Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps
My Little Pony: Heroes and Magic
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, DC Comics, or any characters associated with either. I own all of my original characters and my storyline. Although the origins of the DC heroes belong to them, my tweaks belong to me. Et cetera, et cetera.
Also, Dash’s outfit is based off of a piece of fanart by BB-Shockwave.
It began with the Ring. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them…
Oh, sorry, that was the wrong ring. That Ring was golden and had some inscription in Middle-Earth-ese on it. This one was green, with a simple inscription of a lantern.
Oh, and this ring flew. Not like the other Ring at all.
At the time of this narrative, this green ring was flying through Sector 0672, seeking a new wielder. Someone capable and skilled. Someone who would fight to protect innocents. Someone who could deal with fear.
Or should I say somepony?
She was flying at the moment, reveling in the adrenaline rush that always came when flying at high speeds. On she zoomed, scattering many poor clouds that happened to be in her way. Somepony really needs to get those clouds a union; pegasi treat them with no respect at all. Heck, they can’t even move on their own outside of the Everfree Forest! Won’t someone think of the cloud children?
As fascinating as cloud rights are, though, we should probably move on.
The pegasus kept flying, performing a few loops and spins; nothing too complicated just then, just something to add to the thrill of the flight.
It’s hard to say why she didn’t see the ring that was flying towards her and glowing bright green. There could be any number of reasons, none of which I’m privy to. No matter how it happened, she didn’t see the ring, causing her to accidentally bop herself on the forehead by flying right into it.
“Ow! Hay, what gives?!” she demanded, maneuvering herself to see the offending object while rubbing her forehead with one hand. It had actually hurt pretty badly; considering the respective speeds of both objects, it was a wonder she still had an intact skull.
“Rainbow Dash of Sector 0672. You have the ability to overcome great fear.”
“Yeah? So?” she growled, forgoing any surprise that a ring was speaking in favor of irritation at said ring.
“Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.” With that, the ring zoomed towards her front right foreleg.
Dash would have none of it, though, yanking her limb out of the way. “I don’t know or care what you or this Corps is, but I refuse to talk to such a careless flyer!” she exclaimed angrily. “Leave me alone and watch where you’re going next time!” And with that, she flew off in a random direction, muttering irately under her breath.
After a minute, she glanced behind her and saw that same ring accelerating towards her, leaving a trail of green energy behind it.
“So that's how you wanna play it?” She smirked. This had suddenly turned into a race. One that she’d win, of course. She was Rainbow Dash, and she never lost a race.
She flew, easily not as fast as she could have gone, but fast enough to outpace almost anything Equestria could throw at her.
But when she glanced behind her, the ring had almost caught up.
“Quick little thing for such a small ring, aren’t ya?” Dash laughed, excitement at an actual challenge replacing any remaining irritation. “You asked for it!”
And with that, she accelerated once more, abandoning any restraint in favor of pure, undiluted speed. Something started to stretch in front of her, something Twilight had called the sound barrier but that Dash only saw as an obstacle. Gritting her teeth, she gave herself that extra push that allowed her to break the barrier.
The barrier shattered, releasing a sonic boom emphasized by a rainbow. And as for Dash, she flew faster than ever, unhindered by the sound barrier and leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Not even bothering to look for the ring now, she just kept flying until she felt the burning in her muscles telling her to stop.
It took a moment to work off the extra momentum, but she was finally just hovering, panting slightly at the effort she had expended.
And right after she stopped, the ring appeared. “Rainbow Dash of Sector 0672, welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.” And before Dash could dodge or express her astonishment that the ring had actually caught up so quickly, it slipped onto her hoof, expanding enough to fit.
Energy flowed through her, reenergizing her aching muscles. She saw green, a wall of green that showed nothing of the sky in front of her. She felt clothes, form-fitting and comfortable, spontaneously form on her body.
And then it was over and she could see again.
The outfit, she had to admit, looked good. Very similar to the uniform of the Wonderbolts, but with a black and green color scheme, and with a symbol. A green lantern.
