Applejack of the Green Lanterns

by Thatguywiththemane

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Crossover, Applejack, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other
Length: 31379

Applejack becomes a member of the legendary Green Lanterns.

Applejack was a simple pony, content with a hard day's work and good friends. However, fate decides she's in for a little more than that when an alien crashes into the farm and gives her a strange ring. Now, Applejack is thrust into a war she never expected, part of the intergalactic police force, the Green Lanterns. The enemy? A merciless group of warriors called the Yellow Lanterns, whose brutality is unmatched by any in the universe. Faced with a savagery that she has never encountered before, Applejack must step up and become the iron willed warrior the Green Lanterns, and the universe, need her to be.

"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!"

A big thanks to http://uc77.deviantart.com/ for his use of a cover image.

Published 2012-10-17 12:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-30 05:34:45 UTC

Chapter One: A Light Goes Out

Disclaimer: Green Lantern belongs to DC Comics.

My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

The moon was high in the sky over Sweet Apple Acres. It cast its pale light over the entire orchard, giving the bright skin of the apples a silvery glow when looked at from just the right angle. The moon was fat and full, with the Mare in the Moon looking down. The stars seemed to dance against a navy blue background, almost in celebration of the night.

Atop a small hill in the farm, about a mile from the farmhouse, sat an orange earth pony. The hill overlooked a large pond, teeming with crickets and other insect life. The workhorse of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, had her legs folded under her as she looked up at the cloudless sky. She worked so hard during the day, and she was happy to have a moment to herself during the night. As much as ponies saw Twilight as the stargazer, and she was, Applejack had always loved looking up at the sky. She didn’t use a telescope: she didn’t need it. Applejack wasn’t charting star paths, or whatever it was Twilight did. Applejack looked up at the sky to get a better look at herself.

She had a pretty good life here. A good days work, a great family, and the best darn friends a pony could ask for. She smiled to herself as she felt a cool evening breeze blow through her mane. On a whim, she undid the ties on her mane and tail, letting the hair flow freely. That breeze that blew through her blond locks was colder than the ones last night, which meant fall was coming in. Harvest time was coming, and she and Big Mac would-

Whoa, there, filly, hold yer horses. We don’ think about those things out here, do we? she chided mentally. It was true, Applejack generally used this time to wind down from the day, not work herself up. There would be plenty of time to plow herself into the ground in the morning. Right now, she was focusing on her own thoughts.

She smiled, letting her mind drift to other things. Like how much Apple Bloom had grown. Boy howdy, had she grown. She’d be getting her cutie mark any day now, if she’d just settle down about it. She would be a very pretty filly when she got older. She'd have to beat the stallions off with a stick... if Big Mac didn't do it first. Applejack chuckled softly, imagining how THAT would go in her head. She thought they had a nice hefty piece of lumber in the barn...

Applejack began to stand, deciding that it was about time she headed to bed. She had another full day of work tomorrow, and as Benjamin Flanklan had said, “Early to bed, early to rise.” Applejack’s thoughts were interrupted, however, by the appearance of a star twinkling a little bit brighter.

She squinted a bit, frowning and tilting her head at the sight of the star. Huh, she thought, squinting a bit harder at the point of light. Is it just me, or is that star gettin’… bigger? And indeed, it looked like the star was growing, its light getting bigger as she looked on. That was… odd. Stars moved in the sky, sure, but they didn't grow like that. And… wait, it looked like it was turning… green? What in Celestia’s name…? she asked herself, continuing to watch the little speck of light, which was starting to become not so little.

The light was getting bigger and bigger, even getting brighter. At the back of her mind she wondered if Twilight was looking at this. Maybe she should go ask her… Hold it one apple buckin’ minute… it aint gettin’ bigger… its gettin’ closer! And indeed, it looked as if the light might not be a star at all, but an object heading straight for Sweet Apple Acres. A very close spot. A spot marked by a certain freckled pony…

Applejack started running, heading for a nearby ditch, hoping it would shield her from the resulting impact. She covered her head in her hooves, closing her eyes. Please land in the pond, please land in the pond, please land in the pond… she repeated in her mind, tensing her body in preparation.

Her prayers went unanswered as instead of a large splash, there was an earth-shattering crash, followed by a cloud of dust and debris. A cloud of said debris soared over the ditch, before settling down onto the dusty ground. Applejack was protected by the ditches overhang, but she wasn't protected from the shockwave that rocked the ground. She could feel the vibrations against her back as she pressed herself against the wall of the ditch. She kept her eyes closed, waiting out the horrible rumbling of the earth.

Once the quake subsided, she slowly opened her eyes, looking around the depression in the earth she had taken shelter in. She breathed a sigh of relief, resting her back against the side. She took a moment to regain her bearings, slowly getting to her feet. She hooked her hooves over the edge of the ditch, and pulled herself up, looking towards the impact sight.

She almost regretted it. Right where she had been sitting was a huge crater, the dirt gouged out by the force of the object’s impact. The tree she had been under had been uprooted by the celestial wrecking ball, its roots totally incinerated. It looked like something was caught in the trunk, too, by the look of it. She gingerly approached the destroyed tree, and examined the foreign object. It was green, and the texture was rough, like some kind of bone. It was tapered on one end, but jagged on the other, as if it had broken off of something. She looked from the strange object to the ruined tree. ‘Hayseed…’ she lamented briefly, calling to mind the tree’s name. Her grief was cut short, however, when she saw the strange green light at the bottom of the crater. Or, more specifically, what was at the center.

It was… well, it certainly wasn’t a pony. It looked like some kind of lizard, with patchy, green, leathery skin. It had a crest upon its head, a short, bony protrusion with a jagged edge. Applejack turned green as she realized that the bony object she had seen moments ago had been part of this creature. It didn’t have any wings, so she didn’t think it was dragon, but it looked like the two might not be too far off. It seemed to have claws, like Spike did, four on each appendage, with a ring around one of them. It also seemed to be wearing clothes, some kind of odd uniform. It was black and green, with a strange symbol on its chest: a circle with a line on the top and bottom.

Applejack was a bit wary of this thing- not unwarranted, she thought, as it fell out of the Celestia blessed sky- but she’d be damned if it would be said that an Apple left something to die. So, on shaking legs, she eased her way into the hole, letting the dirt slide under her hooves. She reached the bottom, almost touching the creature. She nudged the creature’s shoulder but backed off quickly to be safe. “Hey… you alright, partner?”

At her words, the creature’s eyes opened, and took a long, shuddering breath. Applejack jumped a foot, and backed up a bit. The creature lifted its appendage up, the right one with the ring on it. It turned its head, and Applejack saw that some kind of green liquid was leaking from the corner of its mouth.

“Who… are you…?” it asked, its voice weak and raspy. It certainly sounded alien, with a strange kind of distortion. It reached out its appendage towards her, looking as if it was seeking something. Applejack had seen this before, a long time ago… She instinctively knew that it was looking for a connection, it its final moments. It was then that Applejack knew the creature was going to die, and it knew it.

All fear left Applejack at the point. The poor creature was dying, and needed contact with another living thing. Applejack offered her hoof, and touched its appendage. The creature’s claws closed around her hoof, still with some strength in its weakened state. Applejack, after a moment of just sitting there, finally said, “Ah’m Applejack. Who’re you?”

The creature gave what might be considered a smile, and said, “I am… Seron Gruto, Green Lantern of… Sector 0236…” it said. “You have been chosen… Applejack of Equestria… to join us…” It released her hoof and moved its right appendage. It tried to reach over its body, but stopped suddenly and gave a bloodcurdling howl. Applejack winced mightily, and placed a hoof on its shoulder. “Whoa, partner, be careful!” she yelled.

The creature shook its head. “No, this… must be done…” it said, reaching over again. It gave a sickly groan, but reached over its body, and quickly plucked the ring off its claw. “The ring… has chosen you… to serve in the Corps… It is a great honor…”

Applejack tilted her head, supremely confused now. The ring chose her? Green Lanterns? What in Equestria was it talking about? “Ah don’t know what you're talking about,” she said quietly, a touch of fear returning.

The creature nodded. “It is to be expected. Put on the ring, say the oath to the lantern… the Guardians will explain… Tell them… the Five Inversions… are moving… Beware… Rage…” It pressed the ring up to her right hoof, and before Applejack’s eyes, the band began to grow, until it was able to slip on like a bracelet around her fetlock. It felt… warm. Not the kind of warm that came from being worn, though, as she expected. It was as if it was heated from within, especially from the symbol on it. She realized then that the symbol was the same on the creature’s chest.

The ring shone brightly, let out a flash of green light. When it finally dimmed, something had appeared in front of her. It was bright green, the same emerald hue as the ring and the creature’s uniform. It was a sphere with two holes on either end. It had a round base, and a similar object on the top. Connected to the sides was a piece of metal that connected at the top to form a handle. A bright green light seemed to radiate from within the holes on the object. It looked something like a railroad lantern, she thought.

The creature gripped her hoof once more, looking her in the eyes. “Repeat after me…” it said. “In brightest day… in blackest night… no evil shall… shall escape my sight. Let those… who worship… evil’s might… beware my power… Green Lantern’s light…” As it finished this strange phrase, the creature- no, Seron – went limp and closed his eyes, letting out one last shuddering breath.

Applejack sat there for a moment, staring at Seron Gruto, who, for whatever reason, had chosen this planet to die, leaving behind… Tartarus’ sake, she didn’t even know. Did he have a family? Friends? Co-workers? Someone had to tell them, if they did exist. Whoever he was, he was a living, thinking creature, and he deserved better than this, to die so far away from home with only a stranger for comfort. She wouldn’t wish that on anypony…

And so she sat, wondering just what had happened… and what it meant.

--

Applejack patted the dirt at her hooves, settling it down. She had just spent the last hour digging a grave for Seron. She felt she owed him that, even if he hadn’t made a lot of sense. It hadn’t occurred to her until too late to go out and get a shovel, but she felt she had a pass on logical thought for the night. She picked up a sizable rock she had managed to find, and placed it at the head of the grave. It was a simple marker, with no name or epitaph, but it was what she could manage. Not for the first time tonight, she wished Twilight was here. She might have been able to mark the rock, and for that matter know what in Celestia’s name had just happened.

