreams with a small smile on her face.

WHACK!

"Ow!" she yelped as she shot up suddenly, rubbing her head as she looked around the room for whatever had hit her in the head. Then her eyes rested on a small light that came from the floor and she backed away a bit when the light floated back up, but her eyes widened when she saw what it was.

'Sweetie Belle of Equestria.'

"No way," she whispered to herself as she slowly grabbed the ring that was floating in front of her, a ring of the purest blue.

'You have the ability to instill great hope.'

IOI

Spike was awoken the following morning by a hurried knocking at the door, causing him to stumble out of bed as he looked at Twilight's bed and frowning when he saw that he wasn't there. Figuring that she was out being a princess again, he slowly walked down the stairs as the knocking got louder and louder.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he yelled to the pony outside as he reached the door, opening it to see Rarity standing in the morning sun with a look of worry on her face. "Rarity? What are you doing here so early in the morning?" he asked her.

"Have you seen Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked in a worried tone as she let herself into the library, looking around for her sister.

"Why, has she been missing?" Spike asked with concern as he slipped on his ring, preparing for the worst.

"I haven't seen her since last night. Sometimes she does get up before me and goes out but normally she leaves me a note or something. Yet she was gone this morning and no note." Spike frowned at that since had seen her last night. Was she missing or could it be possible that Sombra had a hoof in this and was using her to bait out the Elements or the Dragon?

"You want me to go look for her?" Spike asked as he suited up, floating off the ground as he lit up.

"If you would be so kind," Rarity said. Spike nodded and flew out of the top of the library, wondering where he should start first. The CMC clubhouse seemed like the best place to start, so he pointed himself in that direction and flew off; arriving quicker than any Pegasus would believe. But as he floated above the clubhouse, he could only see Applebloom and Scootaloo down below, no sigh of Sweetie. The two fillies saw him and waved him down, running up to him as he floated down to them.

"Rarity got you looking for her as well?" AB asked once Spike had landed next to them, Spike nodding as answer. "Yep, she came to mah sister this morning and asked her as well, figuring that she would probably head to one of our houses if she went anywhere."

"But neither AB nor I have seen her since yesterday, so we've been looking as well," Scootaloo said as she pointed to the clubhouse. "But she's not in there either and we're not sure where to look next. I figure that Rarity will get everypony to look for her sister." Spike frowned at that before he thanked them and took back to the skies, looking over the town of Ponyville with narrowed eyes.

"So where do you think she might have gone?" he asked as he looked down at the ring.

'If she is not with her friends and was not foal napped, then it is possible that she might be someplace that she rarely goes to, hence why her sister would not look for her there,' the ring said, Spike figuring that it was as good a guess as any. His first stop was the more buisnessy section of Ponyville, where most of the ponies worked. The CMC hated this place because of how boring it was, but after then minutes of flying he knew that it was a futile effort. The ring confirmed his thoughts once he had asked it to scan as much of the area as it could, revealing nothing.

"Well that was a bust," Spike muttered as he flew out by the quarry where the Diamond Dogs had last been seen, remembering how that had taken Rarity a few years ago. He constructed a giant drill around his body and shot into the ground, burrowing his way through the earth until he burst through the dirt into a giant cavern. He shot along the cavern until he had found a number of Diamond Dogs that were collecting gems.

"What is that?" one of them asked as Spike floated down in front of them. One of the three dogs decided to rush Spike and received a giant hand to his face for his efforts.

"I'm going to make this quick," Spike said as he picked the dogs up by their legs, dangling them upside down as the whimpered in fear. "Have any of you seen a small, white filly with a purple and pink mane down here?"

"No! We no take ponies anymore!" one of them said as it covered its face.

'It seems that they are telling the truth,' the ring muttered. Spike frowned before dropping the dogs and flying back out the way he came in.

"Where could she be?!" he asked with a growl as he flew over Ponyville. He was about the head back to the library before the ring began to glow and make a beeping sound. "What's the matter? What's up?"

'I can sense the faint traces of a yellow ring in the area,' the ring said, causing Spike to snarl. The only pony who wielded that ring was Sombra and if he was here then his suspicions had to be confirmed. 'It is coming from the dam up on the hill.' Spike nodded before rocketing himself over to the dam, floating over all of the elder ponies as he looked around the area for Sombra.

"Where is he?" Spike asked before he heard the cries coming from the elder ponies below him. He looked down to see that they were all pointing at the dam that had a large number of cracks spreading over it, water beginning to come through. "How many times is this thing going to break?" It only took him a moment to react before he threw himself towards the dam, creating a number of bandages the he began to place along the cracks. "That won't hold the dam for long. I'm going to need a way to stop those cracks permanently or weld them shut."

'I have such a function,' the ring said to Spike. 'With enough concentration I can become like a welding torch. We just need to be a bit closer.' Spike nodded and flew up to the dam, pointing his ring at it and firing a beam of pure green into the cracks, the intense heat from the ring slowly welded up the crack. Spike smiled before moving onto the next one, which he managed to shut as well. He was just about to finish off the cracks when an explosion went off at the top of the dam and giant pieces of rock began to fly down towards the ponies.

"Oh no you don't!" Spike yelled as he flew down, creating multiple claws to grab the chunks out of the air and hurl them away from the ponies. He was just about to smile at his work before he heard a crashing sound and turned around to see that the cracks he had just repaired had been reopened twice as large from the explosion and the whole dam looked to be coming down. 'I need to get don there to protect the ponies,' he thought as he flew down to where the old ponies were, gathering as many as he could and moving them to the land above the dam. He realized that this plan wouldn't save all of them and that the dam was about to burst. So with a growl he flew down in front of the houses with the ponies and made as large a barrier as he could, bracing himself for the water.

"Bring it on!" Spike yelled as the dam finally broke and torrents of water came rushing towards him, destroying all of the trees in its path. Spike grit his teeth and waited for the water to impact...only to gasp in disbelief when the biggest bucket he had ever seen came down in front of him to intercept the water, gathering all of the water within its large basin. Spike the watched as the bucket lifted itself far above his head, holding all of the dam water above him as he lowered his shield.

"What the...?" he asked before a bulldozer far larger than any he had ever seen drove by him, creating a huge pile of dirt as it passed by him. The dirt was all packed into where the dam once stood and the bucket moved overhead of the dam, tipping over and allowing the water to fall back in. The bulldozer shifted into a great wall, which held the dirt in place while the water was being poured. Once the water was safely back inside, the bucket became a number of hands that picked up the wall of the dam, putting it back together until it looked as good as new. Spike's eyes were wide the entire he time he watched this, not just because of what had happened, but because all of those items had been a green he knew well.

"Glad I got here when I did. You needed the help if that was your plan." Spike spun around to see a bipedal creature floating above him, arms crossed and what looked like a smile on his face. His face was a dark brown and he had even darker hair on his face, but his eyes glowed with a green power that covered his pupils. But what made Spike gasp wasn't that he didn't look like any creature that he had seen before, but that he wore a uniform that Spike knew all too well. An emerald green uniform with a lantern in the center of his chest. And that could only mean one thing.

"Who are you?" Spike asked in total shock to the alien, who chuckled in reply before saying,

"Green Lantern of sector 2814," he replied as he showed Spike the green ring on his right hand. "John Stewart."

The Corps

Celestia and Luna had come back to Ponyville to visit the Elements and to see how repairs to the town were going, so Twilight decided to take them around and treat them to lunch as well. Even though the town was still a bit ruined, the sun was shining and Celestia hoped that today was going to be a normal, good day. AB and Scootaloo had shown up along with AJ and Rarity, who was still looking for her sister in vain. Luna offered to help once they finished eating, so the four also sat down with them for story time. Celestia's sister had just gotten done telling Twilight a funny story about when the two of them were foals when ponies everywhere began to start screaming, causing the three princesses to immediately look around to see what was going on. They found out what the cause was when Twilight looked up at the sky and her eyes shrank back in her head.

"Um, princesses? Do either of you have any idea what that thing is?" Twilight asked in a tiny voice. Celestia and Luna both looked to where she was looking and their jaws dropped as they saw the vessel that rested above them. It was a white craft but had no balloons to hold it up; instead it had a green ring in the main part and a glowing green core in the back area. Celestia and Luna didn't know what to expect as the ship landed in the center of the town and a hatch opened on the bottom of it.

"Remember sister, do not open fire unless provoked," Celestia whispered to Luna. "We do not want to anger them if they are friendly."

"I know that. Why do you always assume that I will fire on an alien without hesitation?" Luna whispered back as they heard footsteps coming down the ramp. The each prepared themselves for the first encounter...only to be amazed by what they were looking at. The creature was bipedal in nature and had a small patch of brown on its head, but that was completely forgotten when the ponies there saw what it was wearing. It had white gloves over a green suit, a suit that had a familiar symbol in the center of it.

"Another Lantern?" Luna asked in disbelief. The creature looked around for a moment before its eyes rested on Celestia and Luna and it walked over to them, stopping in front of them with a smile on its face.

"Hey there," it said to them with a smile, taking them a back a bit. They hadn't expected it to know their language, but it spoke it perfectly. "Judging from your attire and the fact that you have a regal air about you, I figure that you two are the...horses in charge around here?" it asked them.

"Yes. I am princess Celestia and this is my sister, Luna," Celestia replied with a nod to her sister standing beside her. The creature frowned at that and Celestia took notice. "Does my introduction bother you?"

"Huh? No, it's just that I would like to talk to the king and queen if I could," it replied while crossing its arms.

"There is no king and queen. Only my sister and I, and Twilight over there," Celestia said as she nodded to Twilight, who was standing back a ways. "Now, may I ask, who or what are you?"

"Oh sorry ma'am, I forgot to introduce myself," it said as it outstretched a hand. "Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of sector 2814. Pleased to meet you." Celestia's eyes widened a bit at the fact that he said he was a Green Lantern, but Spike had told her that the ring informed him that he was not the only lantern, that there were many across the stars. Plus, his suit was too similar to Spike's to be a coincidence.

"Nice to meet you as well...Jordan. May I ask what you are doing on this planet?" Celestia asked before a banging sound was heard followed by an creature that looked feral in appearance came rolling down the walkway, with what looked like a toilet clutched in his claws. Hal sighed as he put a hand to his face before he looked at Celestia, slightly surprised to see that she was taking up an offensive stance, her sister and Twilight doing the same.

"This is mine now and I want to go put it with my others," the creature growled.

"I'll handle this one," Luna said with a growl as she began to advance towards the creature.

"Whoa there," Hal said as he floated between the two of them, the orange creature looking up for the first time since it had rolled out of the ship. "There's no need to be alarmed. This is Larfleeze and he's...well, he's not exactly harmless, but I can more or less keep him under control. He won't..."

"Hurt us?" Luna spat at Jordan before looking back to Larfleeze, who was eyeing her crown with interest. "He wears that orange ring, he's more than dangerous. I should put him down right now."

"Ah," Jordan said with a smile. "So the other orange ring did come here and you've encountered it." Luna looked up at him for a moment before she confirmed his claim, causing Jordan to smile. "That is why we're here, Princess Celestia, to retrieve that ring. After a bad battle on my home planet, one of Larfleeze's orange rings shot off into space and we've been looking for it. And the trail ends at this planet so-"

"Give me back what's mine!" Larfleeze yelled as he rushed at Luna, causing the princess to yelp as the creature came running towards her. Larfleeze ran into a green barrier and slid down it while Hal shook his head at the antics of his "friend." "Sorry about that, he doesn't like it when his stuff gets taken. So, where's the orange lantern who has the ring?" Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment before answering.

"There is no orange lantern here," Celestia replied, causing Hal to raise an eyebrow. "The ring is entrapped in stone up in our castle on that mountain."

"Wait a minute, so the ring didn't pick anyone?" Hal asked, confused.

"No, it did, but the wielder of that ring was defeat by the Emerald Dragon."

"The Green Lantern of our planet," Twilight said when Jordan gave Celestia a confused look. "He defeated the orange lantern and we used our magic to seal the ring away, so that it couldn't claim anypony else."

"So, John was right when he thought he saw another Lantern here," Hal muttered to himself before looking back to the ponies. "Can you go get the ring for us? We'd like to take it far away from your planet if we could."

"Very well, but it will take some time to do so," Celestia said. Hal said that he was fine with waiting for a bit and she turned to leave. "I'll bring both rings, just in case you want to take the other as well." She spread her wings and flew off as she said this, leaving a confused Hal to mutter,

"Both?"

IOI

Spike wasn't sure whether to count the creature floating in front of him as friend or foe, so he kept his ring pointed at the lantern on its chest. Yes it wore the symbol of the Corps, but he knew that just because somepony wore a ring didn't mean they were immediately trustworthy. John saw the distrust in his eyes and raised both his hands over his head before gently floating to the ground in front of Spike.

"Easy there little guy, I'm not here to start something," he said in a low, calming voice, not knowing what Spike would do. "Me and my friends just came here to get something that was lost and then we'll head on out. Since we're both Lanterns, how about we talk like team mates instead of fighting like enemies?" Spike narrowed his eyes at Stewart before he slowly lowered his ring, wanting to hear him out.

"Alright, but I want first question. What are you?" Spike eventually asked, causing John to smile.

"I'm a human from the planet Earth, which is really far away from here," John said as he lowered his arms. "I'm a Green Lantern there."

"A lantern?" Spike asked suspiciously. "Meaning there's more than one of you?"

"Yeah, our sector's kind of weird," John said with a dry chuckle. "We've had more Lanterns than any sector that I know of. But yeah, there are a bunch of us."

"And why are you here?" Spike asked. "I appreciate the help, but I doubt that you flew all the way to...whatever my sector is to help me fix a dam."

"You're right there, but you don't have a sector per say," Stewart said, causing Spike to raise an eyebrow. "You're planets in a part of space called the Frontier, which is too far away from Oa to be an official sector. So instead, the rings sent here have instructions on what the Lanterns are and how to use them inside, which they'll then repeat to their host. But to answer your question, I'm here looking for an orange ring, which from the way you've been eyeing my ring I figure you've ran into a ring wielder besides yourself."

"Yeah, I ran into an orange ring," Spike said with a distasteful look. "And a red one. And yellow. So how many of those darn things made it to my world?" Spike noticed that John looked taken aback by this, telling Spike that he hadn't known about the other rings.

"You've fought off an orange, yellow and red lantern on this planet by yourself?" John asked in disbelief. "How long have you had your ring?"

"Couple of weeks," Spike replied, causing John's eyes to widen once again.

"Man, you are one lucky little...dragon?" Stewart said with a shake of his head, causing Spike's eyes to narrow a bit.

"What do you mean lucky? I defeated them with my will and skill," Spike replied with a scowl, John putting up his hands again in defense.

"I didn't mean to insult you, I'm just saying that a rookie such as yourself being able to defeat three of the strongest lantern corps is rare and barely happens," he explained. "I never said that you weren't skilled, just that luck had to play a big part of it."

"Oh really?" Spike asked with a smile as he pointed his ring at John. "How about I prove to you just how skilled I've become in such a short time?" John opened his mouth to say no, but then he closed it with a thin smile. Since Spike was in the Frontier, he hadn't gone to Oa to receive any official training and yet he managed to defeat three other Lanterns. John wanted to see just how the kid had done it and maybe teach him a thing or two in the process.

"Alright, I'll play your game," John said as his suit began to glow and he floated over to a field in the forest below, Spike following him until the two of them rested just above the ground in the center of the field. "But this is a sparring match only, so I don't want either of us going full out. You haven't had official training yet."

"Fine by me!" Spike yelled as he sent a giant dragon head towards Stewart, who flew to the side to avoid it as he began taking little shots at Spike. Spike countered by having the dragon head swallow him, protecting him from Stewart's attack. Stewart raised an eyebrow at the unorthodox style as Spike came bursting out of the head with both his fists covered in green boxing gloves. John created a shield in front of Spike and watched as the little dragon began to pound away at it.

"If this is how you beat the other Lanterns, then you definitely had luck on your side," John taunted a bit, seeing Spike smile in response as he created a jackhammer and began to pound again on the shield. But much like anyone else who fought against Stewart, Spike quickly found out that his constructs were completely solid. "Now let me show you what a veteran can do!" His shield transformed into a minigun and he began shooting bolts into Spike, who was knocked across the field and into the forest, where Spike skidded to a stop on the ground and got up holding his head as Stewart floated over to him.

"Not bad," Spike muttered with a smile. "But I'm not done yet." John wondered what he meant when he noticed Spike's ring fist pushed into the ground. He shot back just as a green fist burst from the ground, barely missing John. Stewart smiled at the little trick before he constructed a sniper rifle, firing a bullet right through the green hand and missed Spike's head by a few inches.

"Do you see now why you're having such trouble against me?" he asked as Spike jumped to the side after the bullet had missed. "You sacrifice defense when you attack. I can tell what you're going to do just by looking at your body movements." Spike narrowed his eyes but thought a bit about what John had said before an idea came to him.

"Alright, then let's see you deal with this," Spike said as he created a green sphere around himself as he threw himself at John, who simply moved out of the way to dodge the attack. But Spike's sphere hit a tree and he bounced off of it into another tree, where he continued to bounce until he came flying back at Stewart, who barely got up a barrier in time to deflect Spike's sphere. "Hah! Having troubling hitting me once I start bouncing around."

"I'll give you points for randomness," John said as he thought of a way to deal with this. He created a solid bat and tapped it twice on the ground, calculating the bounces until he knew when Spike would come at him again. "But you're out of here!" he yelled as he slammed the bat into the sphere, sending the Spike sailing into the air.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Spike yelled as he spun around, ditching the sphere so he could stop his tumble. He staggered in the air and had to hold a hand to his mouth to keep from throwing up while Stewart floated up to him. "Ugh, that was not cool."

"Not a bad idea, but you're not letting you imagination go all out," John said as he created the same sphere as Spike, but this one was much stronger looking and had rockets on the back of it. "You can do anything with this ring as long as you can will it." He then flew the sphere at Spike, who got out of the way and turned to see that the rockets had given john full control of the sphere, meaning it was already coming back at him.

"Alright, you want all out?!" Spike yelled as his ring glowed with all of its power, causing John to stop in the air as he saw the ring consume Spike, covering him in its energy. John's construct vanished as he gazed in awe at the giant dragon that erupted from the energy, towering over him as it looked down with green energy in its maw. "Is this all out enough for you?"

"That's fine," John said with a smile on his own face as his ring glowed with similar power, but instead of consuming him he created a giant mecha behind him, with turrets on its shoulders and missiles on its back. John floated into the cockpit and turned the machine toward the Emerald Dragon, the two giant's staring each other down as they floated above the forest. There they rested for a moment before John floated out of the cockpit and let the construct vanish, Spike doing the same after a moment.

"Why'd you do that?" Spike asked as he floated over to John. "I was looking forward to a giant monster battle."

"It would be cool, but I take it that dragon form of yours is your last resort," John said with an expert’s opinion, Spike nodding in answer. "This was just a match to test your skills and I have to admit, despite being a rookie you're pretty good at thinking on your feet. But that won't always be good enough to defeat some of the foes you come across. Sometimes you have to have a plan and think ahead. Got it?" Spike muttered something but nodded none the less. "Alright, what do you say we head back to town and go meet the other Lanterns?"

"Sure," Spike said as he led the way, John watching for a moment before following.

'To think he could create such a fierce construct after only a few weeks of having the ring,' Stewart thought as he flew. 'Kid's got quite the will.'

IOI

John and Spike came to a stop over the town, where the both of them were looking down at an odd sight. The three princesses were standing in the square while another Green Lantern was using his ring to keep what Spike assumed was an Orange Lantern on a leash. As the two got closer, they could pick up bits and pieces of what was happening.

"For the last time, calm down!" Hal yelled at Larfleeze as the Orange Lantern tried in desperation to get to Celestia.

"She ruined the ring! It should not be in stone, it should be with me!" Larfleeze yelled. Celestia had returned with the two rings in a sealed box, which caused Jordan to be surprised and caused Larfleeze to become angry. Hal had thought that only the orange ring had come to Equestria, but after hearing the full story from the princesses it turned out that there were four rings. One was with the Green Lantern that he had yet to meet, but once Larfleeze saw that his ring was in stone he lashed out angrily.

"Look, she already told us why she had to do that, so just calm down," Hal snarled as he tried to keep Larfleeze under control.

"Having trouble with your friend there?" All of the ponies looked up and gasped when they saw the two Green Lanterns floating down towards them, John landing next to Hal and helping him restrain Larfleeze. "If we had just taken his ring off and locked him in the cell, we wouldn't be having this problem."

"That would just turn him against us," Hal said as he and John reigned the Lantern in. Once Larfleeze had calmed down enough, Jordan then turned to Spike who was floating next to him. "It's nice to finally meet that Lantern of this planet. I'm still amazed that you managed to defeat so many Lanterns in such a short time."

"Really tired of you guys looking down on me," Spike said with a growl before his eyes looked at the giant ship behind the Lanterns, causing him to gasp in awe. "What is that thing? It looks like so kind of ship but its way bigger!"

"This is the Interceptor mark four," Hal said with a smile at the ship. "Flown by yours truly."

"Mark four? What happen to the other versions?" Spike asked.

"Jordan happened to them," John said with a smile as he placed a hand on Hal's shoulder. "He wrecked the first three all by himself. You should have seen the guardian’s faces after he crashed the third one. How did you do it again?"

"Black hole," Hal said with a shrug before looking back to Celestia, who had been trying to take all of this in. "Sorry about all this and thank you for getting the ring. Larfleeze, do you want to the ring or not?"

"Only if the evil pony makes it normal!" he yelled back before looking at the ponies, seeing the Applebloom and Scootaloo in the crowd, who screamed as he moved closer to them. "And I want them as well!" he yelled before looking at Luna. "And that crown she's wearing!"

"Oh boy, this one is crazy," Applebloom muttered.

"So there are more lanterns?" Sweetie Belle asked. Both Scootaloo and Applebloom looked to their sides to see Sweetie Belle standing next to them, Zecora standing behind her.

"Sweetie! Where have you been?" Scootaloo whispered as Sweetie shrugged, noticing that she was wearing a cloak like Zecora was wearing. "And why are you wearing a cloak?" Sweetie shrugged again as Hal took the red ring from the box, but Spike flew over and took the orange one before he floated over to Larfleeze.

"This belongs to you, right?" Spike asked him. Larfleeze narrowed his eyes at the dragon before reaching out for the ring

"That's my ring! You just want to take it from me!" Larfleeze said, before Spike tossed the ring to him.

"Trust me, the last thing I want is that ring," Spike said, causing Larfleeze to look up at Spike in confusion. "Go ahead, it's yours."

"You're giving this to me? For free?" Larfleeze asked. "No deal? You won't take it?"

"I'll pay you to take it." Larfleeze looked at the ring then back to Spike, thinking about what Spike had said. He wanted the ring desperately, he was hungry for it...but now that he thought about it, he wasn't so hungry after all.

"It's boring now. You can keep it," Larfleeze said as he dropped the ring, Spike picking it up with a look. Jordan's eyes widened at these words, wondering what had come over Larfleeze before he looked down at the three fillies and felt a strange sensation course through him. He felt stronger, more full of will. And he also noticed that he was giving off a large amount of green energy, which could only mean one thing. A small light coming from one of the filly’s pockets confirmed his suspicions and he smiled slightly as he figured out what happened. "But I want her crown in exchange!" he said as he pointed at Luna, who blinked twice before a nod from Celestia told her to hoof it over.

'We have a spare," Celestia whispered to Luna as her crown was snatched away by the Orange Lantern, who ran up the ramp and into the ship.

"Alright then, I guess we'll take the red ring then," Stewart said as he took the stone ring from the princesses, noticing how it seemed to be pulling towards the darker princess. He also wondered if he should take the orange ring, but then his ring beeped and his eyes went wide when he realized why he was being called away. John flew over to him and the two talked for a moment before John headed up the ramp. He waved to the ponies as he followed Larfleeze into the ship, leaving Hal to turn to Spike and wave him over.

"Hey, John gave me a rundown of what the two of you talked about and I just wanted to tell you that if you ever need help, all you have to do is call."

"Thanks, but I think I can handle anything thrown at me," Spike said with a smile, but his smile faded when Hal shook his head.

"No, you can't. There are plenty of beings in this universe that you CANNOT defeat by yourself. You might be a Lantern, but you're still young and inexperienced," Hal said in a serious tone. "There is no shame in asking for help. Your part of a larger group now and we've always got each other’s backs. Cherish your allies." Spike wondered why he told him this as Hal floated back up the ramp, waving to the large number of ponies that had gathered around to see them. Then the ship's ramp closed behind him and the ship rose into the air, where it then shot out into space faster than any of the ponies thought possible.

"So those were the other Green Lanterns," Spike muttered before floating back into the sky. 'They seem like nice guys, but I wonder why the one with the mask told me to cherish my allies?' He flew off as he thought this, leaving the princesses to disperse the crowd. In the crowd was a filly who had wanted to show off her new power, but thought better of it due to the other Lanterns. But she smiled to herself as she walked away, knowing that her chance would come soon enough.

IOI

"Are you sure you're fine with just giving the ring up?" Hal asked Larfleeze inside of the ship as it sped away from the planet.

"I didn't give it up! I got the greatest deal of all! I got a free crown out of it," Larfleeze said with a smile from his corner, where he held his lantern close while looking at the crown. "And the ring will return to me. All the orange rings come back to me."

Feeling Blue

"And just where have you been young lady?!" Rarity half shrieked at Sweetie Belle once she had finally decided to come home, the little filly hanging her head while Zecora looked over her shoulder from the front entrance of the Carousel Boutique. "And for the love of Faust don't tell me that you were in the Everfree Forest again, because I warned you that if I caught you going into that forest again without us..."

"Technically you didn't catch me," Sweetie muttered under her breath, infuriating Rarity only further. Rarity would have probably grounded Sweetie for life on the spot if Zecora had not taken that moment to intervene.

"I had not known she had not confided in you, but through the forest I helped her through," Zecora said, taking Rarity's attention off of Sweetie Belle. "For a delicate problem she came to see me, so do not judge her too harshly. She will talk to you about it if she feels, but if not I am afraid my lips are sealed. But know that for the day she was under my care, but she should have told you to be fair."

"Well, thank you for looking out for her at least," Rarity said with a thankful look to the zebra before turning her rage back to the filly that still hadn't lifted up her head yet. "So then, little sister, would you mind telling me what was so important that you had to risk going through a deadly forest and talk to Zecora about it instead of your own sister?"

"Sorry Rarity, I wish I could tell you, but its way too big a surprise for me to do that," Sweetie said with a sly smile before she shot under her sisters legs and ran up the stairs to her room. Rarity let out a small sigh as she turned back to Zecora, who was looking at some of the felt in the shop.

"Some of these materials might make for an interesting brew," Zecora muttered as she felt them in her hoof. "How much would I pay to buy this patch from you?"

"Just take them...as thanks for looking out for Sweetie Belle," Rarity said with a sigh, looking up the stairs to where her little sister had run off to while Zecora began shoving the material into her pack. "If you cannot tell me why Sweetie Belle came to see you, can you at least tell me what she did with you while she was in the forest?" Zecora opened her mouth to answer before placing a hoof under her chin, having to think on it for a moment before she decided to answer.

"Training." Rarity blinked twice in surprise as Zecora nodded and left the shop, leaving the mare confused as to why her little sister would be training in the middle of the forest for a day. Meanwhile, Sweetie had shut her door behind her and locked it, closing her blinds to make sure that nopony could see as she pulled a blue ring out of her coat pocket and let it float in front of her, causing her to smile giddily as it floated over to her.

'This is sooooooo cool!' she thought to herself as the ring slipped onto her horn, causing a blue suit to cover her body, with a strange, alien symbol in the center of it. She smiled as she looked at her mane in the mirror to see that it was just as blue as when she had put the ring on at Zecora's. 'I hope that Rarity doesn't get too upset with me for not being honest with her, but she'd tear her mane out if she knew I had you,' Sweetie thought with a smile as she looked at the blue ring on her horn. Then she concentrated and slowly began to float off of the floor, containing her desire to laugh when she started to fly around the room.

'But if that's the way Rarity would react, then I can't wait to see the look on Spike's face when I show him,' she thought as she floated to the ground and opened to blinds just a crack, looking out onto the streets of Ponyville. 'Especially since there's a new Lantern in town!'

IOI

Deep within the Everfree Forest, in a place that only a few had gone to before, a single pony was dragging his body up a flight of broken stairs to a chamber that rested underneath the sky. His normally black and grey coat was covered in blood and he panted heavily as he sat down on what used to be a great throne, looking at the yellow ring on his head with a scowl.

"Again. That damned dragon managed to get the better of me again!" Sombra growled to himself before he coughed twice and rested his head against the throne. 'How? How could his will be greater than his fear of me? Is it because I am no longer as terrifying as I used to be...Or maybe I just caught him on a good day? It doesn't matter now, all that matters is thinking of a way to exact my revenge.' He groaned before hearing a cute squeak from his side and he looked to see a colorful circle with wings and cute eyes looking at him.

"A...Parasprite?" he asked as more and more of the small creatures began to enter the empty castle, swarming around him with interest. He noticed that they all seemed to be attracted to the ring on his head like moths to a flame. He looked from them to Ponyville with a sinister smile spreading slowly as his ring began to glow, causing all of the sprites around him to begin shaking with fear. "And I know just where to send all of you. Now...BEGONE!" A flash of yellow light shown all through the castle and the Parasprites all came flying out as fast as their fear stricken wings would carry them, all heading towards Ponyville.

IOI

"...3600 sectors?" Spike and Twilight both asked the ring in disbelief. Both of them had returned to the library after the other Lanterns had left and so they turned to the only thing on the planet that would have the information, the green power ring. But after a few questions, the two realized just how large the universe was.

"Wow, there's that many sectors for the Lanterns," Twilight asked as she sat down on a chair, trying to wrap her mind around what she had just learned. "And there's so many planets and life forms in all of them...geez and most ponies thought that humans were only a myth. Now I'm being told there's more alien species out there than I could have thought."

"And that doesn't count all the species out here in the Frontier," Spike told her as he turned off the image of the sectors that the ring had been projecting. He wasn't really shocked by there were aliens, the ring had told him that there were, but he had no idea how many there were. And with all the different Lantern Corps, he wondered just how many of them had power rings of their own. Twilight sighed at his statement and lowered her head onto the table.

"I'm glad that the princesses took the orange ring back with them to Canterlot, but I wonder why Larfleeze didn't want it," Spike mused to himself, having been under the influence of the orange ring and knowing just how hard it was to give up on anything with that ring on. "But then again, the ring does seek out the greediest person or pony, so it might just fly back to him if he's close enough."

"I'm happy they took the red ring," Twilight said with an angry look. "That was the more dangerous of the two." Spike wondered what he should say to comfort her when he began to hear screaming, followed by what sounded like hundreds of wings buzzing all at once. Both he and Twilight ran outside to see ponies everywhere running from hundreds of thousands of Parasprites, which were devouring everything in sight. "Oh, not these guys again," Twilight groaned.

"I'll keep them distracted, you go get Pinkie," Spike said as he flashed his ring and took to the skies once the suit had formed on him, looking around at all of the Parasprites with narrowed eyes. They were eating everything and it seemed to Spike that they were doing so even faster than the last time they showed up in Ponyville. A cart was gone in a second and they were also eating through buildings, endangering ponies within. Some of the Parasprites were heading right for the library, when a giant wall shot up in front of them to halt their progress.

"That is enough," Spike said with a growl as he turned the wall into a giant butterfly net, smiling as he gave it a few test swings. "All of you are getting on my nerves. Let's get you out of here!" He swung the next and caught some of them, but after a few minutes of trying and even increasing the size of the net, Spike saw that it was a futile battle. There were simply too many Parasprites to catch. All he could do was keep the ponies safe as he waited for Pinkie to show up with her instruments.

"Okay all my friends, it's time to listen to some Pinkie music!" Pinkie yelled from behind Spike as she began to play all of her many instruments at once. Spike smiled as the Parasprites all turned towards her to see what she was up to, but then he gasped in shock as they swarmed her and devoured the instruments, leaving a confused Pinkie sitting on the ground.

"Why didn't it work?" Spike growled before grabbing a number of Parasprites with a construct. When they all turned to look at him, Spike saw that all of their eyes were a yellow color. "Ring, what's with the Parasprites

'They are under the influence of a yellow ring,' the ring said, immediately confirming Spike's fears.