That reminded her. The ring said something about her joining the Green Lantern Corps. What was that?
“Okay, ring, so what’s this Green Lantern Corps you keep mentioning?”
“A group over 7200 strong that polices the universe and protects the innocent. Each member has a ring that makes whatever the user imagines real through focused willpower made solid.”
“Whatever I imagine, huh?” A thought, and the ring responded, creating a somewhat crude but somewhat accurate replica of Cloudsdale made out of green energy. Another thought, and green pegasi flew in and out of it. Then she stopped thinking about maintaining it to admire her handiwork, whereupon it vanished.
“Only works when I concentrate, I guess.” Dash stared at the ring a moment. “So, um, what’m I supposed to do now?”
“Report to planet Oa for training,” the ring replied promptly.
“It’s on another planet, huh?” Dash stared at the sky for a moment. She wasn’t much given to introspection, but on the rare occasions when she found herself thinking about more than fond memories or what was happening today, she often thought about what lay beyond the sun and the moon. Whether there were other life forms out there and what they were like.
She was curious, she had to admit. But…
“…I can’t accept,” Dash told the ring.
“Why?”
“I have friends here. I can’t just leave them. And I have responsibilities, too. Weather to manage. I can’t just leave them behind.” She ignored the part of her that pointed out how little she tended to her responsibilities anyway.
The ring was silent for a moment. Then: “Authorization for one Equestrian week to settle affairs granted. Authorization for using Equestria as home base after training granted.”
“…I’ll have to see what my friends have to say about that,” Dash finally said, more serious than usual. "But if they're okay with it... I'd be honored to accept."
“Of COURSE you should go! That way we can hold both a going-away AND a coming-back party for you!”
The blue pegasus groaned. She probably should have seen that coming from Pinkie Pie. Somehow she hadn’t, though. How strange.
“What in Equestria is this outfit made of?” Rarity exclaimed, examining it closely while Dash sat still, bored out of her mind. “So comfortable, and so stylish! Dash, you simply must let me get a sample of this sometime!”
“Rarity, that’s not what I came here for!”
“Oh, of course you should go, Dash. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime! I just wish I could go too. Imagine what sort of fashions they’d have! Imagine what a stir I’d create, emulating extraterrestrial fashions!”
“Urrrgh,” Dash groaned. Again. She really should have expected that, too.
“Ah don’t want ya ta go, sugarcube,” Applejack told Dash seriously over a glass of apple cider. “But you’ve got an opportunity ta save lives. Ta save worlds. That’s more important than we are right now. Ah’ll miss ya, but you’ve got a responsibility to them folks that gave ya the ring.”
“We can survive without you for a couple of weeks, Dash,” Twilight told the pegasus. “There’s a greater good at stake here. Entire worlds that need you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure!” the unicorn assured her friend, grinning. “Just make sure you record everything! When you get back, the knowledge of alien cultures will be invaluable!”
“What, like an egghead? No thanks!” Dash quipped, prompting a somewhat embarrassed laugh from Twilight.
“…I’m never going to say no to somepony helping those in need… but I’ll miss you a lot,” Fluttershy confessed.
“Don’t worry! I’ll be back before you know it!” Dash told her, masking her own uncertainty with bravado. “Just make sure your cheering is up to snuff for when I get back!”
The two Pegasi smiled at the continuation of an old joke, Dash’s wide grin and Fluttershy’s small but inexpressibly cute smile.
“Don’t worry,” repeated Dash. “Nothing can stop me from coming back here.”
But was she reassuring Fluttershy, or herself?
The week went by very quickly.
Raindrops agreed to take over as head of the weather team. Obviously Dash was more spectacular, but Raindrops was a good steady worker. Ponyville would just have to go without pizazz for a while.
Princess Celestia was informed of Dash’s unexpected trip. She took it in good stride, honestly, moreso than one would expect when the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty informs you she’s going to be off-planet for who knows how long. Naturally, Princess Luna was excited to hear the news; after all, she brought the stars into view every night, of course she’d welcome any new information about what lay beyond them.