Applejack looked at the ring around her hoof, which looked like it was glowing again. Seron had said to “say the oath to the lantern”. Her gaze drifted over to the object that had appeared. She was no fool; she could put two and two together. It seemed crazy, but... well, it was her only clue. She sat in front of the lantern, just looking into it and its strange light. What was it that Seron had said?

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape mah sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware mah power, Green Lantern’s light.”

As the last words left her mouth, the lantern’s light intensified. What looked like a green flame snaked out of the lantern, and began swirl around her. Applejack backed away from the fire as it followed her, but she stopped when she realized that it wasn’t hot. In fact, it felt almost pleasant. As she felt the fire, it slowly enveloped her in a sphere of emerald flame. The fire turned into a transparent green bubble, surrounding both her and the lantern. Applejack hesitantly placed a hoof against the bubble, and met with strong resistance. However, before she could start panicking about being trapped in a sphere of green energy, she was presented with an entirely different reason to panic: The bubble shot up into the air, carrying her along with it. Applejack hurtled through the air inside the ball, hesitantly looking down at the ground. Ponyfeathers, she was already above the clouds! She started beating her hooves against the bubble, then reared back on her front hooves, giving the sphere a mighty buck. She cried out in pain, however, as the force of her buck didn’t damage the bubble at all, but instead went right back into her.

“Oh, Celestia…” she said as her situation sank in. She was trapped in an indestructible green bubble, which looked like it was actually LEAVING the planet’s orbit now, towards who-knew-where. Applejack curled up in it, the events of the night finally catching up to her. She closed her eyes and started to sleep, hoping this was all just a crazy dream she could laugh about with the girls tomorrow.

Chapter Two: Friends and Enemies

((AN: Please don't message me about the deviation from continuity. I have a feeling I'll be playing fast and loose with it anyway. Also keep in mind that I haven't read the comics, and am relying heavily on the Green Lantern wiki. Also, internet cookie to those who can identify the unnamed Green Lanterns XD))

A light shined in Applejack’s closed eyes, causing her to stir in her sleep. She groaned a bit as she woke up, her eyes still closed. Her neck was a little stiff from having slept in a hard surface. She must have fallen asleep under Hayseed last night. It wouldn’t be the first time; time often got away with her during the night, as did how tired she really was. Big Mac was always telling her to pay attention to the time. He was going to kill her if she was late for her chores, and if the brightness was any indication, she was. He always insisted that she sleep in her bed. Darn the grass for being so comfortable. Oh well, she thought, may as well face the music…

She opened her eyes slightly, before quickly closing them again. Rather than the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, as she expected, her eyes were filled with a massive bright light. She jumped up, and winced as her muscles screamed in protest. She sat back down and rubbed her legs, working out the stiffness from them. They tingled with the telltale sign of having fallen asleep. She looked back up to the light, amazed at what she saw.

It was a massive ball of fire. It almost encompassed her entire field of vision, with a black void covered in pinpoints of light making up the background. It swirled with flares of gas, larger and more powerful than anything she had ever seen. Wait a minute, she had seen something like it before, something back home. Once she thought about it, she realized it looked like the sun. Finally it dawned on her: it was a star, close up. She was hurtling past another sun, and darn close to one too.

Applejack was stunned, a constant state for her lately, as she dimly considered how this was possible. How in Equestria was she this close? She should be dead right now. She looked around, hoping to get a clue, and saw the green ball surrounding her. Oh, right. So it wasn't a dream. Applejack hung her head, her mane falling around her face. Oh, great, she thought. On topa everything, Ah don’t even have mah hair ties… A stupid problem, maybe, but she felt that even that would have given her some comfort. And she could use some of that right now.

Applejack settled back down, looking around her into the vastness of space that surrounded her. In any other situation, it would have been beautiful. The astounding emptiness of it all, the incredible number of lights that dotted the sky, each one another star like the one she had passed. Of course, her appreciation was tempered by the fact that she was hurtling through said space towards somewhere she didn’t know, for a reason she could fathom. Could someone have thought she killed Seron? Whoo, boy, she had some explaining to do…

Looked like she would be doing it sooner rather than later, too. She was getting awfully close to a planet. As she got closer, it began to come into focus. It was green, just like every other weird thing that had shown up lately, and had the same symbol as the one on the ring she wore. The symbol looked like it was etched into the landscape, along with a massive band around the planet. Someone had gone to an awful lot of trouble to cultivate a forest just so it would look like the symbol from space. Who goes to that much trouble? she asked herself. She was about to find out, it seemed, as she was starting to enter the planet’s atmosphere.

Applejack expected the air around her to burst into flame, but it looked like that wasn’t happening. In fact, the sphere wasn’t even shaking. It was a smooth ride all the way in. The orange pony was reminded of the time she asked Twilight what shooting stars really were, and she had told her about the massive amount of turbulence that entering an atmosphere generated. It seemed like that wasn’t the case here, though, as the ride towards the planet was pretty smooth.

As she went further into the atmosphere, she went through the clouds, and finally got a look at the planet’s surface. The breath was stolen from her lungs as the saw the sight below her. It wasn't a forest at all; it was a city, a massive city, and by the look of it, the entire band around the planet was part of it. Massive emerald spires rose up into the sky, and she could see green figures moving around them. Whoever lived here, it looked like they could fly, since she couldn’t see the ground. How on earth was she going to get around so she could find a way home?

As soon as she formed that thought, the bubble touched down on an outcropping connected to a building. When her hooves touched the platform, her ring shone once more, bathing her in green light. It solidified into a uniform around her body, a kind of jumpsuit. On her chest was a dark green piece of cloth, looking a lot like a vest that the ponies in Applaoosa wore. Underneath it was a black jumpsuit with the symbol on her ring on her chest, green on a white background. Her legs were covered in black cloth, but the hooves up to her fetlocks were as green as the body. Her ring was outside it, still glowing. Thankfully, she still had her Stetson. Where her cutie mark would have been, the symbol that was so prominent everywhere else adorned her flanks.

Applejack looked on her body, examining her now outfit. “Huh,” she said aloud. Really, she should have been more surprised, but after all that had happened, this was perhaps the least weird thing. And besides, she had seen Rarity create outfits seemingly out of nowhere. At least this one seemed practical.

All of a sudden, she heard a voice behind her say, “Comfortable?” She wiped around, facing whoever it was that had spoken to her, crouching down into a sturdier position. Again, she was faced with something new. It was another creature, but not like Seron. It looked something like a large monkey, an animal that she had seen at Fluttershy’s cottage one. This one, however, looked to be about six feet tall, and had almost no fur. The only fur it did have was brown, and on the top of its head. It sounded masculine, so she assumed he was male. Anything else about his face she couldn't determine, since he wore a mask.

The creature chuckled and raised its arms. She noticed that it had the same kind of appendages that Seron had, only they seemed a bit thicker and he had five of them. “Whoa, there, cowgirl, take it easy. I’m not here to start trouble. Let me guess, first time on Oa? Well, welcome to the Corps.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow, but started to ease her stance. It didn’t seem like the creature was out to hurt her, and seemed friendly enough. “Well, thank ya kindly… whatever yeh are,” she said, offering a hoof. “Name’s Applejack.”

The creature smiled. “Nice to meet you, AJ. Name’s Hal, Hal Jordan,” he said, taking her hoof and shaking it. “Green Lantern of Sector 2814, human. I’m guessing you have a lot of questions, so why don't we get some grub?” he asked. Applejack made a face. Grub?

“Uh, no thanks, partner, Ah’m not too fond of bugs. Not for eatin’, anyway,” she said. She may not be as refined as Rarity, but she had standards, nonetheless.

The creature laughed, shaking its head. “Just an expression, miss. It means food. We have a decent cafeteria here, even if they can't make a burger to save their lives. I'm sure they'll have something you can chow on, though.”

Applejack’s stomach gave a mighty rumble, and she chuckled herself, rubbing the back of her head. “Well, Ah guess Ah could use a little food. Ah kinda had a rough night…” she said. That was something of an understatement, but still…

“Well, then, follow me,” he said. Rather than turning around and walking, as she expected, he rose into the air, wrapped in a green aura. The symbol on his chest was lit up, and it looked like it had risen up from his uniform. Applejack’s jaw dropped, and she sat down hard. He was flying… without wings. A bigger surprise came when he turned in mid air and said, “You coming?”

He expected HER to fly?! Ok, now she had heard everything. “Uh, Hal? You may have the freaky power to fly without wings, but Ah’m just an earth pony. Ah can't fly.”

Hal looked confused a moment, but then facehoofed… or face-whatever-he-had. “Sorry, forgot you’re new. You can use the ring to fly; I'll explain more about it on the way. Just focus on rising into the air, and you will.”

Applejack was skeptical, but as she had been thinking constantly since Seron had crashed into her farm, things couldn't get any weirder. Unfortunately, just as constantly, she had been proven wrong. Applejack closed her eyes, concentrating on what Hal told her to. As a frame of reference, she pictured Rainbow Dash when she hovered, lifting off the ground with such grace. She envied her sometimes; able to go anywhere she wanted, whenever she wanted…

She heard Hall laugh. “Take a look, cowgirl.”

Applejack opened her eyes, and gasped aloud. She looked down, and the ground was a good ten feet beneath her. She was also surrounded by a green aura, just like Hal was. She jumped in mid air, startled, and lost concentration for a moment. That was all it took, though, The green aura vanished, and she fell the full ten feet, but didn't land on the ground. Instead, she was resting on a large green cushion that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. It was strange, though; it was soft, but it didn't have the texture of a cushion. It also looked like it was connected to something by a strange green cord on one side. She followed it with her eyes, and saw it was connected to Hal’s ring. “What in tarnation…” she said to herself, supremely confused now.

Hal just laughed and landed next to her. “It’s called a hard light construct. You can do it too, it’s part of being a Green Lantern. Using our willpower, we can use the energy in our rings to create… well, anything. Anything you can imagine, you can make out of green energy. It all depends on your will. It’s really amazing, huh?”