"And that means that Sombra had something to do with this," Spike said as he turned to see Twilight flying alongside him, catching as many of the Parasprites as she could within her magic, but it barely made a difference. There were simply too many. "Sombra's the cause of this attack! Any plan here Twilight or are we going to try and catch them all one at a time?" Spike yelled over to Twilight as he turned the net to a flyswatter and started chasing the Parasprites, who just barely managed to avoid being hit by him.

"I'm thinking!" she yelled back as she was swarmed by a large number of them. Spike scowled as he created a girder to keep an unstable house from falling on a pair of ponies. The Parasprites that were nearby then tried to eat away at his construct, but Spike smile to himself when he saw that even with their large numbers they couldn't eat through his will. He left the construct there as he flew over the town, trying to see who else needed help. The answer was everypony.

"Just how many of these things are there?!" Spike asked nopony as he created a fan to blow Parasprites away from the buildings around him.

'Seventy five thousand, six hundred and twenty two,' the ring answered after it scanned as much of the town as it could.

"Thanks ring, I really needed to know that," Spike grumbled while trying to figure out a plan to stop the swarm. He then heard a scream that he knew all too well and turned to the Carousel Boutique. The front of the building having been completely eaten away and Parasprites inside eating everything within the shop, even with Rarity trying to swat them away with a broom. He snarled as he flew towards the building, using a hand to swat as many of the pests away as he could.

"Oh Spike!" Rarity said as he landed next to her and threw up a shield to push back as many as he could. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you! These...PESTS...have eaten nearly everything in my shop!"

"I noticed Rarity," Spike said as he increased the shield to encompass most of the Boutique, but he knew that it was only a temporary solution. "Ring, can I use the power of my will to...I don't know, get rid of the fear that's possessing these Parasprites?"

'I cannot do that,' the ring said as Spike shot into the air again, blowing away some more of the bugs with a fan. A huge bundle of them began to surround him, all trying to eat away at his constructs. 'Fear is the natural enemy of will and my power will be nullified if I try to use my power to remove the fear. In order to get rid of the fear, we would need a-' At that moment, a burst of blue energy consumed the Parasprites and Spike, who felt a sudden surge of power within. It passed with the burst, but he noticed that the Parasprites near him no longer had yellow eyes and weren't trying to eat everything in sight.

"What did you do?" he asked the ring as he floated over the confused Parasprites, who took one look at him before they started floating back to the forest.

'That was not me. That energy surge can only come from one object. A blue-'

"Hey Spike!" Spike pointed his ring as he turned, but it slowly lowered as he was struck dumb by what, or rather who, he saw floating next to him in the air. She had a blue suit with a strange symbol on it, but it was similar to the one he was wearing. Her mane and tail were also both a light blue, as was the mask that covered most of her face. A blue ring sat on her horn, a ring that Spike assumed was responsible for getting rid of those Parasprites. But despite the mask and that change of mane color, Spike knew immediately who she was.

"Sweetie Belle?" he asked in total disbelief before getting tackled by the filly, who let go with the biggest smile on her face. "You're a...you...where did you get that?" he eventually asked.

"It came to me a few nights ago," Sweetie said before noticing a swarm of Parasprites down below. "One second." She shakily flew down to where they were and sent out another burst of blue energy into them, causing the Parasprites to look around in confusion. "Go on back to your homes, it's safer there," she told them with a smile as she gently nudged them towards the forest, heading back to Spike when the Parasprites headed back to their home. "So as I was saying-"

"You can tell me later," Spike said as he looked around at the still large number of Parasprites. "Right now we need to get rid of these guys and even with your help I don't know if we can keep everypony safe."

"Don't worry Spike, all will be well," Sweetie said with a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike asked.

"Dunno." Spike and Sweetie flew into the mess of Parasprites and with Sweetie's blue energy able to reverse the effects of the fear energy, they found that they were able to deal with them in large numbers. Spike would round the Sprites up and Sweetie would use her power to release them of their fear, before helping them back to the forest. Spike was amazed at just how well she could use her ring, even if her flying was a little shaky.

"This is still taking too long," Spike growled as he tried to wrangle in a large number of the Parasprites while Sweetie help remove some rubble that had fallen on a group of ponies, the two heading back up to the sky when they were done so they could scan the town. "I wish there was a way to get all the Parasprites at once."

"Well...I can try making my burst larger," Sweetie said nervously. "I just don't know how much it will take out of me and I do not want to fall from this height," she muttered as she looked down.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if anything happens," Spike said with a thumbs up. Sweetie looked at him for a moment before smiling and closing her eyes, creating a large sphere of blue energy on the tip of her horn. Once she thought that she had gathered enough power, she let out a scream as the burst exploded from her horn, sending the blue energy coursing through everypony in the town and all the Parasprites as well. Spike could feel the hope running through him as his ring seemed to supercharge itself from the blue energy, while ponies everywhere were suddenly filled with hope. The Parasprites all stopped eating everything as the blue energy washed over them and began to leave the town, all of them heading back to their homes peacefully. Sweetie groaned once and began to fall, but Spike had been waiting and caught her before she could fall too far.

"Okay, that wasn't fun," she groaned as the blue energy surrounded her again, but she was too tired to fly. "Did it work?" Spike looked around at the town, seeing how all the Parasprites had left or were heading to the forest.

"Yeah, I think it worked," Spike said, before realizing that a lot more green energy than usual was coming off of him. Now that he thought about it, he had never felt this strong, not even after charging his ring to its full power. He began to wonder why that was before Sweetie groaned again and held a hoof to her head. "Come on, let's get you back to Rarity. She can take care of you."

"Ugh, I think that was too much for me," Sweetie groaned as Spike flew her back to the Boutique, where Rarity was still cleaning up the mess caused by the Parasprites. She waved Spike down when she saw him approach, but then her jaw hit the floor when she saw who he was carrying.

"Sweetie Belle! What happened to you and why...why are you wearing one of those rings?" Rarity asked in absolute horror when she saw the blue ring around Sweetie's horn. "Sweetie, take that off immediately! You have no idea what it could do!"

"Don't worry Rarity, the blue ones aren't bad," Spike said as he placed Sweetie on his sisters back. "The Blue Lanterns are one of the good lantern corps. Isn't that right ring?"

'The Blue Lanterns are fueled by hope,' the ring explained to Rarity. 'They are allies to the Green Lanterns and help to spread hope throughout the galaxy. And they have no side effects like the red or orange rings that twist the user’s personality.'

"See Rarity? I'm fine," Sweetie said weakly. "Just tired." Rarity looked back at Sweetie nervously before looking to Spike with worry.

"You are certain that it's safe?"

"The ring would only choose somepony who has great hope within them," Spike said, a little surprised that one of the main six hadn't been chosen again, but he figured that it didn't matter as long as somepony like Sombra didn't get their hooves on it. "I have to go Rarity, Twilight will want to know what happened and she'll want to be told about another Lantern. Keep an eye on Sweetie." Rarity watched him fly away before she turned and brought Sweetie up to her room, the only place that the Parasprites hadn't touched. She gently placed Sweetie on the bed before trying to remove the ring with her magic, only to find that it would not come off.

"Rest well sister," Rarity said gently as she kissed Sweetie on the forehead and left the room, looking down a bit as she did so before closing the door behind her. 'I can't believe Sweetie became a lantern like Spike. She's always been so lucky and everypony loves her...' Rarity walked away from Sweetie's room, not knowing that somewhere far away, a stone ring was stirring.

IOI

Sombra waited until night had fallen before he decided to sneak close to the town, knowing full well that the green ring could sense him. But what worried the former king on this night wasn't the fact that Spike still had the green ring and no lives had been lost during the Parasprite attack, but it was that another Lantern had appeared in the land and this time that Lantern was on Spike's side.

'Not to mention her power is somehow able to overwrite my own,' he thought as he slipped through the streets, heading towards the house of the new lantern. He knew that he had to be careful since the rings could sense each other, but he was banking on the new lantern not being awake at this time of night. 'I should be surprised by the fact that the filly became the new lantern, but after she hung onto hope for a week, I'm not that shocked.' He slipped through a hole in the front of the shop and snuck upstairs to the filly's room, where he found her sleeping in the bed with the ring still on.

'Time to die!' he thought to himself as he created a blade of yellow and prepared to bring it down, when something interesting caught his attention. At the window a stone ring was tapping lightly against the glass. Sombra walked over to the window and silently opened it, allowing the ring to weakly float through before it fell to the ground, trying to move forward as it fought against it stone prison. He picked it up and looked at it closely, noticing that it had hints of orange coming through the cracks in it. A smile spread on his face as he slipped out of the room and into the hallway, where he used his own ring to break this one out of its prison.

'So that's what happened to you,' he thought as the orange ring floated in front of him. Sombra ponded what he should do with this ring as it slowly began to move, forcing him to capture it again. On one hoof, he could kill the blue lantern now and only have to worry about Spike again. But if he could find who the ring was after and turn them to his side, he would have somepony to fight with him against the two Lanterns...and he hoped it was somepony they cared for. 'Sounds good,' he thought to himself as he let the ring go and began to follow it.

'Alien ring of the orange light, show me who's the greediest pony in town tonight.'

Kingdom to the North

Spike, Sweetie and the mane six headed out the following morning, heading to the Crystal Empire by train after Twilight sent a letter to the princesses telling them what had happened and where they were going. The princesses would eventually join them, but they had to deal with the public after the ponies found out that Sombra was back. The public had also seen what had happened, but the princesses’ official report was that Sombra had hypnotized Rarity into working with him. The ponies of Ponyville were hit hard by this news and Sweetie said that she had spent most the morning answering the door for ponies that were offering condolences. The train ride up was quiet, nopony really saying anything as they all thought about what had happened the previous day. Spike was sitting next to Twilight and Sweetie, with Fluttershy sitting across from them while petting Owlicious.

"It just doesn't make sense, that's all I'm saying," Twilight said with some frustration. "Rarity is the Element of Generosity, how could she have possibly fallen to the Orange Lanterns power?" She was looking to Sweetie to answer this, but the little filly was simply staring out the window, the blue ring resting beside her on the windowsill.

"Well, Sombra did say that he did do something to Rarity to make her fall under his influences," Spike said as he recalled some of what Sombra had said during the battle. "Maybe he did something to her mind that made her more susceptible to the ring?"

"It's just not like Rarity to be that mean," Fluttershy said weakly. "I mean, she can be a bit selfish at times, but to go after her own sister? That has to be Sombra's doing." Spike couldn't forget that scene either, how Rarity was trying with all of her might to kill her own sister, despite the blue ring supposing to be able to weaken the orange ring. It had been a chilling sight as he had seen the murder in Rarity's eyes himself.

"Ah feel for the poor girl though, ah can't imagine what it's like being under the control of both Sombra and an evil ring," Applejack said with a shake of her head.

"Yeah? All I can imagine is how much pain I'm going to inflict on Sombra when I get my hooves on him," Rainbow said as she slammed her forehooves together.

"Don't worry, once she's back to normal everything will be just the way it used to be," Pinkie said with a happy smile as she stuck her head out the train window.

"My biggest question right now is where did they go?" Spike asked as he looked under the seats, not really looking at the bags that contained his and Sweetie's batteries. His and Sweetie's rings had been unable to find either of the two despite them being able to scan most of the planet. "If the rings couldn't find them, does that mean that they're no longer on the planet or that Sombra has somehow found a way to mask the rings energy?"

"If he has, then it will make him even harder to find," Twilight said before looking out the window. "I hate being this powerless. I'm a princess and an Element of Harmony and yet when my friend needed me most I was powerless to help her."

"Just be thankful that we do have somepony on our side that can fight these threats," Fluttershy said with a warm smile at Spike. "I'd hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't gotten your ring."

"She could be extremely selfish at times," Sweetie said, causing all heads to turn to her. "I've lived with her long enough to know that she had a selfish side. She might be the Element of Generosity, but don't trick yourselves into thinking that she couldn't be stingy. You should see her when she was trying to get a stallion to fall for her, she could be downright mean. But she would never hurt me, not if she was in her right mind."

"I'm sorry that happened Sweetie," Spike said. "I had no idea that even Sombra could stoop so low. But know that we will get Rarity back, even if that means I have to tear Sombra's ring off of his horn myself. Don't worry." Sweetie looked to Spike with a small smile on her face before she picked up her ring and looked at it.

"I'm not worried, not that much. Rarity's a tough one when she needs to be and I think the reason she didn't kill me back there was because she was fighting both the ring and Sombra the entire time," Sweetie said with her boundless optimism. "All will be well." Spike and the others smiled back at her as the train pulled into the station, Spike and Sweetie placing their rings inside of their bags before the got up to leave the train, following Twilight and the others off. He waved goodbye to Owlicious as the train left, the owl going back to keep an eye on the library. The group was greeted at the station by Shining Armor, who was immediately tackled by Twilight as the both of them began to laugh.

"Hey Twily, glad to see that you haven't forgotten about me up here," Shining said with a smile as he pulled his sister into a one armed hug.

"Like I could forget you," she said as she pushed him off, allowing him to greet the others. Despite the cheerful greeting, Shining had also read the letter and knew why they were there, so he didn't waste any time in walking the most of them to a number of taxi's that were parked next to the station.

"Come on everypony, princess Cadence is waiting at the castle," Shining said as he hopped into one of the taxis, Twilight and Spike joining him while the others headed into other taxis. "So, Sombra's back huh?" Shining asked once the group began to move. "Last I heard of him he was defeated by the Emerald Dragon at Canterlot nearly a week ago. How can he be back already?"

"Because cockroaches were taught by Sombra on how to be so hard to kill," Spike muttered, getting a chuckle out of Shining before he took on a more somber expression.

"I'm sorry about Rarity," he said.

"We'll get her back," Spike said with certainty as the taxi's approached the castle. Shining paid for all of the cabs and the group headed inside to the throne room, where Cadence sat upon her throne with a smile as she saw her sister and their friends approach. Twilight and Cadence did their usual greeting while Spike looked around at all the crystal guards and noticed that they seemed to be a bit on edge.

"Is something going on?" he whispered to Shining, who told him that Cadence would tell them all. After the greeting Cadence sat back down on her throne and let out a sigh, the group noticing that she looked more tired than usual.

"I'm afraid it's business," she said once asked about her condition. "We knew of the takeover of Canterlot, but we had our own troubles to deal with that had to be dealt with. Recently there have been reports that changelings have been spotted around the Crystal Empire and while further searches have yielded no evidence of this, I'm still up most of the time searching for them. I can normally lure them out with my love spells, but so far none are biting if they are here." Spike frowned at the thought of changelings being here and made a mental note to talk to Twilight later about looking around the Crystal Empire for the changelings.

"We'll be happy to help if we can, be I'm afraid that we also need your help. We've lost one of the Elements of Harmony," Twilight said sadly, Cadence nodding her head with a sad look.

"Yes, I read your letter and I am so sorry that Sombra did this," Cadence said with rage in her voice. "I should have made sure that he was beaten last time for good, but now he has become your problem. I will help you in any way I can."

"But from what I've read about the past few weeks, it seems that Ponyville and Canterlot have a hero to call on if needed," Shining said as he walked over to his wife. "The Emerald Dragon right, the dragon with the ring that can do anything? Is he going to help us as well?"

"Of course he will," Twilight answered, Spike nodding in agreement although he did wonder why Twilight hadn't told Cadence and Shining his identity. "We also have a new Lantern and while she's a bit newer at the whole superhero thing, she's willing to fight alongside the Dragon." Spike saw the fire of determination in Sweetie's eyes as Twilight saw this and he knew that there was nothing Sombra could throw at her that would break her.

"Very well, I will return with you to Ponyville in a few days," Cadence said as she got up with a sigh, Shining gently placing a hoof on her shoulder as she walked forward. "I want to confirm that there are no changelings in my Empire before I go, but once I am certain that there are not, I will be with you."

"We can help you look for them, I enjoy kicking changeling butt," RD offered before shooting out the window, the other Elements agreeing with Rainbow Dash before they too took off to the streets, except for Fluttershy who stayed behind to make sure Cadence was alright. That left Twilight, Spike and Sweetie along in the room with the guards and the royal couple, Spike motioning for the other two to join him.

"Planning to go off and look for the changelings by yourself?" Twilight whispered once she and Sweetie had walked over.

"Yes, but not in Lantern uniform," Spike whispered back. "It would be far too obvious if me and Sweetie showed up and then two Lanterns that looked almost identical to us appeared as well. Sweetie, do you want to come with me or spend some time here in the palace?" Spike would have liked to have some back up out in the field, but he wasn't sure how Sweetie was holding up even though she said she was fine. His worry must have shown through his face because she rolled her eyes at him before answering.

"I'll come with you, I have a personal score with the changelings as well," Sweetie said with a smile. Twilight nodded and after they both procured their rings from their bags, the two of them headed out into the streets while Twilight stayed behind to speak with her brother. "You don't have to worry about me so much Spike, I know that we'll get Rarity back," Sweetie said to him once they had entered the streets of the Crystal Empire. "I still have hope," she said as her ring began to glow. "See?"

"Alright, but we don't need a light show right now," Spike said as he and Sweetie headed to the marketplace, where a large number of crystal ponies were all shopping around. "Ring, scan the ponies here to see if any of them are in disguise, but do so without being seen." Some of the ponies that recognized Spike waved to him as he passed and he waved back, although his attention was more focused on scanning the crowd. Sweetie was looking around as well, but he could see that her attention was more focused on the items that were up for sale.

"See something you like?" an old mare asked as Sweetie walked over, looking at all the crystal items with interest while Spike stared to look through the crowd, waiting for the ring to tell him something was up. When it failed to, he frowned and headed off deeper into the market, Sweetie following him with the crystal ball that she had bought.

"Think it will let me see the future?" she asked him as she placed the bag it was in on her back.

"If it can, see if it will tell us where the Changelings are," Spike said as the two of them came to the center of the market, where a number of crystal ponies were watching a street performer. "Anything ring?"

'Nothing. No indications of any pony in disguise,' it replied, causing Spike to sigh.

"Relax Spike, there's nothing we can do until the changelings are found, if they are here," Sweetie said as she sat down on a bench and pulled her ball out of the bag, looking into it with interest as smoke swirled inside of it. Spike didn't sit down; instead he pulled out his ring and looked at it for a moment before walking off. "Where are you going?"

"There's something that I want to test real fast," he said as he slipped off to the side, down an alleyway that had no ponies in it. He slipped on the ring and had barely allowed the suit to cover him before he shot up into the sky, climbing higher and higher until he was in the upper atmosphere. He stopped here as he looked off into space, wondering just how many planets were out there with life like his own. "If I wanted to fly to Oa, how long would it take me to get there?"

'The frontier is not a part of the normal guardian space. You would have to fly for a very long time to get to Oa,' the ring replied. 'Why do you suddenly have interest in the Guardians?'

"Just wanted to see what they were like. I also would like to meet some of the other Lanterns, in case I ever need to ask for their help" Spike muttered. "So how fast can I fly? If I was really trying I mean?"

'You have a certain speed in atmosphere, but in space you can almost reach light speed,' the ring replied, Spike whistling at that kind of speed. He then turned around and looked down at his planet below him, able to see almost all of the continents from up above. Yet he still couldn't see where Rarity or Sombra was and that fact continued to frustrate him.

'But I will find her. That I promise,' he thought to himself before he flew back down to the planet.

IOI

"So where did you go?" Sweetie asked once he had gotten back. She had relocated herself to a park and had bought some lunch for herself in the short time Spike was away.

"I flew into space for a moment," Spike replied. "Wanted to see if I could get to Oa from here, but the ring said that was a bad idea."

"You didn't just ask it here?" Sweetie muttered before taking a bite into her sandwich.

"I wanted to test it out for myself," he muttered before looking around at the crystal park, which was like a regular park but with crystals in place of plants. Then he looked over at Sweetie and realized that the wound on her back from the other day had almost completely healed up. "Didn't you have a bad wound on your back the other day?" Spike asked her, getting her too look behind her at where the burn had been.

"I did, but apparently my blue ring has to power to heal wounds super quick," Sweetie said with a smile. "What's really weird though is that whenever I get close to you I can feel myself suddenly get stronger all of a sudden. I don't know why that is."

"I do. The ring told me that both will and hope are strong alone, but when the two of them combine their powers is when they're at their strongest," he explained as he moved his green ring close to her blue one, both of them watching as the rings began to glow with an even greater light.

"So what you're saying is when we fight together we're at our strongest?" Sweetie asked as she looked down at her own ring. "Will and Hope huh? Does that mean greed gets stronger when it's with fear?"

'No. Greed feeds off of all the other powers if it's wielder chooses for it to, but it cannot be made stronger because of the feeding little one,' the blue ring said, Spike noticing that the blue ring sounded a lot nicer than his. 'Rage can burn through almost all constructs, but the light of a blue ring can nullify a Red Lanterns rage if needed.'

"What else can you do?" Sweetie asked it.

'I can heal, just as you observed but only in the presence of a green ring. I can also replay past events, but cannot change them and I also can feed off the hope of others to gain greater power little ones,' the blue ring explained. 'I can also create constructs, but unlike the green ring I do based on the wielders hopes. I can also nullify other lantern rings if needed. The blue light of hope is also the strongest of all the emotions.'

"Wow, seems like you got one of the best rings out there," Spike muttered, wishing his ring could do some of these things. "Sounds like there is nothing your ring can't do."

'I can only tap into my true power whenever there is a Green Lantern nearby though, little dragon,' the ring said to Spike. 'Hope is nothing without the will to act upon it.' Spike nodded at that before he looked back to Sweetie, who finished her sandwich in one bite.

"So why did you go to Zecora for training again? I could have trained you if you wanted."

"Thanks for the offer, but she actually sought me out," Sweetie said. "After I had gotten the ring, I was training at the CMC clubhouse, not a good idea, when she found me. She said that she could help me to master the ring faster than I could on my own. I took her offer and she helped me to get a good handle on the ring." Spike wondered how Zecora would know how to train a pony with a power ring, but then Spike figured that Twilight would probably want to know about what the blue ring had told them. So he and Sweetie both left the park and headed back to the castle, Spike asking his ring if it had sensed anything, only to get the same answer as before.

"Twilight is still talking to Cadence," Shining said to the pair once they had reached the castle again, the other members of the main six waiting outside the door to the throne room as well. "I can let you in when they're done." Spike nodded and went to sit down when the ring began to glow.

'Shape shifter in the other room.' Spike's eye widened immediately and he slipped his ring on, the green suit covering him as he blasted the door down, flying into the room to see that he had startled both Cadence and Twilight, not to mention all of the guards inside of the room. Twilight asked him what the heck he was doing as he began to scan the room with his ring, the ring narrowing in on a guard that was closet to Cadence.

"I'm saving your flanks," Spike said before he fired a bolt of green energy into the guard, who yelped as the bolt struck him in the chest and sent him flying across the room and into the wall. All of the ponies were starting to ask what was going on when the green fire surrounded the guard and he reappeared as a changeling, who growled at Spike as he pointed his ring at the changeling, cuffing him with green energy. "So changeling, care to tell me what you're doing in here by yourself?"

"You think that I am foolish enough to come here by myself?" the changeling asked him with a wicked smile. Spike wondered what he meant before there was a large explosion of energy and the barrier protecting the city started to fall.

"They've gone after the crystal heart!" Cadence yelled as she ran out of the room, Shining and the other guards following suit while the six ponies remained behind with Spike.

"What was that all about?!" Spike asked as he grabbed the changeling by the throat and lifted it up, the changeling still smiling despite knowing that it was horribly outnumbered. But the creature didn't need to answer as Spike looked out the window to see a swarm of changelings descending into the city, their sheer numbers blocking out the sun from how many of them were swarming the city. And then, in the center of it all, Spike and the others could see the queen of the changelings riding in on a green chariot, commanding her forces from there.

"Queen Chrysalis," Twilight said in horror as the changelings began to swarm the castle as well. Twilight and the others took up fighting stances and prepared to fight off the changelings, but the ones that were climbing in through the windows took bolts of blue energy to the face and were immediately thrown out of the castle.

"Whaddya think Spike?" Blue Lantern Sweetie asked as she floated over to the windows in her full uniform. "Think these changelings need to be introduced to the hero of Equestria?" Spike smiled as lifted the other changeling up to him, preparing to throw him to the mane six before he headed off to fight. But then the changeling began to glow with a yellow energy before he said,

"Hail to the queen." The changeling exploded in a blast of yellow energy, sending Spike's smoldering body across the room and into a wall, where all he saw was blackness.

IOI

From her chariot that was pulled by some of the strongest changelings in her ranks, Chrysalis was able to watch as her children...her army invaded the Crystal empire down below. She knew that she shouldn't be worried about them, they were the best of the best, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was a mistake.

'But we need the crystal heart,' she thought to herself as she sent in more changelings. 'With its power we will be able to feed ourselves for centuries without the need to conquer and maim. I know that I cannot trust everything that Sombra says, but at the very least this might prove to be our greatest triumph.' Her thoughts were interrupted when one of her generals flew up beside her, saluting before she allowed him to speak.

"Team three is in place and the prince is fighting the guards closest to the crystal heart, but we have bad news," he said while nervously looking at the ground. "It seems that...the Emerald Dragon is here." Chrysalis showed no outward reaction to this, but she was worried on the inside. The Emerald Dragon was the protector of the ponies and had a ring that rivaled the power of the one Sombra had. If he was here, then she needed her forces to win quickly and escape with the heart. "It also gets worse my queen. There is also another pony that wields one of those rings with them as well. This time it is a filly who uses a blue ring. Our spies said that she can match the power of the Emerald Dragon and also helped to defeat Sombra."

'Curse you Sombra, for leaving that part out,' Chrysalis thought to herself before trying to come up with a plan. Her forces were no match for the dragon, even those with the boost that Sombra had given them. But if she could keep the two ring wielders distracted...

"Tell our forces to avoid the dragon at all costs," Chrysalis instructed before she took her own battle armor off of the floor of the chariot and placed it over herself, finally picking up the spear that had been passed down through generations. "I will keep the Dragon's focus on me while my son deals with the heart. We shall not leave this battle empty hoofed." And with that she began to buzz her wings as she flew into the fray, hoping that this battle would not be her last.

Northern Lights

"Man he sure can sleep," Sweetie said with a shake of her head as she once again used the blue rings healing powers on Spike, who still hadn't woken up after the changeling had blown himself up to try and kill them. "He' not even injured anymore, if that scratch he had counts as an injury. My ring says that his energy field protected him from most of the blast."

"Tell me about it. He once slept through one of Discords attacks on the library once," Twilight said as she and the other ponies fended off the changelings that had snuck inside of the castle. Sweetie grunted as she picked up Spike and began to shake him, getting impatient at this point.

"Spike, WAKE UP! The day needs to be saved!" she yelled into his face, growling when all she got as an answer was another snore. "That's it!" she snarled as she lifted him up with the blue ring and aimed him at a cluster of changelings that were surrounding Fluttershy. "Dragon missile away!" she yelled as she flung him right into the pile of changelings, knocking them all over and waking up the baby dragon in the process.

"Who? What? When?" he asked as he sat up before looking around at the battle going on in the chamber. His eyes narrowed as he floated into the air and blasted the changelings off of AJ and RD, who were being completely overrun by the invaders. "Sweetie, we need to get out there and keep the mane bulk of the forces focused on us while Twilight and the others get to the princess and Shining!" he yelled as he shot out of the room, forming a bulldozer to push all of the swarm out of his way.

"Would a simple thank you be too much?!" Sweetie yelled after him as she flew out as well, gasping as she came to a stop in the air next to Spike, who also seemed to be stunned by what he was looking at. The swarm as far larger than either of them had thought possible, with nearly all of the crystal empire being covered by the changelings. "Okay Emerald Dragon, how do you want to do this?"

"If we deal with her first, then we might be able to get rid of the rest of the swarm," Spike said as he looked up, Sweetie following his gaze to see that Queen Chrysalis was floating down towards them, completely decked out in battle armor with a crimson red spear in her hooves. Spike wanted to engage her right away, but he was also aware of the ponies being caught in the battle between the outnumbered crystal guards and the changelings below.

"Can you handle her alone?" Sweetie asked Spike, who looked at her with a smile of confidence. Sweetie smiled in return before she flew off down to the battle below. Chrysalis tried to stop her with magic, but was immediately intercepted when Spike flew in front of her and constructed a wall.

"Sorry Chrysalis, but you've got bigger problems right now," Spike said as he created a sword and shield, Chrysalis's eyes narrowing at him as she aimed her spear towards him. "Trust me when I say this Chrysi, but that thing isn't going to be much help against me. I've stopped the worst of creatures with this weapon."

"I assume that you're talking about Sombra?" Chrysalis said, smiling when the Emerald Dragon looked at her with confusion. "Yes, I know of him. And I also know that he has taken your Rarity and placed her under his control. If you are willing, I may have a deal for you." She tried to read the Dragon's face, but the mask prevented her from doing so and she continued talking. "I can tell you where the two of them are and all I ask in return in the Crystal Heart. I'll even not kill Cadence and Shining Armor."

"You're a bigger idiot than I thought if you think I'd betray my friends and make a deal with you," Spike said as he pointed his sword at her, his eyes becoming completely green. "Bring it." Chrysalis snarled and threw herself at the Dragon, spear aimed right at his heart. The Emerald Dragon raised his shield and waited for her spear to hit, smiling to himself when it did so and he felt it bounce off of the construct. Chrysalis backed away for a moment with a look of confusion in her face before she tried again, this time swinging it down at the Dragon. Spike smiled again as he swung his sword at the spear, cleaving it right down the middle.

"What kind of magic is this?" Chrysalis asked as she looked at what remained of her nation’s ancient weapon, while the Emerald Dragon's weapons disappeared and were replaced with a spiked fist.

"It's not magic, Chrysalis," the Dragon responded as he began swinging it in a circle. "It's will. Pure and unstoppable." Chrysalis scoffed at this before she turned and shot into the air over the Empire, the Emerald Dragon following after her. She thought that she had him following her for a moment before a streak of green shot by her and came to a stop in front of her, Chrysalis trying to stop before she ran into a green stop sign that had appeared out of nowhere.

"You are not at all like Sombra described you Spike," Chrysalis snarled as she rubbed her now broken nose. "Weak, prone to rash outbursts, always putting yourself first."

"Oh don't worry, I can still be like that," Spike said with a laugh before he pointed his ring right at Chrysalis's chest. "But when the ring goes on, I change my attitude. With this on, I am a Green Lantern, protector of the galaxy." Chrysalis snarled at his claim before creating a green blade out of her horn with magic, letting out a yell as she charged at him. Spike responded by creating a ball and chain as he flew at her as well, the two of them colliding in a burst of light.

lOl

"Okay, this might not have been my best idea," Sweetie said to herself as she shot through the streets, trying to stay one step ahead of the changelings that were chasing her with bolts of green magic flying past her head. She swung around and fired off a quick three shot attack, knocking one of the seemingly infinite changelings out of the air behind her. "One down, ten thousand to go." Sweetie turned around only to find that she was flying straight towards a wall. She screamed and threw her arms in front of her face, expecting to slam into the wall. But to her surprise she went right through the wall, without touching it at all.

"What was that?" she asked as she skidded to a stop in the pony’s house, wincing as she heard a number of changelings slam into a solid crystal wall. She looked down at herself in confusion, wondering why she hadn't run into the wall like them. "Um, ring? Did I just go straight through a solid wall?"

'You did. That is one of my abilities,' the ring said in reply, Sweetie looking down at it for a moment before she got another evil smile on her face.

"Is there a limit to how many times I can do this?"

'Until you run out of hope.' The changelings on the other side of the wall were looking at the building in confusion, wondering where the blue pony had gone before she popped out of the wall next to them, only her upper torso showing.

"Peekaboo!" she said as she blasted one of them, vanishing back into the wall when they all tried to tackle her. "Over here!" she yelled as she popped out on the other side and blasted another bunch, giggling to herself as she went back inside the wall. She was about to pull the same trick again when she heard a pony crying out for help from around the corner. She shot out of the building, plowing through some of the changelings as she did so, and flew over to the pony, who was a mare surrounded by three changelings.