And Scootaloo, after seeing Dash show off her new outfit and ring, talked Sweetie Belle into making a (surprisingly accurate) replica of the outfit for her to wear. Dash didn’t mind, although she did once have to prevent the small Pegasus from trying to fly off a cliff with a cardboard replica of the ring.
At some point the ring forcibly stopped Dash from using its power anymore, citing the entirely too reasonable excuse that it needed to have energy to get to Oa. Dash, though disappointed, had to admit that the ring had a point, especially when the ring pointed out the consequences of traveling in space without sufficient oxygen. She did wonder how anyone used the ring if it only had enough power for a bunch of tricks and the trip to this Oa place. Some magical probing from Twilight revealed that there was a way to recharge the ring with some other object, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. Oh well, no doubt the other Lanterns had some idea how to recharge the things.
The time came for her to leave. After the going-away party from Pinkie, of course. Pinkie tried to get Dash to stay for an after-going-away party, but Dash really had to get going.
Dash kept the goodbyes brief on purpose. That way they’d be a little less emotional. She was actually surprised how sad she was to be leaving.
Oh, and she wasn’t crying, she had something in her eye. If you say anything to the contrary, she’ll find you and do… something. Not sure what. But it’ll be dreadful, I’m sure.
But anyway, after brief goodbyes in which tears were assuredly not shed by Rainbow Dash, she was off, triggering the ring when she got high enough to start to need extra oxygen.
As sad as she was to be going, she had to admit that she was eager to find out just how fast she could go with the ring on her hoof.
Your Worst Nightmare Approaches
Ponyville was a lot quieter, a lot more boring with Rainbow Dash gone. Still, the ponies managed to adjust. Some of them more than others.
Out of the Mane Six, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack missed her the most. Pinkie pined for her partner in pranking and the sheer energy Dash had. Nothing compared to her own endless enthusiasm, of course, but in her mind, more energy was never bad. She threw herself into more parties at any conceivable occasion to try not to think about it, which eventually prompted Twilight to outright tell her that Spike’s 1.76384 birthday most certainly did not warrant a party. Not that Spike would have objected, of course.
Applejack’s main competition was gone. She didn’t have somepony to push her to greater athletic accomplishments with a well-placed taunt. Plus, she and Rainbow had always been close, when they weren’t squabbling over who was the better athlete. They both had little patience for anything especially complicated, preferring the simpler things in life. They could talk and agree about almost anything (unless the subject was who was the better athlete or Rainbow’s ego), which was a welcome release from the days when it seemed the apples were being contrary on purpose.
However, out of all of them, Fluttershy was hit the hardest. They were as different as night and day, sure, but they were close friends and had been since flight school. Dash always stood up for her and wasn’t afraid to push her outside of her comfort zone if she needed it. And when Fluttershy needed a shoulder to cry on, Rainbow’s was always available. The yellow pegasus could often be found looking at the stars at night, straining her eyes for a flash of rainbow, blue, and green.
Twilight and Rarity, not being as close to Dash as the others, weren’t hit as hard, but often after a couple of hours of quiet work, they’d wonder why Dash hadn’t disturbed their concentration yet, and then remember. Rarity in particular found it quite distracting; somehow the expected interruptions helped keep her concentration better than when there weren’t as many distractions. (I say not as many because Sweetie Belle was still around and a predictable source of mischief.) And Twilight, although harder to distract, found her mind wandering to Rainbow every time she opened an astronomy book.
Outside of the Mane Six, the one pony struggling with Dash's absence the most was Scootaloo, obviously. She missed her idol and hero quite a bit, but when she wasn’t distracting herself with imagining what cool shenanigans Dash was up to in space, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were suggesting several Cutie Mark ideas related to Rainbow Dash in an attempt to keep her from brooding for too long. Turns out none of them are Cutie Mark Crusader tellers of Green Lantern stories, bards or poets of the same, lifesavers, police, or firefighters (those last two got them into serious trouble. Not that that had ever stopped them.)