Applejack looked down at the cushion, as Hal suggested, amazed. He had just… made this? “Ah’ll say… You said Ah can do that, too?” she asked.

Hal smiled. “Yeah, but we'll get to that later. For now, though, let’s focus on flying. I'll give you the tour.”

Applejack closed her eyes, once again focusing on how Rainbow Dash hovered in the air. This time she felt herself rise into the air, up to the altitude she was at before. She opened her eyes, prepared this time. She grinned as she hovered in the air, and laughed as she floated over to Hal. “Yeehaw! This is amazin’, Hal! Ah’ve always wanted ta fly!”

Hal chuckled. “Well, now you are. Come on, AJ, I’ll show you Oa,” he said, starting to head towards a large round building. As Applejack followed him, she looked at the building; she almost sure she had seen it before. But where… Wait! The lantern she had!

“Hey, that building looks like the lantern Ah got from Seron!” she said, looking around. “Hey, where is it?” she asked, looking back to where she had landed. "It’s gone…”

Hal looked behind him, at Applejack. “Seron? Seron Gruto?”

Applejack frowned. Oh no, was he a friend? “Uh, yeah. Ah’m sorry to say, but Seron died when he landed. He looked pretty beat up. He also said something about a message for some people called the Guardians.”

Hal’s eyes went wide behind his mask. “The Guardians? Ok, tour’s over. Time to introduce you to the big bosses,” he said, heading to the right. Applejack turned with him, flailing her arms a bit to keep her balance, but she managed. She looked to where they were heading, and saw a building much bigger than the surrounding ones. Hal and Applejack started flying upwards, and Applejack saw that it was shaped like the symbol she kept seeing. “What is that symbol, anyway?” she asked Hal.

“Symbol of the Corps, AJ. We're kind of an intergalactic police force. Each GL is in charge of a sector of the universe, and is responsible for keeping the peace in it. I guess you'll be taking over for Seron,” he said, looking a bit sad. Applejack frowned, remembering the poor alien she had met. She didn't want to say it, but it looked like he suffered…

“If it makes ya feel any better, Hal, I did bury him. Didn’t seem right, just ta leave him there.”

Hal fell back a bit so he was next to Applejack, and smiled. “Actually, yeah, it does. You're a good seed, Applejack. You know, same thing happened to me, when I got the ring. Poor guy crashed a ship into a swamp. His name was Abin Sur, and he was apparently a damn good Lantern. One of the best. Seron was too, actually. ”

Applejack gulped. She was supposed to take over for someone who was one of the best? That was… wait, take over?! What was this about?!

Applejack stopped in mid air, and folded her hooves in front of her chest. “Hold yer horses, there, Hal. Ah can't just up and leave mah family and mah job just to gallivant through the universe fightin bad guys! Ah’ve got a life back home, a brother and a little sister. She don't even have her flippin’ cutie mark yet! Do you have any idea how much work Ah do around the farm? Most of it! One pony can't harvest the whole orchard, and Granny’s too old to help Big Mac! Fall’s comin’! And somepony needs to fix up the barn, trim the dead branches off the trees, and help Ponyville with Winter Wrap Up come spring! So you take me to a ship or whatever that can get me back to Equestria before I buck you right through a wall, freaky ring be damned!”

Applejack began breathing heavily, a little drained from her tirade. Hal looked at her a moment, then said, “You done?”

Applejack sighed, hanging her head. “Yeah, Ah’m done.”

Hal smiled softly and laid one of his appendages on her shoulder. “It’s ok, AJ. I was in your… Do ponies wear shoes?” he asked. Applejack chuckled and nodded. “Ah, ok. I was in your shoes once. But it’s alright, I promise. From what Seron told me, Sector 0236 is pretty quiet. Your planet might be one of the only ones with intelligent life. I’m still able to live a decently normal life, and so is Kyle, another Lantern in my Sector. You and your family will be ok, I promise.”

Applejack sighed, looking at his appendage. “What do you call that thing, anyway?”

He laughed. “It’s called a hand, cowgirl. Now come on, we need to see the Guardians.”

Applejack followed Hal as he flew into the building. Once inside, they landed, and began walking through the hallways, which were -big surprise- green. As they walked, Applejack saw several more aliens: One looked like it didn't have any eyes, and instead of a Green Lantern symbol, he had a green bell on his uniform. One had four arms, and barely offered a greeting to Hal, too preoccupied with the green screen constructs surrounding it. Another had purple skin, with darker purple markings around its face. It had long dark fur on the top of her head, much longer than Hal’s. Hal seemed to know her, since she stopped and smiled at him. “Ah, Hal Jordan, it is good to see you. I trust you are well?” it said, in a rather feminine voice.

Hal smiled at the alien. “Iolande, good to see you too. And yes, I’m just fine, thank you. Oh, I gotta introduce you to my new friend. Iolande, this is Applejack, a new member of the Corps,” he said, indicating Applejack. “Applejack, this is Iolande, Queen of Betrassus. And one hell of a Lantern,” he said, chuckling.

Applejack lifted a hoof and offered a tip of the hat. “Howdy there, Yer Highness. It’s real nice to meet ya.”

The alien smiled. “Hello, Applejack. I must say, your speech patterns are a bit unusual. It is quite lovely. Please, say something else.”

Applejack tilted her head, a little confused. “Uh, what’d you want me to say?”

Iolande chuckled. “That is fine, Applejack. I do not want to keep you from your audience with the Guardians. We will have to have lunch together some time,” she said, moving past Hall and Applejack.

Applejack looked up at Hal. “That was kinda… weird.”

Hal laughed. “I don’t think she’s ever heard an accent like yours before, is all. Take it as a compliment, that’s how I saw it.”

Applejack shrugged and continued walking, Hal leading the way. A thought finally struck Applejack. “Hey, Hal, how is it that all these aliens speak Equestrian? Ah’ve been able to understand everyone, and they seem to be able to understand me.”

Hal smiled and tapped his ring. “It’s the rings, cowgirl. They act as universal translators, interpreting incoming and outgoing language and making it sound like a language the listener can understand.”

Applejack frowned, still a bit confused. Hal chuckled. “Basically, the ring makes it so hear everything as Equestrian, and everyone else hears their language.”

Applejack grinned. “See, finally yer speakin’ plain Equestrian.”

After a few minutes, they reached a rather large door. It was easily three times as tall as Applejack was while standing on her back legs, and it had the Corps symbol on it. Hal looked at her, indicating the door. “You ready, cowgirl?”

Applejack frowned. “Ah guess, Hal. Anythin’ Ah should know before Ah meet em?”

He shrugged. “Just be careful. They're kind of touchy.”

Applejack just nodded and pushed the door open. Inside were seven raised chairs. In each one sat a strange alien that looked a kind of human. They were much shorter, though, even shorter than Applejack. They also had heads a little disproportionate to their bodies, and blue skin. Most of them had white fur on their heads, cut into different styles. One of them looked at Applejack, and nodded. “Applejack of Equestria, Green Lantern of Sector 0236. Welcome to Oa, and to the Green Lantern Corps.”

Applejack bowed a bit to the Guardians, a little surprised at how they looked. She had expected something a little more… intimidating. “Uh, thanks, Ah guess…”

One of them crossed its arms. “As a member of the Green Lantern Corps, you will be expected to adhere to the laws of the Guardians. I’m sure that with time, you will prove yourself worthy of the Green light of Will. You are the first pony to be given this honor, and we will be observing your progress.”

Applejack frowned. “Uh, thank yeh kindly, yer Guardianess. Ah, uh, have a message, the last thing Seron Gruto, the Green Lantern before me, said before he died."

One raised its eyebrow. “And what is it that Seron told you in his final hours?”

Applejack gulped. “He said… the Five Inversions are movin’, and to Beware Rage…”

The guardians gasped, all seven of them. They whispered amongst each other, to quiet for applejack to hear, leaving Applejack to sit in front of them, twiddling her hooves. Finally, after what seemed like forever, one turned to her. “The Five Inversions have long been gone, imprisoned on their own throneworld before even the Green Lanterns. You heard wrong, Applejack of Equestria.”

Applejack frowned, crossing her hooves. “Now, wait a cotton pickin’ minute. Ah know what Ah heard, and Seron said that the Five Inversions were movin’. Who are they, anyway?”

One of the guardians held up its hand, and a screen appeared in front of her. Five different aliens appeared on it. They were all grotesque in one way or another, but one caught her eye specifically. It was larger than the others, completely red and very muscular. Its teeth were razor sharp and were so big they spilled out of his mouth. Applejack shivered; that one freaked her out, definitely.

“The Five Inversions were a group of aliens native to Sector 0666. Before we created the Green Lanterns, we sought to create an army to police the universe. These were the Manhunters, powerful machine soldiers that were programmed to uphold justice.” The images changed to figures, shaped like humans, colored blue and orange. “They performed admirably for a time. However, over time, their creed of ‘No man escapes the Manhunters’ became all consuming. Finally, a glitch created a devastating new program: eradicate all life. They proceeded to wipe out Sector 0666, leaving only five aliens before we could get them under control.”

Applejack gasped, placing a hoof to her mouth. One of the guardians nodded. “Yes, it was one of our greatest blunders. It did, however, show us the folly of using emotionless machines to police the universe. As such, we harnessed the Green energy of will, the most easily used in the Emotional Spectrum. We forged the Central Power Battery, and with it, the power rings. However, the five beings that lived, Qull, Worz, Kultonious, Qurr, and Atrocitus, used ancient sorcery to form around them the Empire of Tears. Using our new mastery of Will, we fought the Empire, who sought revenge for the destruction of their sector. They killed many of us, but we were eventually victorious. We imprisoned them on Ysmault, and declared that planet forbidden space. With our numbers depleted, we formed the Green Lanterns to serve our will.”

Applejack shook her head, trying to take in the information she had just received. Celestia’s name, she wished Twilight were here. “But, what about Rage? What does that mean?”