"Don't worry, I got this!" she said as she flung herself into the three of them, driving them all into the wall before flying back over to the mare. "You're safe now ma'am, all thanks to the Sapphire Sweetie!...That doesn't sound as cool as I thought it would." The mare was beginning to thank Sweetie when a blast of energy went off and more screams could be heard, resulting in Sweetie flying back out into the streets. One of the taller buildings was being brought down by the swarm, who had corralled most of the civilians underneath of it.

"For the Queen! For the hive!" one of them yelled before he slammed into one of the support beams and exploded, causing the beam to shatter into crystal shards and cause the building to begin to fall.

"Rocket attack!" Sweetie yelled as she rocketed herself into the group of changelings, bowling them out of the way before she slammed straight into the ground. "Ugh, gotta work on my aim," she muttered as she got back up, frowning when she noticed that most of the changelings were as well. "Okay, let's do this." The changelings swarmed her at once, despite the blast of blue taking down some of them. One of them managed to tackle her to the ground, but she flung him off with ease and the others backed away in surprise, surprise that Sweetie also shared.

"Uh, ring? Do I also have super strength?" she asked.

'While not in the super range, you are stronger than before due to the field that surrounds you.' Sweetie turned towards the changelings with another smile, but this time the changelings began to back away from her a bit.

"LET'S DO THIS!" she yelled as she flung herself back into the fray, bucking and punching any changeling that was foolish enough to get closer to her. She grabbed two and slammed their heads together, dropping them before hitting two with a twin burst of power. "Think you guys can just come to the princesses home and attack them? Sorry, but we're heroes here now!" She swung her head and a wave of blue energy took down the rest of the changelings, giving Sweetie Belle a moment to catch her breath before she began to gloat.

"Oh yeah, who's a hero? I'm a hero!" she began to say as she started to dance her victory dance. "Who stops the changelings? I stop-" Her victory dance was interrupted when she heard screams coming from the ponies behind her and she looked up to see that the building was coming down, the rest of the supports having finally given out. "Oh crap. Uh ring, am I strong enough to catch that?"

'No, but you can use your hope to stop it,' the ring said, Sweetie gulping nervously at what the ring was implying. 'You have to create a construct that can stop the building.'

"But I'm not at that level yet!" she said as she looked at the building falling closer and closer to them. "Without a Green Lantern nearby, blue constructs are a lot harder to make! This is-"

'Do not say that little one. You are a member of the Blue Lantern Corps, a corps that thrives on hope,' the ring reminded her in its calm voice. 'For you, no situation is hopeless.' Sweetie took the words to heart before she took in a deep breath and flooded her hope into the ring, letting out a scream as she did so. The ring shot out a giant mare with a gorgeous mane that caught the building on its back, the weight of the building nothing compared to the strength of the hope in the mare.

"What is that?" she asked the ring as she looked up at the giant blue mare that looked like her sister.

'A manifestation of your hopes made into light,' the ring replied. Sweetie smiled softly at that before she turned to the ponies and told them to run, her blue sister holding up the building the entire time.

IOI

"Shining, get behind me!" Cadence yelled as she threw up a barrier to protect her and her husband as the changeling in front of them threw twelve green daggers at her, the daggers bouncing off of her shield but also cracking it at the same time. The prince of the changelings took that moment of weakness to shatter the barrier with a kick, sending Cadence skidding back as it began to advance towards her.

"Not today, criminal scum!" A guard by the name of Flash Sentry said as he charged at the changeling with a spear in his hooves, dodging out of the way of the magic fire that was flung at him by the other changelings as he got closer to the prince. The prince turned and grabbed the hilt of the spear and flipped the pony over his head before slamming him into the ground, kicking him back before dodging spells by Shining Armor.

"You will not take the heart!" he yelled as he drew his blade and charged the changeling, who blocked the saber strikes with his armored forelegs. Cadence took that moment to blast the other changelings that were with him away before turning her focus back to the prince, who slipped behind Shining and placed him in a chokehold.

"Let go of my husband!" she yelled at him as she used her power to teleport Shining out of his grasps and fire a beam of magic at him as well. The changeling intercepted her attack with a beam of his own, but it was obvious to the both of them that she was going to win this battle. "You cannot beat me, prince. Why not just take your brethren and retreat back to your home."

"Here or at home, we die either way without the crystal heart," he snarled in reply before diving out of the way of her spell and changing into one of the guards, throwing himself into the fray between the guards and the changelings. Cadence and Shining looked through the fighters to try and see if they could find him, but his camouflage was too good.

"What do we do?" Shining asked Cadence, who was looking around with narrowed eyes before an idea came to her.

"Stand back a bit hon, this might work," she said before concentrating her magic into a sphere in front of her, filling it with as much love as she could muster. The changelings stopped battling when they felt the love from the sphere reach them and the slowly began to move towards it, their hunger causing them to completely ignore the guards who then brought them down. "Got you now," Cadence said when she saw one of the guards struggling to resist the spell. She turned the sphere from one filled with love to one filled with power and flung it at the guard, who was sent skidding across the ground from the impact until he slammed against the base of the crystal heart.

"It's over prince, you and your army have failed!" Shining yelled as he and the other guards began to rush the changeling, who struggled to get back up as the ponies charged. He looked up at the spinning heart on the pillar before he shot up into the air, heading straight for the heart. "Prince, WAIT! You don't want-!" The prince spun around and fired a bolt of magic, hitting Cadence in the wing and dropping her to the ground before he continued to run.

"I will have the heart!" the prince yelled as he flew right onto the heart, grabbing onto it with greed showing in his eyes before the power of the heart began to overpower him, causing him to scream in agony due to shield placed around the heart destroying him. Cadence and the others covered their eyes as a flash of light went off and when they could see again, they all gasped in horror at the burnt corpse of what used to be the prince.

"Is he-?" Shining asked as he ran over to her wife, pulling her into a hug as she nodded.

"Yeah, he's dead," Cadence responded. Faster than either of them could react however, a changeling sped by them and grabbed the princes body, flying off with it towards a part of the crystal empire where flashes of green could be seen from all around.

IOI

"Really starting to test my nerves here, Chrysalis!" Spike yelled as he caught the chuck of a tower in a green claw, wondering how the heck Chrysalis had gotten strong enough to throw pieces of tower at him. "Seriously! Why do you keep attacking the ponies?! Aren't there also dragons and zebras and other creatures?!"

"Pony love is the strongest in the land!" Chrysalis yelled in reply, firing solid beams of magic at Spike who yawned as the shield he created around him stopped it with ease. Despite her magic having gotten stronger, his will was far superior to anything she could throw at him. "And I will feed my nation, no matter who I have to destroy to do so! Even if it is a dragon with a weapon of unknown power!"

"Well, you get an A in the mother department, but an F in the brains area," Spike said with a smile as he sent a number of green nets flying at her, forcing her to fly even higher to avoid them. "If Sombra with his yellow ring of fear, the enemy of will, couldn't defeat me, then how in Equis to you expect to?"

"I'll...I'll find a way!" Chrysalis yelled as she continued to throw magic at Spike despite knowing that it would do no good. Spike sighed at this and shot by her at super speeds, aiming his ring at her head as she spun around in shock.

"You won't find a way, Chrysalis. It's over," Spike said as he prepared to fire, only to be interrupted by a changeling that flew right by him. He thought it was just another changeling until he saw that there was what looked like a dead one upon his back, a sight that caused Chrysalis to almost fall out of the air in shock.

"Ragna...no!" she screamed as she scooped the burned pony off the other changelings back and held it close, sobbing bitterly as she clutched it tighter and tighter. "How...how did he...?"

"There was a barrier around the crystal heart that killed him when he tried to touch it," the changeling sad with sorrow overcoming him. "He fought as best he could, but he was simply outnumbered a desperate, so he tried to grab the heart when he had a chance. I am so sorry my-"

"We're retreating," Chrysalis said as she gently placed her son's body onto her back, doing all she could to keep herself from wailing in front of her enemy, who was still trying to figure out what to do. "This battle is pointless now. We're going home."

"Um, hold on a sec," Spike said in confusion, causing Chrysalis to look at him with tears streaking down her face as she glared at him. "I'm sorry for your son’s death, really I am, but aren't I supposed to stop you still or-"

"Go ahead and try to stop me dragon, I have nothing left to lose," she said in a quiet whisper that was filled more with pain than it was rage. To make her point, she fired a bolt of magic down towards where Twilight and the others were, aiming right for Fluttershy. Spike reacted immediately and flew down to intercept, creating a shield that stopped the spell. But when he looked to the sky, he could see Chrysalis flying away and he decided not to stop her.

'She's already suffered enough today,' he thought to himself as he looked around at the Empire, seeing all the changelings that hadn't been killed or capture heading into the sky, following their queen back to their home. And just like that, the battle of the Crystal Empire ended, causing a great amount of celebration all through the city the next day after the cleanup of the battle had been completed. Cadence would have agreed to help against the battle with Sombra, but due to the damage she had suffered she had been confined to bed by the doctors.

"I am just glad that the casualties were so low this time," Twilight said with a sigh of relief as she talked with the others, while Spike spent his time staring out the window. He wasn't surprised by the way Chrysalis had reacted to the death of her son, but what confused him is why she was so desperate to get to the crystal heart. She had mentioned something about feeding her nation, making Spike wonder if the Changelings were starving back at their home.

"Spike? What's the matter?" Twilight asked him, snapping his thoughts back into reality. "You've been quiet the entire time and haven't said a word about the battle, despite the fact that you fought off Chrysalis. Sweetie won't stop talking about how she finally managed to create a construct, yet...what's wrong?"

"It's nothing Twilight, it's just that...I have somewhere that I need to go," Spike said as he slipped back on his ring and flew out the window before any of them could ask him where he was going. He flew to the south, the area that he had seen Chrysalis and the other changelings leave when they had retreated, but he knew that just a general direction wasn't good enough. "Ring, scan for any large numbers of changelings grouped in one area."

'I will do that,' the ring said, a green beam scanning the ground below him as he flew. Spike knew why he had to do this despite the fact that Chrysalis was an enemy of the ponies. He might have been able to get away with calling her a villain back when she invaded Canterlot, but he was a Lantern now and a Lantern was a protector of an entire sector and all of the lives within it, not just the ponies. 'There is a large cluster about fifty leagues below the surface.'

"Got it," Spike nodded as he created a giant drill around himself and dove towards the earth below, wondering just what he's say to Chrysalis when he met her. 'Whatever it is, I need to convince her to tell me where Sombra is and to stop her attacks on the ponies. So that no more lives have to be lost.'

Intergalactic Police Member and Party Planner

Spike wasn't sure what he was going to say when he got to Chrysalis again, especially since she had just lost her child in a battle with the ponies. As he flew through the underground chambers, the light from his ring guiding the way, he wondered what he would have done if he was in her position. Would he have tried to steal a source of power that could feed a nation or would he have swallowed his pride and asked for help?

'We are there.' The ring's voice snapped Spike out of his thoughts as he came to a stop in front of a pair of massive iron doors, a language carved into them that he had never seen before, but the ring did all of the understanding for him. 'It says, enter at your own risk, for on the other side of these doors is the greatest nation in Equestria.'

"That must have been written long before Chrysalis's time," Spike muttered to himself before the ring told him that the inscriptions were over a hundred years old. He tried knocking, but nopony answered his knock. So with a heavy sigh, he created a crowbar and placed it in between the doors. With a grunt and some effort, he managed to get the doors to swing open. He didn't even have time to think about what to do next as changelings came flying out of the doors and quickly swarmed him, forcing Spike to erect a shield to keep himself safe from the swarm.

"Look, I'm not here to fight!" Spike yelled into the swarm as they threw their bodies against the shield, but none of them bothered to listen as some switched over to magic. With a sigh Spike pushed his way forward, his shield knocking aside the changelings and the spells they cast at him, allowing him to reach the inner city of the changelings. "Good Faust," Spike whispered to himself when he saw not just the state the city was in, but all of the corpses that covered the ground and lined the streets. They were everywhere and he could see that the changelings that weren't dead were the ones carting off the dead. He had to resist the urge to throw up as he floated over the streets, his barrier still protecting him from the attacks of the changelings that were following him.

"Where is the castle?" Spike asked the ring in a disgusted tone as he tried to avoid looking at the bodies, knowing now why Chrysalis had been so desperate. When the ring had located the castle that Chrysalis should be in, he turned around and blasted all of the changelings off of him before flying ahead to a black castle at speeds the swarm could not match. An open window was his point of entry and he boarded it up with his ring before floating through the halls, about to ask his ring to scan for where Chrysalis was located before he could hear for himself where she was.

'She's crying,' Spike thought to himself sadly as he heard the wails of sorrow reaching his ears, giving him a pretty clear idea of where she was located. He quietly floated down the empty, black halls until he came to a chamber where the sobs were coming from. The large chamber was mostly empty, except for a single, large table in the center of it, where the prince of the changelings rested while his mother was off to the side, her whole body shaking as she sobbed at his side. "Chrysalis?" Spike asked, the queen taking a moment to regain control of herself before she looked over at him with sheer venom in her eyes.

"Well, if it isn't the hero of the ponies," she said in a raspy voice filled with pain and hate, stopping Spike in his tracks with a look when he tried to advance towards her. "So what are you here to take from me now? My people? Can't do that, they're all dying of starvation. My kingdom? It's falling down all around you. My children? Your ponies have already taken him. What more do you wish to take?"

"Y-you have the wrong idea, I'm just here to see if you need help," Spike stammered nervously, but the look that Chrysalis gave him told him immediately that he had said the wrong thing.

"Your help?" she whispered as she stood up to face him, rage and sorrow shaking her entire body as she slowly stalked up to him, glaring right into his eyes before she continued speaking. "My heir, my precious son, is dead. My changelings are on the brink of extermination due to starvation and only now, after you and your little filly friend have destroyed what small chance we had of surviving, do you offer help?...Get out."

"But-"

"GET! OUT!" Chrysalis roared as she fired a spell right into his chest faster than he could react, sending Spike flying backwards through the wall and into the hallway, where he had to erect a shield to protect himself from the savage assault of spells that Chrysalis threw at him. He shot a hole in the ceiling and flew out through it, Chrysalis shooting spells at him the entire time until he was out of sight. She said nothing as she watched the light get farther and farther away, waiting until it was completely out of sight before she turned and walked back over to her son, where she once again got down on her knees beside him.

"I am so sorry my son, I did not wish for this to happen to you," she said with bitter sorrow in her voice before she looked up at his body with a disturbing look in her eyes. "But I promise that I will bring you back somehow. Somehow you will live again."

IOI

"So she threw you out of her castle, huh?" Sweetie asked while Spike kept his head down on the table in front of him. After a long flight home, Sweetie had met up with Spike in Sugarcube Corners, where he told her what Chrysalis had told him and how he had to fight his way in and out of the empire. "Can't say I blame her, I know what it's like to lose a member of your family, though not to the degree she did."

"I just wish that I could do something to help them," Spike said as he finally picked his head off the table, his crystal chocolate swirl order arriving along with Sweetie's milkshake. "You should have seen that state her empire was in. The dead were everywhere and the living didn't look much better."

"You offered to help. It was up to Chrysalis to decide whether or not she wanted help and she turned you down," Sweetie said with a sad shake of her head before she grabbed her milkshake and started to drink. "Though you might have wanted to wait until a few days after the death of her child before you showed yourself there. But I'm sure she'll come around eventually."

"You're probably right," Spike said with a sigh before he looked at Sweetie happily drinking away. "You're still being your usual cheerful self, huh?"

"The blue ring helps me to feel hopeful at all times, no matter what I'm doing," Sweetie whispered. "Like on a test I took the other day, when I didn't know any of the answer, I remained hopeful and somehow managed to squeak out a passing grade. These rings are incredible." Spike was going to answer but then he noticed that Pinkie was trying to sneak around the shop and he knew that when Pinkie was up to something sneaky it meant that a party was right around the corner. He took a quick gulp of his drink before walking over to her.

"Hey Pinkie, up to something suspicious?" he asked her once she had come out from the back room. Faster than he could react, Pinkie grabbed him and pulled him into the back room with her. "Kidnapping me huh? Must be something big," he said with a smile, only to be shushed by her almost immediately.

"It's the twin’s birthday tomorrow and they seem to know my every move," she said in a stressed out tone while one of her eyes twitched and she turned around when she heard a foal laugh. "How can I plan a surprise party for them when they seem to know my every move? Even when I'm downtown they seem to know what I'm up to and the moment I bring my bag in they search it for presents," she said in a bit of a crazy tone. "I need to distract them, but nothing I've tried works."

"That sounds rough. Good luck with that," Spike said as he tried to walk by her, but then a light bulb appeared over Pinkie's head and she grabbed him once again, pulling him back while smiling at him with a long smile.

"I have a super, duper, awesome idea!" she yelled in a whisper, Spike slowly backing away from her the best he could. "They love the Emerald Dragon and you just happen to be the Emerald Dragon. You can distract them for me tomorrow while I prepare their party and then I can give them the greatest surprise party that they've ever had!"

"Aside from the being a gross misuse of my powers, what's in it for me?" Spike asked her as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, causing Pinkie to place a hoof under her chin as she thought.

"I'll pay for all of your purchases here for a week," she said desperately, Spike placing a hand under his chin as he thought about it.

"Pinkie?" a foal’s voice said from the other side of the door, causing her to gasp before she threw herself behind some barrels.

"Alright, I'll do it," Spike said with a smile as Pumpkin teleported behind Pinkie and grabbed onto her, causing the Pinkie pony to scream and run out of the room with a laughing foal on her back. "But all of my orders will be super expensive!" He left her to be chased by the foals and thanked Sweetie for meeting him, paying for them both before he left to head back to the library and where Twilight was.

"Back already Spike?" Twilight called out from the basement when she heard Spike enter the library, Owlicious letting out a hoot as he floated down from his perch and landing on Spike's head while greeting him with another hoot.

"Yeah, I need to catch up on my rest," Spike said as he walked over to the closet, where he pulled the green battery out of the closet and placed his ring to it, saying the oath with power as he charged his ring. Once that was done, he placed the lantern back inside and went to head up the stairs until a knocking at the door stopped him.

"Can you get that? I'm working on something!" Twilight called out from the basement, Spike shrugging as he headed for the door and opened it to reveal Zecora standing there.

"Oh hey Zecora, here to pick up some potion supplies from Twilight?" Spike asked as he stepped to the side and allowed the zebra to enter the library.

"How very astute, my little friend," she said with a pleasant smile as she entered. "For the potion that I am brewing I need a special blend." Spike nodded while Owlicious hooted, getting a small chuckle out of Zecora. "And hello to you, my friend of the night. I enjoy seeing you beside when you're in midflight."

"Have a seat Zecora, I'll get you something to snack on," Spike said as he headed off to the kitchen, Owlicious leaving his head and landing next to Zecora, who had taken a seat at Twilight's table. She watched the little dragon walk away, her eyes looking at the small item that he kept clutched in his claws.

"So Spike is the wielder of the green light," she muttered to herself, Owlicious tilting his head at her as she said this. "But can he truly access it's great might?...Forgive me my friend, I was thinking aloud and he has already shown that he cannot be cowed." She smiled to the owl as she said this, but then her attention traveled back to Spike and his green ring, also reminding her of what had happened over the past few days. "These times are becoming increasingly grave. I hope that he and Sweetie can remain brave."

"Hi Zecora, I have the potion supplies that you asked for," Twilight said as she walked up from the basement, Zecora smiling at her as Twilight placed the vials on the table and allowed Zecora to place them in her own bag. "Is everything alright with you in the Everfree forest? You don't really visit as much as you used to."

"I assure you my friend that I am fine and I am quite happy in the dangerous forest of mine," Zecora reassured her as Spike came back out, placing some hay and tea on the table for the both of them before excusing himself and heading up the stairs.

"He's grown so much in the few weeks that...Um, since...Um," Twilight staggered, trying not to give away Spike's secret, giving Zecora some amusement as she to a sip of her drink, waiting to see how Twilight got herself out of this one. "Um...ever since I gave him more responsibility! That's it! More responsibility!" The excuse was comical enough, but the awkward smile that Twilight gave her afterwards forced Zecora to stifle her laughter.

"Thank you for entertaining me, but I must return to my home," Zecora said with another chuckle as she got up, Twilight getting up as well and escorting her to the door. "And do not worry, I promise not to roam."

"I was just looking out for you, sheesh," Twilight said with a good natured smile as Zecora left the house, the smile that was on her face vanishing as she walked on her way back to her hut.

'I hope that I am mistaken, but I have a feeling that something horrible is about to awaken,' Zecora thought to herself on her solitary walk back to her hut, the Everfree forest being surprisingly quiet, almost as if it could feel what she was feeling. She knew this forest well and she could tell when something was upsetting it, so when she heard the lack of noise, she knew that something was amiss. 'But what could be the cause of concern? Surely it could not be because of Sombra's return. Despite his power, he is a foolish foe at best. Why would he make the forest distressed?'

"Whatever the cause, it cannot be good," she muttered to herself as she reached her hut after ten minutes of walking in silence. "Yet the heroes should be able to deal with it, just as heroes should," she said as she entered her hut, taking off her bag and placing it on the ground next to her cauldron, removing the vials and placing them on the shelves next to her other supplies. She took the ones she needed and placed them within the cauldron, mixing up her brew. Yet no matter how hard she tried to distract herself, her mind kept going back to her uneasy feeling and, eventually, to the closet.

'No, I swore that I would never think of it again,' she said with a shake of her head once she had caught herself looking at the door to her closet. 'Not after it cost me everything, including my friend.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on the door, the knocker turning out to be Sweetie Belle once Zecora had opened it. "Hello there, Sweetie Belle. Are you here for more training, pray tell?"

"Yup! And I have great news!" Sweetie exclaimed as she floated behind Zecora's hut to the training ground that the zebra had set up for her. Zecora took one last look at the closet before leaving the hut, her thoughts now only on Sweetie and her training.

IOI

"So you've known almost as long as Twilight?" Spike asked AJ, who nodded before a well-aimed strike knocked all of the apples put of a tree and into the baskets down below. After checking up on the rest of the town, Spike's patrol had brought him to Sweet Apple Acres, where he had been waved down by Applejack. "Guess we can't get anything by an Element of Honesty, but why didn't you tell the other ponies when you had found out?"

"You and Twi seemed like ya wanted to keep it a secret," she said as she picked up the buckets and walked over to the next tree, placing them underneath of it and repeating the kick she just did. "Not mah place to butt in. Ah'm still surprised that she allowed you to keep the ring, especially after the incident with the orange you destroying the town."

"That was my greed given physical form, it wasn't exactly me," Spike said in his defense, getting an "Oh really?" look from Applejack in the process. "And the ring can corrupt even the best of ponies. From what my ring told me, until the orange ring showed up here there was only one wielder of the orange ring, that Larfleeze guy who showed up here with the other Lanterns."

"Speaking of the other Lanterns, why don't ya give...oomph...them a call to help ya in looking fer Rarity?" Applejack asked as she filled another bucket.

"Well...They've each got their own sectors to take care of and despite how important Rarity is to...us, if I take them away from their sectors innocent...aliens I guess, might die." Applejack stopped bucking the trees and turned to look at Spike, confusion on her face as she looked at the little dragon who a month ago would do anything for Rarity, no matter the cost.

"When did you become so grown up?" Applejack asked him.

"When I was chosen to be more than just an assistant to a librarian," Spike responded as he showed Applejack the green power ring. "When everypony on this planet got put under my care. Which reminds me, I had something that I needed to look into and I need to go." AJ nodded and Spike took to the skies, leaving Applejack to watch him go with a shake of her head.

"Amazing what a few weeks with that ring has done to him," she said as she went back to bucking the trees. "Too bad the ring didn't seek out mah sister. She could use a ring like that to teach her some responsibility." As he left the farm, Spike headed off towards the Everfree forest, towards the castle that used to belong to the royal family.

"If there's any place that Sombra would hide, it's here," he muttered to himself as he reached the castle, floating down inside of it and using his ring as a flashlight to look around. It was dark and cold, with statues and pictures of important ponies past all around him, as if their eyes were looking at him the entire time he walked. But he was unafraid and marched on without any fear. 'Maybe there would be a trap door or something that he would be hiding behind,' Spike thought as he pulled down on a torch holder, smiling to himself as a door opened in the side of a wall. He floated down it, noticing from the green light just how old this place was. But to his disappointment, the path was a dead end, leading to a wall that the ring said was solid.

"This is taking forever," he muttered to himself after the third dead end, feeling that he wasn't getting anywhere. "And there's no sigh of a yellow or orange ring signature anywhere in this place, right?" Spike asked the ring.

'I am getting no scans of any ring signature anywhere within this castle,' the ring confirmed for him, causing Spike to sigh as he looked up at the moon, which had just began to rise over a hole in the ceiling.

"I need to be getting home, Twilight will be worried about me," he muttered as he began to float in the air. "Plus, I need to get ready to look after the Cake twins tomorrow while Pinkie prepares the surprise party for them." He took off after saying this, never noticing the small shadow that slinked away after he had flown off. It slinked down in between the cracks of the floor, going deeper and deeper down until it had reached a hidden chamber, where Rarity was waiting impatiently for Sombra, growling at him as he re-materialized.

"You took too long!" she yelled at him, trying to snatch the ring off of his horn, but getting a blast of yellow to her hoof for doing so. "I want to go fight the ponies! I want Sweetie Belle!"

"And you will have her, but first I have to ask. How do you feel about going to a party tomorrow?" Sombra asked her with a wicked smile.

"What do you mean? Will there be cake? I want cake!" Rarity said as she began to pace. Sombra shook his head at her as he walked over to a table that he had set up and placed his power into the spell that was hiding their rings signatures.

"Yes, there will be cake. Four Cakes to be exact," Sombra said with a smile as he used his ring to construct four images of the fours Cakes. "And if we have these Cakes, then the Dragon and his little filly friend will be unable to do anything to stop us. And then we will be able to kill everypony with ease."

"And then it will all be mine," Rarity said as she rubbed her hooves together.

"Yes, it will all be mine," Sombra muttered to himself, knowing that after the Dragon and Sweetie were disposed of, there'd be no reason to keep Rarity around. So he sat back in his chair, planning about how he was going to attack tomorrow, but a small bit of him was thinking about how good it would feel to finally have that dragon under his hoof.

'Yes, tomorrow will be a reason to party.'

IOI

As Sweetie closed the door to the Carousel Boutique, she let out a sad sigh as she saw just how dark and dreary the place had grown to look in Rarity's absence. The curtains were down and the materials that Rarity had been working on before Sombra lay scattered across the floor. But what Sweetie the most sad was that she couldn't hear her sister yelling at three in the morning when she was trying to finish an order or when Rarity freaked out over a mosquito that had managed to sneak inside.

'And those are the things about her than I never thought I'd miss,' Sweetie thought to herself as she slowly walked up the stairs to her room, plopping down on her bed and staring up at the ceiling with sadness in her heart. 'I really miss her, despite what I tell the others. I just hope that she's safe, but I don't know how she could be since she's stuck with Sombra.'

'And despite all of these fears, you still have hope in your sister,' the ring said, getting a smile out of Sweetie.

"Yeah, because I know that even if she's under Sombra's spell, she'll still be a pain for him to deal with,' Sweetie said before yawning and curling up under her covers, snoring slightly a moment later.

What I Want

Spike visited the Cakes the following morning and after Pinkie took them out of their home he secretly changed into the emerald Dragon behind a building and reappeared for the foals, who were more than delighted to see him.

"Oh sure, just this morning you wouldn't leave me alone for two minutes but he show up and you can't get far enough away from me," Pinkie said with a smile as the two foals literally fought with each other to try and get to Spike first, Spike creating a crib for Pinkie to place the both of them in. "Now all you have to do is keep them busy for an hour or so while I gather up the ponies and the supplies. Think you can manage it?"

"Pinkie, I have a weapon that can form whatever I want. I think I can handle two foals," Spike said with confidence before Pumpkin used her magic to fling dirt into his face, causing him to sigh as he rubbed it off his thin, green shield while the foals laughed. He waved goodbye to Pinkie before he floated up into the air with the foals still in the crib, heading off to the CMC clubhouse where Sweetie had agreed to help him look after the foals along with Zecora.

"Thanks for helping me with these two, I don't know if I could do it myself," he muttered to Zecora and Sweetie once he had landed outside of the clubhouse. "They both nearly fell out of the crib on the way here and Pound keeps trying to fly alongside of me whenever he got the chance."

"So they're problem foals, huh?" Sweetie asked with a smile as Spike lowered the two of them to the ground, almost immediately having to stop Pumpkin from floating off into the sky. "Sounds like the horror stories that I was told by Rarity about me as a foal."

"Thanks for helping as well Zecora," Spike said to her as he took off the suit, Zecora smiling as she began to hum a tune that almost seemed to hypnotize the two foals.

"It is no problem for me, I enjoy meeting little colts and fillies," she said with a smile as she stopped the tune, the foals snapping out of the trance and began to giggle at Zecora. "And since I have long been on the roam, I rarely get to see foals from ponies or from home." Spike frowned a bit as she began to whistle another tune for the foals, wondering why Zecora never talked about her past or what her home was like. He had heard from Twilight's studies that it was a mystical and mysterious place, but he had only heard Zecora talk about it in passing.

"Hey Zecora," Spike began as Pound and Pumpkin began to pull on Sweetie's hair, the filly trying and failing to fight them off. "How come you never talk about your home or your family? With all the skills you have, I would like to learn about how you learned them." Spike knew that he had stepped into a minefield from Zecora's reaction, as she looked off into the distance with a few tears beginning to form in her eyes. She shook it off after a moment and gave a Spike a kind, but now wary, smile.

"I have no home to talk about, not since I was kicked out," she said in a sad tone, Spike apologizing before she continued. "It was my fault, so do not blame my family. They did it for them and for me. I did something that they all now fear, so it is best I spend my years here." Spike didn't want to press the conversation any further so he and Zecora turned back to Sweetie, who was now being wrestled to the ground by the two foals, who were trying to get to her ring.

"We should probably stop that," Spike said as he used his ring to pick Pound up. "I don't want to think what would happen if they got their hooves on a Lantern ring." Zecora took Pumpkin off of Sweetie, who glared at the two foals as they stuck their tongues out at her. Zecora calmed the two of them down by singing some of the songs from her land, but Spike now understood why there was pain in her voice as she sung. He'd hate to think of what he'd feel like if Twilight kicked him out and poor Zecora had been gone from years according to her.

"Sweetie, have you been practicing your skills?" Zecora eventually asked the filly while Spike distracted the two foals by creating a green ball for them to play with, neither of them able to pop it, much to their frustration. "Or have you just been using the ring for a few thrills?"

"Hey, don't put me in the same category with Spike, I do actually practice," she replied with a smile, getting a "HEY" from Spike before Zecora nodded at her to continue. "I can even make constructs now, but for some reason they don't come out the way I want them to."

"That is because only the green rings create from their will, while yours with hope are instilled," Zecora explained. "Your constructs are not created by your mind or the raging fires, but instead come from your innermost desires." Sweetie thought about that for a minute before she realized that was probably why the construct she created looked like her older sister, because she hoped that she would be there for her if she needed her to.

"Thanks Zecora, that makes a bit more sense why my construct looked the way it did," Sweetie said with a smile before she looked at Zecora suspiciously. "Wait a minutes, how do you know some much about the blue ring? How did you know how to train me so well?" Zecora was saved from answering when Spike yelled as a yellow pony came flying towards them, both him and Sweetie suiting up as the yellow construct came to a stop in front of them.

"Sombra," Spike said with a growl as the construct resembled the pony that he hated.

"Hello Spike, good day Sweetie. Glad to see that the two of you are still alive...sorry, I'm lying again. I'd prefer if you were dead," The Sombra construct said with a smile. "But that will come a little later today, as I have the greatest news for the two of you."

"And that would be?" Sweetie asked, her presence causing the construct to begin to fade.

"Back up girl, you're messing with my power," Sombra growled, only speaking once again when Sweetie had backed up. "See, I have decided that coming to kill you is a foolish idea, so I decided to throw the two of you a party and I thought where else would be better besides Sugarcube Corners?"

"You didn't," Spike said with rage, Sombra chuckling at the look on his face.

"I did. And it was so nice that all of your friends here had already set up the decorations for me," Sombra said, the construct moving to reveal all of the ponies that had been invited to the party in yellow chains. "So here's the deal. The two of you come to fight me and I promise not to kill any of your friends until after I've killed the two of you...except maybe Rainbow Dash because she will not SHUT UP!" A blast could be heard in the background followed by a cry of pain, causing Spike to almost immediately agree to his terms.