Even those that weren’t especially close to Rainbow missed her presence. One of Bon Bon’s most reliable customers was gone. Ditzy Doo missed the one pony who didn’t treat her like someone disabled (except Pinkie Pie, but Ditzy wasn’t sure if that counted). Even Angel, the least sentimental being in Ponyville, had to admit that Rainbow could motivate Fluttershy far better than he could.
Still, life went on without Rainbow, and things eventually settled down a little. But that doesn’t mean that nothing of interest happened during her absence…
The night was dark, made darker by the new moon. No, it wasn’t a stormy night, what gave you that idea?
In any event, Carousel Boutique had been closed for a while, and everypony within was in bed. Which wasn’t to say that they were asleep.
Sure, Sweetie Belle was snoring lightly, occasionally humming a few bars of the Cutie Mark Crusader theme in her sleep.
But Rarity was wide awake. There wasn’t a reason for her wakefulness. Indeed, if there was one, she’d have gone to address it long ago. No, she was inexplicably and irritatingly alert.
Which was why she was awake to see the rock flying through her open window, landing on the floor with a soft clunk.
Rarity was up in an instant, checking out the window to see the culprit and give him or her a good tongue-lashing…
…but nopony was there.
Rather confused, she turned to examine the rock and noticed the small piece of paper taped onto it, which read:
“Come to Sugarcube Corner. Wake Pinkie Pie as quietly as possible. I’ll meet you there. I’ll make it worth your while.
“Don’t worry about Sweetie Belle. I’ve made sure that the other Crusaders won’t be waking her tonight.”
The note was unsigned and written in cursive. Probably a unicorn, then; most members of the other races didn’t have the dexterity to write in the flowing style.
Well, she supposed she wasn’t getting any sleep tonight anyway…
It was surprisingly easy to get Pinkie Pie up early. Mostly because she was already awake.
“Blinky eye, itchy back left knee, twitchy back right knee, achy tail,” Pinkie mused, a lot quieter than usual as she sat on her bed. “What’s that one mean? I remember it from somewhere...”
“How should I know, Pinkie?” sighed Rarity. “Now if you’ll listen to me for one moment…”
Of course, Pinkie didn’t. “What is it, what is it? I know I know this one… Oh yeah! Last time I felt this combo, it was when Twilight was following me! But who’d be following me at this time of night?”
A gravelly male voice chuckled, making Rarity jump. “I wouldn’t mind having your prescience. It would make my mission much easier.”
“My what now?” Pinkie wondered.
“‘Prescience’, Pinkie. Your inexplicable knowledge of what’s happening or is about to happen around you. Pinkie Sense, in other words,” Rarity explained patiently, still looking around for the owner of the voice. “Where is he? I can only assume he’s the ruffian throwing rocks through windows.”
“Indeed.” The voice came from a different direction this time, and an Earth Pony stallion emerged from the closet as if he had melted out of the shadows.
His coat was a dark red, a color which Rarity realized explained part of how he hid so well; red was surprisingly hard to see in the dark. His short immaculate mane was a dark grey, which too helped with the stealth. His expression was grim; she got the feeling he smiled a lot but never truly meant it.
Rarity shivered involuntarily. It wasn’t so much his appearance as the atmosphere he brought with him. He practically radiated fear and gloom, an atmosphere that could daunt anypony.
“Hiya! I haven’t seen you around town! Are you new here? I bet you’re new here! I can’t believe I don’t have my Welcome Wagon ready! I really shouldn’t have eaten all that cake batter… You willing to wait until tomorrow for your very special welcome? Oh, or maybe I could just throw you a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party, that could work!”
…well, almost anypony.
“That won’t be necessary, Miss Pie,” graveled the stallion (yes, I know graveled isn’t a word, but that’s pretty much what he did!) “I need to commission Rarity for a couple of projects, and I included you because keeping secrets from you is a futile endeavor. I trust you can keep all of what I say tonight private?”
“Of course!” Pinkie exclaimed, somewhat offended. “After all…”
“Yes, yes, ‘forever’. I get the picture, Miss Pie,” the gravelly voice deadpanned. “I’ll be requiring secrecy of you as well, Miss Rarity.”
