Prologue

It was an average day in Ponyville, no monsters attacking, The CMC were in school, no special parties to plan, the weather was perfect thanks to the dedication of the weather team, and Rainbow "Danger" "Professionalism" Petunia Dash was chilling on a cloud, thinking about some sick tricks she had planned for later that day.

Or at least that had been the plan.

Yawning to ready herself for a nap, Rainbow saw a bright light out from the corner of her eye.

Prolly Twi doing some kind of magic thing or something she thought to herself, draping a wing over her eyes.

But the light seemed to get closer and the high-pitched whine of a Mach cone forming hit her sensitive ears. Sitting up, she turns towards the source of the noise and light "Okay, I know that besides maybe Spitfire, I'm the only pony capable of causing one of those cone things that Twilight talks about some... times..." her pupils shrink when she realizes what it is, a ball of metal coming straight at her.

Quickly taking off from the cloud, Rainbow watches in awe as the ball of metal disintegrates her cloud and hits the ground, carving out a trench before stopping, ozone and steam wafting off it.

Landing a few feet from the object, a mix of curiosity and excitement spinning in her gut, she calls out "Hello? Anypony in there?"

As if to answer her question, the ball squeaks open, a burnt pair of green hooves sticking out of what was apparently a door.

A low groan comes from the owner of the hooves, a dim green glow coming from within "Lohle? Nirg, snatrtale"

Rainbow cocks her head, stepping closer to the ball "What did you say? Do you need a doctor or something?"

The light grows for a second "... Hello?"

Rainbow waves "Hiya. What's with the pony-in-a-cannonball thing?"

The foot retreats into the ball as a white "Hand", as Twilight called them when talking about her time at the "High School" with "Hyu-mens" pulls the rest of the passenger's body out, who looked like a "Cent-oar" like Tirek, but unlike the evil one she'd fought before, it seemed hurt.

"Gree-" the thing, obviously male said before clutching his barrel in pain, blood dripping onto the ground despite the pressure he'd been putting on it.

"WHOA! Holy buck dude, you need a doctor ASA-now! Wait here, I'm going to go get my friend" She takes off again, leaving the strange "Cent-oar" behind.

Rainbow passes through the large dog flap that all her friends put in their houses so that they didn't have to repair walls constantly when she visited.

"Fluttershy! I need you!" she yells, a mass of small woodland creatures shifting to reveal the butter-yellow pegasus beneath it "Oh! Rainbow! I must have fallen asleep and my little friends must've covered me up." she says, the numerous animals hopping off her as she slowly sat up.

"Yeah, cool, anyways, I was getting ready for a nap when this huge metal thing comes from out of nowhere and nearly smashes me! I went to investigate and I found this 'Scent-or' thing inside and he's got a huge chunk of flesh missing from his side and I need you so come on let's go!!" she explains, picking up the still sleepy pegasus and the medical crate under Fluttershy's couch that Pinkie had handy in case of "Medical Emergencies".

Rainbow lands near where she had left, the "Scene-tar", who still clutching his side, gloves starting to stain red "I got my friend! Don't worry Scent guy, she's like a super medic or something!"

His eyes focus on them, seeming to shy away from Fluttershy unconsciously "... Lantern..."

Rainbow looks around "I don't see any lanterns."

Fluttershy's face wrinkles as the smell of blood hits her nose, kickstarting her brain like one of those motors Twilight had invented after her previous trip to the human world "Oh my!"

She rushes over, pushing Rainbow out of the way as she easily lifted the crate of medical supplies "What happened?"

He starts to protest at the proximity but thinks better of it and removes his hand, opting to lay on his less injured side, blood caking his lips "Fight... won. But... hurt... exiled."

Fluttershy nods in understanding, her mind going into auto-pilot as she cleans the gaping wound, blood starting to stain her hooficure and coat.

Rainbow cocks her head "So you won a fight and got exciled? You must be awesome to be kicked out for fighting, what were you fighting? Timberwolves? Cerberus? Tirek, I bet it was Tirek."

He nods "Was barbarian... before chosen by... ring."

Rainbow furrows her brows "How does a ring choose somepony? Isn't it the other way around?"

He nods, Fluttershy lifting his larger body with ease as she wrapped gauze around his barrel, scrubbing burns and cuts with a sanitary wipe held in her wing as she goes "It could be a magic ring" she mutters unconsciously, absorbed in her work.

Rainbow nods "That makes sense. So..." she looks over his massive form "What the buck are you?"

"Green... lantern" he replies, grunting as Fluttershy lowers him back onto the ground.

"That should work for now, but I really think he should go to a hospital." Fluttershy whispers as he stands up slowly.