"Is my sister there?" Sweetie asked.

"What do you think?" Sombra replied with a smile before looking at Zecora. "The hell are you?"

"Sombra, stop this I beg," she pleaded with him, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "There is still a chance you can be saved." Sombra rolled his eyes at her before the construct vanished, Spike and Sweetie both nodding at each other as they floated into the air while Zecora picked up the foals and placed them onto her back. "I will take them back to my place. If you are defeated, at least they will be safe."

"Thanks Zecora," Spike said as he and Sweetie flew off, leaving Zecora to quickly run back to the Everfree Forest, using her knowledge of the forest to take the quickest route there. She opened the door and placed both of the foals on her table before she gathered and hid anything they might be able to hurt themselves with. Then she looked over at her closet, questioning if she should.

'No. You swore never again,' she thought to herself. 'Only if they fail. Only then.'

IOI

"Please Rarity, this isn't you," Twilight pleaded with the orange clad Rarity, who was too busy looking through all of the Cakes gifts and pocketing them to care what Twilight was saying. All of the ponies that had shown up to attend the party were trapped within yellow spheres, the mane five being constrained to the ground by chains. "You are a generous pony who would never do this to her friends. Fight the control that Sombra has on you!"

"You're wasting your breath and my patience Twilight, your friend is gone," Sombra said to her as he rested up against the wall, waiting for Spike and Sweetie. "As if my magic wasn't enough, she is under the influence of the orange ring of greed. She's been completely taken over."

"Spike was taken over as well and he fought it," Fluttershy said, only to be silenced from a glare from Sombra.

"Spike had the Elements of Harmony to help him out that time," Sombra reminded them with a snarl. "But this time he has no advantage. I underestimated him twice and paid the price for it. But this time I have the hostages, the love of his life and I'm taking no chances. He will fall."

"I will do something." All ponies in the room cheered as Spike and Sweetie floated in through the entrance, Rarity growling at Sweetie Belle while Sombra smirked at Spike. "But you're probably not going to like it Sombra."

"You certainly took your sweet time getting here," Sombra said with a smirk, not at all intimidated by Spike. "Too busy playing with your fillyfriend there instead of coming to save the love of your life?" Rarity growled at the fillyfriend comment, but Spike and Sweetie said nothing in reply, opting instead to point their rings at Sombra and Rarity. "So then, we're just going straight into this?"

"Step outside and we'll show you," Sweetie replied, looking at the seething looking on her sisters face with as much calm as she could muster. Sombra and Rarity both followed the two outside, where the two pairs stared off at each other with narrowed eyes. "You promised that no pony would be hurt during the battle. Are you going to hold up that promise?"

"I don't break my word," Sombra said as if he was offended, before a smile crossed his face. "Unless it benefits me." Spike had heard enough and created a locomotive to crush Sombra, the dark pony barely having time to curse before the train slammed into his face, sending him rocketing over the house of Equestria, Spike flying after him as Sweetie and Rarity prepared to face off.

"I don't want to do this Rarity, I know that you're still in there," Sweetie said, trying to reach her sister. Rarity's response was to spit before letting out a primal scream as she hurled herself at her sister. Sweetie kept back the tears in her eyes as she fired a beam of blue into her sister’s chest, knocking Rarity back down. "Please Rarity, I know that you are stronger than Sombra! I know that you can fight what he did to you!"

"He gave me power!" Rarity screamed as she got back up. "But you take from me. And nopony takes from me!" She fired a beam of orange from her horn that Sweetie had to take to the skies to dodge, Rarity flying up after her as she sent orange colored felt to surround Sweetie, who shielded herself with blue energy in defense.

"What have I taken from you?!" Sweetie cried out in desperation, trying to find the cause of Rarity's pain. Rarity response was to scream at Sweetie and create a pair of sewing needles to try and stab her, Sweetie hoping up a shield that was in the shape of the Green Lantern symbol to deflect the attacks. "I want to help you! Why do you hate me so?"

"I don't hate, I want!" Rarity screamed as Sweetie wrapped her up in a blue cord of light, straining against her bonds while snarling at Sweetie. "I want your optimism! I want your power! I want what makes you special! I want your hope!" Sweetie lowered her head as Rarity's words struck her, what was making Rarity this way slowly coming to her. She looked at her sister with sadness in her eyes as she removed the cord from her sister, lowering herself to the ground, Rarity doing the same.

"Rarity...don't you get it yet?" Sweetie asked her sister, who responded by charging at her with a pair of giant orange scissor, Sweetie countering with a sewing machine that shattered the scissors. "Look at my constructs," Sweetie told her as she began to create as many constructs as she could, Rarity looking at all of them with greed in her eyes, but also a hint of confusion.

"They look like...the things you and I did together," Rarity said in confusion, looking at a number of outfits, the medal they got from the sisterhooves social and other items, before she shook her head and glared at Sweetie again. "No! You're trying to distract me! I will not let it happen!" Sweetie wanted to try to talk to her sister again, but then she saw a green blur go flying across the sky and slam into the side of a building before a beam of yellow pushed Spike through it.

"I'm sorry to do this Rarity, but I need to stop you," Sweetie said sadly as she pointed her horn at Rarity. Rarity yelled as she flung herself at Sweetie, who created a sphere to trap Rarity before hurling her across the sky. Rarity broke out of the sphere with an effort, only to take a beam of blue energy to the chest, sending her crashing into the ground once again as Sweetie created a cage around her. "Please Rarity, you have to break free! You have to realize what you are doing!"

"I am taking what I want," she said with a growl as she threw herself against the side of the cage, causing Sweetie to close her eyes as tears started to fall.

"Please Rarity, you have to see," Sweetie said desperately. Rarity threw herself against the cage again, only for the cage to shape a bit, changing from bars to an image of Rarity on the front page of a magazine, showing off her newest fashion trend.

"W-what is this?" she asked as she reached out to take it, only for the image to shape again to show Rarity with all of her friends, together having fun. Sweetie noticed as well what was going on, but she was just as confused as Rarity as to what was happening.

"Ring, what's going on?" Sweetie asked her ring as the cage had completely changed from a cage to the day Rarity and Sweetie participated in the Sisterhooves Social. Rarity reached out to grab the image, only for it to slip through her hooves. Rarity shrieked at this and tried to grab the images with her ring, but the constructs kept changing and moving to avoid being grabbed. "Why can't she grab them?"

'Because these are her deepest hopes and dreams made into light. Her true hopes,' the ring said as the blue constructs began to circle Rarity, who dropped to the ground and clasped her hooves to her head. 'And as you can see, even the orange ring combined with Sombra's magic is not enough to suppress her greatest hopes.' And then another construct appeared, but this one made Sweetie tear up as she saw it. It was an older Sweetie, but she was the star of Equestria and all ponies looked to her and loved her, while Rarity stood beside Sweetie with a hoof around her shoulder and a smile on her face. This image made Rarity forget all of the other ones and she slowly reached out for it, the greed in her eyes vanishing for a moment as she looked upon it 'And it seems what she hopes and longs for the most is for you to be happy.'

'She really cares that much? That her greatest hope is that I'm happy?' Sweetie thought to herself before smiling at her sister, who was still mesmerized by the image in front of her. "And now I know what to do." Sweetie canceled the image and walked over to her sister, who shook her head and slowly got back up to her hooves as she saw Sweetie approach.

"Give it to me," Rarity said weakly. "Give me back that feeling."

"I know what you want now," Sweetie said to Rarity with a smile as she wrapped her hooves around her sisters neck, the blue rings power beginning to fight against the orange ring. "But if what you truly want is for me to be happy, then you have to come back to me Rarity. I can't be that successful pony, I can't be happy, unless you're there to help me become that pony. I need you." Rarity looked at Sweetie for a moment before she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to think through the twin forces trying to control her. She then shakily brought up a hoof, a hoof that flickered between a regular one and one with a blade in it. The blade won out and Rarity brought it back, prepared to strike Sweetie in the back.

"Please. I want my sister back."

"And I want..." Rarity said as she brought the blade up, only to drop it as she wrapped her hooves around Sweetie's neck. "Is to be your sister again." Sweetie released her hug slightly so that she could look into Rarity's eyes, seeing that despite there still being some greed in there, her love for Sweetie was shining through the greed, Sombra's spell completely broken.

"You're back," Sweetie said to Rarity with tears falling down her face. "You broke free."

"No Sweetie," Rarity said as she pulled her sister back into the hug. "You broke me free." Sweetie and Rarity held the hug until an explosion went off behind them, causing the two sisters to let go of each other as they watched Spike doing his best to fend off Sombra.

"I need to go Rarity, he'll need my help," Sweetie said as she began to float away, but Rarity grabbed her hoof before she could fly off.

"Actually Sweetie, I want one last thing," Rarity said as she looked at Sweetie, the orange light back in her eyes. "I want Sombra to suffer." Spike growled as the cracks began to appear in his barrier as Sombra continued to barrage it with a sea of yellow energy, taunting Spike all the while.

"So Spike, it seems that we've reached the end of our little journey," Sombra yelled as he created a giant hammer to slam into Spike's shield, sending him crashing into the ground as the barrier splintered all around him. Spike groaned as he slowly got off of his back, looking up to see Sombra holding a drill at his throat. "I must admit that it will be boring around here without you. But only for a little while. Goodbye Spike."

"And goodbye Sombra!" Sombra turned just in time to get a blue crusader symbol to the face, sending him flying backwards as Sweetie landed besides Spike and helped him up.

"Thanks for the save Sweetie," Spike groaned as he shook his head. "But what happened to Rarity?" Sombra was wondering the same thing as he looked down at the two, only to sense somepony behind him and turned to see Rarity floating besides him, but a different look in her eyes.

"There you are, for a second I thought that your sister had beaten you," Sombra said as he turned back to Spike and Sweetie. "Now then, let's bring down those who have taken from you."

"Let's," Rarity agreed before letting loose a blast of orange right into Sombra's back, causing the dark pony to cry out in pain as he was blasted into the ground. He growled in pain as he pulled himself out of the crater he had made, looking up to see Sweetie, Spike and Rarity all standing beside each other and all of them glaring down at him.

"How?" he asked as he shot back, ring glowing as he tried to think of a way out of this. "How did you manage to break free?"

"By remembering that there's something I want more than what this ring can give," Rarity said as she pulled Sweetie into a hug. "I want to be with my sister again."

"Well good for you, you can both be together in Tarturus!" he yelled as he fired his energy at them, only for it to run into three barriers. He scowled as the three glared at him, pointing their rings at him.

"And we've all decided something else," Spike said as he flew forward, Sweetie and Rarity following him. "We want you gone!" Spike threw a green boxing glove at Sombra who dodged out of the way only to take a bolt of blue to the face. He staggered back as orange claws shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around him. He broke free by shooting into the sky, only to have orange chains wrap around him. He struggled to get free as Rarity floated in front of him, giving him the scariest glare he had ever seen from her.

"So now what?" he asked her with a smile. "Are you going to finish me off like you said you were?"

"No," Rarity replied, a smile crossing her face as she looked past Sombra. "They are." Sombra slowly turned his head to look back at Spike and Sweetie, the latter having her hoof on Spike's shoulder, supercharging his ring to the point where the will was physically coming off of him. "Oh, this looks like it's going to hurt."

"Rarity, wait. We can make a deal," Sombra begged her, remembering what he had felt like the last time he had been hit by that kind of power. "I can give you anything you want. Power, wealth, just name it and it's yours!" Rarity placed her orange hoof under her chin for a second before she looked back at Sombra with a smile.

"No thanks darling. I don't want to." Rarity flew out of the way as Spike and Sweetie shot their combined blast at Sombra, who screamed in pain as he was once gain hurled out of Ponyville and off into the unknown by the power of the two rings. Rarity, Sweetie and Spike watched him go for a moment before Spike and Sweetie both flew over to Rarity, hugging her closely with huge smiles.

"I'm so glad you're back Rarity!" Spike said as they all lowered to the ground.

"I know. I didn't know how much longer I could have handled not having my big sister," Sweetie said with more tears in her eyes. Rarity looked at both of them for a moment before a smile crossed her face and she reached up to her horn, taking the ring off of it and throwing it to the side. When the two looked at her with a bit of confusion, she smiled and pulled them back into a hug.

"It's alright darlings, I don't need it. I have everything I could ever want right her," she said with a smile, the two smiling at her as they hugged her back. Rarity looked at the ring as it lay in the dirt before it slowly rose off of the ground and shot up into the sky, Rarity watching it go with a look of disgust before she turned her attention back to her friends. "Besides, orange does not suit me at all. Now let's go free our friends."

IOI

"There it is! I knew that it would be mine again!" Larfleeze yelled as the orange ring bumped into the windshield of the Interceptor, the Orange Lantern opening the ramp and flying outside to retrieve it as Hal and John shook their heads.

"With how greedy his is I'm surprised the ring left him in the first place," John said as he looked down at the planet that they had been floating over for a few days. "I still don't know why Ganthet wants us to watch over this planet. We normally don't get this involved in other Lantern's business."

"You heard what he said, he feels something off about this planet and he wants us on standby incase his feeling comes true," Hal said as he worked on the ships navigation. "And I've learned to trust Ganthet, even when it seems like it's nothing important." As if on cue, Hal's ring began to beep and the blue guardian himself was on the other line. "Hey Ganthet, what's up?"

'There's a disturbance in a section of space nearby that could use your help,' Ganthet said as he greeted the two Lanterns’. 'However, I want Lantern Stewart to do this alone. Lantern Jordan, I have another mission for you. I want you to go to earth and grab our friend Swamp Thing. I have a feeling we will need him.' Hal and John looked at each other nervously as Ganthet said this before Jordan took the controls of the ship and flew towards where Ganthet hand instructed.

Party Time

"RARITY!"

The white pony barely had time to brace herself as her five friends tackled her all at once and gripped her in a massive pony hug, crushing the life out of her as they all said how glad they were to see that she was back and unharmed. It took a few minutes for her to get them off of her and by that point she had almost suffocated.

"I'm glad to see that you're safe," Twilight said as she gave Rarity another, but much gentler hug.

"Glad to be back darling," Rarity said as she tried to get her breath back. "I missed all of you so much." The ponies that had come to the Cakes party also greeted Rarity again and stated how glad they were to have her back, but while they did this Rarity kept looking at Sweetie out if the corner of her eye.

"Well, we're at a party and now we have two reasons to celebrate," Pinkie began as she zipped around the store and placed party hats on all of the ponies there, opening up a can of confetti and throwing it everywhere. "So let's party!" The ponies all cheered and began to party again, Spike slipping out to go grab the twins from Zecora since it was a party for them. Once they were brought back and Spike explained to their parents why Zecora had taken them, the party really got going.

"Spikey!" Pound said to Spike as the he sat down next to the Cakes at the table, smiling at the little foals as they crawled across the table and over to him.

"Hi you two. Glad to see that you're safe," he said to them with a smile before they started to play with his fingers.

"Spikey, green dragon," Pumpkin said with a huge smile, Spike's eyes widening as she said this before a mound of cupcakes distracted the two foals and they used their powers to get over to the sweets. Spike made a note to talk to Zecora about what to do about them when Twilight walked over to him and sat in the chair beside him.

"So, you managed to break Rarity free and defeat Sombra once again," Twilight said with a smile as she and Spike watched the ponies of the town welcome Rarity back. "Not bad for a day that was supposed to start out with us getting trapped by a Lantern of fear and ended with us getting our friend back."

"I can't take the credit here, it was Sweetie who managed to break Rarity free of the spell and the orange power," Spike said as Sweetie kept trying to get Rarity to do some of the party games with her, but Rarity kept saying no with a look of shame on her face. "Then the three of us fought off Sombra. Speaking of which, I should probably go looking for him." Twilight nodded as Spike slipped out of the room, watching as Rarity looked at her sister before motioning her to join her outside.

"Sweetie, would you mind if we spoke for a moment?" Rarity asked her sister nervously, who agreed as she downed the rest of her punch, the both of them stepping outside.

"Thanks for getting us out of there, I didn't know how much longer I could handle that music," Sweetie said as she stuck out her tongue.

"Sweetie..." Rarity began before she threw herself over her sister’s shoulders and began to sob crazily. "I am so sorry for what I did! I'm a terrible older sister! I am! I am! I am!" Sweetie had no idea what to say as Rarity sobbed away, looking around with a look of embarrassment as she gently patted Rarity on her back.

"Rarity, do you have to have an episode in front of a building that has nearly everypony in town?" Sweetie whispered to her sister, who only looked down at Sweetie Belle with tears running down her face and ruining her makeup.

"But after everything I've doneeeee!" Rarity whined as she squeezed her sister again. "I attacked you and the others and even tried to kill you and Spike! Can you ever forgive me?!" Sweetie let out an impatient sigh as she pushed Rarity off of her, walking over to a bench and sitting down, motioning for Rarity to join her.

"Rarity, you don't need to ask for forgiveness because it wasn't your fault," Sweetie said sympathetically as she patted Rarity on the shoulder, Rarity resting her head against Sweetie as she still sniveled. "I've seen what the ring can do to ponies or aliens and I know that Sombra also had a hoof in what you did. It wasn't your fault."

"R-really?" Rarity asked Sweetie, who let out another frustrated sigh as she said yes, only to get pulled into a bone crunching hug. "Oh thank you Sweetie, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I'll make this up to you somehow, I promise I will."

"You...don't...have to," Sweetie said weakly as she tried to break free of Rarity's grasp. After a moment of struggling, Sweetie finally managed to break free, though she did have the blue ring put a small shield around her incase Rarity tried that again. "...I actually was wondering something though. Spike said that the orange ring will only seek out a pony that is greedy, yet you're the Element of Generosity, so why did it both to go after you when there are ponies like Sombra out there?" Rarity looked away from her sister, too ashamed to answer. "Rarity, please tell me."

"It was because of my...jealousy towards you," Rarity whispered weakly to Sweetie, who took a moment to process what she was saying.

"Huh?" Sweetie asked in confusion.

"My dreams showed me what you would become in the future, just how great and beautiful that you would become," Rarity said with shame and pain in her voice as she looked to her side to avoid looking at Sweetie Belle. "And I saw how the world would come to love you more than they could ever love me. And why wouldn't they, you're so talented. You can sing, act and direct, not to mention that you became a protector of Equestria. But instead of being happy for you like a good sister should, I let my jealousy get the best of me and wanted what you had. I was willing to fight my own sister just because of a dream. I'm trash." Rarity lowered her head into her arms and slowly began to cry again while Sweetie looked at her with both compassion and confusion in her eyes.

"Huh, never knew you felt that way about me," Sweetie said with a shrug as she lay back against the bench, pursing her lip as she looked up at the sky. "...Because that's kinda the way I feel about you." It was Rarity's turn to be surprised and she picked her head out of her arms to look at Sweetie, who gave her a weak smile.

"You...felt the same about me?" Rarity asked in confusion.

"Well...yeah," Sweetie said with a hint of shame. "I mean, you're Rarity, the most beautiful and talented pony in all of Ponyville and probably all of Equestria. Not to mention you're also an Element of Harmony. And I always felt that I was in your shadow, always to be judged or stacked up to my sister. That's why I was so happy when the ring chose me, because it gave me something special about myself. That's another reason I am so desperate to find my cutie mark, so I know what makes me different from you. So when you said that you, the prettiest pony in Equestria, was jealousy of me, it confused me a bit."

"Sweetie," Rarity said sadly before she pulled her sister into another hug despite the blue barrier. "I am so sorry if you ever felt like you were in my shadow and I apologize for never noticing or doing something about it...but I can promise you now that I will do everything in my power to help you find your cutie mark, no matter what job or request I have at the time."

"That's a nice offer Rarity, but you still need to make a living," Sweetie said with a smile as Rarity let go of her. "Besides, me and the other crusaders got this. And now that I have my ring, you can know that we'll be safe...for the most part. Now come on, enough of this sad talk, there's a party inside of that house and there's sweets that I could be eating, so let's go."

"Yes...I could use something positive right now," Rarity said with a sigh as she calmed herself, giving Sweetie another hug before turning to head back into the party. "And thank you for being honest with me Sweetie, now I know what I can do to be a better sister to you." Sweetie smiled at her sister and watched as she headed inside before she turned to look up at the Emerald Dragon, who had been floating above them.

"Thanks for waiting until we were finished talking," Sweetie said to Spike as he floated down beside her, Sweetie putting on her blue ring. "I take it that there's a problem?"

"Sombra's gone," Spike said, Sweetie's eyes widening before she let the blue energy shine off of her. "I checked the crater where my ring said he should have landed, but he wasn't there. The ring also couldn't pick up any signs of the yellow energy, but I don't know how he could have gotten away in the state he was in."

"Think he had a pony helping him besides Rarity?" Sweetie asked him, Spike shrugging in response before floating to the ground.

"There's no point going to look for him, once he's gone he's gone," Spike said with a sigh as he returned his suit to the ring, Sweetie frowning as she landed and did the same. "Well, might as well enjoy the party and the return of Rarity before the next crises comes to take over the world," Spike said with a sarcastic smile. "And I saw some gems in there that need to be introduced to my stomach." Sweetie rolled her eyes at this but followed him inside. The party continued on with greater force than before, the Cake twins seeming to have the time of their lives as they ate the snakes for them and opened their presents, thought to Twilight's frustration they seemed to enjoy the wrapping paper far more than they enjoyed their books.

"It's important for foals of their age to be properly educated!" she said to Spike once she had calmed down enough so that she could talk. "When I was there age I remember that my parents kept saying how they couldn't keep me out of the books in our house and how every time I went to the library I always tried to sneak some books out."

"And you wonder why the library refused to make you a member," Spike said with a smile as he ate away at his emerald mint cupcake, made for him by the Cakes. He had gotten the two foals a super bouncy ball, but after a few minutes of watching the Cake twins play with it he realized that he had unleashed a great evil for the Cakes parents. "But Sombra missing worries me. Because every time he goes missing, he comes back only stronger and with an even more evil plan."

"Yeah, we'll have to talk about what to do with Sombra a little later," Twilight said as Sweetie ran over to Spike, grabbing him by the claw and dragging him off to join the Crusaders in a game of dart throwing. "But for now just have some fun. Celestia knows that you've earned it. Speaking of Celestia, I should probably send her and Luna a message explaining what happened," Twilight muttered to herself before she saw her friends waving her over to play party games with them. "But I can do that later."

IOI

"...And that is all we know about Sombra for now, but I will send another letter when we find out more," Twilight finished, Spike placing the punctuation before he rolled the scroll up and blew magic fire onto it, brushing the soot off his hands as he watched the ashes vanish into the air. "Alright, now that that's out of the way, time to do a little research."

"A little," Spike said as he looked at the mountain of books that Twilight had placed on her table. "Actually you're right, that is a little for you."

"Thank you for your input Spike, it really helps," Twilight sarcastically teased back as she sat down and flipped open the first book while Spike walked to the pantry to get Owlicious's food for him. A day had passed since the part and while most of the ponies were in much better spirits with the return of Rarity, Spike was still worried about the fact that Sombra was still missing. He knew that the dark king would try something again, sooner or later, but what he didn't know was who he would target this time.

"Hoo," Owlicious asked Spike, seeming to read what was on Spike's mind as he floated off his perch and to Spike, taking to food right out of Spike's claw and looking up at the dragon with his wise eyes.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it for the time being," Twilight said though it was evident to Spike that she was paying more attention to her work than his conversation. "Although I have to say I am so proud of you, form the way you handled Rarity being foal napped to helping Sweetie through this rough time."

"Heh, all in a day’s work," Spike said with a smile as he looked down at his ring, remembering that he had to charge it. While he went upstairs to do that, Owlicious hopped over to Twilight and hooted at her, but she only patted him on the head in response. He hooted again and when she didn't respond, he hopped onto her book so that she had to notice him.

"What? Do you need to go out? You know how to open the door," Twilight said as she tried to get back to reading, but Owlicious spread his wings and completely obstructed her view, causing her to sigh as she looked at him. "What is it?" Spike came down the stairs and started to arrange some of the books while Owlicious looked from Twilight to Spike and hooted. "Something about Spike, is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"Hoo," Owlicious said in a deadpan tone before he flapped his wings and flew over to a number of fliers and bulletins about all sorts of activities coming to Ponyville, grabbing one of them and flying back over to Twilight with it clutch in his beak. "Hoo Hoo."

"What's this?" Twilight asked as she picked up the flier and looked at it. "The comic store is having a half off day today? But why would I care about..." Twilight saw that look in Owlicious eyes and realized that the idea wasn't just for her, but for Spike as well. "You're right Owlicious, I need to be spending some more time with Spike, especially since...he's growing up." Twilight wiped away a small tear before walking over to Spike and showed him the flier, Spike yelling out in excitement as he and Twilight talked excitedly for a moment before both of them left the library, Owlicious being told to watch the place.

"Hoo," Owlicious said with a small smile before he flew back up to his perch in the shadows and closed his eyes, happy that Twilight and Spike were spending time together again.

"So what comic do you plan on getting this time Spike?" Twilight asked her young assistant as he ran around her with both arms up, getting her some interesting stares from the ponies. "Although I don't know why you would read these anymore considering that you are a hero now."

"Just because I'm a heroes doesn't mean that I can't enjoy other ponies tales," Spike said with a huge grin, Twilight sighing as she stuck out a wing to stop his circle around her. "And besides, they're having a sale! That means I can buy all the comics that you won't let me get with my tiny allowance."

"Your allowance is fine," Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. "In fact, I've talked to other foals and your allowance is actually better than most of theirs."

"Well, that's because you’re so nice and awesome," Spike said as the two of them reached the store, Spike squealing happily as he ran inside, Twilight rolling her eyes as she entered as well.

"Hello and welcome to...Oh, princess Twilight," the pony behind the counter said as he bowed to her, hitting his head on the desk and knocking the pens off of the counter. "I'm so sorry for that princess. Please, look around and tell me if you see anything you like. It's all free for you of course."

"There's no need for it to be free and Twilight's fine, thank you," Twilight said nicely before she joined Spike in browsing the shelves. She never understood why Spike was so into these considering how short they were and weren't exactly educational, especially since she had at least a dozen books that had characters similar to some of these heroes. 'And some of these heroes are weird to begin with. The Living Lightning Bolt? Steampunk Stallion? The Iron Mare? These sound like rejects for a kids show.'

"Here we are Twilight, these are all the ones I want," Spike said as he walked up next to her, balancing a ridiculously large number of comics in his small arms. "All twenty up to dater issues of the Power Ponies, including the spinoffs and annuals!"

"And you want to buy all of those? With you allowance?" Twilight asked him in disbelief as he nodded and walked up to the register, sighing to herself as she pulled out her wallet, knowing full well that he didn't have enough. After paying for the comics (Twilight having to pay three fourths of the full price) both she and Spike walked out of the store, Spike promising to re-arrange the library when they got back to the library for her in return for her paying.

"And I promise I won't complain," Spike grumbled as Twilight carried the bag back as well, promising Spike that he could read them once he was done with his chores.

"Good. Now I'm feeling a bit hungry, so what do you say we stop at that burger place I like so much?" Twilight asked him, Spike perking up when she said this and his stomach growled at that moment to confirm that he was hungry. "Good then, let's go." The two of them had taken about three steps total before screaming could be heard coming from down the street and both Twilight and Spike turned to see a number of Timberwolves running through the streets, causing ponies everywhere to scream and run for their lives. Twilight was just about to tell Spike to go home when a flash of green light went off to her side and the Emerald Dragon flew by her.

"Get to somewhere safe Twilight, I'll handle this!" Spike yelled as he flew by her, picking up one of the wolves with his ring and slamming him into two others while Twilight watched, a sad smile crossing her face as she watched Spike save the day.

'It wasn't that long ago that I would be the one telling you to get to safety while I went out to deal with the threat,' Twilight thought to herself as the Timberwolves began to fall to the power of the ring. 'And now here I am, watching you go off to save the day while I watch from the sidelines. You're growing up so fast that I'm afraid that I'll be left in past soon.' Twilight let out another sigh as she said this and sat down on a bench while Spike took care of the Timberwolves, pulling out Power Ponies number one and began to read while she waited for him to finish.

IOI

"GAH!" Sombra yelled as his eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up, only to find very strong vines holding him down to what looked like a bed. He quickly scanned the room with his panicked eyes, seeing a number of jars on one shelf and a giant cauldron in one of the corners of the room. A strange staff with a purple top rested against the wall, but his main focus was brought to the zebra that was looking at him from across the room.

"So you finally awake. I was not sure if you would in your state," she said with a nod as she looked down at the vial that she was holding. "It seems that this mixture works best, but I wasn't sure with you being its first test."

"Where am I? Who the hell are you?" Sombra asked as he tried to use his magic only to find that his horn had been wrapped in a strange metal that prevented him from using his magic. Then he realized that along with his horn not working his ring was also missing, where another quick scan around the room showed it resting inside of a jar on the table in a strange liquid. When he tried to get it to return to him though, he found that it didn't respond. "What did you do to me and my ring? Why bother saving my life?"

"Because I have compassion for all, even those who have had so far to fall," Zecora said with a shake of her head at Sombra.

"That still doesn't explain what you did to me," Sombra growled as he struggled against his bonds.

"Your powers have been negated by a metal called the anti-source," Zecora said. As she picked up the jar with the ring in it. "I did that for my safety of course. As for the ring, it has been suspended in time by brew, so there is little chance that it will return to you. So please do not try to escape or move, it would not feel too well after what you've been through."

"How the hell could you possible know how to negate my ring like that?" Sombra asked as Zecora walked over to him and struck a point in his neck, causing him to gasp once before passing out on the table. Zecora then shook her head at him as she walked to her closet and opened it, looking at the yellow ring with a shake of her head.

'These rings always seek out those who cause the most pain,' she said as she looked for a place in the closet for it. 'But why would they bother showing up here again?' she thought to herself as she placed the ring on her shelf and closed the closet door, leaving the yellow ring right next to another ring in the same kind of liquid, a ring of indigo.

Fall From the Skies

Deep within the castle at the center of the changeling empire, a mother worked long into the night with the potions and magic rituals she was creating. Her eyes were red from not having slept in days and she had barely attended to her kingdom at all, leaving it and her subjects in the hooves of her daughter as she tried in vain to resurrect her fallen son. But no matter what she tried or what she concocted, he still remained cold and motionless.

"Why?" she whispered to herself with tears in her eyes as she poured all of the magic in her newest potion onto her son, but the magic did nothing as it slid off of him, leaving Chrysalis to roar in rage as she threw the vial across the room and into the wall where it shattered. "Why does nothing work?!" she yelled to the heavens as she laid her head next to her son, sobbing bitterly into her arms. "There has to be some kind of spell, some kind of magic that can bring him back!"

"Mother?" a small voice asked from the entrance to the dark chamber, Chrysalis looking at the door to see her daughter standing at the entrance, looking in with worry on her face. "Mother, you have been in here for days and have barely eaten or attended to your kingdom. The changelings are strong, but without you there even their strength begins to waver. You have to come back and attend to them, despite how painful it may be. It is your duty-"

"Do not speak to me about duty, I have been ruling for far longer than you have been alive Insectum," Chrysalis said in a hoarse voice as she turned her attention from her daughter back to the unmoving body of her son. "And I do not need to be there. You will one day replace me, so why not learn now how to rule while I am still alive? Now go, leave an old fool to her suffering."

"This isn't you mother," the small changeling said as she turned to leave. "You love all of your subjects and would never abandon them, no matter what has happened. And I'll be waiting for you to come back and lead us when you realize that." Insectum said nothing else as she left the room, leaving Chrysalis to think about what her daughter had said to her.

'I know that she is right, but I cannot bring myself to leave your side,' Chrysalis thought as she placed her head on her son’s chest, the tears starting to fall from her eyes. 'I would do anything to bring you back. Anything.' At that mere thought, Chrysalis felt her soul go cold as she felt something around her. She stood up and caused her horn to blaze with magic as she looked around in fury for whoever was there. "Who is there?! How dare you to trespass in THIS room!"

'We come to offer you your greatest wish,' a cold voice devoid of feeling said to Chrysalis, who turned her head to look around her as she could not discern where the voice was coming from. 'We have heard you pleas and we can grant what you want most. For your son to rise.'

"How do I know that I can trust you?!" Chrysalis yelled back as she looked around for the source of the voice. "If you can do this, then prove it to me by raising my son here and NOW!"