“But of course, assuming your intentions aren’t malicious,” Rarity qualified.
“They aren’t. At least, not to anypony that doesn’t deserve it,” he growled, angry at something. Rarity prided herself on her ability to read other ponies, but she wasn’t sure exactly what he was so bent out of shape about. Still, she didn’t feel as if he meant harm to the innocent.
“You have my word,” she committed.
"Just to be sure, Pinkie Promise."
Rarity and Pinkie swore.
“Now, what is this commission?” asked Rarity.
“Two things,” the stallion began. “First, a large sticker to cover my Cutie Mark. It must match my body color precisely, have a moneybag Cutie Mark, and be indistinguishable from my natural coat.”
Raising an eyebrow, Rarity replied, “Easy enough to make, but what do you need that for?”
“To hide his Cutie Mark, duh! He must be planning on surprising somepony with a surprise party!” Pinkie grinned.
“…”
“…”
Eventually the stallion spoke, completely ignoring Pinkie. “For the second commission, I need a suit. Full-body with mask to conceal my face and mane, impact and magic resistant. Capable of stealth. Easy movement. Fake Bat-Pegasus wings for gliding and intimidation. Bat motif. Beyond that, you’re free to improvise.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “A very tall order, Mr…”
“Call me the Bat, Miss Rarity.”
“Mr… Bat?” An odd name, to be sure.
“You sure it’s not Bruce Wayne?” Pinkie asked, eyebrow raised.
“…yes. I’m quite sure,” the Bat said, the slightest hint of puzzlement entering his voice. That didn’t even sound like a pony name. Griffin or donkey, maybe. But not pony.
“This will take me months!” Rarity exclaimed with slight dismay, which shortly turned to enthusiasm as she realized that she had been itching for a good challenge ever since the Gala last year. “Oh, but of course I’ll do it! This will be my finest work yet, or my name isn’t Rarity Tabitha Belle!”
“For these commissions and your silence on the matter, I’ll pay 130,000 bits.”
“130,000?” Rarity gasped. That was more than Hoity-Toity had paid her for dozens of her finest dresses! “Y-you really needn’t pay that much, Mr. Bat! I would have done it for 13,000!”
“Precisely why I’m paying you 130,000.”
“Wha… but… what… I… Pinkie, can you believe this?” Rarity stuttered, turning to look at Pinkie.
“Yepperoo!” Pinkie said, grinning. “I can believe it just fine! He’s gone now, by the way.”
“What?” Rarity turned back to the stallion, who indeed was there no longer.
“Wha? Where did he go?”
When she got back home, there was another note on her pillow.
“Send a letter to 223 Dark Night Avenue via Spike when you’re ready to have them picked up. Do not tell anypony who you’re sending the letter to. My measurements are below.”
Rarity scanned the paper and indeed, every measurement she would need was below, plus a few that she didn’t. Really, what would she need his eyelash lengths for? Nonetheless, she dutifully memorized the length.
At the bottom of the paper was something in different handwriting, more cramped and less fancy.
“Please excuse Master ‘the Bat’ for any rudeness. Without me to keep him in line, he tends towards the abrasive. Here’s hoping he didn’t offend you too badly.”
Rarity stifled a laugh. Didn’t want to wake Sweetie, after all. Whoever this was, he or she had a sense of humor. Probably had to, in order to work with that Mr. Bat.
She was too awake for bed, so she went to her desk, levitated her glasses to her, and began writing the measurements down, as well as sketching a just a few design ideas and oh, this could be how she could add magic resistance, although she’d need Spike to get some black opals for her to match the color scheme, although maybe some citrine in just the right place could really set off the stylized bat logo she had jotted down…
When Sweetie Belle woke up that morning, it was to a snoozing Rarity at her desk, various papers with design notes scattered across the desk.
“Asleep at the desk again, sis?” Sweetie muttered, shaking her head. “Honestly, that’s the third time this week!”