He nods to them and closes his eyes, the green glow from earlier enveloping his body as he flies into the sky without wings.

Rainbow easily catches up with him, hovering above him "Whoa there big guy! You're hurt! You can't just fly off to wherever you want! That wound could open back up if you move too much."

He ignores her as his ascent gains speed, Rainbow easily keeping up "Seriously, I don't care how strong, big, or whatever you are, you're missing a chunk of your side and you need to heal!"

"Can't. I am needed to fight alongside my fellow lanterns... to rid the galaxy of the... enemy." he replies, before clutching his side again, the green glow around him fading for a second.

Rainbow crosses her legs "You can go back to ridding the galaxy of the enemy or whatever when you have the rest of your side back at least."

He looks at her with annoyance "I am grateful for your assistance, but I am needed... to fight. My life is of no... consequence but to ensure the safety of the... galaxy and all within it. Should I fall in battle, the ring will- UNGH!"

Clutching his side, he coughs up droplets of blood as the green aura fades away completely.

He starts to drop but Rainbow grabs under his arms and flaps with all her might, trying to slow the larger being's descent.

"Here... let me help... if you don't mind that is." Fluttershy says, looping her arms around his barrel and flaping her wings with all her might .

Both mares set him on the ground softly, Fluttershy panting in exhaustion, face down on the ground, wings hanging limply at her side.

Rainbow simply wills away her exhaustion with a flick of her wings.

She looks over the unconscious stranger on the ground, his clothing seeming to fade with each breath "So... I'll carry him to the hospital. Can you get Big Mac, his coltfriend, and Bulk to get the metal ball thing to my place?"

Fluttershy nods and sets off towards Sweet Apple Acres as Rainbow loops her fore hooves under the stranger's armpits "You owe me big for this Green Lantern... wow that is a strange name for a cent-soar."

Nurse Redheart returns from the hospital shrine known as the break room, having visited and paid tribute to the representative of the patron god of medicine and nurses, the humbled and venerable Lord Brews, or as the unappreciative fools called his holiness, the coffee machine.

So far today, no accidents, I have one more hour until my shift ends and then I'm going to go home and watch that Battlesol Galacticus box set I bought last month... just hope nopony comes in and sets me ba-

As if sensing her impending joy, the universe decides to send her favorite patient to ruin her day "Hello Rainbow Dash, what happened this time?"

Rainbow grunts and once again, disperses her fatigue with a wing flick "I'm okay right now, Red. It's my friend here, he kinda.... fell from the sky in a metal ball and is missing a chunk of his flank."

Redheart groans "Of course, why not? Let's see what's wrong with hi-" she stares wide mouthed at Rainbow's "Friend".

"... Is this some kind of prank Rainbow? I know a pony when I see one, and that is not a pony."

Rainbow shakes her head "I'm telling the truth! He's bleeding out as we speak!"

Redheart groans and motions for Rainbow to follow her to a vacant room Why me? Why always me? I pay my taxes, I participate in social events, I don't do bad things too often, so why does the universe punish me so?

After doing a physical exam, Redheart shakes her head "He's a centaur, that much is apparent. But the only centaur I know of is in Tartarus."

Rainbow nods "I knew that already! I figured that considering what happened might mean that the princesses would've sent out books on centaurs or something."

Redheart sighs "No, I only know about as much as the average pony about centaurs. I can't believe I'm saying this but we need a certain pony, a pony who is possibly the only expert on them."

"Twilight or one of the princesses?" Rainbow asks.

"No..." she shivers "Lyra Heartstrings."

The sleepy green unicorn drags her hooves as she approaches the hospital, pissed that her dream about exploring space was cut short by Rainbow Dash "Why did you pull me away from my dream? I was conversing about the virtues of emotion with an alien that looked like a giant blue bird with three eyes."

Rainbow rolls her eyes "Centaur fell from the sky, Red said that you were the only pony who knew a lot about them."

Lyra nods sleepily "Yeah, considering what happened a while ago with Lord Tirek, professors of history and Hippological studies have been bugging me for my research like Pinkie Pie when she wants to try one of Bonbon's new candies."

"'Lord'?" Rainbow asks.

"Seemingly immortal emissary of an unknown land. Seems fitting that he must be a high ranking individual from there, but then again, whoever lives there hasn't tried to get him back, not even his brother, Scorpan so... the honorific of 'Lord' seems appropriate." Lyra explains, entering the hospital still half asleep.

Rainbow stares at her "Note to self: Lyra is a genius like Twilight."