One of the guardians frowned. “We are not sure. We have a suspicion, but not enough evidence to draw a conclusion. Leave us now, Applejack of Equestria, and tell Hal Jordan to continue training you with the ring. Good luck, Green Lantern,” it said, floating into the air and leaving the room, along with its comrades.

Applejack was once again alone, and a bit uncomfortable in the large room. She walked out, looking for Hal. She really needed a familiar face, even if it was funny looking. She found him leaning on a wall, manipulating little balls of hard light. Upon seeing her, he smiled, and the constructs vanished. “And she walks out alive. How did it go? What was this message you were supposed to deliver?”

“Well,” said Applejack, “Seron told me that the Five Inversions were movin, and to beware Rage. The Guardians told me about some machines called Manhunters, and about Sector 0666, and that the Five Inversions were locked up. It was kinda a messed up story. “

Hal frowned. “I thought the same about the whole Manhunter thing. Did they tell you anything else?”

“Yeah, they did,” she said. “They said that you were supposed ta train me.”

Hal laughed. “They did, huh? Well, welcome to Hal Jordan’s Ring slinging, recruit. Let’s get started, shall we?”

Applejack chuckled. “Ring slingin’? Really?”

Hal grinned. “Not my word, trust me. Now, your first lesson: Lunch.”

Chapter Three: Training

The cafeteria on Oa bustled with activity, creatures of all different shapes and sizes walking around and waiting in line for food. Applejack smiled as she sat in her chair, eating the meal that had been presented to her. Unfortunately, when she had asked the alien behind the counter for some apples, he told her they didn't have any. He had, instead, offered her something called Zuma fruits. They didn't look anything like apples; they were black, and had strange nubs on them. Applejack was hesitant at first, but Hal told her that Greet, the alien, was one of the best cooks in the universe. So, Applejack cowponied up and tried one, and was delighted to find that they tasted almost identical to her beloved tree-born food.

Hal chuckled as Applejack dug in, eating a meal of his own. He had asked Greet for a salad, which he seemed to be enjoying immensely. “So, how do you like the food here on Oa?"

Applejack looked up, face covered in black Zuma flesh. “It’s just dandy, Hal. Ah haven't eaten all day, and these sure do taste a lot like apples. Thank yeh fer bringin’ me here.”

“No problem, Cowgirl. You’re gonna need it if I’m gonna show you the basics,” he said, biting what looked like a blue tomato off his fork. Applejack went back to her meal, Hal’s comment having put butterflies in her stomach. She was admittedly a little nervous about learning how to wield the ring. She never thought she’d be doing something like this. One minute, she’s a farmer from Ponyville, and the next, she’s an intergalactic police officer working for little blue creatures.

“Penny for your thoughts, cowgirl,” he said, nudging her with his elbow.

Applejack looked up at her new friend. “Ah’m just nervous, Ah guess. This ain’t exactly a direction Ah saw mah life goin’ in.”

Hal nodded. “I hear ya, sister. On my planet, we hadn't even heard of extra terrestrials until a few years ago, when Superman showed up. Then all of a sudden a purple alien shows up and hands me a ring, and I'm brought to another planet. Bit of a wakeup call for me. Bet it was for you too,” he said.

Applejack sighed. “Don't get me wrong, Ah’ve fought before. Me and mah friends took on some nasty critters back home. Really powerful ones, too. But ah always had mah friends ta back me up.” Applejack chuckled. “If Twilight were here, she’d be goin’ out of her purple head.”

Hal smiled. “So, what’s home like? You said it was called Equestria?”

Applejack nodded. “Sure is. Nice place. Not that Ah’ve seen it all, but Ah like what Ah know about,” she said, chuckling. “No cities near as big as this one, ‘specially the one Ah’m from. Place out in the country called Ponyville.” Hal snickered a bit, and Applejack raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Ponyville? A bit on the nose, don't you think?”

Applejack frowned. “Well, it was good enough for mah great grandpappy. He founded the town, and mah Granny Smith helped ta make it thrive. It’s a right good place ta live, especially Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Sweet Apple Acres?” asked Hal. “Is that your farm?”

Applejack nodded and smiled, looking into the distance. “Sure is, sugarcube. Nicest little slice of paradise this side of Canterlot. We grow apples and other things, like grain, and a few vegitables. Mah family and Ah work on it. Mah Granny Smith, mah big brother Big Macintosh, and mah little sister Apple Bloom.”

Hal frowned. “What about your parents?”

Applejack frowned, softly stroking her ring with a hoof. “They… died, a long time ago. Before ah even got mah cutie mark.

Hal’s face fell, and he had the look of a man who had shoved both feet into his mouth. “Oh, wow, I’m sorry, Applejack…
Applejack shook her head. “It’s alright, Ah was really young when it happened. Big Mac was old enough, he remembers, but Ah was just a foal when they passed. Pappy was tryin’ out some new equipment for the farm with Mama, a big combine. Damn thing started up accidently, while mah Pappy was workin’ on the axle of the blades. Mah Mama tried to pull him out, but… she got caught, too. Granny tells me that this was mah Pappy’s hat,” she said, taking it off and looking at it.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up at Hal again. “I’m sorry, AJ. That was a stupid question to ask.”

Applejack replaced the Stetson on her head. “It’s alright, Hal, really. Ah don’ remember them much… Still, we never use anythin’ bigger than a tractor on the farm anymore. It all gets done on horsepower,” she said. “Ah sure hope that Big Mac’s doin’ ok without me. It ain’t harvest time, but there’s still work to be done.”

“ Don't worry, Cowgirl. We’ll make you a top notch ring slinger, and then you can go home. You’ll have a partner in your sector, and they'll be able to help you with the rest,” he said, finishing up his salad. “Come on, let’s head to the training facility, I’ll show you the ropes.”

Applejack ate the last bite of her Zuma, and stood to follow Hal. Once they were outside, Applejack took off alongside Hal, grinning as they took off. She was still amazed that she was flying, really flying. She had been up in Twilight’s balloon before, but this… this was so much better. Hal looked over to her and chuckled. “I take it you're enjoying yourself?”

Applejack grinned wider. “You bet your flank, sugarcube,” she said, doing a loop-the-loop in the air. She did a few more aerial maneuvers, just reveling in the joy of flight. Said joy ended, though, when the green aura around her faded and her Green Lantern uniform disappeared. Before Applejack could register that the force keeping her aloft had vanished, she dropped like a stone, heading for the planet’s surface. She screamed, any decorum she may have had gone as she plummeted, spinning through the air. She continued to scream even as she stopped, caught by the giant hand Hal had created to catch her. It took her a moment to register that, no, she wasn't going to die. She stopped screaming, and looked towards Hal, who had complete control of the hand made of light.

Hal looked at Applejack, his face half concerned, half amused. “You ok, there, Cowgirl?”

Applejack blushed bright red, looking away. “Yeah, Ah’m fine. What happened, though? Mah ring just kinda stopped working.”

Hal nodded. “That’s alright. Your ring’s probably just out of power. All you need to do is recharge it. Look, your battery popped out when your ring was depleted.” Applejack looked next to her and, sure enough, her lantern was right there. “Lesson two: Always keep your ring charged, especially before long trips. You don't want to be flying through deep space and all of a sudden be exposed to the vacuum of space.”

Applejack placed a hoof on her throat and gulped. “Yeah, sounds bad. So how do I charge it?”

“Easy,” said Hal. “Just put your ring into the lantern and say the oath. Do you know it?”

Applejack nodded and inserted her ring-bearing hoof into the lantern. “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape mah sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware mah power, Green Lantern’s light.” As the oath finished, her ring shone, and Applejack removed her hoof from the depths of the lantern. Her uniform instantly reformed around her, and she levitated up off of Hal’s construct. Hal held the hand up, offering her lantern to her, and Applejack grabbed it with her teeth. “Fanks, Hal,” she said, unable to articulate well with her mouth full.

Hal laughed a bit. “How about I show you how to store that puppy, so you can actually talk to other people?” Applejack nodded, and Hal held out his ring, clenching his hand. With a flash of light, another lantern identical to hers appeared. “I won't bore you with the details, but basically the ring makes a little pocket in space that can hold your ring. I’m sure Seron programmed it in, so just will the lantern back into your ring.”

Applejack held out her ring and did as Hal told her, letting the lantern slip into the pocket Hal had mentioned. She looked on amazed as the ring flashed, and the lantern between her teeth disappeared. Applejack looked at her ring, mouth open a little. “Ah… can feel it…”

Hal smiled. “Your charge should last a while, now. It was probably just drained from the trip here. Seron most likely expended a bit as well, so that might have had something to do with it. Now, why don't we start training? I have a friend I want you to meet.”
__

Hal’s friend turned out to be rather different than what Applejack had expected. She thought maybe he'd be another human, like Hal. Maybe that Kyle guy that he had mentioned. When she met him, though… well, he didn't look like Hal at all.

For one, he was easily twice his size. Not just in height, but in width. He was easily much bigger than that Iron Will minotaur Fluttershy had told her about, if his posters were any indication. His skin was a kind of pinkish, and his eyes were red. He looked a little like a bulldog, only… massive.

The alien gave what might have been a smile to Hal, clapping him on the shoulder. “Well, if it ain’t my favorite Poozer. Jordan, how are you?”

Hal groaned as the alien hit his shoulder, and his knees almost buckled. “Still recovering from the last one of those, Kilowog. It’s good to see you, though.”

The alien chuckled deep in his throat. “Well, what brings you to the training hall?” he asked, before looking to Applejack. “Oh, I get it. Got a new recruit that needs some hammering, huh? Well, you came to the right place.”

In an instant, the giant alien was in Applejack’s face. “You! You overdeveloped hunk of space junk! You think you're worthy to wear that ring?! You're not fit to scrape the comet dust from my boots! I’m gonna break you over my knee and rebuild you as a lean, green, slinging machine! Now drop and give me-“

Any further insults were cut off by a quick movement by Applejack. Once the shock of having an unfamiliar alien shouting in her face had worn off, she bashed her head into Kilowog’s flat nose, pushing hard with her back legs. Kilowog, caught off guard while in drill-sergeant mode, reared back, clutching his smashed face. Applejack took the opportunity to turn around and rear back on her front legs, tucking her back legs against her belly and the firing them out directly at Kilowog’s chin. There was an audible clack as his teeth smashed together, and as he reared back in pain, Applejack reared back again and hit him square in the stomach. As Kilowog doubled over, Applejack looked at him with a stern look in her eye. “Maybe that’ll teach you some manners, ya big mule!”