'We could, if we were not so weakened,' the voice said, Chrysalis barely registering a small, black object flying around her head. 'We need someone strong, such as yourself to be our power, so that we can raise your son.' Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, wondering what they meant by being their power. 'You will fuel us and in return we will use our strength to resurrect your son.'

"How do I know that I can trust you?!" Chrysalis roared out at them, only to see the ghost of her son standing in front of her.

'Because you have no other choice.' Chrysalis closed her eyes as she thought about it, knowing full well that it was a trap. But then she heard the laugh of her son in her ears and could see his smiling face even though her eyes were closed and that was enough for her will to give in.

"I agree" Chrysalis said nothing else as black walls shot out of the ground around her and quickly enclosed themselves around her. She felt a terrible pain pass through her before the emptiness began to creep in. An eerie white light began to glow from inside the walls, but Chrysalis had no idea that any of this was happening anymore. As soon as the walls went up around her, the small, black object that had been floating around her flew over to her son and rested itself on his horn.

'Prince Ragna of Equestria,' the object said as light began to flood through his corpse, causing it to roar as it shot up, an unholy white light shining from its eyes as it slowly got up, looking at the giant, black lantern that Chrysalis was inside. It looked upon it with no emotion for a moment before it placed its horn against the lantern, a horn with a single, black ring.

'Rise.'

IOI

A few days had passed since the defeat of Sombra and Ponyville (who was used to having their town destroyed at this point) had managed to repair all of the damage that had been caused by him and Rarity, allowing them to move on with their lives and life in the small town was continuing like it normally would, except for two little fillies who were sitting underneath of their clubhouse in awe of what they had just been shown.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Sweetie Belle asked them to their faces, except she was floating a good foot over them in a blue outfit. Applebloom and Scootaloo could say nothing as they stared at their friend who was looking down at them with a huge smile on her face, although she was still waiting for a response. "Well? Do you two think it's cool or not?"

"We..." Applebloom began only to shake her head as she tried to form the words to say something, but Scootaloo beat her to it.

"That. Is. AWSOME!" she yelled before leaping into the air and tackling Sweetie down to the ground, the two of them laughing as Scootaloo took a step back to look at Sweetie in the Blue Lantern uniform. "I can't believe that you, our best friend, was a lantern and we didn't know it. Heck, how didn't we notice you were a lantern, it's not like you changed your voice or anything."

"I was wondering that myself a bit, actually," Sweetie said with a smile, looking at Applebloom who was still trying to get her words out. "I know that I'm supposed to keep my identity secret, but you two are my closest friends and I figure that if I should tell anypony besides Rarity, it should be you two."

"Thanks Sweetie...oh, so that's why you've been hanging out with Spike so much," Scootaloo said, putting two and two together. "Because you're both heroes now! With as much time as you two have been spending together lately Applebloom and I thought you were dating, but if you’re both Lanterns then this makes way more sense!"

"You thought we were dating?" Sweetie asked, both her and Scootaloo making a gagging sound before beginning to laugh, but their mirth was interrupted as Applebloom finally managed to get out what she had been trying to say.

"Are you crazy!?" Applebloom yelled at Sweetie Bell, who jumped into the air and remained there as she looked down at her friend’s furious face. "You've been fighting against all those evil creatures and beings with only SPIKE as your ally?"

"Don't dis Spike, he's actually a pretty good fighter," Sweetie said, but another glare from Applebloom silenced her.

"Do ya know how dangerous some of those foes have been? Do you have any idea what it would have put us through if ya had been hurt or worse?!" Applebloom asked, the rage giving into fear. "Why didn't ya give the ring to yer sister? Or Celestia? Or somepony else who would be better suited at this kind of thing?"

"One, because the ring doesn't work like that," Sweetie said as she floated back down to the ground. "The ring picks who best exemp...exemp...whoever is best suited to wear it and then it gives its power to them. Even if I gave my ring to my sister, it wouldn't work for her like it would me. Second: I like being able to fly and create things and stop the forces of evil, though that last one isn't as fun." Scootaloo went back to looking over Sweetie Belle's uniform while Applebloom looked at Sweetie as if she was crazy.

"So what can you do with your power?" Scootaloo asked.

"Anything I want really, as long as I have the hope for it," Sweetie said with a smile. "I can fly, create whatever I want, mostly, along with a bunch of other nifty powers." Scootaloo placed a hoof under her chin as she began to think, a huge smile growing on her face as an idea came to her.

"Do you think that the ring could help us get our cutie marks?" she asked in an excited tone, all of Applebloom's rage leaving her when she heard this idea. Both of her friends sat down in front of Sweetie with huge smiles on their faces as they looked at her, Sweetie looking up at her ring for a moment before she answered.

"Sure, I don't see why not?" Sweetie said with a smile, the three forming a circle as they began to think up ideas on how to use the ring to help them get their cutie marks.

"Maybe we can use it to help us with our skills that Twilight's trying to teach us?" Scootaloo suggested, getting rejected by the other two.

"No, if we're going to use it, it needs to be for something big, something that no pony could do," Sweetie said, the other two agreeing with her almost immediately.

"Well there's one thing I know that we have to use it for and that's getting Tiara off our backs," Applebloom said with a wicked smile, the other two nodding in agreement with equally wicked grins. "Ah can see the look on her face now when she tries to bully us again and instead gets a face full of blue! It'll be so great!"

"Yeah! Then she'd never bother us again," Scootaloo said. "Maybe we could even get her to do something for us for once." The fillies were all about to agree on this course of action when the blue ring spoke up and said that there was a green ring nearby, causing Sweetie to look up to see Spike floating above them with a less than pleased look on his face.

"Hey Spike! Um, can we help you?" Sweetie asked. Spike motioned for her to join him before he flew off higher into the sky and Sweetie gave her friends a sorry look before she shot up after him as well. She found him resting on a cloud overlooking the land, his ring keeping him informed if anything was going to happen down below. "Uh, hey? Is something the matter?"

"Not much, just wondering what that conversation about getting back at Tiara was about." Sweetie lowered her head a bit, hearing in his tone that he wasn't happy. She floated over next to him and rested on the cloud as well, amazed at how weird it felt to be sitting on a cloud. From here the two could see not just all of Ponyville, but also Cloudsdale in the distance as well as Canterlot.

"I didn't mean like hurt her or anything, just like...scare her off or something," Sweetie said meekly, Spike simply sighing at her answer as he turned to look at her and showed her his ring.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked her, to which her first response was that it was a ring. "It might be a ring, but it is also a symbol of peace and protection across the galaxy," Spike explained as he looked back down towards the town. "The Green Lanterns are protectors of all of space. No matter what race or where it is in the galaxy, there will be a Lantern to help those in need."

"Okay, I get that," Sweetie said. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"When we were given these rings, we were also given the responsibility that comes with them," Spike said. "When I wear this ring, I am honoring the Lanterns that are out there fighting for peace and justice, just like I am. I know that what Tiara did to you isn't right and that the ring would be a great way to try a bunch of different skills, but we have to be more responsible with this power."

"But I am responsible," Sweetie pouted as she crossed her arms. "Besides, the ring chose me right? Doesn't that mean that I can do what I want with it?" To Sweetie's surprise, Spike started chuckling at that statement as he looked down at his ring.

"You know why the ring chose you, because you’re full of hope, but do you know why it chose now to choose you?" Spike asked her, smiling when she shook her head at him in response. "The only time a ring seeks out a new hosts is either when the Guardians of Oa send a ring out or the previous wielder dies." He saw Sweeties eyes widen at this and she looked up at her ring as well. "I used to misuse my power, but I now realize that I'm not just fighting for my friends and family, but also for the other Green Lanterns. For the Lantern who fought for justice with this ring before me and made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause."

"So, using my power for my own gain is wrong, that's what you're trying to say?" Sweetie asked him, Spike thinking of his answer for a moment.

"All I'm saying is think about why your using your power and what you're fighting for," Spike told her before he narrowed his eyes as the ring sounded a small alarm, Spike rising off the cloud before looking down at Sweetie. "Because there's a legacy behind that ring." Spike shot off towards the distress call while Sweetie took off after him, one last question on her mind.

"So when did you figure all of this out?" she asked him as she flew alongside of him.

"When Sombra beat me down into almost nothing and I had to face myself in my blackest day in order to realize the lantern that I am," Spike told with a smile. "That's why I told you this, so you wouldn't have to go through what I did." Spike shot further ahead and Sweetie flew after him, thinking about what he said.

IOI

In the furthest reaches of Equestria, in a hollowed out grove that no pony remembered anymore lay a single gravestone that was still in perfect condition from the day the pony that died had been placed there. The grove was a mystic place that had been known to only one pony and if any other pony knew who lay there they would never have disturbed the grave. But it was no pony that found the grove, as a single black object flew to the grave and pierced the ground beneath the tombstone.

'Star-Swirl of Equestria,' a voice said as a grey hoof shot out of the ground as the corpse began to pull itself towards the surface.

'Rise.'

IOI

Twilight had been lost in the twelfth issue of Power Ponies when Owlicious hooted from the room below, telling her that Spike had come back and she threw the comic on her bed as she went down to see him, walking up to him with a smile as she pulled the dragon into a hug.

"Welcome back Spike, have a good day of fighting the forces of evil?" Twilight asked him as he slipped off his ring and sat down in one of the chairs, letting out a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling.

"I can't believe how many hydras can show up in one town at the same time," Spike groaned as Twilight went to the cabinet to get him some gems for him to snack on as he rested.

"You actually had trouble fighting off a bunch of hydras?" Twilight asked Spike with a smile as she placed the gem in front of him along with a glass of lemonade. "Maybe you should go train with Celestia and Luna to learn how to use your ring more." Spike choked on the gem he was eating and coughed for a moment before giving a smile back to Twilight.

"Nah, it wasn't how hard it was to beat them, it was how to do it without hurting them," Spike said before both him and Twilight looked towards the door as somepony knocked at it. Twilight opened to door to reveal Princess Luna and Celestia, both of them greeting Twilight with a smile before she stepped aside to let them in. "Hey Luna, hey Celestia. Something up or you two just dropping in to say hello?" Spike asked them as they sat down at the same table as him.

"For once the fate of the world does not hang in the balance and almost everything is normal," Celestia said with a smile as Twilight immediately ran to the pantry to try and get some snacks for them, through Spike was more interested in the fact that Celestia had said almost normal.

"But my sister and I have to thank you Spike for the current calm that is spreading over Equestria," Luna said to Spike with a smile as Twilight came back with cake and tea for the two princesses before running off to get something for herself. "The Emerald Dragon is the talk of nearly every town or city across Equestria and that is an impressive feat."

"So on the behalf of all of Equestria, my sister and I wanted to thank you for your brave efforts by giving you this," Celestia said as she brought out a golden medal that shone like the sun, but when she gave it to Spike he saw that the other side looked more like a moon. "It is the highest honor that we can give and while we wanted to award you this in front of all of the citizens of Canterlot, we figured that you didn't want that kind of attention."

"You got that right," Spike said as he looked at his reflection in the medal, smiling to himself before he placed it on the table and looked back to the princesses. "So everything's almost normal, right? Care to tell me what the almost is in case I need to go deal with it in a few days?"

"It is nothing that would require your expertize, just a few cases of grave robbing," Luna said with a shake of her head, looking at the disgusted face of Spike with a smile. "These are things that my sister and I occasionally have to deal with. It is rare but occasionally something like this happens. You want something truly disturbing, you should have seen when a thousand years ago a cult of crazy unicorns tried to summon the ultimate demon to kill us."

"I remember that one," Celestia said with a smile as she drank her tea, the cake have been obliterated by her. "They thought that the demon rested under the castle of Canterlot, but it turns out that they got their map wrong and it was in the griffon kingdom. Well after that, they just gave up on the spot and surrendered."

"And we haven't had a problem with them since," Luna said as she too went to eat her cake, only to find it missing. While see gave her sister a look, Spike wondered to himself why would a pony bother stealing a dead body. He shrugged it off, figuring that it was just a bunch of weirdoes and went back to listening to the princesses bicker over the cake, glad that everything was peaceful.

IOI

'King Oranos,' a black ring said as it flew into a grave in the catacombs underneath of Canterlot.

'Queen Gaea.' another said as it too slipped into a grave next to the kings, both ponies hooves breaking towards the surface as the undead ponies began to fight their way out.

'Rise.'

IOI

'Mr. Apple of Equestria. Rise'

'Mrs. Apple of Equestria. Rise.'

'Gilda of Equestria. Rise.'

'Rise.'

'RISE.'

IOI

"Where are these things coming from?!" Shining Armor yelled as he blasted another of the dark beings into nothingness, only to watch with horror as it repaired itself within seconds. Cadence wasn't fairing much better, though her magic at least had the added bonus of pushing the creatures back instead of just destroying them.

"I don't know, but it seems...that my empire has fallen," Cadence said with sorrow in her voice as she looked around at all the blackness that covered her kingdom, seeing what was once her loyal subjects now trying to tear out her heart. "But we must protect the crystal heart, no matter the cost!" Shining and Cadence backed up to the heart as each of them prepared to fight to the end, but to their shock they found that the barrier that protected the heart prevented the creatures from getting close. But all that meant was that they were both trapped, trapped with no way to signal for help.

IOI

"Remind me why I have to do this again?" Sombra asked as he threw the broom across the hut at Zecora, who caught it with one hoof and sent it flying back at him, hitting the fallen king squarely in the face and knocking him over. "That's no way to treat a pony that you're supposed to be treating for injuries."

"You are the one who threw the broom. I simply returned it to you," Zecora said with a smile before she went back to her meditating, trying her best to block Sombra out. The dark pony grumbled again as he picked up the broom and began to continue sweeping the hut despite the fact that he felt like hell. His wounds weren't fully recovered although that didn't stop Zecora from making him do light tasks such as sweeping. Zecora heard him drop the broom again and was about to yell at him when a wave of words washed over her, causing her to break her meditation and fall to all fours.

"The hell happened to you?" Sombra asked as Zecora shakily got back to her hooves, fear the only emotion in her eyes as she ran to the closet faster than Sombra thought possible. Then, much to Sombra's shock, she grabbed the bottle with his ring in it and shattered it against the ground, allowing the ring to fly out of it and back over to him. "The hell are you thinking? Why in your right mind would you...?" Then Sombra stopped talking as Zecora walked back out of the closet, but instead of her normal attire she was covered in indigo robes, causing the king to gasp as she walked past him to grab the staff against that leaned against the wall.

"What are you...?" Sombra began to ask again before Zecora placed a ring on her hoof into the staff.

"Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur, Natromo faan tornek wot ur. Ter Lantern ker lo Abin Sur, Tann lek lek nok--Formorrow Sur!" Sombra shielded his eyes as a blinding light of indigo went off and when he could see again he found that Zecora was floating over him, looking out the window with a look of dread on her face.

"I could hear their voice loud and clear," she whispered to herself as she ran out the door, Sombra following her as his yellow uniform appeared on him. "We must find Spike and Sweetie before they appear."

"Why? What's going on?" Sombra asked before the two of them turned at the sound of a noise, both backing away as something came out of the bushes. It was a griffon, but her eyes were hollow and cold and empty, a weird black goo coming from her mouth. She let out a scream and rushed the two only to be blasted into nothingness by Zecora's purple light. "What the hell was that thing?" Sombra yelled as the creature began to reform itself, getting a blast from Sombra this time.

"It is my greatest fear finalized," Zecora whispered as she looked up at the darkening sky, knowing what was coming. "By somepony's black hand, the dead shall rise."

The Dead Shall Rise

"I am glad to see so much progress being made in the reconstruction of Ponyville," Celestia said to Twilight and Spike as she walked with them through the streets, viewing all of her subjects of the small town as well as observing all the construction that was going on. "It pains me to see so much destruction that I could do little to stop, but I am glad to see that said destruction has not caused the ponies here to give up hope."

"We're a resilient bunch princess, not to mention that we've grown used to having our home destroyed on occasion," Twilight said with a smile, Spike nodding in agreement at the destruction. He wondered if cities like Manehatten and Stalliongrad had to go through the kind of afternoons Ponyville did. Luna had left the group to meet up with Sweetie and the other CMC to say hello to them, so Twilight had insisted on taking Celestia on a tour of Ponyville despite the princess having seen the town plenty of times. "And over her with have the new medical center, which has been of great help during some of the attacks. And over here is..."

"I know about all of these additions, I am the one who signed the papers for them," Celestia whispered to Spike, who rolled his eyes at his friend’s monologing.

"She's just trying to show you that she's got everything under control," Spike whispered to Celestia as Twilight went on and on about all the improvements made to the town. "She's afraid that she hasn't been living up to her role as princess as well as she should be."

"She will learn in time that relaxation is part of the job," Celestia said with another smile, before she felt a shiver go down her spine and she looked up to see dark clouds forming overhead. "That is odd, I was not aware that the pegasi would be creating a thunderstorm today. Is it time for that kind of weather already?"

"No princess, we had one just a few weeks ago," Twilight said as she walked back over to them, taking notice of the sky just like the other ponies about town, who were all looking up at the darkening sky while murmuring amongst themselves. "Although it is possible that they had to do a quick one in order to make up for missing one." Celestia figured that would be a possible explanation, but something inside of her told her that the clouds were being caused by something else entirely. Her fears were confirmed when she saw Luna flying towards them, Applebloom and Scootaloo on her back while the Blue Lantern flew along beside her.

"Sister," Luna said as she landed next to the ponies and let the two fillies off of her back, Sweetie landing next to Spike with a look of worry on her face. "I take it you have seen the clouds? Something about them feels off, like a feeling of dread that I haven't felt in so long. Do you know what could be causing this?"

"No idea," Celestia said before she and the others heard the sounds of hooves running and they all turned to see Applejack and the other Elements of Harmony running up to them, tears running down AJ's face.

"Applejack! What's the matter?" Twilight asked her friend as she skidded to a stop in front of them, Spike being able to see both sadness and rage in her eyes.

"It's mah parents graves! Somepony took their bodies!" Applejack said with a fury in her tone that would have made even Spike lose the will to fight her. "What kind of low down, no good varmint would take the bodies of mah parents?" The Elements didn't see Celestia and Luna share a worried glance before they stepped in to tell Applejack that it was going to be alright, only to be interrupted as the ponies began to scream and point towards Canterlot.

"There's some kind of cloud descending upon Canterlot!" one of them cried out, all of the ponies turning towards where the city was to see a dark cloud resting upon the city. Celestia and Luna both spread their wings as they prepared to go defend their city, just as Spike suited up and took to the skies with Sweetie, only for all of them to be stopped by a bolt of black that flew by them and crashed into the ground in the center of town.

"What is that?" a pony asked as the dust cleared to reveal a single changeling, who stayed rooted in place as its eyes slowly looked over the entire town.

"I got this," Spike said as he began to fly forward, only for the changeling to fling itself forward towards one of the ponies and....drive it's hoof straight through the ponies chest and rip his heart clean out. Spike and the others were completely stunned by this act before the changeling moved on to its next victim, about to do the same to that pony until a wall of green slammed into the changeling a pinned it to a wall. "You MURDERER!" Spike roared in fury as he caused the wall to break the changeling’s limbs, snarling at until he realized that there was a ring on its horn. A single black ring.

"Spike! Behind you!" Sweetie yelled as a bolt of blue hit another changeling that had tried to attack Spike from behind, knocking it away as the other changeling that Spike had pinned to the wall broke free with a roar, knocking Spike back. Spike snarled and prepared to engage, but then a black ring flew by his face and landed on the pony that had just been killed.

'Stormchaser of Equestria. Rise.' Spike and the others backed away on horror as the pony missing his heart let out a roar and got back to his hooves, smiling at all of the horrified faces of the other ponies before he too leapt forward and drove his hoof straight through a ponies chest, ripping out their heart as well. The ponies that weren't dead all began to scream and run for their lives while Spike kept trying to subdue the undead ponies, only to have them break out of his constructs with a struggle.

"What the hell are these things?!" he yelled as the twin changelings jumped him, both falling to a giant mace he had constructed to crush them, only to back away as the creatures reformed themselves to get back up and attack him again. "It's like they're some kind of...Black Lanterns!"

"That's what it seems like," Sweetie said as she flew over to Spike, grabbing the two pony Black Lanterns and throwing them into the changeling ones, going back to back with Spike while point her ring at them. "Spike, let's see how the handle both hope and will combined!" Spike agreed and the two of them combined their powers to unleash their full force against the four, finding to their amazement that the rings were knocked off the undead and their bodies were quickly destroyed under the power of the twin light.

"It worked," Spike said with a sigh of relief as he floated over to the rings that lay on the ground, picking one of them up to examine them. They definitely were Black Lantern rings, but he didn't need to ask his ring which emotion powered them. Death. "I don't know where these rings came from, but I do know that the cloud up there is probably responsible for them. Sweetie, we need to..." His words died in his mouth as he turned to see hundreds of thousands of Black Lanterns, all of whom were flying towards the town of Ponyville.

"Spike? What do we do?" Twilight asked Spike weakly, the dragon barely able to muster the words that he said.

"We fight."

IOI

Spike didn't have time to think about where the black rings had come from or how they managed to take over so many ponies so fast, but all he did know was that him and the other Elements of Harmony were fighting a losing battle. The town of Ponyville had been swarmed by the dead wearing the black rings, most of which seemed to be changelings but there were also a large number of ponies in the mix. He did all he could to try and to protect as many ponies as he could, but in the black swarm he found that for every one he saved, the Black Lanterns claimed so any more.

"Spike, we've got more incoming and they're Canterlot ponies by the look of it!" Celestia roared to Spike as she used her magic to blast one of the Black Lanterns into nothingness, only to snarl with rage as it reformed itself in a few seconds and resumed its attack on her.

"Magic has almost no effect on them!" Twilight called out as she and Luna struggled to keep the CMC and the other Elements safe from the Black Lanterns, but it was mostly Sweetie’s ring that was preventing them from getting to the other ponies. "Sweetie, how long do you think you can keep them back?"

"Not long enough!" Sweetie replied as she wrapped three Black Lanterns into a blue ball and sent them hurdling into their allies. "Spike! We need to push them back again!" Spike nodded and flew over to her, the two combining their powers to shoot out a beam that blew apart all the Black Lanterns near their friends. But as they purged the dead, Spike was aware that he was beginning to recognize more and more of the faces that they fought against. The two of them separated and went back to fighting against the Lanterns while Twilight and the other princesses focused on getting as many ponies away from the battlefield as fast as they could.

"Get outta here ya varmints!" Applejack yelled as she bucked two of the Black Lanterns in the face and sent them sprawling, allowing a pair of ponies that had been trapped by them to get away. "That's what ya get fer messing with an Apple."

'That's exactly the way we raised you to be sugarcube.' Applejacks face went pale as she slowly turned around to see...

"Ma? Pa?" she asked the two ponies standing before her in disbelief, but even with their figures being disfigured from years of being dead, she could never mistake those voices. "But it can't be! Yer both-"

'Dead sugarcube? The black rings bring the dead to life,' Applejack's mother reminded her.

"Yer back?" Applejack asked again.

'Love.'

'Yes. And thank you,' her father said before shooting his hoof forward and driving it right into her chest, causing her to gasp before she looked down and then slowly back up to her father. 'Your love is delicious.'

"Applejack!" Rainbow Dash cried out as she saw what happened before she flew at top speed and blasted apart Applejack's "father and mother" before flying next to her friend, who lay dead on the ground. "No! Not you too! You can't be-"

'Applejack of Equestria,' a ring said as it flew past Rainbow and onto Applejack.

"NO! You get away from her you-!" Rainbow yelled as she tried to get the ring off, but was blasted away by an explosion of dark light, causing all of the other ponies to look over at AJ, who now wore a black outfit with a silver triangle and silver lines rising from it.

'Rise.'

"Applejack?" Twilight asked in disbelief as she saw her friend float into the air.

"This can't be happening," Rarity said as she looked on as well, the other Elements reacting similar ways. But all of those ways all had one emotion in common. They were all full of love. Before Applejack could move, a blur of Rainbow slammed into her back and drove her into the ground, where she was pinned by RD who looked down at her with tears in her eyes.

"You can't be dead! You're one of us!" RD yelled in desperation as AJ opened her eyes and looked at her friend.

'Hey partner, don't worry. Ah'm still me,' AJ said with a smile, causing RD to begin to cry tears of relief.

'Hope.'

'Extinguished,' AJ said before she ripped the heart right out of RD, who never realized what had happened as she fell over, a black ring coming to claim her as well. Rd got up and walked over besides AJ, both of whom turned their eyes towards the princess and the other Elements of Harmony, who looked at them with terror and sadness in their eyes at what had happened to their former friends. Spike immediately flew over to try and stop the two new Black Lanterns, but he was intercepted by a pair of Alicorns that threw him across the street and through a building.

"It cannot be," Luna said as she backed away from the two alicorns that stood before her. "Mother? Father?...No, this is the black rings illusion!" Luna roared in rage as she took up a fighting stance, preparing to fight off what used to be her parents. "How dare you lanterns use my parents as your pawns! I will-" Luna felt a sharp pain and began to cough up blood, looking behind her to see a Black Lantern Celestia standing behind her with her hoof in Luna's heart.

'You always were so quick to anger, sister,' Celestia said with a sinister smile as Luna collapsed. Spike groaned as he pulled himself out of the building that he had been thrown through just in time to see Luna rise as a Black Lantern as well, all four alicorns turning towards him as he rose out of the rubble.

"Not you guys too," he whispered to himself as all four of them rushed him at once, forcing him to create a shield to fend them all off. He looked around for Sweetie to help him fight them off, but he couldn't find her anywhere. His concern for her safety though had to be put aside as he battled it out with four alicorns, only to be horrified as a fifth one showed up to enter the fray.

'What's the matter Spike, you've never been so unhappy to see me before,' Twilight said as she slammed into his shield and shattered it, smiling at the little dragons face as he saw the Black Lantern symbol on her chest for all to see and she slowly walked towards him. 'I have to admit, black isn't that bad a color. You should try it.'

"N-no, you can't be...it can't be..." Spike whispered to himself as tears began to fall from his eyes, shakily pointing his ring at Twilight but finding no will within him to fire at his closest friend.

'Do you feel something seeing me like this? Fear of losing me? Rage at not being able to protect me?' Twilight asked with a cackle before throwing herself towards him. 'I can always count on you to get me whatever I need, can't I? Welcome to the club, Spike!'

"Nok." Twilight screamed as a blast of indigo rocketed her away from Spike and far to the other ends of the city, the other alicorns looking up just in time to be hit by a combination of indigo and yellow energy, causing them to be flung back as well. Spike looked to the sky to see he sight of Sombra and...

"Zecora?" he asked in disbelief as the indigo clad zebra floated down next to him, smiling at him calmingly as she looked over his wounds with a nod.

"None of your wounds are that severe, but it would have been bad had I not been here,' she said quickly as more Black Lanterns beginning to swarm the three of them. Zecora closed her eyes and Spike saw the symbol of the Green Lanterns appear on her head before she fired a green blast of energy at the oncoming Lanterns, Sombra adding his power to hers to destroy the lanterns that were attacking them. "Although I see that we are too late to warn the town. Can you quickly tell me how has gone down?"

"Twilight...Applejack...the princesses..." Spike said shakily, looking down at the ground with a look of hopelessness in his eyes. Sombra sighed in frustration and walked over to Spike, where he smacked the green dragon right across the face with enough force to knock Spike to the ground.

"You didn't quit when I had beaten your ass all across Canterlot, so don't you go quitting on us now," Sombra said with a growl as he helped Spike back up, making a motion to slap him again. "Zecora tells me that this isn't the first time these Black Lanterns have shown up and the last time they did it was the power of a Green Lantern that managed to beat them, which means that we'll need you if we hope to wind against the hordes of the undead. Now you can either snap out of it and fight or I'll kill you and recruit whoever the ring goes to next. Your choice."

"Please Spike, you must fight. If not for us, then for Twilight," Zecora added as she fended off a number of Lanterns with her staff and martial art skills. "The Lanterns will continue to kill until the world is theirs, so we must defeat them before all fall into despair!" She missed one of the Lanterns and it ducked underneath of her, going in for a bite until a blast of green energy sent it flying. Zecora and Sombra turned to Spike, who was looking at them with pure green eyes.

"I WILL fight," he said in a dangerous tone before he looked to Zecora. "You know of these guys, so I assume that you have some idea of how to beat them?"

"The green light can destroy the lanterns of the night, but only with another lantern's light," Zecora explained as she closed her eyes again and the symbol of the Green Lanterns appeared on her head. "You must find Sweetie and let hope re-ignite, or we will all fall to the blackest night. Sombra shall go with you as well, although expect him to give you hell." She flew off after this and re-engaged the Black Lanterns, leaving Spike to take to the skies with Sombra following him as the blasted the Black Lanterns out of the air that tried to stop them.

"So where did you leave your little filly friend?" Sombra asked as Spike and Sombra combined their powers to destroy the lanterns that got closer. "The two of you are normally so inseparable that it makes it hard to attack one of you by yourselves."

"I think that she went to help Rarity when the Elements spilt up," Spike said before the ring flashed at him, telling him that its power levels were starting to get to dangerous levels. 'And that's the last thing I need right now, but I don't have time to recharge, I need to find Sweetie!' Spike and Sombra kept flying and blasting until they saw burst of blue coming off from the distance. The two flew down to find Sweetie still battling off the lanterns, but they also found that Rarity happened to be one of those lanterns that she was fighting.

"Wow, Rarity can't decide which ring she wants to wear," Sombra said with a smirk as Spike shot ahead.

"Sweetie!" Spike called out as he flew down and created a shield around her, Sombra blasting away the Black Lanterns around them as Sweetie collapsed, Spike catching her before she could hit the ground. "Sweetie, what's the matter?"

"My sister...got a bit closer than I would have liked," Sweetie said with a pained smile as she turned her head to reveal a bite mark, causing Spike to gasp in shock. "Even now I can feel the Black Lanterns power trying to overpower me and I don't know how much longer I can hold out, even with my ring."

'Power levels, 100 percent.'

"You're going to be alright," Spike said as he helped her up, but at that moment a massive explosion went off in the center of town. Spike and Sweetie turned their heads towards the center to see a Black Power Battery rise out of the ground, more and more black rings flying from it and spreading across the land. But the main focus was in the center of the town where the prince of the changelings lifted what looked like a black scythe with a black lantern battery on the end of it, looking into the skies as he said,

'Nekron, rise!'

At these words a skeletons hand shot out of the ground and grabbed the scythe, black energy wrapping around the changeling until he became the very darkness itself. The skeletal figure rose to his full height and looked out across the land, wondering how best to kill it.

"I am Nekron! And this world is now the home of the Black Lanterns Corps!" he roared to the skies, slamming his scythe into the ground and sending out a shockwave that knocked all off their hooves. Then Nekron looked around past all the ponies and his eyes narrowed when he saw Sombra floating over all of the ponies. "You. You have cheated me one to many times! Your life belongs to me!" Nekron roared as he flung himself towards Sombra.

"Ah hell," Sombra muttered before he shot off into the sky, Nekron following him until they were out of sight. Spike watched them go until Sweetie started coughing and he turned his attention back to her. She looked up at him for a moment before she slipped off her ring, the blue suit leaving her as she fought to get back up to her hooves.

"Sweetie, what are you doing?" Spike asked her as she turned to look at him, her eyes starting to look like the Black Lanterns.

"I don't have much time left Spike, but before I go I want you to have this," she said weakly as she held out her blue ring and placed it in his claw, closing his hand gently as she smiled up at him. "And don't say that you can't wield it, because I know you can. After all," she said before she began to fall over. "You were the one who gave me the hope that the ring sought out, so it's only fitting that I place my hopes...on...you..." Spike caught her again, but at this point she was no longer moving. He looked down at her with no emotion running through him, only the thought that he had lost another of his closest friends and his greatest ally. Then the black ring flew onto her horn and pushed Spike back.

'Sweetie Belle of Equestria. Rise.' Spike looked at Sweetie with sadness as the black suit covered her and she turned to look at him with the same look that all the Black Lanterns wore. She was about to say something, but a blast of green from Spike silenced her. He then looked down at the blue ring in his hand as tears quietly fell from his eyes before his eyes hardened and he slipped the ring onto his other hand. Despite all that was happening, despite just losing his closest ally, he knew that he had to remain hopeful. For her.