Lyra looks over the stranger who is still out cold, a number of machines measuring his functions "... He isn't a centaur species that I recognize, he lacks the horns and the flat face common in sapient and semi-sapient beings. So in my professional opinion, we are dealing with a more than 50-60 percent equine centaur... judging by the bone and physiological structure that I can see, I'd estimate around 70-80 percent. You say that he fell from the sky?"

Both Rainbow and Redheart nod dumbly, stunned by the flow of words coming from the usually goofy and odd unicorn.

"Okay... and considering the abrasions and semi dark bruising, he was either held in a tight space while going through intense heat or something, consistent with re-entry into the planet's atmosphere in a poorly insulated vessel. With me so far?"

Both ponies shake their head.

Lyra shrugs "What we're dealing with here isn't from Equestria or any other place on the planet."

Redheart snaps out of her stupor "Meaning?"

"Meaning that we are presently in the company of a non-terrestrial or in other words, an alien being." Lyra explains, yawning.

Redheart snorts "Aliens don't exist, nothing can survive off-planet."

"Princess Luna." Lyra replies "Not the best example, but the most widely known example in any case."

Rainbow shakes her head "Alien? As in... not from this world?"

Lyra nods "Yeah, and this is a strange dream even by my standards. The ones with aliens usually involve me either being half drunk or in space already." her brows furrow "And the fact that I know this is a dream means that it's a lucid one. So I command dream Rainbow's mane burst into flames!"

Redheart stares at her flatly "This isn't a dream. Now if we can get back to the fact that we may have an alien centaur in the room, I'd like you to show me some proof besides your conspiracy theories."

Lyra sighs "One, it's Cryptozoology, not Conspiracy. Two, the fact that he looks only vaguely like the elusive Lambmurian centaurs who, according to what relics have been uncovered, disappeared before the beginning of year 0 of the only year of the first rule of the two sisters. Thus, he is alien in origin or a time traveler. Or an alien time traveler, might be both."

Redheart rolls her eyes "And you want me, a nurse of medicine, to believe in time travel and aliens?"

Rainbow shrugs "We live in a town with Pinkie Pie, Twilight and her crazy brain, and a dragon. We've fought off an immortal centaur that could steal magic and cutie marks not too long ago, Discord appears here regularly, I can break the sound barrier and give ponies cutie marks when they see it sometimes, there's a giant crystal fortress of friendship where the library stood, Princess Luna is a temporary citizen here, you've seen how Derpy Whooves is never hurt no matter what, The CMC live here, we tend to burst into town-wide musical numbers that we all suddenly know the words and choreograph it even though we never practice it in advance, we're situated right over a door to Tartarus, and we can hold things with hooves somehow, even though we don't know how and shouldn't think about it because that sends Twilight into her crazy mode." she frowns "I'd believe anything at this point."

Redheart rubs her forehead "Fine, but if anypony asks, I said that I didn't believe you and called you two morons. I need to go make my pilgrimage to the temple again."

Lyra follows "Aye, Lord Brews is a mighty and revered vassal of the great one."

Rainbow watches them leave and sits next to Green Lantern "An alien, huh? Sweet, I saved the life of an alien from another planet. I wonder if that means that he'll take me to his planet and teach me how he was flying without wings. Wonder what Daring Do or Spitfire would do in my situation? Heck, I bet neither of them have ever met an alien!"

His hand glows green, startling her "Celestia on a stick!"

"-llo? Lantern Hag, report! I repeat, Lantern Hag, report!" someone says, the voice seeming to come from the glow.

"Uhhhh... Hello? Glowing green ball?" Rainbow asks, slowly walking towards it.

There's a pause, as if the glow was turning her words over in its head "You are not Lantern Hag. Identify yourself."

"Rainbow Dash."

The glow sighs "No, I meant where are you? What planet?"

Rainbow scratches her head "Uhhh... give me a sec."

She looks both ways and inhales "PINKIE PIE!" pause "WHAT IS THE NAME OF THIS PLANET?!"

Suddenly a suction cupped dart hits her forehead, a note taped to it.

In our language, it's name is Terra. In Interlac, It's Cellum 3, space sector 2813. By the way, do you know if your alien friend likes parties?

Rainbow stares at the note and looks around the room "I was facing a wall... how did she hit my forehead?"

Shrugging it off as Pinkie being Pinkie, she walked back to the glow "Uhhh... according to my friend, Cellum 3, space sector 2813, that mean anything to you?"

The glow brightens a little "Yes, you are an Equestrian are you not?"

"Yeah..." she answers unsurely.

The glow dims "That clarifies much. Where is Lantern Relok Hag?"

"Who?"

"A semi-equine/sapient male with a white mane and black fur?" the glow asks.