Hal looked on in amazement as Applejack cleanly and efficiently cleaned Kilowog’s clock. He began to clap slowly, and then his face broke out in a grin as he laughed. “Way to go, rookie! You just kicked Kilowog’s ass!”

Applejack blushed, but her expression was still all business. “Well, Ah don’t take kindly to rudeness, is all…”

Kilowog groaned as he straightened, shaking his head. He looked down at Applejack, scowling. “What’s your name, recruit?”

Applejack looked him dead in the eyes, her green eyes staring straight into his red ones. “Applejack.”

He snorted, actual steam coming from his nostrils. “Applejack, huh? Well, Applejack, you just headbutted the toughest trainer on Oa, and, with all modesty, one of the best fighters in the Corps.” As he finished the last sentence, his squashed face broke into a grin. “Not bad, rookie. We'll make a Green Lantern out of you yet.” Kilowog extended his hand, and Applejack placed her hoof in his, breathing a sigh of relief. As brave a face as she put on, she had been afraid of the senior Lantern.

Hal grinned and patted them both on the shoulder. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, how about we get to the actual constructs?”

Kilowog nodded and looked to Applejack. “Alright, Poozer, you got physical chops, I'll give you that. But a Lantern’s real strength is in his ring. Master your Will, and nothing can stop you. Now, picture something in your mind, and just will it to form through your ring.”

Applejack nodded, and held up her right hoof, pointing her ring into empty space. She scrunched up her face, picturing an object in her mind and concentrating on her ring. She imagined the object in front of her, and was amazed when a green stream of energy streamed from her ring. When it reached a point in space, it expanded, becoming the object she had pictured.

Kilowog tilted his head. “What on Oa is that?”

Hal grinned. “An apple, Cowgirl? Really?”

Applejack laughed. “It was all Ah could think of!”

Suddenly, her apple construct exploded, shattering in a flash of green light with the sound of cannon fire. Applejack shielded her eyes from the flash, her ring fading. When she looked up, she saw Kilowog with his ring pointed at where the apple once was. “Next lesson: Your constructs are only as strong as your will. Your conviction behind your constructs and energy blasts is what makes them powerful. Without that, you're just making a light show.” Kilowog reared back and thrusted his ring at Applejack, and it fired a ball of green energy at her with a huge bang. Applejack reacted as best she could, bringing up a plate of will energy to block it. The shield held for a moment, but then crumbled and shattered, letting the energy blast through. It hit Applejack with concussive force, ramming into her chest and knocking the wind out of her. She was blown back several feet, knocked off her hooves by the force of the blast. Applejack landed in a heap, coughing violently as her lungs tried desperately to get more air.

Kilowog crossed his arms. “Get up, runt. I told you, your constructs are powered by your will. You throw up a half-assed shield, it’ll buckle. Now, hit me with your best shot,” he said, presenting his chin.

Applejack staggered to her feet, still coughing. She looked at the mountain of alien before her, and thought about the best way to go about her attack. Direct approach, she decided, screwing up her face again. She gathered energy into her ring, willing a ball of energy to fire at Kilowog. It launched forward from her ring, and she frowned; it wasn’t nearly as big as Kilowog’s had been. Kilowog raised his ring, and produced a barricaded gate to block it. Her ball of energy broke upon the gate, not even making a dent in it. Kilowog let the gate dissipate, scowling behind it. “Pathetic. You'll need more than that to get past me,” he said, his ring glowing again. He formed a huge sledgehammer in his hands out of will, then gave a loud cry as he charged her, bringing it up to strike.

Applejack’s eyes widened as the massive warrior charged, and she willed herself to rise into the air, dodging to the side of the overhead strike. The hammer hit the floor with a sickening crack, but Applejack managed to avoid it. She landed on her hooves, and reared back with her right hoof, forming an iron ball around it before swinging it hard at Kilowog’s ribs. He blocked it with the haft of his hammer, and brought the butt of the handle careening for Applejack’s face. She hadn’t expected this, and it connected hard, sending Applejack to her back again. Kilowog straightened, hefting the hammer construct onto his shoulder. “Not bad, rookie. I was trying to destroy that construct of yours, but it held. Keep practicing, and your constructs will get stronger. Now, hit the showers,” he said.

Applejack stood and began to walk away, heading towards the showers. Hal looked up to Kilowog when she was out of earshot. “So, what do you think?” he asked.

“Well, she’s spirited, I'll give her that. Shouldn’t have any problem with fear, that’s for sure. Still, she’s missing something; I can't quite put my finger on it, though. Whatever it is, if she gets it, she'll be quite a Lantern.”

Hal nodded. “You could feel it too, huh?”

Kilowog nodded. “Just the way she carries herself, she’s a creature of purpose. Course, I knew that the minute she rammed me,” he said, rubbing his nose and chuckling.

Hal chuckled. “How bad did she get you?”

Kilowog shook his head, smiling. “Not too bad. She’s a strong one, but so am I.”

Hal laughed again, patting Kilowog on the shoulder. “Well, I think it’s about time the rookie got home. She must have been gone for at least a day, don’t want the locals to freak.”

“Good call, Jordan. I take it you'll be flying her home?” Kilowog said, rolling his eyes.

Hal held up his hands. “Whoa, pal, hold up there. I stick to my own body type, at least, so get your mind out of the gutter,” he said, heading down the hallway.

“Good to know you have some restraint,” said the big Lantern, rolling his eyes at his back.

--

Applejack groaned as the hot water of the shower washed over her bruises, especially the one on her chest. Oh, she was going to have some explaining to do when she got home. Her mind drifted to her little spot in Sweet Apple Acres that she loved so much… the spot that was now a ruined crater. She sighed, remembering that her little safe haven was gone. She was going to miss that spot. That was for sure.

Another thought entered her head; how was she going to explain this? She had been gone for a day, and her favorite spot was rubble. What if they thought she was dead? Oh, sweet Celestia of Equestria, that would be awful! Her poor family, her friends… Applejack turned the water off and shook herself dry, willing her uniform back on. She sprinted back towards Hal and Kilowog, needing to find Hal fast so she could get home. For that matter, she was going so fast that she crashed into the human in the hall. They fell together in a tangle of limbs, until they landed on the floor next to each other.

Applejack groaned and rubbed her head, sitting up just in time to see Hal doing the same. Applejack gasped, and grabbed Hal by the shoulders. “Hal! Ah gotta get home right now!” she cried, shaking Hal hard in her panic.

Hal placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her incessant shaking. He shook his head, trying to clear it from that her outburst. “Whoa, Cowgirl, calm down. I was just on my way to tell you, I’m taking you home. We'll meet your new partner for your sector, and then you can go back to the farm, ok?”

Applejack blinked a moment, a bit nonplused.”Oh, well… good,” she said, still a bit dazed.

He chuckled. “Now, come on, we have a long trip ahead of us.” Hal got up and started walking towards the door, Applejack in tow. Once outside, they took off, and Hal smiled. “We’re going to leave the atmosphere, so be ready,” he said, flying straight up. Applejack followed behind, climbing high into the sky. Hal brought his ring up to his face and said, “This is Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Sector 2814, looking to contact the Green Lantern of Sector 0236, come in.”

A voice came through the ring, sounding vaguely feminine. “This is Quilla, Green Lantern of Sector 0236, what is it you need, Hal Jordan?”

“I’m heading to your Sector, little something we need to discuss. I’ll be bringing another Green Lantern, meet us near the planet Equestria.”

“Rodger that, Hal Jordan. Should I bring Seron Gruto? He’s the other Green Lantern in this Sector.”

Hal’s face fell, and he shook his head. “Unfortunately, that’s what I need to discuss with you. I didn’t want to do this over the Rings, but… Seron Gruto died in action.”

There was silence on the other side for a good while, before the voice said weakly, “You’re sure?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The Green Lantern I'm bringing with me will be taking over his duties. I’m sorry to be the one who had to tell you this.”

“Thank you, Hal. And to the new Green Lantern… I look forward to meeting you,” she said in a hollow voice. The line went dead, and Hal lowered his hand to his side.

“Poor girl,” said Applejack, shaking her head. “This is gonna be awkward…”

“ You'll get through it,” said Hal. “It’s not the first time a Lantern’s fallen in the line of duty, and it won’t be the last. Don't worry, Quilla's a good girl. I'm sure eventually you two will be great friends,” he said.

Applejack shook her head, hoping he was right. She looked up, into the vastness of space, looking forward, where her little planet waited.

--

On the planet Equis, in the country of the ponies, there was a large mountain range. The snow capped peaks reached high into the sky, the jagged tips almost looking to rip into it. The temperatures often dropped below zero at high altitudes, with massive blizzards and hail storms, even in the summer months. Spotted along all of these peaks were small caves, the only source of shelter in these harsh climates. Any creature at these altitudes found a cave… or died.

Among the driving snow was a figure, a pony shivering in the cold. He had a brown mane and silver fur, but any skin that was showing was quickly turning blue with hypothermia. He was frozen down to his hooves, literally; Ice had frozen onto his hooves, snaking its way into the hard substance that they were made of. He could feel it, and he knew that if he didn’t find shelter from the storm, he was going to lose them.

He looked up, bringing a leg up to shield his eyes, and saw his salvation. There was a cave up ahead, and the pony thanked his luck. He shuddered as the wind blew harder; forget keeping his hooves, if he didn't get out of this storm, he was going to die.

The pony made his way to the cave, and finally managed to enter it, pulling his legs and tail tight to his body to preserve heat. He shivered as his body tried to warm up, that goal in sight now that he had gotten out of the wind. Maybe there was some wood in the cave that he could use to make a fire. Sometimes animals would make their nests here and discard them.