'Spike of Equestria. You have the ability to instill great hope.'

"No, somepony else gave it to me the ability to be hopeful," Spike said through clenched teeth as the power of both hope and will surged through him, supercharging his abilities to their highest. But despite this newfound power, as he looked out across the land all he could see were the dead that had been brought back to life and he knew that it would not be enough. There was no sign of Sombra or Zecora and he knew that he was all alone in his fight, as even Sweetie was gone now.

'What's the matter Spike, nothing to say to the filly who gave everything to protect you?' Sweetie asked Spike as she flung herself at him, only to run into a barrier of both blue and green. Spike knew that he should be feeling a number of emotions right now, but at the moment he felt nothing. But as Spike looked at her and then to the Elements of Harmony who had shown up to fight him, as well as the princesses and their parents, he found that he only had one last thing to say.

"Even in fearful day or in raging night, no evil still shall escape my sight. And although all may seem lost in this war on light, you shall beware my power," he said before he pointed both his rings at the crowd of ponies as they broke through his shield and rushed him all at once. "For I will fight."

IOI

Death. That was all a single owl could see as he flew over the battlefield...or what was left of a battlefield at this point. Owlicious could see the faces of ponies that he used to know or at least see in the fray, but all of them were now wearing the black rings that had descended. Off in the distance he could still see flashes of green and knew that Spike was still fighting, but all the other colors had gone dark. He was flying towards where he had last seen some bolts of indigo, but those had ceased a minute before. Within a minute of flying, he reached where the bolts had come from, only to hoot in shock when he saw Zecora laying bloodied and beaten up against the side of a house, her shield barely keeping out the invading lanterns.

"Hoo?" he asked her as he landed beside the barrier, Zecora creating a temporary gap to allow him inside of the barrier.

"Hello my friend, it seems you have caught me at my end," she said weakly and Owlicious saw that one of her limbs was limp and lifeless, the rest of her not looking much better. "I wish it did not have to be this way, dying without knowing if there will be another day. But maybe you can confirm what I cannot with my sight. Do the other ring wielders still fight?"

"Hoo," Owlicious said with a nod of his head, Zecora letting out a sigh of relief before she collapsed against the wall, nearly falling over.

"It seems that this is it for me, but that should be my destiny," She said weakly as her barrier gave way, allowing the Black Lanterns to come rushing in around the two, but Zecora used the last of her strength to blast them back. "Run my friend, before it becomes your end." Owlicious hooted in reply and stood next to Zecora, refusing to budge despite the Lanterns getting back up. He grabbed her tail with his talons and tried to pull her away from the battle, but it was to no avail.

"It has been...one crazy ride," Zecora whispered weakly as she began to close her eyes. "But I am glad to have a friend...at my side."

"Hoo?" Owlicious asked as he pecked her with his beak, but Zecora remained motionless. The owl slowly turned to see the horde of Black Lanterns throwing themselves at him and he closed his eyes, knowing what came next. But then a blast of indigo went off and pushed the Lanterns back, allowing Owlicious to open his eyes and see what was in front of him.

'Owlicious of Equestria.'

Where There's A Will

Waves of Black Lanterns shot into the sky, further darkening the already completely black sky as they gave chase to one of the only sources of light around, a light that was both blue and green. Despite being completely outnumbered and the fact that there was now nopony left to fight alongside him, there were still beams of blue and green that flashed across the sky to push the dark ponies back.

'But it's only a matter of time,' Spike thought to himself as he spun in a circle, firing the twin rings in every direction. He didn't need to aim, since no matter where he shot he was guaranteed to hit one of the Black Lanterns. 'Only a matter of time before I run out of power,' he thought to himself as the green ring flashed, telling him that he was starting to get low on power. But he didn't dare try to go back to the library to recharge, since he could barely fly without being overrun by the lanterns, leaving him his only option. To fight.

'What's the matter Spike? Too afraid to join us?' the Black Lantern version of Rainbow Dash said as she came flying towards him, slamming into him and dragging the both of them down towards the ground. Spike head-butted her and shot her point blank with a blast of green energy that sent her howling back into the sea of Black Lanterns.

'You dare to raise your claws against a princess?' Luna and Celestia both roared at the same time as they both attacked him at the same time, firing blasts of their most powerful magic at him. But their magic was nothing to the twin powers of the blue and green ring, leaving them open to be crushed as Spike created two giant green and blue hands to squish the undead princesses like they were bugs. As those two fell to the town below, Spike was blasted from behind from the previous king and queen of Equestria, whose power was unlike any magic that he had ever felt.

"But that doesn't mean that I'm going to let the two of you beat me!" he yelled as he pointed both rings at the two and fired the combined power at them, blasting apart the former rulers and watching as their rings fell to the ground below. He scowled at them before turning to see an armada of changelings come flying at him, like a swarm of insects that wished to rip him apart. He created a green and blue shield to defend himself as the swarm of black slammed into him, pushing him and his shield into the ground in the center of town. "Get off!" he yelled as he blasted all of the changelings back, only to get up and see that he was still completely surrounded. In all directions all he could see were Black Lanterns.

'Power levels at five percent,' the green ring said to him.

'Power levels at ten percent, little one,' the blue ring said to him as well.

"Should I even bother asking if this could get worse?" Spike asked the two sarcastically as he pointed his twin rings at the oncoming swarm of Black Lanterns, but then to his surprise they were all beaten back by a flash of indigo light. "Zecora? How did you-?" Spike turned expecting to see his Zebra friend, but instead he saw Owlicious with the indigo ring around his talons float down and land on his head. "Owlicious, you're the Indigo Lantern? But that means Zecora..."

"Hoo," Owlicious said with a nod of his head and Spike might have wondered why the universal translator wasn't working, but at that moment he just felt the pain of losing another friend. Then he turned with determination his eyes towards the swarm again.

"Well, at least I know that I won't go down alone," Spike said with a snarl as he pointed both his rings at the crowed and let loose a roar of fury as he threw himself into them, Owlicious taking to the sky and firing a bolt of indigo straight up before he too engaged the Black Lanterns along with Spike. With the power of the indigo ring, Spike and Owlicious began to push back again against the Black Lanterns and for a moment Spike believed that they would actually be able to defeat the swarm. Then aid came in another unexpected form.

"Emerald Dragon!" Spike turned and looked up to see a changing floating over him, but unlike all the other thousands of changelings that he had been fighting this one was not wearing a Black Lantern ring or outfit. But if he hadn't thrown a shield around her with one ring and blasted away the Lanterns that attacked her with the other she would have been.

"Owlicious, can you create us a shield?" Spike asked. Owlicious nodded as he threw up and indigo shield around the three of them, struggling to use his new powers to keep the dead back as Spike released the changeling from the barrier and looked at her with crossed arms. "I don' know if there was a worse possible time you could have come to Ponyville, but I'm fairly certain that an invasion of the dead is a really bad time."

"I know, but I've finally managed to track you down and I really need to tell you something," she said in between breaths as she tried to regain her breath. "Chrysalis is who is powering the Black Lanterns!" When Spike's face showed that he didn't believe her, she took another breath and tried again. "When the prince died, Chrysalis tried everything to try and bring him back, but nothing worked. So when the Black power ring told her that it could, she became to power source of the Black Lanterns and the black ring resurrected her son...sort of."

"LOOK OUT!" Spike yelled as Black Lantern's attacked her from behind, breaking through the shield to get to her. Before she could scream, Spike slammed into them with a massive gauntlet and sent them towards the ground, floating in front of the terrified changeling before giving her a smile. "You okay?" he asked as Owlicious threw up another barrier.

"Yeah...fine," she said quietly.

"What you said about Chrysalis being the Black Battery is interesting, but there is no way I can get past all of the Black Lanterns and even if I could, I don't know what to do if I got to the Lantern," Spike muttered before Owlicious hooted as his shield began to break. Spike ran over beside him and reinforced the shield with his power, but it was clear to the two that this wasn't going to last much longer. While they fought off the Lanterns, Insectum looked around at all of the Black Lanterns with sorrow in her eyes as she looked at what used to be her subjects and comrades.

"Why would Chrysalis allow this to happen? She loved us all so much, but I guess her son’s death drove her too far," Insectum muttered to herself. Spike growled as he turned to grab Insectum and shot off into the sky with her, Owlicious following him as the barrier shattered and the undead began to follow them again.

"Owlicious, take this changeling and get out of here!" Spike yelled as he tossed the changeling over to Owlicious before firing repeated burst of light into the oncoming swarm. Owlicious hooted as he tried to fly to Spike, but Spike trapped him in a blue sphere and threw him higher into the sky, watching the two go with a brief look of regret before he was tackled to the ground by a very familiar Black Lantern.

'Hello Spike,' Twilight said to Spike with a cold smile as she pinned him to the ground, other Black Lanterns grabbing his arms and legs to prevent him from moving at all. 'How does it feel to see what your failure looks like? Does it make you angry? Sad? Or are you still filled with hope that you can save us all despite how hopeless it looks?...Aw come one, you have to be feeling something, it's boring to kill you if you have no emotion to feed on.'

"There's only one thing go through my mind and that's how many months of cleaning I should get off for saving the entire world," he said with a smirk, Twilight scowling at his sarcasm and went to drive her hoof through his chest, but the combined power of blue and green protected him though the shield did waver a bit.

'Seems there's not much power left in those little rings of yours,' Twilight said with a smile as she slammed her hoof into the barrier protecting him again, watching as it almost completely faltered. 'I have to admit Spike, this hurts me a lot more than it's going to hurt you. At least until I manage to grab hold of your heart and rip it out of your chest.' Spike tried desperately to construct something, but whether the rings simply didn't have enough power or Spike didn't have the will or hope, he didn't know. But there was no fear in his eyes as Twilight brought her hoof back with a wicked grin.

'Any last words?' Twilight asked him.

"Are all ponies so damn ugly when they're Black Lanterns?" Twilight gasped and looked up in time to be blasted across the ground by a bolt of green, all of the Black Lanterns that were surrounding Spike getting blasted off as well by another blast of green. When Spike was freed he shot up and spun around to see...

"John?" Spike asked as the Green Lantern of sector 2814 floated down beside him with a smile." What are you doing here? I thought that-"

"Like I said kid, we got each other's backs," John said with a smile before he began to fight as well.

"We did go back, but then one of the higher ups felt something out of place here," John said as he fought. "So we've been keeping this planet under watch in case something happened. Once we came back from a mission to see the Black Lanterns, we acted immediately. Hal will be here soon with our ace, but until then we'll help you hold them off. Here." John tossed Spike a green battery, giving him a chance to recharge his ring. But while he did this, a Black Lantern attacked Spike from behind but was blasted apart by a beam of energy that didn't look like any of the rings that Spike had seen used. He looked past John to see a small, blue creature with white hair float down besides John, but while Spike didn't know who he was, he knew the symbol on his chest.

"Are you a Blue Lantern?" Spike asked the alien, who chuckled as he shook his head.

"No, my Green Lantern friend, I am Ganthet, the creator of the Blue Lanterns," Ganthet said with a smile as Spike's jaw dropped, but the smile vanished as he looked at the blue ring on Spike's other hand. "It seems that one of the blue rings did find somepony full of hope on this planet, but I highly doubt that you were chosen by both blue and green. What happened to the true Bleu Lantern?"

"She...died," Spike said with sadness in his voice, but glared at Ganthet when he chuckled slightly. "Is her death something funny?!"

"You misunderstand my young Lantern, I find it funny that you believe that death is the end," Ganthet said as he took the ring off of Spike's hand and held it to the air. "Go find your true host." Spike watched as the blue ring shot off but it quickly came to a stop in front of a certain undead filly.

'Sweetie Belle of Equestria,' the blue ring began as it blasted the black ring off of her horn, taking its place and causing a burst of blue light to erupt from Sweetie. 'You have the ability to instill great hope..'

"And I see that my hope wasn't misplaced," Sweetie said with a smile as she spotted Spike and flew over to him, looking around at all of the undead with a frown. "Wow, this seems really bad." Then she turned to see John, who she waved to and then to Ganthet who she looked at with confusion until she saw his symbol. "Oh cool, another Blue Lantern!"

"No my little one, I am the creator of the Blue Lanterns," Ganthet said with another friendly smile. "But I must admit that I never thought that one so young as yourself could possibly possess enough hope to be a Blue Lantern. I am happy to meet you." Sweetie shook his hand when he offered it to her, but then a blast of orange reminded them that there was still a battle going on.

"What's he doing here?" Spike asked as Larfleeze yelled that all the black rings would be his before re-engaging the Black Lanterns. A hoot told Spike that Owlicious was back and he looked up to see his friend.

"I order to defeat the Black Lanterns before they can reach their full power we will need all of the Corps," Ganthet said as he held out an arm for Owlicious to land on, smiling at the Indigo Lantern. "But we are short a few. Lantern Stewart, did you bring it?" John nodded as he held out a glass case containing a red ring, a ring that flew off when he broke the case for a new host, settling on a princess of the night.

'Luna of Equestria. You have a great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.'

Luna let out a roar as the black ring on her horn was blown apart and the red ring took its place, the Black Lanterns around her turning to see the princess of the night glare down at them with red energy dripping from her mouth and a red suit covering her body, but what they saw the most was the red in her eyes.

"You foals thought you could contain me!" she roared in rage before unleashing a torrent of red energy from her mouth, burning away all of the Black Lanterns around her before she shot into the sky, firing bolts of red all upon the Black Lanterns. "I am the princess of the night! Nopony is strong enough to hold me!"

"Hm, seems her rage is greater than I thought," Ganthet said before he floated over to Luna, who turned to look at him with a glare. "Now then Princess Luna, before you go and attack me in your enraged state, but allow me to put forward this question. Would you rather attack me, a stranger or the Black Lantern that is taking your home?" Luna looked from him to the Black Lanterns before she let out a roar of rage and threw herself into the fray again.

"Well, at least she's fighting with us," Ganthet said before looking around. "Now then, I believe there was a Yellow Lantern around here somewhere." As soon as he said this, Sombra shot by him and the others while he fired bolts of yellow behind him in a desperate attempt to stop Nekron, who showed no signs of slowing. "And it seems that Nekron is already here."

"Ganthet," Nekron said with a growl as he spotted the Guardian, pointing his scythe at him. "Come to finally die?"

"No, I've come to put you back in your grave," Ganthet said. Nekron let out a roar and charged at the Guardian, but John Stewart intercepted him with a blast of green to the side, turning Nekron's attention from the Guardian to him.

"You. You are another one who has escaped me for too long," Nekron said with cold eyes.

"And I'll continue to, unless you want to try and stop me," John said, only to be thrown backwards as he tried to block Nekron scythe. While Stewart continued to fend off Nekron, Ganthet gathered to Lanterns who were nearby to speak with them, although he had to use his powers on Sombra to bring him over.

"We are still missing one," Ganthet noticed as he looked over the Lanterns. "Why have the Star Sapphires not chosen somepony yet? If we hope to stop the Black Lantern's here once and for all, then we will need them all. With all the Lantern's combined, we will be able to unlock the power of-" Ganthet was interrupted as Nekron sent Black Lanterns to attack them, forcing the Lantern's to work together to fight them off. Luna unleashed a torrent of red energy upon Nekron, but he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground. He went to drive his scythe through her heart until a wave of blue energy pushed Nekron back.

"Spike!" Sweetie yelled as she flew up beside him.

"Got it." The two went back to back and fired their combined strength into Nekron, who falter a bit under the twin power but knocked both Lanterns away with a swing of his scythe.

"We will not be able to defeat him unless we have a Star Sapphire with us as well," Ganthet said as he used his power to aid Luna against Nekron. "Only when all the emotions are here will we have enough power to destroy the Black Lantern core. If we do not, Nekron will not truly vanish!"

"Star Sapphires...love..." Spike muttered as he looked over towards the giant Black Lantern in the center of the town, narrowing his eyes at it. "I think I know somepony that might be able to fit the bill." Before he could continue, John Stewart was throw into the ground at the feet of Ganthet and he struggled to get to his feet as Nekron floated down.

"Your Lantern's will not protect you now," he growled as he pointed the scythe at him. "The world will return to the darkness from whence it came."

"We will cover you, Lantern Spike," Ganthet said as he fired his energy at Nekron, who deflected it with his scythe and charged the Lanterns there.

"Speak for yourself, short stuff, I want no part of this guy," Sombra said as he went to fly off, but then a thin smile crossed his face before he turned around to blast Nekron. "Actually, I could use this for some good leverage over the princesses if we get through this." An orange hand grabbed him and threw him back as Larfleeze charged at Nekron.

"I don't know what they will give you, but whatever it is I want it!" he roared until he was slammed into the ground by the blunt end of Nekron's scythe.

"None of you are a match for me," Nekron said before he rushed the Lantern's and the Guardian. Spike on the other hoof, was flying towards the Black Lantern battery as fast as he could, fighting off any Lantern that got close to him while navigating through them as best he could.

'Gotta get to Chrysalis,' Spike thought to himself as he blasted off a Black Lantern that had managed to grab hold of his leg. He came to a stop in front of the battery and had to catch himself as the waves of the coldness of death rolled over him, causing him to break out in a cold sweat before he shook his head and glared at the Battery. "Chrysalis! I know that you're in there and you have to break free of whatever hold the Black Lanterns have on you!" when he got no answer, Spike flew up to the center of the Battery and looked inside, just barely able to make out the outline of the queen changeling.

"Chrysalis! We are facing the end of the world!" Spike yelled into the battery before a massive explosion went off in the sky and he turned to see the Interceptor mark four descend from the sky and fly right into Nekron, exploding on him but he regenerated any of the damage done. Spike then saw a green sphere float down from the black clouds, carrying Lantern Jordan in it, but also carrying what looked like some sort of creature made of plants. Spike wondered why they had brought that when he saw a white symbol on its chest. "A White Lantern," he whispered to himself.

The swamp looking creature let out a roar and charged at Nekron, who roared as well as he charged towards the swamp being. The two collided with such force that the only colors Spike was able to see for a moment was black and white. The White Lantern brought his fist back and slammed it into Nekron, blasting him apart with ease. But just as Spike thought that they had won, another one of the dead picked up Nekron's scythe and changed into Nekron as well. Nerkon then swung the scythe into the White Lantern, who howled with pain just as Spike and all the other Lantern's did as well.

"Great, so if black is death, then white is life," Spike groaned as the pain faded, figuring that if the White Lantern died then they all would. Then he also remembered what Ganthet had told him, that as long as the Black Lantern Battery remained Nekron could not truly die. "Dammit Chrysalis, we even have the being that represents life itself fighting alongside of us, but as long as you remain in that battery life will lose! Then all of your changelings will die! Including your daughter!" Spike wasn't sure if it was real or not, but for a moment he felt like Chrysalis was listening to him.

"I know that you are saddened over the loss of your son and I can't blame you, but if you don't break free then all of those changelings he died for and the ones you care about are going to die as well." Then Spike felt the pain again and he nearly collapsed to the ground, narrowing his eyes as he saw the swamp looking creature get thrown across the ground. "But I know that I will not submit to death! Not now, not even at the end of the world. And if I know you, you love your subjects too much to let them die!" Spike flew off as he said this to fight against Nekron, leaving Chrysalis alone inside of the Lantern with conflicting thoughts.

'My daughter is in danger, I need to go fight,' she thought one moment, but it was dashed by another thought. 'But I already lost my son, my pride and joy, so how can I possibly find the strength to fight? I'd rather be dead, rather the black rings take me and give him back. I would give my life to have him back.' The despair began to wrap around her, drawing her further into the blackness until a sound echoed across her mind. It was the sound of the changelings...her changelings laughing, the laughter and happiness that had made her job worth it. 'No I would not just trade my life for his, I would trade my life for all of them. My daughter, the colony; they are all too precious to me to lose again! I love them all too much!' And then, within the emptiness of the battery where the darkness of pain and suffering surrounded her, did Chrysalis finally see the light.

'Chrysalis of Equestria. You have a great love in your heart.'

And then she was free.

Spike roared in pain as Nekron slammed the butt of his scythe into the young dragon’s chest, sending him rocketing skyward. He would have passed out from the impact if Sweetie hadn't caught him and begun to heal his wounds with her ring. Spike was also aware that her ring was running on fumes and he could feel it as they wobbled in the air.

"You should leave," he said to her as she set them down, watching as Nekron tried to rip the heart out of Sombra. "You might have enough power left to escape."

"There is no escaping now Spike," Sweetie said as Larfleeze and Ganthet freed Sombra, only to be swatted away by Nekron. "We fight here and we will win here. All will be well."

"Still believing in that saying, huh?" Spike asked with a smile as he got back up to his feet, feeling the light of the blue ring power him up.

"Always," Sweetie said as she and Spike flew towards Nekron, blasting him in the back with their combined rings. Larfleeze, Sombra, Luna, John. Hal and Owlicious joined in as well, but even with their combined light added with Ganthet's power Nekron still refused to go down. The Swamp Thing also fired a beam of white light at him, but a large number of Black Lantern's took the white beam for their leader, vanishing into white dust as the beam struck them.

"Do you really think that any of you can defeat death?!" Nekron roared at them as he swung his scythe in a large arc, knocking over all of the combatants and causing them to scream in pain as he stabbed the Swamp thing in its chest. "You will all die here! Your light and all of your lives will die here!" The Nekrons arm shot out and grabbed onto Spike, holding him in front of Nekron with his blade at the dragon’s throat. "Are you prepared to die, little dragon?"

"No! No more death! Only my love!" a voice behind Nekron said, blasting him in the back with her power. He turned to see a Star Sapphire floating behind him, her violet power raining down upon his before he could react. Spike managed to break free of his grasp and turned to where the Lantern had been standing, smiling to himself to see that she had destroyed it when she had broken free.

"Don't you understand yet? Death cannot be beaten!" Nekron roared as he tried to kill her, but the Lanterns all began to combine their powers and push him back while Ganthet helped the Swamp Thing back to his feet. "Death will triumph over-!" Nekron was cut off as a blast from the Swamp Thing took off his right arm, causing his scythe to fall to the ground.

"Wrong creature! Death shall not overcome, for LOVE CONQUERS ALL!" Chrysalis roared as she unleashed all of her power into Nekron's back. "And I shall be the love that my people need, I will live for them!"

"I will get you off of my planet!" Spike roared as he added his own green beam to the mix.

"And I hope you never come back!" Sweetie yelled as she added her powers to the fray, Nekron beginning to fall from the multiple beams.

"I just want to live!" Sombra said as he added his power, Owlicious hooting as he added his indigo power to the mix as well. Larfleeze and Luna added their powers in as well. Ganthet watched the sight of Nekron beginning to fall with a smile as he looked up to the Swamp Thing, who looked upon the battle with white eyes.

"So much will to live," The Swamp Thing said as he opened his mouth. "They are worthy!" As he said this, a large number of white rings began to fly from his mouth, seeking out each of the ring bearers and slipping onto them in place of their usual rings.

'Connection overridden.'

"No, I am death! I cannot be beaten!" he roared, only for all of the White Lanterns to fire at him all at once, causing the villain to roar as he tried to fight back against the power.

"I am death! I can never die!" Nekron roared even as the light continued to beat back at him. "One day you will submit to me!"

"Maybe one day Nekron, but not today," Spike said with a smirk before the power of the light began to flow through him, causing the little dragon to grow larger and larger until he towered over Nekron, as the Divine Dragon. 'But until that day comes, I will live out each of my days protecting all life and everypony. I will be the light that they need!' Then the Divine Dragon inhaled, all of the White Lantern's pouring their power into him before he unleashed a torrent of white fire upon Nekron, who nearly burned away from the power.

'What's the matter Nekron, afraid to live a little?' the Divine Dragon asked with a smile before he and the others let out one final push, obliterating the undead nightmare. As Nekron was blasted apart, more and more of the white rings began to fly out of the Swamp Thing and fly through all of the Black Lanterns that were standing around the battlefield, before thousands more shot off to every corner of Equestria. Spike and the other fighters all fell to the ground exhausted, only able to watch as the rings began to seek out their hosts.

'"Did we do it Spike?" Sweetie weakly asked as her blue ring ran out of power, turning her back to normal as she rested against Spike's shoulder to keep from falling over. The other fighters rested on the ground as well, although Spike noticed that Sombra had already taken off when he had seen how things were going while Larfleeze tried to grab the white ring. One of the white rings flew over to Twilight, who looked at it for a moment before the darkness was blasted off of her.

"Yeah, I think we did," he said with an exhausted smile.

'Twilight of Equestria. Applejack of Equestria. Rarity of Equestria. Fluttershy of Equestria. Rainbow Dash of Equestria. Pinkie of Equestria. Celestia of Equestria. Applebloom of Equestria. Scootaloo of Equestria. Zecora of Equestria. Mayor Mare of Equestria. Prince Ragna of Equestria. All those who have fallen to the Blackest Night.'

'Live.'

Author's Note

All of the white lantern abilities came from the Blackest Night series.

Green Lantern's Light

"That was certainly one of the weirdest days that we've had here," Spike muttered to himself as he lifted a support beam with his ring and put it in place, the construction pony waving to him as he began to weld it in place which gave Spike the perfect moment to leave. A week had passed since the Black Lantern rampage and once again Ponyville was cleaning up the mess after another attack. But this time there were multiple Lanterns flying through the sky to help clean up the city, most of them green but a blue and indigo did help from time to time. Fortunately, most of the ponies only vaguely remembered what happened, making Luna happy since the psychological recover was under her authority.

Then there was the matter of all the ponies that had come back from the dead, those killed in the Blackest Night and those that had died long ago. Luna and Celestia had spent a few days catching up with their parents again, who were overseeing reconstruction in other cities and towns. Applejack had a tearful family reunion with her parents while Gilda had left the town as soon as she had been brought up to speed. And finally Twilight had wished to speak with Star-Swirl the Bearded, but the mystical unicorn had vanished just after the Night had ended. A lot of ponies were confused, especially those that had come back from being dead a long time, but Spike put that under things he could deal with later. "I'm just glad that everything's back to normal," Spike said to Twilight as he landed next to her at the library.

"Me too. I'm getting really tired of all these freaks from space trying to destroy my home," Twilight said with an angry sigh before she spotted Ganthet floating by and waved him over. "Thanks for agreeing to stay behind and help us, especially considering how busy you can be. Still not going to teach me how you and the other Guardians made such advance pieces of technology?"

"Maybe when you've lived a much longer time, then I might divulge some of my secrets," Ganthet teased as he looked over the town with a sad smile. "It pains me to see so much destruction, but it brings me slight comfort to know that the Black Lanterns are gone...for now anyway. You did well Lantern Spike, not just with the Black Lantern's, but also for having to learn so much about the corps in such a short time."

"Hey, I'm a fast learner," Spike said with a smile. "Just ask Twilight. After the first time she made me rearrange the books I found any way to escape it. I'm a natural."

"I don't know why you keep saying that rearranging the books is a bad thing," Twilight said with an exasperated sigh, Spike beginning to go into detail about how a little dragon like him should not be expected to work so much while Twilight countered with that he had saved the world, so books should be nothing to him. And all the while Ganthet watched with a smile, glad to see that this world was at peace. Spike and Twilight stopped arguing when they saw the other Green Lanterns land beside them, who walked over to Ganthet while greeting Spike.

"The buildings are done for the most part and the princesses have managed to convince the crowds that the threat is gone, so there's not really anything else for us to do here," Hal said as he spoke into his ring, the Interceptor mark five flying over to them and landing in front of Twilight's library. "But we've gotten a call from the other Guardians and they said that Sinestro's up to something near where Mogo is stationed, so we should probably be heading out."

"Yes Lantern Jordan, I agree," Ganthet said as he nodded to Spike, but before he could leave Sweetie Belle flew over and landed besides the group.

"Hey everypony, just called to say that all of the buildings in the northern section of town have been repaired for the most part and..." Sweetie stopped talking when she saw Ganthet and the others standing next to the Interceptor, causing her to sigh. "Aw, you have to leave already? But I wanted to learn so much more about the Blue Lantern Corps! Like who else is on the team or what our central battery looks like."

"And you will in time little one, but for now your home needs you," Ganthet said as he looked down at her with a smile. "But I am simply glad to see that even with war and death raging throughout the galaxy, there is still hope in the most unlikely of places. Be strong, young Belle and Lantern Spike, maybe one day we'll meet on Oa or the Blue Lantern world. Until then, take care." Ganthet and the others went to leave, but Spike tapped John on the shoulder to stop him.

"Ganthet said that there was war raging across the galaxy and I was wondering if you guys wanted me to help out?" Spike asked John, who looked at the little dragon for a moment before a smile crossed his face.

"Not today Spike, but maybe one day we'll fight alongside each other once again," John said with a smile, noting how upset Spike looked by the rejection. "Look, once you've gone to Oa and trained with Kilowog or one of the other Lantern's, then you'll be ready for space combat. I'm not taking anything away from what you did here, but out there are things that you couldn't even fathom. You need to be ready for anything." Spike placed his hand under his chin as he thought about it for a moment before he looked up at John with a smile.

"Alright, but when I go to Oa, I want you to train me," Spike said with a grin. "Because you're still the only Lantern I've fought that I didn't beat. I want a rematch."

"Alright kid, I'll give you your rematch," John said with a good natured smile as he turned to head back to the Interceptor. "But don't expect me to go easy on you just because you’re new at this. That's not how the Lantern's train."

"And I wouldn't want you to hold back, it's no fun that way," Spike retorted with a smile as John floated into the ship, him and the others waving goodbye to the Lantern's as the ship rose into the air and headed out to space, vanishing from their sight in a matter of seconds.

"I'm kinda sad they're gone," Sweetie said with a sad sigh as she looked at the spot where the ship had vanished. "I was hoping to learn more about what it was like flying through the stars or how big all of space was." Spike smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her, smiling up at where the others had gone.

"Don't worry about it, the day will come when we go out there and help fight the forces of evil," he said with a small smile. "We just need to hope and have the will to act when the time comes."

IOI

The following days were also filled with many interesting events and moments that made Spike regretting that he had said aloud that everything was back to normal. A number of unplanned thunderclouds rolled in and began to destroy everything with lightning, Spike finding out that it was caused by a returning Discord who had been away on trip for a month. That ended well. Another event was that Sweetie Belle and Spike were needed to help get Luna's red ring off of her.

"I'm just tired of being this angry all the time," she muttered as Spike took the red ring off of her horn in the Canterlot castle, Sweetie's ring keeping the red one from killing Luna as they removed it. "And the last time I got this angry I tried to destroy my sister and cast all of Equestria into a never ending night. I think it's for the best that I no longer wear this."

"Well, in case we ever need it again, I'm keeping it in our vault," Celestia said as she placed the red ring within the box that she had kept the red and orange ring before, giving it to one of her guards to move to the vault. "But I am glad to see that my little sister is no longer forced to wear one of those rings. As strong as they are, I don't think that I would like one. But I am glad to know that we can call upon their power whenever we need to," Celestia said as she looked to Sweetie and Spike. Then she looked up to see Chrysalis, still in her violet outfit, float into the throne room with her daughter and son behind her. The guards went to engage her, but Celestia stopped them with a shake of her head.

"Hello Chrysalis, it has certainly been a while," Celestia said to her as the queen walked right up to the group, looking down at Spike and Sweetie with cold, but not unkind, eyes. "Can I help you or are you trying to invade my empire again? Because if it's the latter, can this please wait till next week once we've had some time to relax. It's getting a little crazy."

"No, I am not here to invade, just to tell you of my plans now that I wield one of these rings," Chrysalis said as she looked behind her to her two children. "I have decided that I will no longer need to invade yours or any other country to gather the love I need. My scientist, after much experimentation, have found a way to convert the love of my ring into a food for my people. And with a reliable food source, I will no longer need to come here and see your ugly mug whenever I get hungry."

"I am glad that your people will no longer starve and I am even happier that you no longer need to see us as enemies," Celestia said as she extended a hoof to Chrysalis, but the changeling queen looked right by it and down to Spike, who looked up towards her with a curious face.

"And as for you Emerald Dragon...I suppose I owe you my thanks," Chrysalis said, sounding like it physically hurt her to say those words. "For if had not been for you, I would have lost more than my son that day I allowed the Black Lanterns to corrupt me and feed on my weakness, but you have my word as a ruler that it will never happen again. And I also promise that if you ever need my help, I will fight alongside you."