"Oh! I thought his name was Green Lantern! At least, that's what he told me when I asked. He's out cold, what are you anyways? An alien spirit or something?"

The glow chuckles "I haven't heard that before. No, I am Lantern Shorm of sector 40. You say that Lantern Hag is unconscious?"

Rainbow nods "Yeah, fell from the sky in some kind of metal ball with a chunk of his side missing and scratched up. We're in a hospital right now and he hasn't said anything since he passed out about an hour ago."

Shorm hums in thought "I suppose that is to be expected, especially since his ring only just came back on line around that time. He has been MIA since the war... did he also happen to have a green object that looked like a train lantern?"

"No, if he did, it must have been in that ball. So... why am I telling you all this? I mean, you're obviously attached to him or something glowing ball alien"

"Glowing- What are you even talking about?"

"I mean, you're stuck to his hand or whatever you call these things, they're not claws so..." Rainbow takes a closer look "Oh! A ring! Cool, you're some kind of ring-shaped rock alien!"

Shorm sighs "No, I am not, I am just using Lantern Hag's ring to communicate with you. Please tell me you have an idea of what a green lantern is."

"Not a one!" Rainbow says confidently.

A slapping sound comes from the ring "Lanterns are galactic police. Please try to get Lantern Hag conscious."

Rainbow shrugs and walks out of the room, passing Nurse Tenderheart "What up Tender?"

"Nothing much, just watching the bubbles in the water cooler." as if sensing her statement, several large bubbles rise to the top with a gurgle.

"Where are the smelly salts?"

"In the closet right across from the room at the end of the hall, brown box with a stink lines drawn on it" Tenderheart answers, her eyes fixed to the cooler.

"O... kay..."

Relok stirs, blinking away pain "What? What happened?"

Sitting in his chest is Rainbow "Good evening Mr. Lantern guy."

He blinks again "What... Where am I?"

"Equestria. You're a long way from home, Lantern"

"What? How do you know what I am?"

She rolls her eyes "You told me before you passed out. And Shorm told me the barest details."

"Shorm? Oh, him. You talked to him?"

"Yes she did, Lantern Hag." Shorm says, the glow reappearing.

Hag tries to salute but instead of movement, pain shoots up his arm "Rrgg..."

Shorm sighs "You are unfortunately too injured to continue your duty as a lantern at the moment. The lingering yellow energy in your body is making it impossible for your ring to heal you. Your partner is working capably in your absence, and until further notice, you are placed in reserve. Orders directly from the Guardians, I'm afraid."

Relok sighs "Wonderful, I'm not able to do anything again. I might as well still be on Biot."

Rainbow shrugs "So you get a little time off and compensation; big deal. So how about you just chill, heal, and then go back to work. How does that sound?"

"Like punishment. I'm a warrior, I live to fight and right wrongs. That is my duty, my oath, my life."

Rainbow rolls her eyes "Yeah yeah, heard that junk before. Trust me, I hate being laid up in the hospital because I hurt myself doing a trick or something. I bet I could do all sorts of awesome stuff if I was in space like you!"

Relok blinks again "You are an excitable one, aren't you?"

She shrugs again "Most everypony calls me reckless and... enough about me, Tell me about you! Shrom told me to keep an eye on you and I'll do just that! Never devia- devea- stray from that course"

He rolls his eyes "How do you think that you can keep up with me? I'm at least 4 or 5 times your size, and fight for a living."

Rainbow grins "I'm the fastest pegasus in Equestria, I can fly at right angles without slowing down, and I can break the sound barrier with ease. And you've got a chunk missing from your side."

He snorts "Touché little pony. But I must do something in my time here."

Rainbow shrugs "You can use your size to pick apples, dig, do anything really. So, after we break you out of here in a few minutes, how about we go see about getting you a job?"

Relok grins "That seems like a good plan. How about introductions? I'm Reserve Lantern Relok Tag of sector 173"

Rainbow taps a hoof to his limp hand "Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolts stunt flier, Element of Loyalty"

End Prologue

Author's Note

Lantern's name: Relok Hag
Sector: 173
Barbarian from a primitive planet pre-induction. Overthrew dominating leaders who experimented on the beings whom lived there and was thought killed in the process. Found in stasis on Manhunter home world of Biot *

Lantern's name: Shorm
Sector: 40
Acting desk sergeant for the GL corps, distributes equipment to recruits. Complains about rookies and irresponsibility present in the human lanterns of sector 2814 with his good friend Salaak. Boasts possession of 20 tentacles*
*All information paraphrased from Green lantern: Tales of the Sinestro corps by Geoff Johns and Ron Marz