As he looked around, though, he didn't see any wood. There were some small things around the cave, though. He picked one up in his shivering hooves, examining it out of curiosity. It was small and roundish, with a couple of holes in it. Near the bottom, it had little protrusions that fit together. The pony wracked his brain, trying to figure out what it could be.

As he looked at it head on, he had an odd thought. Huh… it kinda looks like it’s looking at me… And indeed, the two holes in the front could be eyes, and the protrusions… The pony gasped as he realized what it was. It was a skull… a rabbit skull. As he looked around, he realized the floor was covered in animal bones, some of which weren’t even picked clean. The pony whimpered a bit, as he realized that he wasn’t alone in the cave…

“Get out.”

The pony almost screamed at the sound of the voice, cowering at the mouth of the cave. “L-look, I’m s-sorry I came into y-your c-c-cave… “ he said, his teeth chattering. “It’s just so c-c-cold…

The voice sounded again. “Get out.” The voice was a little high, but gravely, and full of malice.

“Look, I-I’ll freeze to death if I go back out there-“

A figure reared up from the back of the cave, the small amount of light from outside casting it in dim shadow. It's head and claws resembled an eagle, but her body was definitely feline. Its fur and feathers were falling out, and the covering it did have was mangy and unkempt. Its eyes were crazed and bloodshot, the irises a milky gold. The gryphon spread its wings menacingly, baring its yellow claws and letting out an eagle’s scream. “GET OUT!”

The combination of the pony’s advance hypothermia and the shock of seeing a half crazed, sickly creature screaming at him was just too much. The pony started to scream, but then he gagged and grabbed his chest, hyperventilating. He cried out in pain, his chest feeling like it was collapsing, as he writhed on the ground, sputtering and gasping. Finally, after only a few minutes, the poor stallion went limp, stone dead.

The griffon looked down at the dead pony, and grunted. Well, at least she had dinner for a few days…

Suddenly, a yellow light streaked into the cave and shone brightly. The griffin shielded her eyes to the light, but then a voice whispered in her mind.

Gilda of Equestria. You have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the Sinestro Corps

--

((Hey, everypony. Just a quick question to my fellow bronies: Are the rapid fire chapters bothering anyone? I've considered a schedule, but being impatient, and with the speed I'm cranking out chapters, I just post them whenever I'm happy with them. So, just tell me what you think, and I'll take it into consideration. Bye, Everypony!))

Chapter Four: Homecoming

Applejack yawned loudly, covering her mouth with her hoof. She and Hal had been flying for hours through space, carried through the vastness on green energy, and she was more than ready to land. Not that space wasn’t fascinating, because it most certainly was. But there was only so much “Wow!” and “Look at that!” a pony could muster over six hours. Hal looked over to Applejack and smiled. “Getting bored, Cowgirl?”

Applejack grunted. “Well, Hal, empty space was mighty entertainin’ fer the first two hours, but by the third, it starts ta drag a bit.”

Hal chuckled. “Well, don’t sweat it, we’re almost there. I do commend you for not repeating ‘Are we there yet’ over and over. I’m sure that took restraint.”

It was Applejack’s turn to laugh. “Well, the thought HAD crossed mah mind…”

“Keep an eye out, we should be meeting up with your partner any minute now,” he said. “In fact…” Hal brought his ring to his mouth and said, “This is Hal Jordan to Quilla, we’re approaching planet Equestria, what are your coordinates?”

A voice answered back on the ring. “This is Quilla. I’m in the western quadrant of the planet’s northern Hemisphere. I’ve been getting some odd readings from the planet, thought I’d investigate them.”

Hal frowned. “You need me to stick around for backup?”

“Negative, Hal, I think I can handle it. It was just an unusual energy spike. Might be some kind of new experiment, these ponies can do some crazy things with their magic.”

Hearing what Quilla said, Applejack had an idea. She brought her ring to her mouth and willed it to connect to Quilla’s line. “Uh, this is Applejack, the new Lantern,” she said hesitantly. “Ah’m from this planet, and Ah’ve got a friend who’s pretty good with magic, so maybe Ah could ask her if she knows anything about it,” Applejack said, frowning a bit as she did. The words felt strange on her tongue. She had never had to specify her planet before.

The voice came out of her ring was terse and abrupt. “Don’t bother. I checked out the sight, whatever it was is long gone. All I got were some residual energy readings, nothing concrete. You’d just be wasting your time. Quilla out.”

As the voice died, the orange pony sighed a bit. Applejack could understand Quilla’s poor attitude right now, but that didn’t mean she had to enjoy it. Hal looked over to her, nodding a bit. “Yeah, she did seem a bit abrupt, huh? Give it time, she’ll come around.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah know, Hal. So, how far away is ‘almost there’?”

Hal brought up a map construct from his ring, studied it for a moment, and smiled. “See for yourself,” the human said, pointing.

Applejack followed his finger, and her jaw dropped. What she saw was… breathtaking, there was no other word for it. The sun glinted off the clouds, lighting them up all over the planet’s surface. What the clouds didn’t cover was a verdant mosaic of blues, greens and browns from the land and sea. She had been too concerned with her rocket out of the atmosphere to appreciate it last time, but now…

Applejack gawked for a while, just marveling at the fact she actually lived there. “It’s beautiful…”she finally said, her voice soft as the wind.

“Yeah, I said the same thing when I saw my planet this way,” said a voice. Applejack and Hal turned around, and saw a Green Lantern floating in space. She was a bit shorter than Hal, without her mane, anyway. That mane wasn’t made of hair, though; it looked like it was made of dozens of hard spines, which were a brownish-white. The spines even spread slightly onto her face, which looked a bit feral. Her spiny mane continued down her back, stopping right above her hips. Her uniform seemed pretty standard, green and black with the symbol of the Corps on her chest. On her right hand was her ring, glowing green with the energy keeping her afloat.

The spiky alien before them nodded to them both in turn. “Hal. And you must be Applejack,” she said as she looked towards the farm pony. She gave Applejack a critical stare before looking to Hal. “You can go now, Hal. I can take it from here.”

Hal raised an eyebrow, but gave Quilla a salute. “Alright, then, I’ll leave you to it.” He looked back at Applejack and winked. “Good luck, Cowgirl. I’ll be rooting for you,” he said, before turning in mid air and shooting off.

And so, Applejack was left alone with her new partner. The orange farmer rubbed the back of her head with a hoof nervously. She could feel the tension in the air, or lack thereof, given the circumstances. What do you say to somepony whose partner and friend you’re replacing? Especially when it’s the same pony who saw him die?

Well, you had to start somewhere. “Howdy there, Quilla. It’s nice ta finally meet yah. Mah name’s Applejack… but Ah guess yah already knew that,” she said, laughing nervously.

“Why do you talk like that?” Quilla asked, her arms folded. “Are you trying to be funny? I’ll tell you now, it’s not working.”

Applejack tilted her head, a bit taken aback. Did she just…? “Come again?”

` “So you’re serious?” Quilla asked. She sighed and rubbed her temples. “Anyway, you better keep up, pony girl. Last thing I need is an orange sack of dead weight holding me back. I have enough problems as it is.”

Applejack floated there for a second, a little dumbfounded. Quilla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Look, I’ll meet up with you during the night. Your ring will lead you right to me, I’ll be somewhere secluded. We’ll see what you’ve got.” The spined woman then turned and flew off, leaving a green trail behind.

For a few seconds, Applejack didn’t move. She had expected the alien to be a little distant, maybe a bit terse. But she hadn’t expected her to be flat out insulting. Quilla basically called her useless, and even worse, that she sounded funny! Who does that to somepony they just met? Applejack grunted and headed for the planet below, fuming about her latest encounter. Who did she think she was?

As Applejack entered the atmosphere, she started wondering if this was going to work out at all.

Applejack touched down right outside the farm, looking around a bit. She smiled; everything right where she left it. The shape of the buildings against the skyline really brought her comfort, especially after her little interaction with Quilla. Said skyline was a deep amber color, interspersed with the yellow and purple of a sunset. Applejack breathed in the crisp air as she saw the sun began to set in the eastern sky.

Wait a darn minute… she thought. Since when does the sun set in the east? Applejack squinted and realized that the sun wasn’t setting… it was rising. What in Tartarus? It wasn’t late evening, it was early morning! Must’ve been gone longer than Ah thought, she missed, before heading towards the farm house. She was going to get it from Big Mac…

Once she opened the door, her nostrils were assaulted with the smell of pancakes. Smelled like her brother was making some breakfast. She inhaled the scent deeply, savoring it. She could really use some good Equestrian food, even if Big Mac was going to make her beg for it. It was his favorite tactic: make something delicious and only give it to her if she apologized. She didn’t blame him, as it was the only way to get around her stubbornness.

As she turned a corner into the kitchen, she caught sight of her big brother. He was much bigger than most of the ponies in Ponyville, hence his designation ‘Big’. It was comforting as a foal, since she knew she had a big crimson defender if she needed one. At the moment, he was holding a spatula in his mouth, flipping the fluffy concoctions she had smelled earlier.

Big Mac turned as he heard her hooves on the hard wood floor. “Well, mornin’ sleepyhead. You end up fallin’ asleep under that tree? Ah keep tellin’ yah about that, don’t Ah?”

Applejack tilted her head a bit, but pressed forward. “Uh, Mac, Ah’m sorry about yesterday. Somethin’ crazy happened, and Ah kinda got stuck somewhere…”

Big Mac turned and raised an eyebrow. “What’re you talkin’ about, Sis? You seemed pretty on toppa things yesterday. Got all yer chores done, anyway.”

“Huh?” the orange filly said. “Mac, Ah was gone yesterday. Yah didn’t notice?”

The big red pony looked at Applejack funny, then walked up to her and stared her in the eye. He smelled her breath, then raised an eyebrow. “You been dippin’ into the cider early this mornin’ AJ?”

“No, Mac, you know Ah never touch it before noon, at least,” she said. “Wait a sec. What’s today?”

“Wednesday. Are you sure yer feelin’ alright, Sis?”

“Wednesday? Nah, yesterday was Wednesday, wasn’ it?”

“No, yesterday was Tuesday. Yah shipped our veggies yesterday, remember? Yah always do that on Tuesday, since it’s the one day all the vendors are in the market place.”