"Thanks Chrysalis, that means a lot," Spike said with a smile. Chrysalis bowed to him before she turned to leave, her son doing the same thing as he left with his mother. But Insectum ran over to Spike and gave him a quick peck on the check before running over to her mother, winking at Spike as he placed a hand on his check in confusion while Sweetie's jaw hit the floor.

"And that is another problem dealt with and I am glad that it did not come down to a fight like last time," Celestia said with a smile before she looked towards one of the pillars with narrowed eyes. "As for you Sombra, you can come out now." The shadow by the pillar moved and Sombra appeared out of the darkness, looking at the princesses with worried eyes.

"Now now Celestia, no need to be so hostile, I did help save all of Equestria after all," he said with a smile, but the faces of the princess or the Lantern's showed no such mirth. "Besides, with all the times I've been blasted into oblivion, do you really need to attack me again?"

"One more time couldn't hurt," Luna growled, but Celestia held out a hoof to stop her.

"What do you want Sombra?"

"Oh nothing much, maybe a reward for helping you?" he asked with a smile. Celestia waved over the two Lantern's and they whispered about what they wanted to do with him in secret, the unicorn beginning to sweat as he waited their answer.

"Alright Sombra, we've all thought about it and..." Spike said for the princesses, Sombra's eyes widening as he waited nervously. "We've decided to give you a reward." Sombra let a huge grin cross his face as Spike said this, but it vanished when Spike gave him one of the evilest grins he had ever seen. "We're going to give you a ten second head start." Sombra looked from him to the princesses who had the same smile as Spike before he turned and flew out of the castle, all laughing at him as he flew off.

"Well, should we go after him?" Sweetie asked when the ten seconds were up.

"Let's," Spike said as he took to the skies, Sweetie following him as the followed the yellow trail.

IOI

Deep within the Everfree forest, an owl was helping a certain zebra pack up her belongings onto the back of a large cart, sadness in the owl’s eyes as he loaded the last of the weird items onto the cart. Zecora placed the cauldron on the back before she walked over to the front and harnessed herself to the cart, smiling at Owlicious.

"Thank you for helping me load the cart, but I am afraid that now I must depart," Zecora said with a smile to Owlicious as she began to pull the cart away, but the owl landed on her back and folded up his wings. "No my friend, you cannot come with along. This is a road I have avoided for too long. Your place is here with your friends, but for me a new journey must begin."

"Hoo," Owlicious said sadly as he floated off of her back and landed in front of her, taking the ring off of his leg with his beak and offering it to her with another hoot.

"No Owlicious, the ring has chosen you to be its might, so with the power of compassion you must fight," she said with a sad smile as she gently patted his head. "I was a fool when I received the ring and even now I can still feel its sting. It is the reason I must return home. I have many sins that I need to atone. But maybe one day we will meet again, but I will say farewell until then." Zecora nodded to Owlicious before she began to pull the cart away down the road that lead to the zebra homeland. She gave him one last wave before she vanished out of sight into the forest.

"Hoo," Owlicious said sadly as he took the ring back and flew off towards the library, knowing that Twilight probably needed help with something. He opened the door when he reached the library and was greeted with a smile by Twilight as she let him sit on her desk next to her as she looked over her list.

"Hey Owlicious, not doing too much, just seeing which buildings in Ponyville need to be repaired," she said as she showed him a list and a map of Ponyville. "The Northern part of town is doing well and the southern part is fine, but it's around the center of town that suffered the most damage. Any ideas on what to do there?"

"Hoo," Owlicious said, Twilight looking back down at the map before her head shot up and she looked at Owlicious with narrowed eyes.

"Wait a moment, I thought those rings were able to translate any language," she said as she looked at the ring. "So why do you keep saying what you always say?"

"Hoo Hoo," Owlicious said in a teasing tone before he flew over to his perch, letting out a small yawn as he looked out the window at the sun overhead before he got comfortable and closed his eyes, getting the rest he needed. Twilight narrowed her eyes again, but decided to let it go as she moved the plans to repair the city to the side and pulled out a plan for Spike's party for saving Equestria.

"I know that he doesn't need it, but I want to show him how appreciated," Twilight said with a smile as she began to write invites for all the equestrian Lanterns (minus Sombra) who had helped to save Equestria from the Black Lanterns. "And he deserves a party, since he is the hero of Equestria after all." Twilight hummed to herself as she continued making preparations for the party, Owlicious sleeping soundly on his perch.

IOI

"Really Twilight? I didn't need this party," Spike said later that day once Twilight had taken the blindfold off of Spike's eyes and shown him the party that she and the others had planned for him. The party was inside of Applejack's barn, but only the ponies that knew his identity were told to come. The princesses and all of the mane six were there, as well as the CMC and Owlicious. "Besides, it wasn't just me that helped save the say, it was also the other Green Lanterns and Sweetie and-"

"Come on Spike, you've been working like me for the past week and that can't be healthy," Twilight said as she pushed him forward into the party, Spike deciding to stop resisting halfway there and allowed her to push him into the barn. "And besides, the party is for them as well. Some of them just can't be here right now, so you'll have to celebrate twice as hard for them."

"Twilight really, I don't need...is that a giant, emerald cake?" Spike as his eyes rested upon the massive, green cake that sat in the center of the room with a whole bunch of other snacks sitting beside it.

"Yup. And it's all for you," Twilight whispered in his ear, placing a hoof up to her mouth to hide her smile as he ran past everything else and threw himself into the cake, eating it from the inside out.

"I have to admit, that is an interesting way to eat a cake," Fluttershy said softly to Twilight as the mane six walked over to her.

"I'm thinking along the lines of barbaric," Rarity said as she pulled out an umbrella to protect her from the spray of the cake. "But I suppose that if any pony deserves it, it's him." Twilight nodded at this as the CMC dove into the food as well, all of them starting a food fight as the princesses walked over to the group with smiles.

"Glad to see them enjoying themselves, it has been a rough couple of weeks," Celestia said with a sigh of calm that she had been holding in for a long time.

"Yes, that is why I hope Sombra stays away for a long time," Luna muttered to herself, the ponies gasping as she said this aloud and Celestia gave her a look. "My bad. But yes, he managed to escape once again. I swear he enjoys taunting us more than he does trying to destroy us."

"He'll show up again," Twilight said with certainty as she looked at Spike with pride before she laughed aloud as he took a bowl of chips to the face. 'But just as I know that Sombra will be back, I know that you will be there to protect us. You are our hero after all, Mr. Emerald Dragon.' The party was interrupted when Spike's ring began to flash, causing the group to stop fighting and allow for Spike to answer his ring, Sweetie looking over his shoulder as a small blue Guardian appeared over the ring.

'Hello, this is Lantern Spike of frontier space I believe,' the Guardian asked.

"Yes this is, may I ask who's calling?" Spike said.

'I am Appa Ali Apsa, one of the Guardians of Oa,' the blue man said. 'And I have contacted you to ask that you come to Oa at once. We have need of you. The Interceptor mark five is in the space above you. Hurry.' Spike looked from him to Twilight, giving her the nod that meant it was time for work. She nodded in reply and moved to the side to allow him to run out of the barn, the green suit forming around him as he kicked off the ground and flew up towards space, Sweetie following him as he headed off.

"Don't worry Appa, the Emerald Dragon is on his way," Spike said to the ring before he shot off into the unknown, ready for whatever tried to fight his light.

Author's Note

And that ends this tale and hopefully you don't hate me too much for this one, but enough about the Lantern's, because for the next story, we're going from one of the most powerful weapons of the galaxy to a guy with no power whatsoever. Hell, he's pretty much a regular guy. But when a hero is needed, you can't be too picky. Especially since there seems to be nothing he can't survive.

He Who Wields the Ring

IOI

Will. Fear. Hope. Rage. Love. Avarice. Compassion. Life. Death.

Each of these are the power source for some of the most powerful weapons known to any race across the galaxy, wielded by those who are sworn to their own oaths to fight for what they believe. Nine separate corps, nine seperate fuels for a war that has raged across the galaxy for as long as the Guardians of Oa can remember. For eons, the corps have fought with one another, be it for the simple task of wiping one of them out or for protecting those who need protecting. And that war was raging once again.

In the farthest reaches of space, in an area so far from any known advanced civilization that even the Green Lanterns barely knew of it, is where this war raged now. Flashes of colors lit up the darkness of space, the unheard yells of hundreds of combatants lost to the emptiness of space as they fought for their lives. Beams of green collided with bursts of red, while the brightest blues held back the darkest of yellows. The battle had been a surprise attack, this sector having been chosen for the strike because there was thought to be no intelligent life on any of the surrounding planets. But unbeknownst to the colliding warriors, a small planet that was the third planet away from that solar system's sun did indeed house intelligent life, although without the technological advances that they had come to expect when they thought of intelligent. So, those who would die that day were unaware of the creatures on the planet that they battled over, just as the locals on the planet had no idea of the war that raged above them.

Some of the combatants had fled, their fear for their lives overcoming their will to fight. Some had already been pushed to their limits, but their will forced them to fight on despite knowing that the battle was lost. A select few had given up hope and had accepted their fate with as much peace as they could summon in the situation. But those who cried for the blood of others, those who sought only the total annihilation of their enemies, were the ones to be completely eradicated. They had been outnumbered completely, yet their rage had forced them to stay and fight until their blood ran cold in the coldness of space. The ones who had lost their hope were the next to go, though they went more peacefully than those who died with hate in their hearts. All that was left was a warrior clothed in green and a terror dressed in yellow. The warrior in green was the only one left alive among his friends and comrades, the others already fallen during the battle. The one who wore yellow was not the only one left alive, he had just been the only one who had decided to stay and fight when his cowardly brethren had fled. The one in green looked down at his hand, his eyes staring at the small ring that wrapped aroung his finger. It was barely glowing with what should have been an amazing light, telling him what he aready knew. His time was up. The yellow clad fighter was thinking similar thoughts, but he knew that if he were to die, he would not die alone. He was afraid of going into the next life by himself, but he would not go alone. The two looked from their nearly empty rings towards each other, eyes narrowing as they looked at what they knew would be their final opponent. So then, amongst all of the bodies of fallen foes and allies that would float in the coldness of space for eternity, they attacked.

The Green Lantern used all of his will to conjure a massive sky ship into space, a ship that was common on his home planet. He thrusted his ring hand forward and sent the massive ship sailing towards his foe. The Yellow Lantern smiled at his feeble attempt as he too fueled the ring with his fear, creating a monsterous sea beast that was covered in blades all along its back. He sent his yellow construct into the green ship with a flick of his finger, smiling to himself as his beast cut through the green ship. The Lantern threw himself out of the way of the incoming beast and conjured up a massive harpoon in response, taking aim and firing into the sea beast's side. He let out an unheard cheer as the beast shattered into a yellow light show, before turning back to the Yellow Lantern. The Yellow Lantern created a wicked looking sword that extended from his hand that swung in an arc that would have cut through the green suit, if the Lantern had not thrown up a shield with the Green Lantern Corps symbol in the center to intercept the attack.

The two pressed their faces close to one another, so they could each look into the eyes of their foe before they died. One saw the unbreakable will of a warrior who would stop at nothing to make sure that the Yellow Lantern would not leave the battle alive, while the other one saw the fear of dying alone, a fear that he had forsaken years ago. The two of them separated and each brought out something new with which to fight. Green Lantern constructed a multi-barrel turret that fired hundreds of blazing green bullets when he pulled the trigger, all of which homed in on the Yellow Lantern and the drill with which he had surrounded himself. The yellow drill pushed through the constant gunfire and tore right through the chaingun construct, allowing the Yellow Lantern inside to reach out with his other hand and grab the Green Lantern by the throat. He brought his hands to his throat to try and pry his foe's hand off, while the Yellow Lantern focused his fear into metalic spider legs that dug into the sides of the Green Lantern. The Lantern cried out in silent pain as the legs tore into his sides, blood beginning to seep through the suit. The Green Lantern focused what little will he had left into a spear that shot from his ring and stabbed the Yellow Lantern through the gut, forcing him to release his grip as he floated back in agony. Green used his ring to try and mend his wounds as Yellow ripped the spear out of his side, throwing it away as he looked back to his foe.

With a roar that no one could hear, the Yellow Lantern charged towards his foe as his ring constructed a massive blade for him to aim straight for the Green Lantern's heart. The Green Lantern held out his ring, which barely had any life left in it, and aimed it at the Yellow Lantern's heart as well, knowing that he only had a shot left. The Green Lantern fired his shot just as the Yellow Lantern drove his blade through the Lantern's chest, the green bolt piercing the protective shield and tearing through his heart. Neither of them moved as the power in their rings finally gave out, as both of them had died at the moment of impact. And with their wielders having both fallen, the rings slipped off their fingers and headed towards the closest civilization where they could find new wielders, which was a small planet with a land known as Equestria. The green and yellow ring were followed by blue and red as well, each of which descended through the atmosphere to the planet below.

lOl

Far below where the battle had taken place, the sun was beginning to set on a land that was believed by some to be a myth, whereas others saw it as a paradise. The inhabitants of the land were more versed in the ways of magic than the workings of technology, but still managed to build massive cities and create a society that had little need for weapons. This land was ruled by two princesses who controlled the sun and moon respectivly, but were both fair and loving rulers who governed with compassion. But if the time came, they would use their powers that could rival the gods to defend their homes and ponies. But they were not the only defenders.

The greatest champions of the ponies were those called the Elements of Harmony, those who could access the power of the six great Elements to complete the power of Harmony. Harmony was the greatest magic in the land, and when it was unleashed it had the power to defeat any foe, no matter how strong. The wielders were strongest when together, but they were a force to be reckoned with even when they were by themselves. But as strong as all of them were, the one called Twilight Sparkle was the strongest of them all. Her combination of magical knowhow and her brilliant mind were what enabled her to overcome so many of the obstacles that had been placed before her. She was a princess as well, but unlike the other two that resided in the majestic city of Canterlot, she lived in a place called Ponyville that was located beneath Canterlot. While she did not rule over the town, all of the citizens showed her the same respect that they would if she were their ruler. Well...all of them except...

"For the last time Twilight, the book store said that they were out of advanced magical practices for dummy," Spike said with a grunt as he hefted a number of bags that they had gathered from a day of shopping over his head, doing his best not to tip over as he staggered in the street under the weight. After a day of complaining that Twilight and he never spent time together, Twilight had decided to take him shopping with her. "You know, this is not what I meant when I wanted to do something together. I was thinking along the lines of bowling or maybe seeing a movie. NOT shopping for more books that I'll have to label and organize later."

"This is fun, Spike. You can have a lot of fun with books if you actually read them, instead of stacking them to get the ruby brownies that I keep on the top shelves," Twilight said with a laugh as she walked through the market place, looking over at all the book vendors with joy in her eyes. "You just hate sitting still long enough to get into a story."

"No, I can't get into a book because you have me doing an odd job every few minutes," Spike responded as he tried to keep a bag full of books from falling by staggering into a wall. The other shoppers laughed at his performance, but offered to help him once he was done staggering around. Twilight smiled and lifted a few of the bags herself, allowing Spike to sigh in relief, since he could now actually carry the bags in a straight line. "So, where are we heading to now? Hopefully it isn't someplace that carries bricks, or else I'm a goner."

"Don't worry, we're going to a place that I'm sure you'll like," Twilight said with a wink, but when Spike asked where she only smiled at him in response and ran ahead, leaving the baby dragon to chase after her. At first, he could barely see where they were heading since there were all the bags obstructing his field of vision, but when Twilight came to a stop and levitated the bags so that he could see, his face lit up as he smiled. She had taken him to Carousel Boutique, home to Rarity. In Spike's words, she was an 'angel that had fallen from heaven just so the world could know what true beauty looked like.' It had taken a few weeks before Twilight stopped quoting that every time they saw Rarity. Spike dropped the bags (much to Twilight's dismay) and ran to the door, throwing it open and running inside.

"Hey Rarity, what's going..." Spike's stopped talking when he noticed that all of her shop was completely messed up, clothes lying in piles all over and fabrics torn apart in the trash bin. Spike quickly ran through the shop looking for Rarity while Twilight walked inside with a sigh, muttering to herself how fast Rarity could get this place messy. Spike desperately searched for her, looking in closets, under beds and even in the bathroom. Twilight, however, was the one to find Rarity, who had passed out on her fancy couch that she had in case she needed to faint dramatically.

"Rarity, what's the matter this time?" Twilight asked with an eye roll as she place her shopping bags on the floor and shook Rarity's shoulder to wake her up.

"Twilight, that is no way to wake somepony like Rarity," Spike said as he pushed past Twilight and looked over Rarity with worry, holding his breath in anticipation. Her eyes fluttered twice before they opened; the sight of her awake gave Spike a reason to breath again. She gently sat up and looked around with a bit of confusion, looking at Twilight and Spike with raised eyebrows.

"Why are both of you in my house so early in the morning?" she asked them as she got to her hooves, politely declining a helpful claw from Spike. "I told you yesterday, Twilight, to come to my place around six or later. That's when your dress will be ready."

"Wait, what dress?" Spike asked Twilight. "The dress for what?"

"Um, Rarity? It is six. It's actually ten past six right now," Twilight said as she pointed a hoof towards the clock Rarity had up on her wall. Rarity's face turned even whiter when she realized what that meant, before sprinting past Twilight and Spike, as she dove into a plie of fabrics and started to look through them with a speed that no pony could match.

"Of all the things that could happen, this is the WORST...POSSIBLE...THING!" Rarity yelled as she tore Twilight's dress out of a pile of clothes and rushed to her sowing table, desperately trying to get the fabrics to merge with the dress. As she freaked out, Twilight walked over to her side to try and calm her.

"Rarity, it's alright if you don't have it done," Twilight said with a smile. Rarity stopped sewing and spun around on her chair to glare at Twilight over the rim of her work glasses.

"Twilight, darling, I know that you are trying to make me feel better, but I promised that I would have your dress done by tomorrow and I shan't break that promise. I have already finished the others' dresses; I will not let you down." Before Twilight could say anything in response, Rarity spun back around on her seat and continued to work on the dress. Spike and Twilight looked at each other with a shrug right before the door to the shop got kicked open.

"AARRRGGHH! I hate that stupid Diamond Tiara!" Sweetie Belle screamed while the other three jumped in surprise. She stomped over to the kitchen and threw her saddle bag for school down with a growl and began to lay siege to the fridge. Rarity got out of her chair with a sigh and walked into the kitchen after her sister, who was attempting to make herself dinner. By attempt, she had set fire to a salad.

"Sweetie Belle, what's the matter?" Rarity asked her sister as Twilight extinguished the salad and anything else that had been set ablaze by Sweetie's rampage. She sat down and slammed her hooves on the table, burying her face in them.

"Diamond Tiara made fun of us again, saying that even after a year we still don't have our cutie marks," she said in a muffled tone, her hooves hiding her tears. "And it gets worse and worse everyday. Sometimes, I just don't want to go to school." Rarity sat down next to her sister and gently wrapped her hoof around her shoulder, holding her close as Sweetie's sobs caused her body to shake.

"Twilight, I will have your dress for you in the morning, but can you please leave for now?" Rarity asked them gently as she ran her hoof through her sister's mane. "I need to talk to Sweetie alone."

"Of course, Rarity. Come along, Spike," Twilight said to her assistant as she picked up her bags and headed for the door, half dragging Spike to the door. Spike looked back at the two for a moment before heading out with Twilight. The sun had almost vanished over the horizon as the day neared its end, but it still gave the ponies one last gift as it cast a golden light upon all of Ponyville. Twilight looked towards the sunset with a smile and a sigh, happy. Spike, on the other hand, was kicking rocks on the ground with a frown on his face, thinking about what he saw and heard back in the boutique. Twilight looked back at him as they walked and noticed that he was upset.

"Spike, what's the matter?" she asked him when he kicked a can through the air. He sighed and looked off towards the sunset.

"I don't know, Twilight. I'm just thinking about what we heard back there," he told her. She nodded, staying silent in case he would continue. "How can some ponies be so cruel? Diamond Tiara, Chrysalis, Sombra? Why do they get so much pleasure out of hurting others?" Twilight came to a stop, thinking about her answer carefully.

"Some ponies just like to watch others suffer," Twilight said with a shrug. "Some ponies are just bad."

"I'd like to give them a piece of my mind," Spike said with a frown, crossing his arms as he began to think. Twilight smiled at her assistant and pulled him in close with her wing, causing him to try and push her off before any pony saw. After a minute of walking they reached the Golden Oaks library, the place they both called home. Twilight opened the door for both of them and flicked on the lights, casting a warm glow on the books that she loved so. The library was, as most libraries are, stacked from the floor to the ceiling with books. Twilight placed her bags down on the center table and spun around once, happy to be home. In constrast, Spike looked around at all the books that were lying on the floor and knew what Twilight was going to ask him to do next. So with a downcast sigh, he walked over to the first book and bent down to pick it up.

"Aw, I didn't even have to ask you this time," Twilight said with a smile. Spike muttered under his breath about how much he should be getting paid for this. Twilight looked out the window at the sky as the moon began her arc to the peak. Closing the blinds, she started to prepare for bed. Spike had just finished cleaning up while Twilight turned off the lights and headed up the stairs.

"Hey Twilight?" Spike called out, stopping her at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah Spike, what's up?" she asked him.

"You went to Rarity's to pick up a dress that you had dropped off when I was out. And it was the same dress that you wore when you went to the Gala. Are you going somewhere soon?" Spike asked her while twisting his tail in his claws nervously. Twilight looked at him for a minute before sighing and walked back down the stairs towards him.

"Well, you caught me," she said with a smile. "I was going to tell you tomorrow that I have royal meeting to attend in Canterlot tomorrow and that I'll be gone for a few days."

"But you just got back from a conference a few days ago! Why do you have to leave again so soon?" Spike asked in protest at the news of her having to leave again. "You're always leaving on all sorts of adventures, but I never get to go with you!" Twilight walked over and wrapped a hoof around him to pull him into a hug.

"I know, and I'm sorry about having to leave you alone so many times in the past few months," she said gently. "But it's my duty as a princess to attend these meetings and balls, but that doesn't mean I enjoy being away from you. It's just that this is my other job now, and I have to constantly be away so that Equestria remains peaceful. You understand, right?"

"I understand," Spike grumbled while pushing Twilight off of him and turning away with his arms crossed. "Doesn't mean that I have to like it."

"Well, thanks for understanding at least," Twilight said with half a smile. "Now come on, let's get to bed. I have a big day tomorrow and if I don't get my sleep..."

"An Ursa Major wouldn't want to mess with you," Spike finished for her with a small smile. Twilight smiled back and wrapped her hoof over his shoulder as the two went up the stairs. Spike went straight for his bed and passed out the moment he hit the sheets, whereas Twilight looked at him for a minute before she got into her bed.

"Spike, I'm really sorry, I truly am. But this is important. I hope you can forgive me," she whispered to him before sliding under the covers herself and resting her head on the pillow, thinking of how she would make it up to him when she got back. She fell asleep soon afterwards, just as all the lights in town went out as well, letting the pale light of the moon bathe the land in its comforting light. Except for the moon, no sign of light could be seen for miles--except for one small source. Nearly an hour after Twilight had gone to sleep, a small green light slipped through the downstairs window that she left open on days like today. The small source of light painted the room with a green glow, but was so small that none of the neighbors noticed the light. Its green light flickered and it fell a bit from where it had been hovering, but it managed to keep itself aloft as it began to scan the room. When it didn't detect any life in the main room, it floated weakly up the stairs to the bedroom, slipping under the crack at the bottom of the door to get inside. It floated back up to eye level and scanned the room again, this time detecting Twilight in her bed. After scanning her memories and her heart, the light came to a conclusion. She was the one. The light floated over to her and hovered just above her pillow, brightening its light just enough so that she would awaken. After a minute she groaned and rolled over in her bed, opening her eyes just enough so that she could see and looked up at the light.

"Stupid parasprite," she mumbled to herself as she swung her hoof at it, trying to drive it off. The light moved out of the way of each hit, causing Twilight to narrow her tired eyes. She then let her horn glow with power before hitting the light with a stunning spell that caused the green light to fall to her bed, where it bounced off and fell to the ground at the side of her bed. "I'll let you out in the morning," she muttered to herself as she rolled back over and went back to sleep. The light lay on the ground, its power so low that it couldn't move itself any more. The barely glowing light would have laid there 'til morning if Spike hadn't startled himself awake in the middle of the night. He yawned and looked around the room with tired eyes, eyes that widened a little when he saw the light on the floor. He hopped out of his bed and fell to his side, pulling himself back up and walking over to the light to get a closer look.

"Is that...a ring?" he asked himself as he knelt down to get a better look at the light. A small green ring was laying on the floor next to Twilight's bed, a ring like he had never seen before. Sure, he had seen rings, but this one was far more extraordinary than any of those. With its eerie green light and the strange symbol on the front, it looked almost...alien. "Wow! I don't think that I've ever seen a ring this cool looking before." Spike reached out for it and scooped it up into his claw, turning it over. He smiled and decided that even if he didn't know where it came from, he would keep it anyway. He always liked having something that nopony else had. But little did he know that as he stood back up and went back to bed, the ring was scanning him. He was not the wielder that it had originally chosen, nor was he one that it would have chosen. But the ring could feel the potential in this wielder's soul, and with the other wielder having rejected the ring, it decided that he would make a good back-up. So, as the tiny dragon crawled back under his covers and tucked his new prize under his pillow, he was unaware that the ring had begun to glow, signaling those who were so far away that a new wielder had been chosen.

A new Green Lantern.

) O (

Author's Note

If you have any questions about my choices in the story or want to know why I did what I did, feel free to ask in the comments. And I expect hate for this.

It All Belongs to Me

"Hi Twilight," Spike said weakly as he started to shrink from under the glare that she was giving him, half of him wanting to use his ring to fly as far away from her as possible. He had placed both hands behind his back so that she couldn't see his ring, but with the look Twilight was giving him he couldn't be sure that she hadn't already noticed. Twilight didn't say anything for a minute as she looked over him before using her magic to bring a newspaper to her and started to read the front cover.

"Seems like there's been a lot going on while I was gone, hasn't there?" she asked him in an emotionless tone as she scanned the front page, levitating a cup of tea that she had made. "Since I've been working so hard during my time at Canterlot, I haven't been able to read the paper in a while. Let's see, I think I’ll start with this article...Who is the Emerald Dragon? Sounds interesting." Spike had to will himself not to start confessing on the spot as Twilight started to read the front story, her eyebrows going up every once in a while as she read.

"Y-you're home early," Spike stammered nervously, hoping to take some of the attention off of the article she was reading. Twilight only nodded in response as she finished reading, folding up the paper nice and neat before placing it on the table.

"That was a very interesting read," she said in the same emotionless tone as her eyes seemed to pierce through Spike. "It says in the article that a dragon in a green suit showed up about two days ago during one of the worst blazes that Ponyville had ever seen. In fact, it said that two lives would have been lost if he hadn't interfered. Then the next paragraph reads how just yesterday he went around helping a number of ponies with their problems, ranging from saving a cat in a tree to stopping a dam burst. Funny thing about the dam, the pony they interviewed said that he gave the dragon a dark red ruby as a reward, a ruby that looks almost identical to the one I found in my closet upstairs." Spike couldn't say anything in response. He could only nod dumbly as Twilight continued to give him a stare.

"But you know what really interests me about this dragon character?" she asked him as she stood up out of the chair and slowly started to walk towards Spike, who backed himself into a corner of the room as best he could. Owlicious hooted sadly as he watched what was going on, but he knew better than to mess with Twilight when she got like this. "The dragon seems to be a baby dragon that has green scales on his head and is about the same height as you. Isn't that interesting?"

"Y-yeah, it's totally weird," Spike stammered as Twilight came to a stop in front of him, waiting to see what he'd do next. When he didn't fess up, she sighed and went to her last resort. "It also said that he had a green ring that he used to make incredible green objects that he used in his various good deeds. What do you think that the ring would look like?"

"I have no idea," Spike said quickly as he clenched his ring had behind his back, sweat running down his face as Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Then would you mind if I saw your hands?" She had him and Spike knew it. Either way, she would know about the ring. So he closed his eyes as he held out the hand with the green ring on it, causing a smile to spread across Twilight's face as her suspicions were confirmed. "So my little Spike is the Emerald Dragon, is he?" Spike didn't say anything in response. He simply waited to see what Twilight would do. "I'm disappointed in you Spike. Not because of what you did with that...ring, but for the fact that you didn't write me about it when you found it. It could have been extremely dangerous."

"But it isn't!" he said quickly, hoping to tell her his side of the story. "This ring is amazing! It can mimic the powers of a unicorn, but its way stronger. It-" Twilight held up a hoof to stop him, cutting of his words.

"Spike, from what I've read it is a very powerful weapon and I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me," she scolded, Spike hanging his head in shame at her words. "I want the ring Spike." Spike's head shot up as she said this and his hand clutched around the ring.

"But it's my ring!" he protested. "I found it and I've been using it responsibly!"

"This is not open for discussion," Twilight said sternly as she used her magic to pick Spike up, starting to slip the ring off his finger. Spike closed his eyes as she did so, channeling his will through the ring. Twilight let out a scream as a burst of light cut through her magic and shattered her hold on Spike, who levitated off the ground with a green coating covering him. "Spike, are you crazy? What are you doing?"

"The ring is mine Twilight," Spike said with a scowl, his eyes flashing orange as he pointed the ring at her. "And nopony takes anything from me. It belongs to me." Twilight tried to use her magic again to get the ring, but Spike threw up a barrier that stopped her magic before it could reach him. His response was to fire a blast of green energy at her hooves, forcing her to back away.

"Spike, what is the matter with you?" she yelled, trying to plead with him. But as she looked into his eyes, she saw something that she hadn't seen in a long time. She saw pure greed. "Spike, your dragon instincts are kicking up again. You need to get your emotions under control before you start taking everything!"

"And why shouldn't I start taking everything?" he asked her. "It all should belong to me!" As he roared this, an orange light shot down from upstairs. It flew through Spike's green barrier and slipped itself onto his finger. The green ring fell off his finger as the orange ring took hold, changing his suit and his energy from green to orange.

'Spike of Equestria. You want it all.'

"And I will have it all!" Spike said in response as he pointed the orange ring at the table and taking the ruby off of it, clutching the ruby close to his chest as he looked at Twilight with pure greed in his eyes. "It will all be mine Twilight. It all will!" With a laugh that sent chills down her spine, Spike pointed the orange ring skyward and shot out of the library, breaking a new hole in the ceiling as he did so. Twilight could only watch him go with fear in her eyes, having no idea what to do.

"Oh Spike...what's happened to you?" Twilight whispered as a tear streaked down her face as she looked up through the hole in the ceiling.

'He has given in to the power of the Orange Lanterns.' Twilight let out a yelp and looked down at the green ring on the floor, which was barely glowing.

"Did...you just talk?" she asked it as she lifted it up with her magic, floating it close to her face. "And what are the Orange Lanterns? What does that have to do with what happened to Spike?"

'The Orange Lanterns were a group of lanterns whose power came from greed, an emotion that they channeled in their quest to take everything in the universe. The rings would amplify their greed immensely and it was impossible to get them to remove the ring. Their leader, Larfleeze, is supposed to be the only Orange Lantern known to the Guardians. But it seems that an orange ring has escaped his grasp and has come here, summoned by the greed of the former Green Lantern. Spike has given into his greed and thus taken on the power of the orange ring.'

"Spike..." Twilight whispered as her fears for him began to grow. Dragons were naturally greedy creatures although Spike could normally stave off the cravings. But if this ring amplifies his greed, there was no way that he could hold off the cravings. "I have to help him. How do I stop him?"

'The only way to stop his greed is to get him to remove the ring willingly,' the ring said to her. 'But no Orange Lantern in the history of the universe has done so willingly. He will remain consumed by its greed until either he has taken everything...or he dies.'

"No...I won't allow him to take everything and I will not kill him," Twilight said with strength, picking up one of her bags that she had brought to Canterlot and pulling out her crown, the Element of Magic. She placed the crown on her head and placed the ring on her horn as she raced out the door. While she didn't know it, the only reason that the ring had spoken to her was because that she had been the original choice to be a Green Lantern. But due to the magic that she had hit the ring with, it was unable to work for her due to the spell she had cast was designed to keep whatever she cast it on away from her. Twilight threw open the door to her library and ran outside, seeing to her horror the destruction that Spike had already caused in the short time that he had been free. A number of homes had holes in their roofs, the pieces of the homes lying in the streets where they had been tossed aside. Twilight ran through the streets, catching bits and pieces of ponies talking about how they were robbed. And all of the stories mentioned an orange dragon that had stolen from them.