Applejack was supremely confused now. She sat for a moment, trying to get the timeline straight in her head. She had been launched to Oa late Tuesday, and arrived on Wednesday. She spent the whole day there, and the last part of it traveling home. So today should be Thursday. But according to Mac, it was Wednesday.

Applejack shook her head. She’d figure it out later, maybe talk to Twilight about it. In the meantime, though... “Oh, right. Sorry, Big Mac, Ah’m still a bit… groggy, that’s it,” she said, chuckling nervously. She hated lying, but what was she going to say? The truth would get her sent to the hospital like that barking pony. “Guess it comes from sleepin’ on the ground. Guess I should start listening to yah, huh?” she said, forcing a smile. “So, uh, save me some pancakes, will ya? Ah’m goin’ into town, need ta talk ta Twilight about somethin’”

With that, Applejack bolted out the door, leaving a very bemused red pony behind her.

Across the bustling town of Ponyville, at the town library, Twilight Sparkle was bent over a book, as she so often was. This one in particular was rather fascinating. It concerned how objects from space behaved, both while in space and in the atmosphere. As she turned the page, Spike came up behind her, rubbing his eyes. He yawned a bit, saying, “Twilight, have you been up all night?”

The purple unicorn turned her head, her bangs covering her eyes. “Sorry, Spike, but this is too important. Last night, I saw something fly up into the sky near Ponyville. And it never came back down! If I can figure out what it is, it might be the biggest discovery since Starswirl the Bearded invented the Amniomorphic spell. It could totally change the way ponies view the rest of the universe!”

Spike rolled his eyes. Great, another project for Twilight. All he knew was that if she was going to be spending a lot of time on this, he was NOT working all alone in the library. Owlowiscious had better be ready to pull his weight, that was for sure. There was a knock on the door, and Twilight called, “Can you get that, Spike?”

The purple dragon groaned and headed towards the door, a disgruntled look on his face. When he pulled it open, he was greeted with the sight two orange legs. He looked up and smiled a bit. “Oh, Hey Applejack. What’s up?”

“Howdy, Spike,” she said, tipping her trademark hat. As she did, Spike noticed the bracelet on her right hoof. Funny, Applejack wasn’t the kind of pony to accessorize. “Ah’m sorry ta bother y’all, but Ah needed to talk ta Twilight.”

Spike grunted. “Good luck,” he said. “She’s been up all night with her nose in a book. Something about an object flying into the sky,” he said. Applejack stiffened a bit as he said that last part. He raised an eyebrow. “You ok, AJ?”

“Ah’m fine,” she said. “Just… Ah think Ah might be able to help her out,” she said.

Spike shrugged. “Alright, go on up,” he said, moving out of the way. Applejack moved past him and headed up the stairs, towards Twilight’s room. Once the door closed, he sighed and started shelving returns. Someone had to do some work around here.

Applejack pushed the door to Twilight’s room open, once again struck by just how many books she had. She lived in a library for Celestia’s sake, how many books did she need? Apparently a lot right now, seeing as she was surrounded by them at her desk. A whole bunch of them were open in front of her, while dozens more were stacked around her. Applejack chuckled a bit and headed over to her. “Equestria ta Twilight, you there?”

Twilight’s head snapped up to look at the orange earth pony, bags under her eyes and her mane a total mess. “Oh, hi, Applejack. I’m really sorry, but do you think you can come back another time? I’m right in the middle of something.”

Applejack shook her head. “Sorry, Twi, no can do. This is kinda important.” Twilight groaned, but got up and headed towards the door her room. As they exited the room, Applejack contemplated the best way to tell everything to Twilight. Since trying to explain it all to her would most likely earn her a straight jacket, she figured she’d use her favorite tactic: the direct approach.

As they reached the main room of the library, Twilight took a seat at the main table. There were more books piled on this one, but Twilight cleared a path for them by levitating a few books back on the shelves. Applejack chuckled a bit, shaking her head. “What in the world’re you studyin’, girl?” Twilight seemed about to answer, but instead let out a big yawn. “And why were you up all night?”

Twilight shook her head to recover from the yawn before answering. “I saw some kind of weird light fly up into the sky last night. It was way too late to go and check it out last night, so I decided to read up on some natural phenomena it might have been. Having not found any, I decided to look at… less conventional ideas,” she said, rubbing the back of her head. “There was a lot to go over, and I guess I lost track of time. Anyway, what is it you needed, Applejack?”

“Well,” said Applejack, “It actually has ta do with that light…” she said. “Thing is, somethin’ happened last night that’s a little hard ta explain. So Ah figured Ah’d just show yah,” she said, bringing her right hoof onto the table, showing off her ring. Applejack allowed the ring to cover her in green light, an act that had become all too familiar, and sighed as if formed her uniform. She looked at Twilight, not a little nervous. “Uh, surprise,” she said.

Twilight looked at Applejack for a moment, her expression unreadable, before frowning. “Applejack, I don’t have time for this. I appreciate the effort you and Rarity went to in order to make this little show, but come on. Did Pinkie set this up? I bet she did.”

“Wait, what?” asked Applejack. Did Twilight think she was pranking her? “What are yah talkin’ about, Twilight?”

“Come on, Applejack. Rarity obviously made you that admittedly impressive looking outfit and bound it to your bracelet. An impressive bit of magic, but it is based on clothes, so that’s not surprising. Pinkie Pie probably burst in at some point and convinced you to have a little fun at my expense by saying it had something to do with the light. Who knows, maybe the light was just one of Pinkie’s fireworks. Do you know how much time I spent researching this? I appreciate a good prank, Applejack, but this has taken up too much of my-“

She stopped cold as Applejack rose into the air, cloaked in her green aura. “Do Ah have yer attention?” asked the flying earth pony. Twilight nodded dumbly as Applejack landed. “Alright, then. Now, as Ah was sayin…”

“…So after Ah met up with Quilla, who was actually pretty rude, Ah landed by the farm. Ah had to dodge mah brother’s questions, but as soon as Ah could Ah came here. Yer the only pony in Ponyville who Ah thought might understand.” Applejack finally finished her tale, having spent the last half hour doing so. Twilight had been a surprisingly good listener, only occasionally interrupting with a question. Applejack was impressed; she had expected to be constantly stopping and starting from her inquiries.

As it stood, Twilight sat across from her, looking more than a little stunned. Applejack didn’t blame her, really. If she had just been told a story that shook her entire view of the world, she’d be a bit speechless too. Twilight proved resilient, though, as after maybe thirty seconds, her face split into a wide grin and she squealed loudly. “EEEEEEEEE!”

Applejack had to cover her ears from the high-pitched sound. “Ahh! Twilight, calm down!”

Twilight started hopping in a circle around the orange pony, still squealing. “Calm down?! How can I calm down when one of my best friends went to another planet?! And came back! With an ARTIFACT! Oh my Princess, this is amazing! No, it’s better than amazing! It’s… It’s…”

“Fantasteriffic!” yelled an incredibly hyper voice. Twilight yelped in mid bounce, crashing down to the ground with all the grace of a lead weight. The source of her scare gave a high pitched giggle and said, “Why’d you fall down, Twilight? Oh, are we playing dead? My turn!” The pink party pony of Ponyville gagged dramatically, falling to the floor and pulling a lily out of nowhere. After only a moment of silence (truly golden in any Pinkie Pie situation), she giggled again and bounded up. “I win!”

Twilight, on the other hand, got up much slower, dazed from Pinkie’s trademark random entrance. “Pinkie?! Where did you come from?”

“Oh, Twilight, I told you this! I grew up on a rock farm!”

“No, I mean in my house right now!”

“Oh, that’s easy!” said the eternally hyper earth pony. “Through the door! I was working at Sugar Cube Corner and all of a sudden I got tail twitch, spine tingle, clammy hooves and leg twitches in all four of my legs! And that can only mean one thing, that there’s a fantasteriffic story about outer space about to be told! So I just followed my Pinkie Sense here! And boy was I right, that was a fantasteriffic story!”

Twilight’s eye twitched as she took in Pinkie’s story. “But… how… Gah!” Without warning, she slammed her head into the hardwood table, knocking over a few books. As she raised her head, she said, “Ok, I’m good. Back to the groundbreaking scientific discovery.”

Applejack just shook her head, chuckling. Chuckling turned to laughing, and laughing turned to outright guffawing. She reared up and fell onto her back, laughing at the antics of her friends. After traversing millions of miles through space and meeting with little blue aliens, it was good to be home with some normality.

Applejack finally started to calm down, tears rolling down her cheeks. She got her hooves under her and stood. “Thanks, girls. Ah needed that. Anyway, Twi, Ah got a question. Ah spent about a day off planet, but when Ah came back, only a few hours’d passed. How in Equestria did that happen?”

Twilight furrowed her brow, tapping her hoof against her chin. “That is a bit odd… Ah!” Her horn lit up as she pulled a book from the shelf and started reading. “It was theorized by a famous physicist named Quantum Starlight that time works differently in space. His thinking is that more time would pass for a space traveler than an Equestria-bound pony, but it was an early theory, so I suppose there’s room for error. You’re living proof that time actually moves slower in space. Facinating!” she said, grinning ear to ear again.

“Oh! Oh! Me next! Me next!” Pinkie’s hoof was high in the air, like a filly in school. “What’s up with the alien you met? The spiky one. Do you know her birthday? Does she like cake? Oh, wait, duh, everyone likes cake!”
Applejack frowned and crossed her legs. “Trust me, Pinkie pie, if anypony wouldn’t like cake, it’d be her. She said Ah was jokin’ with the way Ah talk.”

Pinkie frowned, an unusual facial expression for her. “Hmm, that’s not very nice. Maybe she just needs some cheering up!” Pinkie’s face lit up once more in her trademark too-big-for-her-face grin. “I’ll get together some party favors, some snacks and maybe even a piñata!”