"Spike, what have you done?" Twilight asked as she saw a blast of orange energy shoot into the air off in the distance, following a rainbow trail that zipped and weaved across the sky to try to avoid the orange energy that was following it. "So Rainbow Dash has already found him? I wonder if the others are there as well." Twilight opened her wings and flew the rest of the way, realizing upon reaching where the battle was taking place that her assumption had been correct and her friends were already there fighting the orange dragon. Much to Twilight's horror, she found that Spike had already gathered up a large number of objects and items that belonged to other ponies and had them all wrapped up in an orange sphere that rested above him while he fired upon the five ponies that battled back.

"EVERYPONY!" Twilight cried out as she landed in front of her friends and the other Element, each of whom looked fairly beaten up and exhausted from the fight they had been having so far.

"There ya are Twilight," AJ panted as she struggled to stay on her hooves. "Ah was here selling mah apples when that dragon showed up and stole all of them from me with that weird orange power of his."

"Same for me. I was walking down the street when I saw a blast of orange energy go off and then AJ came flying past me, followed by that terrible dragon," Fluttershy said softly. "Who is he?"

"Who cares, we have to stop him before he takes everything in the town!" RD yelled as she threw herself at Spike, ignoring Twilight's cries for her to stop. But it was a useless attack as Spike caught her with his ring and threw her into a building next to the others.

"Hey, don't hurt my friend you meanie!" Pinkie yelled as she pulled out her party cannon and fired a cake towards the side of Spike. The cake splattered against the orange barrier that covered Spike and he slowly turned his head to look at her, his greedy eyes looking upon her party cannon with a smile.

"Mine," he whispered as an orange claw shot out and grabbed the party cannon, dragging it back to him as it too was absorbed into the orange sphere that he had kept all of the items that he had stolen. Pinkie yelled at him to give it back, but Spike pointed his ring at them and a massive cannon formed over his head, orange energy beginning to form as it prepared to fire. The ponies all backed up at the massive ball of orange energy came shooting at them before purple aura surrounded them and teleported them away from the explosion. Twilight and the others came out of the teleportation on a hillside away from the city to see a massive explosion of orange go off in the city.

"Twilight, what's going on?" Rarity asked her as Twilight looked upon the scene with teary eyes. "Who is that dragon and why does he have a similar ring to the Emerald Dragon?" Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but closed it when her conscious got in the way. She wanted to tell them that it was Spike, but that wasn't entirely true. Spike wasn't fully in control of his actions; the ring was fueling his normally controlled greed. If she told them that it was Spike, they might want to kick him out of Ponyville for attacking the city out of greed again. This was the rings fault, not his.

"He's an enemy of the Emerald Dragon and has taken control of his mind," Twilight said, speaking the truth for the most part. "That orange ring on his finger has taken control of him and unless we find a way to stop him, he's going to take everything in the world for his own."

"And how do ya know this?" Applejack asked, her Element of Honesty gave her the ability to tell when ponies were lying most of the time and she could tell that Twilight hadn't given her the whole truth. Before Twilight could answer, another explosion went off in the city followed by the sounds of ponies screaming.

"I'll tell you later AJ. Right now we need to stop him before he causes any more damage," Twilight said quickly, activating a spell that she had been working on in case something like this happened. She concentrated her power as she felt her magic grab hold of the other Elements of Harmony from where the others had hid them, teleporting to them within a manner of seconds. "We will use the Elements of Harmony to overpower his ring and return him to normal," Twilight explained as he hoofed out the Elements to her friends. "Hopefully the power of Harmony can overcome the power of greed. Let's go girls, we have a dragon to stop." Twilight activated her teleportation spell again and brought the six ponies back to the center of the battle in the center of town, where Spike had added the statue in the center of the town to his collection. The six of them caught him trying to steal a piece of town hall as ponies everywhere ran for their lives.

"Hold it right there, mister!" Rainbow Dash yelled out, firing a blast of her Element at Spike, which bounced off of his orange shield but did get his attention. He turned to face the ponies and his greedy eyes rested on the Elements of Harmony, which were much more valuable to him than the town hall. He dropped the chunk of the building he had grabbed and rubbed his hands greedily together at the Elements.

"The Elements of Harmony, only six of them in all the world," he said greedily as he looked at them with longing. "And with only six that makes them more valuable than anything else. And the more valuable it is, the more I want it!" He shot out six separate claws of orange energy at the Elements, but the claws slammed into Twilight's Harmony enhanced shields and shattered, causing Spike to roar in frustration at the failure of his attack.

"Alright girls, let's stop this greedy dragon!" Pinkie yelled as she pulled out her party cannon (much to Spike's confusion) and fired a beam of Elemental magic straight at him. He threw up a shield of orange energy to protect himself, but the energy went right through his shield and sent him flying across the ground. He would have smashed into the side of a building if it hadn't been for a purple aura that caught him before he could do so.

"Twilight, why'd you do that?" Rainbow asked as she started firing more lightning bolt shaped magic out of her Element, all of which were deflected by Spike's orange barrier. Spike roared and formed orange boxing gloves on his hands which he then slammed into the ground, sending out a shockwave that knocked the ponies off their hooves. Spike roared again and threw himself at the ponies, stretching out his hand in an attempt to grab the necklace off Fluttershy's neck. RD caught him with an uppercut to the jaw, which only staggered him slightly.

"Um, is it just me or is he getting bigger?" RD asked as the more adult looking dragon growled. Just as Rainbow had said, Spike was slowly getting bigger along with his greed. Twilight remember how big he had gotten the last time this had happened, but that time he didn't have a ring that amplified the greed. And with that ring making him even greedier she had no idea how big Spike would grow. They needed to stop him and soon.

"We need to get the ring off his finger!" Twilight yelled out a the others, relaying what the green ring had told her. Rainbow Dash nodded and shot off towards Spike, her incredible speed so fast that he didn't even notice that she was there until she had wrapped both hooves around his ring and had started to pull.

"IT'S MY RING!" Spike roared as he slammed one of his claws into Rainbow Dash, knocking her off of his ring. He then materialized a giant boulder that he smashed into RD's face and sent her flying across the ground. Twilight caught her with her magic just as Fluttershy unleashed her greatest weapon upon him: the stare. The stare was Fluttershy's greatest weapon that would make any who looked into her eyes tremble with fear. It was a weapon that had never failed her and as she unleashed it upon the dragon she knew that it would be enough to stop him. But there was no fear in Spike's heart at this point, only greed.

"I will have your eyes!" Spike roared as he reached out and grabbed Fluttershy by the throat, trying to grab her eyes with his other hand. Fortunately for Fluttershy, Applejack chose that moment while he was distracted to run up to him and buck him below the belt. Hard. Spike roared with pain as he dropped Fluttershy and clutched at where she had kicked him while AJ caught Fluttershy on her back.

"Yehaw! Guess ya'll be wanting those now too!" she taunted as she ran back over to the others. Spike looked up at them with a look of rage, pointing his ring at himself.

"I will have it all," he whispered as he fired the ring at himself, the orange energy starting to swirl around him in a storm of orange energy. The ponies watched as a cyclone formed around Spike, the cyclone starting to suck in everything that was around the ponies. With a roar, he tore apart the cyclone to reveal that he now towered over the buildings. An orange suit covered his body and in the center was an odd orange symbol. He roared again and looked down at the ponies, all of who looked up at him with terror. "If I cannot have you, nopony can." Spike pointed his ring at them and started to charge it with power, preparing to wipe them all off the face of the planet.

"Girls, it's time for the Storm of Harmony!" Twilight yelled out as she took up a position in the center of the ponies. The others took up their own positions and closed their eyes, letting each of their Elements flow through each other until the power was complete. All six of them floated up into the air as a white light began to spread between each of them, the ground beginning to shake as the Elements reached their full power. Spike let loose a roar to the sky as he fired all of his power at the six ponies, but he restrained a bit of his power so that they would live, deciding that he wanted them after all. Twilight and the others had different plans however. Twilight's eyes shot open to reveal nothing but pure magical energy, the other five following suit. Then the combined magic shot up into the air and formed a rainbow created from the six most powerful magic in the land. Greed collided with friendship in a blast that shook the very earth as the two energies battled it out.

"You will all belong to me! I must have everything!" Spike roared as his power was pushed to a standstill against the Elements, his great greed unable to push back the values of friendship. The Storm of the Elements was strong enough to defeat the power of greed and it began to push the orange light back, causing Spike to roar again in frustration. "I cannot lose! I will have my victory!"

"No, you will have learn the power of our friendship!" Twilight said with the voice of all six ponies as the Element's magic completely overpowered the beam of greed and slammed into Spike, who roared one last time before the magic consumed him completely. Spike opened his eyes and found himself back to his normal size with the orange ring still on his finger. He looked around to only find whiteness, nothing else besides him and the ring.

"Where am I?" he asked as he stood up. He then fell over and clutched at his heart. "And why...do I want everything? And why does my heart hurt by the fact that nothing's here?"

"That's the ring talking." Spike turned around to see Twilight standing behind him, her eyes glowing white with power. "It wants you to give in to your desire to be greedy. Don't do it Spike, remain strong. Use that will of yours to break through the greediness and take the ring off. Please, come back to us." Spike looked down at the ring on his finger, feeling the urge to take the Element of Harmony off of the pony in front of him. And then he looked back to Twilight, who, while standing silently, had tears falling from her eyes. Spike's eyes widened as he realized that his actions were hurting her, that his greed was stealing his friends from him.

'You want it all,' the ring whispered to him.

"No...I want you off!" Spike yelled as he reached down and grabbed hold of the ring, tearing it off of his fingers as it screeched at him. He threw it into the air where Twilight shot it into pieces with her magic. She then looked down at Spike with a relieved smile on her face.

"I knew you wouldn't give in," she said as she vanished and everything turned white. Back In Ponyville, Twilight had rushed forward into the massive crater than had been created when Spike had toppled over, crushing a large number of houses in the process. She searched for him desperately in the rubble, praying to Celestia that he was alright. Much to her relief, she found him unconscious on a couch in the front of what used to be someponies home, sucking his thumb with a content smile on his face.

"Spike! Oh thank goodness you're alright," she said as she ran over to him, scooping the dragon into her arms and hugging him. All of her focus was on making sure that he was alright, so she never noticed the orange ring that was on the floor next to the couch. Spike groaned and blinked twice before he completely opened his eyes, which had confusion written in them as he looked around the room at the destroyed house.

"Ugh...Twilight?" he asked with some confusion as he looked up at her with confusion. "Why am I in this house? What happened to the white room we were in?" Twilight couldn't say anything through her tears and she simply held Spike closer to her. "Yeah, there was this white room and the ring was talking to me. Then you showed up and told me to overcome my greed and...Why are you crying?"

"I'm just glad you’re alright," she whispered through her tears. She had given the other Elements the slip when they had started to see if the ponies were alright to come and check up on Spike before they could figure out that he had been the dragon that had destroyed the town again. She gently let go of Spike and let him back down onto the floor as he looked around in confusion at all the destruction. She was about to take him back to the other ponies when she looked behind him with fear in her eyes. Spike spun around to find that he was looking at...himself. It was the same height as him and had the same face, but the copies entire body was made of orange energy, all of which came from the orange ring that it wore on its finger. It looked up at Spike with eyes that only had one emotion: greed.

"I will have it all," it whispered. And then it attacked.

Orange Definitely Isn't Your Color

Sombra smiled to himself as he walked down the memories of the mare, seeing all that had brought her to where she was today. All the success, all of the glamor and all of the love that she received from all the other ponies. It would be so easy to turn her fears against her. He had kept the orange ring off of her with a barrier of yellow, wanting to wait for the right moment before it took control.

'Here we are,' Sombra thought to himself as he saw the door to where Rarity kept her dreams. He made a gagging face at the prissy door as he opened it and slipped inside, taking on his more smoke like form as he saw the mare standing by a table and sewing up a suit. His ring flashed once as he moved forward and he took on the appearance of Applejack, albeit a bit more yellow than usual. "Hey there sugarcube, what are ya making?"

"Oh hello Applejack, I am simply creating a new outfit that I am certain will take Equestria by storm," Rarity said as she held up the outfit so Somjack could see, forcing him to resist gagging at the sight of it. "Oh come now, give me your honest opinion of it," Rarity said when she saw Applejack's face.

"It looks fine, that's to be certain," Applejack said before Sombra cursed himself inwardly for forgetting the accent. "But ah don't know why ya bothered making it."

"Excuse me?" Rarity asked.

"Well, it's good, but there are so many ponies out there better at it than ya and ah feel like yer wasting yer time," Applejack said as she began to walk around Rarity, Sombra constructing copies of the ponies who were considered to be the best. "Ah mean, why would ponies want anything from you when they have these talented folks to make them outfits?"

"Y-you might be right, but I can still put my own unique touch on it," Rarity said defiantly, but Applejack vanished behind her and came back around as Twilight.

"But statics show that ponies only want to get things from the best of the best and you're not that good," Twibra said as she created a yellow chart, Sombra smirking inwardly as he saw Rarity's eyes shrink. "You'll be mediocre at best and ponies will either never pay attention to you or they'll consider you a flash in the pan."

"A flash in the pan? Darling, I am the prettiest and greatest designer in all of Ponyville," Rarity said with a flip of her mane, never noticing as Twilight changed to Sweetie Belle.

"Let's talk about that beauty of yours for a moment," Sweetie said with a smile that Sweetie could never make in real life. "You seem to be beautiful and everpony considers you to be, but that is because they don't know the real you. The greedy Rarity, who wants everything and if she can't get what she wants, she'll stab even her friends in the back to get what she wants."

"You're lying. I am the Element of Generosity," Rarity shot back, but Sweetie let out a laugh that chilled Rarity to the core. Sweetie then flashed and was suddenly her adult form and Rarity's jaw hit the ground when she saw just how beautiful her sister was.

"Generosity? You used a baby dragon to do most of your work. You selfishly cry whenever the littlest tragedy strikes you, forcing others to pay attention to you," Sweetie said with a radiant smile that blinded Rarity. "That is why I will become far more beautiful than you will ever be. Because my beauty comes from the inside, not out."

"L-liar," Rarity spat back, but Sombra could feel her will beginning to weaken, giving him even more power.

"Oh, am I?" Sweetie asked as she changed to Spike. "Spike, the little dragon that loves you so much is now spending all of his time with Sweetie Belle, your sister and he seems to be quite happy doing so. Think about it. Has he even bothered to come visit you in the past few days when it wasn't about Sweetie?"

"S-Sweetie's a Lantern now, of course they'll-"

"Oh, but he was spending time with her long before that. But let's talk about this whole Lantern thing, shall we?" Spike asked as he changed into the Emerald Dragon with Sweetie in her Blue Lantern outfit next to him. "If you are truly an Element of Harmony, then why did the ring skip over you? Spike admitted that the green ring was originally Twilight's, but she rejected it. But the blue one went right for Sweetie, passing you over entirely. Can't you see Rarity, for the rest of your life all you create or all you deserve is going to be taken from you by somepony else, until you have nothing left."

"W-what?" Rarity asked with tears in her eyes as an image of the Elements leaving her for Sweetie Belle played out, for all of her best ideas being stolen by others and used against her and finally her being old and forgotten, all alone. "No, this cannot be! Why did this happen!?" Sombra smiled as he could see the fear coming off of her and he changed back into his regular self in full yellow as she looked up at him, full on crying. "How can I stop this from happening?"

"Take it all," Sombra whispered as he help out his hoof, a single orange ring sitting in it. "Nopony has worked harder than you. They don't deserve what they have. You deserve it all." Rarity looked at the ring for a moment before her eyes flashed orange and she reached out for the ring, Sombra smiling as it floated off of his hoof and onto her horn. "And I'll help you take it all." And then he began to laugh as Rarity's mind was completely overtaken in a flash of orange. Sombra chuckled as he began to twists Rarity's will so that she would obey him with his power, just as he heard those words echo across her mind.

'Rarity of Equestria. You want it all.'

lOl

"...And you were training with Zecora for that entire day?" Spike asked Sweetie under the shade of the CMC clubhouse, both of them having met there since Spike wanted to talk about the fact that Sweetie was a Lantern now. "So that's why you were gone all day. But why Zecora? If you needed help, shouldn't you have gone to somepony who has, I don't know, a ring?" he asked as he showed her his green ring, causing her to giggle.

"But that would have ruined the surprise for you!" Sweetie said the blue ring rested on the grass next to her. "After all, you're the dragon who helped me be so hopeful. Besides, Zecora is like skilled at everything. She's the one who taught me how to summon my hope in bursts like that! She's really good at teaching control and focus as well. She's the reason I could fly in a little under a day."

"I'm just wondering how she is so skilled with alien tech," Spike muttered. "But thanks for helping yesterday, my ring can't combat fear the way yours can I guess. It would have been a lot worse without you. Thanks." Sweetie blushed at the praise before she looked up at the sky, still not believing that she was a Lantern. "So, did you get a battery as well and does your ring talk to you as well?"

"Yeah, I have a blue Lantern that I hid in my closet," Sweetie said as she slipped her ring on, the blue suit forming over her coat. "But while my ring can talk, it doesn't know as much as yours. Wonder why that is?"

"Probably because it's not part of the biggest corps," Spike said as he felt his ring become stronger by her presences, wondering why that was before another thought crossed his mind. "Hey Sweetie, how's Rarity doing? After that attack on her house and all the crazy stuff that's been going on, I've been wondering how she's been holding up?"

"Not sure really, I haven't had an actually talk with her in a while," Sweetie replied as she lay back on the grass, levitating slightly off the ground as she looked up at the sky. "She wasn't home this morning, but she left a note saying that she would meet you and me in the center of town around noon. Her hoof writing looked a little weird, but I don't know how she's been doing." Spike frowned a bit at that, but he figured that he could ask her around noon how she was doing. He hadn't spent as much time with her as he wanted to due to his Lantern duties and he missed her, although he knew being a Lantern came first. He made sure of that.

"Well, we'll talk to her at noon then," Spike said as he suited up before looking over at Sweetie Belle. "What do you say we do a quick flight over the town before heading to the town square? I need to talk to Twilight real fast before meeting with Rarity." Sweetie nodded and flew up beside him, struggling a bit before righting herself and the both of them flew off into the sky, Spike slowing down just a bit so that Sweetie could keep up. The two landed in the branches of Twilight's library and floated downstairs, Owlicious alerting Twilight to their presences by hooting and flying over to Spike and landing on his head.

"Hey Spike...hi Sweetie," Twilight said as she squinted at the Blue Lantern, confirming what Spike had told her last night. "So I see that our ring count is up to five now. How many rings did you say there were Spike?"

"At least seven," he replied.

"Great," Twilight muttered as she sat down at the table, looking at the two floating light shows with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't this the time that you usually do a sweep of the town and look for trouble?" she asked Spike.

"Just came to say hi and to recharge," Spike said as Owlicious took off, retuning a moment later with the green battery clutched in his talons. "Owlicious, you don't have to keep doing that. I can get it myself."

"Hoo."

"In brightest day or in blackest night, I shall never again lose my will to fight! And let all those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's Light!" A flash of green went off as he said this and he pulled his ring back away from the battery with a fully charged ring. "Need to charge yours Sweetie?"

"Hold on," Sweetie said as she reached into a portal to drag out her battery. "I'm still getting used to being able to do that. In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite! When all seems lost in this war on light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright! Done." Both her and Spike floated off the ground and waved at Twilight before shooting out of the house, leaving Twilight to sigh at the new hole in her roof.

"Remind me to get a sun roof installed," she muttered to Owlicious, who picked up the battery in his talons and began to lug it back up the stairs. Spike and Sweetie flew over the town, looking around for any signs of trouble. After helping a pony that had lost control of her cart and stopping some rabbits that had escaped, the both of them floated above town hall, waiting for Rarity to arrive.

"So why do you go on patrol?" Sweetie asked.

"Because ever since my battle with Sombra, I've been trying to be the best Lantern I can," Spike replied as he kept an eye on the streets, looking for any signs of trouble. "I was careless with my power before, but now I know the weight of what I wield."

"It doesn't really weight that much," Sweetie muttered as she looked up at her ring, Spike slightly rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I'm thinking that I need a cool name like yours! I haven't given it too much thought, Zecora's training regime wiped me out, but I was thinking along the lines of Sapphire Sweetie. How does it sound?"

"She should be here by now," Spike muttered as he looked at the clock to see it read five after, Sweetie pouting at the fact that Spike ignored her. "Why would she be late?"

"That might be on me." Spike and Sweetie both spun around to see Sombra floating behind them, his yellow suit reflecting in his eyes, eyes that shone with delight at the looks of rage on the both of them. Spike shot bolts of green energy and Sombra, who threw up a shield to defend himself. "Nice to see you as well. You haven't heard from me for a week, but do you show any concern when I do show up? No, it's all "shoot the bad guy" with you. I swear I'm the only one trying in this relationship."

"I was hoping that I would never have to see you again," Spike growled as he unleashed a concentrated beam on Sombra's shield, but it was unable to get through.

"How about I help?" Sweetie offered as she combined a beam of her own with Spike's supercharging the green attack until it pushed through Sombra's barrier, sending the yellow clad pony crashing into the streets. While he was down there, Spike shot a bolt of green into the sky that exploded far above the town, letting green energy rain down. "What was that?" Sweetie asked.

"A call for Twilight and the Elements to gather," Spike said as Sombra got up and shook his mane. "They'll see it and they'll bring their Elements with them." The ponies in the streets only needed to take one look at Sombra before they all began to panic, running around and screaming while Sombra looked at them.

"But I haven't done anything to all of you yet," Sombra pouted as Spike and Sweetie landed in front of him, Twilight arriving a moment later in a burst of magic. Pinkie appeared next to her as well while AJ and Fluttershy were flown in by rainbow Dash, all of whom were wearing their respective Elements.

"Sombra," Twilight said with venom.

"You were expecting Star-Swirl?" Sombra replied before ducking under a blast of magic. The ponies all prepared for the battle with Sombra, but Sweetie began to look around as she realized somepony was missing.

"Hey, where's my sister?" she asked.

"Above you," Sombra said. Spike looked up just as a bolt of orange energy slammed into him, sending him skidding across the ground and into the side of a building. All of the ponies there gasped and looked up, only to find who was floating above them. Her suit was made of orange and her mane was the same color, but there was no mistaking the mane style or the fact that orange suit looked a lot more fashionable than last time.

"Rarity?" Sweetie both asked in absolute horror before she had to protect herself from a blast of orange that sent her skidding back as well.

"Oh that face makes not killing you so worth it. What's the matter Spike?" Sombra asked as he floated up next to Rarity and placed a hoof on her shoulder while Spike pulled himself out of the wall. "You look like you've just had the love of your life stolen away by some crazy pony that used his power to manipulate her into fighting alongside him to destroy you, which couldn't have been the case because I'm brilliant and not crazy."

"You monster!" Twilight yelled as she prepared to fire at Sombra, but Rarity shot down and grabbed her Element. "Rarity, what are you doing? You have to fight his control!"

"Give it to me!" Rarity yelled back as she took the Element off of Twilight's head before swatting her aside, the other Elements catching her. Rarity looked at the tiara with pure delight as she placed it on her head, laughing to herself while Spike and Sweetie returned to the battle.

"What have you done to my sister?!" Sweetie screamed as she fired a bolt of blue at Sombra, but it was stopped by a combination of yellow and orange.

"She works for me now," Sombra said with a smile. "It would have been too bothersome to deal with two ring wielders myself, but I decided to get some backup. Fortunately your sister was susceptible to the orange rings power. I just helped it along a bit."

"Impossible, her Element would have protected her!" Spike yelled as he engaged Sombra, who tried to snare Spike in a bear trap that the young dragon barely avoided.

"Don't worry, I took care of the Element," Sombra said with a smile as he swatted Spike away with a flyswatter. "You'll never see it again. Or if you were referring to her inner Element, I dealt with that also. Not to mention brainwash her a little, just for fun."

"You monster!" Sweetie yelled as she fired her ring at Sombra, whose shields cracked under her blue power.

"That could be a bother. Rarity, be a dear and deal with your sister," Sombra commanded in a sweet tone. "She does have everything you want after all." Sweetie prepared to fire again before she was tackled by Rarity, whose eyes were a pure orange as she drove the two of them through a number of buildings, the Element she had stolen falling off her head as she did so.

"Give them to me!" she roared at Sweetie as she pinned her to the ground, trying to drill through Sweetie's horn to get her ring. "Your beauty, your ring...YOU! Give it all to me!" Sweetie sent out a burst of hope that knocked Rarity off of her and flew into the air, trying to comprehend what had happened to her sister. The mane six were about to enter the battle as well before they felt the ground began to shake. The ponies turned to see a hydra with yellow eyes enter the town, roaring as it started to step on the buildings and chase the ponies.

"Don't worry girls, I brought something for you to do as well," Sombra said as he waved goodbye to Twilight and the others, all of who glared at him before running off to deal with the hydra. "I'm always thinking of others, even when they don't care about me. Maybe I should be the Element of Generosity?" He had to focus his attention on Spike as the dragon came flying back at him with a vengeance, using anything he could think of to try and crush or impale Sombra. Sombra smiled as he turned to smoke and vanished into the ground, Spike firing at the trails with all his might.

"You've gone too far this time Sombra!" Spike yelled as he used tweezers to pull Sombra out of the ground, preparing to squish him until Sombra broke free and flew into the clouds, Spike chasing after him while shooting, getting more and more frustrated each time he missed. "Trying to kill me is one thing, but turning Rarity against her own sister and making her become an Orange Lantern?! You will be sorry!"

"As much as I would love to take credit, again this is...mostly you and your friends fault," Sombra replied with a cackle as he created thunderstorm clouds that shot lightning at Spike, who had to focus on dodging. Sombra was about to go on when a streak of blue flew by him, quickly followed by one of orange. Sweetie spun around and tried to wrap her sister in fabric to stop her, but Rarity dodged and tackled her sister, again trying to tear her ring off.

"Rarity, it's me! Sweetie!" Sweetie yelled in a desperate attempt to get to her sister, but to no avail as Rarity roared and continued to claw at her. Spike gritted his teeth in pain as he took aim at Rarity and shot her off the back of Sweetie, closing his eyes as the bolt struck Rarity and sent her into a spiral. He tried to catch her, but Sombra got there first and caught Rarity within a sphere before turning and blasting Spike with yellow energy.

"How hard is this to understand Spike?" Sombra asked with an evil smile as Spike caught himself. "She belongs to me now!"

"Never!" Sweetie roared as she came flying back down at Sombra, firing with all of her might at him while trying to free Rarity from the sphere. Sombra managed to stay one step ahead as he created a mirror that reflected the attacks at Spike, who took them head on. "Spike!" Sweetie yelled as she tried to fly over to him, but both Rarity and Sombra fired beams of energy into her back, causing her to scream before the pain knocked her out. Spike recovered just in time to fly forward and catch her, but he looked up to Sombra and Rarity with worry in his eyes now that the battle had become two on one.

"You talk about your precious friendship and your unbreakable bonds, but I have taken those bonds and ripped them apart," Sombra said with glee as he pointed his ring at Spike. "And all it took was to convince one of your friends that her little sister was taking everything away from her, turning her against said sister. Oh the delicious pain it must have caused you. Rarity, let's end this."

"She tried to take my future," Rarity spat as she pointed her horn at Spike and Sweetie as well. "So I will take her life in exchange."

"Rarity, this isn't you," Spike said as he desperately thought of what to do, trying to keep Sweetie out of the line of fire. "You are one of the kindest, most generous ponies I know. This is not you talking. This is whatever Sombra did to you. You have to fight it; you have to remember who you are."

"I know who I am," she snarled. "I deserve it all." As she said this, both she and Sombra fired two beams of pure energy at Spike, the twin beams combining into one as they came closer to him. Spike aimed his ring at the two beams and prepared to fire as well, despite knowing full well that he couldn't push them both back.

'I'm sorry Rarity, I've failed you,' he thought to himself before looking down at the unconscious Sweetie. "And I'm sorry for failing you." Then Spike fired his own green beam, preparing to fight off the attack as long as he could. But the sudden burst of power that shot from his ring was beyond anything he had ever felt and he had to catch himself as the power pushed him back. The green beam shattered the combined orange and yellow and engulfed both Rarity and Sombra within its power, sending the two of them flying across the land until they had both vanished.

"W-what happened?" Spike asked in disbelief once the attack had stopped, looking down at his green ring which seemed to have hints of blue in it.

'Will is a powerful emotion in its own right,' the ring said. 'But when combined with hope, it is one of the strongest emotions on the spectrum.' Spike looked down at Sweetie as the ring said this, realizing that ever since she got her ring whenever he was close to her he felt stronger and now he knew why. His first instinct was to fly after Sombra and Rarity, but Sweetie groaned in pain and he knew that he had to take care of her first. So with tears running down his face he flew back to where the Elements of Harmony were battling the hydra, pointing his ring at the beast as he did so.

IOI

"I can't believe that Rarity is with Sombra now," Rainbow Dash said in disbelief as she and the other Elements sat around Twilight's table. The group had come back to her library after the battle where Twilight discerned that while Sweetie's injury might be painful, it wasn't life threatening and she could treat it.

"She isn't with him, he and that ring did something to her mind," Twilight reminded the five of them, Spike having gone to check on Sweetie. "Remember what the orange ring did to Spike on its own and now Sombra has done something to Rarity's mind to get her to work with him. She's not thinking right."

"But she is dangerous now," AJ reminded them. "And ah don't think we should let two children be the ones doing all the fighting, but we're all powerless against those rings. We can't even go looking fer Rarity since with that ring she could be in space for all we know." Twilight thought about Applejack's words for a minute before she decided something.

"You're right, but if we're going to fight against Sombra and Rarity, then we're going to need some more power in our corner," Twilight said as she walked over to her Element and placed it on her head before pulling out a number of train tickets. "So we're going to give my brother and sister a visit and tell them of our plight. Maybe their power along with ours will allow us to beat him."

"I hope so," Rainbow Dash said as she looked up towards the stairs where Sweetie rested. Spike sat beside her, but he was looking down at a picture of the mane six, with him placed in there from another picture.

"Hoo?" Owlicious asked from the bed stand, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry bud, I was just thinking," he muttered as he looked back at the picture. "It's just...I know that Sombra isn't gone for good, a pony like him never stays dead. But I know that when he comes back, Rarity will be there as well and I don't know if I have the strength to fight her."

'But if you don't then Sweetie will have to,' the ring said, Owlicious hooting in agreement.

"I know and this has to be ten times harder on her," Spike said as he put the picture down to the side and looked down at the sleeping Sweetie, who was resting peacefully despite the pain she had to endure. "And just this morning she was so excited about being a Lantern with me and now she has to fight her sister...I don't know how she's going to handle it."

'She is a Lantern of hope. She will not give up on her sister,' the ring said. Spike nodded before looking out the window, still able to feel the rage for what Sombra had done.

"And I swear that I will make Sombra pay for his crimes and I will find a way to break Rarity free of both him and the ring," Spike said as he looked down at the green ring before activating his suit, shooting out of the top of the library as he flew off to where he had seen the pair fly. But he found no traces of them anywhere and the ring said that their powers were being cloaked by something, giving him no leads there. He flew around until the sun came up before he decided to call it and head back to Twilight, who he hoped had a plan.

IOI

"I want Sweetie! I want her ring!" Rarity roared from inside a hidden chamber far beneath the old castle, but she gritted her teeth in pain as yellow energy flooded into her.

"Enough," Sombra said before attending to his own wounds. He had found this place in his week of hiding and had converted it to a home that also hid the energy signatures of his and Rarity's ring. "We were taken by surprise today and both of us were gravely injured because of Spike's hidden power. That is a mistake I will not allow to happen twice, but we need to rest."

"But I want her now!" Rarity roared, only to get another shot of yellow to the chest that pinned her to the wall.

"Oh don't worry, you will, but for now rest," Sombra said as his horn glowed, causing Rarity to pass out on the ground while Sombra turned his attention back to bandaging up himself. 'But I will need a distraction so that I can have time to heal and plan since neither of the two Lanterns will rest until they have found me. Perhaps it is time I pay a visit to an old friend of mine.'