“Pinkie, Ah don’t think-“

“Oh, you’re right, Applejack. Of course I should get a piñata! She’s your new friend, she deserves the best!” squealed Pinkie. “I gotta go, girls, I’ve got a Pinkie Party to plan!” Out of nowhere, Pinkie produced a tiny glass ball and threw it on the ground. There was a flash of light and a burst of confetti, and Pinkie was gone.

Twilight groaned a bit. “Every time she does that, I can feel the laws of physics crying,” she said. “She does have a point though, Applejack. She did just go through something pretty upsetting. Maybe you can help her a little bit. You know, be friendly.”

Applejack kept her hooves crossed and grunted. “Ah’ll be civil if she will.”

“That’s the spirit,” Twilight said, smiling. “Now, do you mind if I do a few tests on your ring? That pocket dimension in particular fascinates me.” In a manner similar to Pinkie’s confetti-pellet, Twilight produced a strange looking device, which had blinking lights and seemed to be beeping.

Applejack laughed nervously. “Uhh, sorry sugarcube, but Ah gotta head home, Ah’ve got… chores! Yeah, that’s it, chores,” she said, bolting out the door, leaving behind a very disappointed purple unicorn.

Everfree forest was quiet that night, as it usually was. While everypony knew that a lot of dangerous creatures lived in the Everfree, the creatures knew it, too. They all usually stayed as quiet as possible, to avoid alerting something bigger than they were. Except, of course, when something smaller wandered in front of them.

Quilla knew there were things in the forest, but she wasn’t worried. She had been around animals bigger and stronger back home, and had always been fine. She didn’t fight them, of course. Nobody fought or hunted animals on her planet. Her people were herbivorous, first of all. Second, most animals knew not to attack members of her species, or get a mouth full of quills.

Not for the first time that night, Quilla wished she could check the time. Her ring lay on the forest floor, fully charged from a few hours ago. Trees surrounded the small clearing that her ring occupied, while she was perched in one of them. She had told her pony… partner to find her after dark, and sundown had been three hours ago. Either she had gotten lost here and hadn't listened when Quilla told the pony she could track her ring, or she was just taking her sweet time.

A sound alerted her to her right, and her head swiveled in the same direction. Her face remained unchanged as she saw her orange target enter the clearing. She had her ring up, displaying a radar-like projection in front of her. The pony looked around confused, and Quilla smiled. It would appear her ruse was working, as Applejack kept looking around, seeming confused. It was true; the ring would let her detect other rings… but only the rings.

Quilla stood the quills that were her hair on end, preparing to strike against her landlocked quarry. Wincing a bit, she pulled three quills from the collection, holding them between her fingers. She brought her arm across her chest, rearing back to throw her sharp payload. With a quick movement, she launched them, sending them careening towards the pony.

As the sharp spines rocketed towards Applejack, the pony’s ears swiveled in Quilla’s direction. Damn, her hearing was better than she thought. Applejack leapt back, but not quite fast enough, as one of the sharp missiles hit home in her leg, just above her left fetlock. The earth pony cried out, but Quilla saw her ring flash as she donned her Green Lantern uniform. Quilla extended her right hand, calling her own ring, which zoomed from the center of the clearing and onto her finger. She reveled in the return of her power and leapt from the tree, willing a fist into existence and sending it towards Applejack on her way down.

Applejack brought her ring leg up, summoning a kite shield from her ring. The fist and shield met, and Applejack grunted as her construct held. The farm pony growled, then let out a bellow as she pushed her leg and the shield out, pushing Quilla away. The biped flipped and landed on her feet, only to be greeted by a hammer speeding towards her. Quilla, rather than try and field the hammer, whipped up a construct around her legs, using the strength of Will to leap out of the way. She countered the hammer with a construct of a solid ball, slamming Applejack in the stomach. Quilla took this opportunity to swing her body and the orb around, bringing the solid construct into contact with her muzzle.

Applejack flew several feet from the impact and landed on her side. She recovered quickly, though, and levitated a few feet in the air before settling on her feet. She pawed the ground and charged her opponent, hooves a blur. Quilla held out her ring and shot out several energy blasts, but Applejack artfully avoided them, dipping under one, only to jump over another, finally spinning around on one hoof to avoid the last. Applejack was up close this time, and she formed a knight’s helmet construct around her head before slamming it into Quilla’s gut.

Quilla pushed the air out of her lungs to keep herself from being winded, before forming a forked construct and slamming it into Applejack’s back, pinning her to the ground with her front legs pinned to her side. Once the tips were in the ground, she extended them to either side, effectively locking her in place. Applejack squirmed within the makeshift prison, trying desperately to find a weakness. As the pony tried to summon power in her ring, Quilla pressed her harder into the ground, pushing more air out of Applejack’s lungs. “Yield,” she said, keeping her construct against her.

Applejack grumbled a bit, but finally said, “Fine, Ah yield.”

Quilla dissipated her construct, letting Applejack up off the forest floor. As the farmer righted herself, Quilla said, “Not bad. Noit good, either, but more than I expected. You managed to get a few good hits in, and your constructs are strong. But you won’t be able to fight the stronger enemies of the Corps as you are now. Something’s still missing, and you had better figure it out quick. Now, get ready,” she said, charging her ring up for another confrontation.

Far away, light years away from Equestria, and even Oa, was the planet Qward. It was a smaller planet, mostly a barren rock. However, glowing bright yellow on the surface, was a great citadel. It mirrored the one on Oa, but not nearly as benign. Sharp spires and spiked buildings dotted the skyline, each one a sickly yellow. At the center was a giant lantern, its yellow light a beacon amongst the creatures that flew amongst the buildings.

Inside one of these buildings was a lone woman. Her skin was a luminescent blue, with dark black hair that matched the emptiness in her eyes, though they were colored yellow. Her clothes were just as dark, but they covered little on her. On her chest was a strip of yellow, with a symbol emblazoned on it. It was a circle with two lines jutting from the bottom, which circled around the sides, stopping just before a small square at the top of the circle. On her right hand was a glowing yellow ring, but her left hand is what drew attention.

In that hand she gripped a book, its binding a faded yellow rather than the bright yellow so prevalent everywhere else. She gripped it with a combination of fondness and trepidation, as if the book was the single most important thing in her life, even though she was scared to death of it. The book was connected to a chain of yellow light, shackled to her left wrist. On the books cover was the same symbol as was on her chest.

The woman was walking through a room filled with black pods. They were oblong in shape, each resting on its own pedestal. As she walked by a few, she heard faint screams coming from them, and smiled. Soon, they would either emerge from the pods ready to serve her master… or they would not. No great issue; they were easy enough to clean out.

She heard the hum of another ring’s energy approach, and she turned, facing the visitor to this place. Her eyes widened, and she fell to one knee, clutching the book to her chest. The figure that touched down was tall and thin, though with decent muscle tone, as if he had spent much time exercising. His uniform was black and yellow, with the yellow forming three downward points along his front. His hair was cut short and meticulously styled, as was his pencil thin moustache. His skin was a violent purple, contrasted by his grey eyes. His left hand shone with yellow light from his ring, which did not diminish even as he touched down. He regarded the woman on her knees before him, smirking a bit, before signaling her to rise. “Greetings, Lyssa. How are the denizens of the Lodges today?”

Lyssa rose, but kept herself at a respectful level of reverence. As she spoke, her voice dripped with contempt. “Poorly, My Lord. I hear their screams, and very few seem to be coping. Though they survived Arkillo’s training, they are not strong enough to face true fear. Some may rise from the Fear Lodge, but I believe many more will waste away from-“

Any further derisive comments were interrupted by a huge blast of energy from one of the pods. The yellow blast faded, and from the ruined Lodge rose Gilda, her body covered in a uniform similar to the purple man’s. She was breathing heavily, gripping the sides of the hole she had blown in her prison. The imposing figure that had entered grabbed her attention, and gave a mighty cry as she lunged for him, summoning from her ring a massive eagle’s head of yellow energy.

The man cracked a smile as she created the construct, which towered over him by several feet. With his left hand, he swiped at the attack, his ring glowing brighter. The construct shattered into tiny bits of light, leaving Gilda charging at him with only her body. He extended his bare hand, catching her by her feathered throat, combining his thrust with her momentum. He spun his body, slamming her into the wall with enough force to shatter the stone. He squeezed her throat, choking the bird as she scrambled at the hand with her claws, which skittered harmlessly off his yellow force field. “This one has spirit, Lyssa. Be careful, or she may one day have the Book of Parallax tethered to her.” He finally released her throat, and she fell to the floor, gasping and clutching her neck. “That was quite a construct you created a moment ago. However, I believe that at the moment, it was a strength given to you by desperation. However, that desperate fear will one day serve you well. Well enough to crush both your enemies… and mine. Now, speak the oath that will give you your power, and remind you who it is you serve.”

Gilda looked up at him with something akin to awe, and stood, holding out her ring.

“In blackest day, in brightest night, beware your fears turned into light. Let those who try to stop what’s right, Burn like his power- Sinestro’s might!”

Chapter Five: Confessions and Conflict

For the third time that night, Applejack hit the forest floor hard. The air was pushed out of her lungs hard, having forgotten to push it out as she had been taught. Probably gonna get it fer that, too, she griped as she rose, coughing heavily in an attempt to recover oxygen. She shook her head, staring daggers at the spined alien who was her opponent. Quilla was floating nearby, the construct she had used to knock the pony back fading. “How many times do I have to tell you, keep your guard up! One of these days a criminal is going to pull a laser or a knife, and you’ll be full of holes because you couldn’t protect your ribs! Get that through your thick head!” With that, Quilla summoned a spiked ball, swinging it on a construct chain towards Applejack’s head. The orange pony created a kite shield construct to block the flail, but the force of it shattered her shield, and it crashed into her side.

Quilla sneered as Applejack went flying again. She hit a tree this time, groaning as she fell to the ground. It had been like this for the past month; she and Quilla had been meeting three nights a week to train with her constructs and in combat. She was doing better, but what wasn’t helping was her ‘trainer’s’ constant berating. She was quick to condemn and slow to compliment, and much to happy to throw Applejack around. She had been willing to suffer in silence for a while, but it was getting to be a bit much.

“Sloppy! That construct wouldn’t have stopped a quill, let alone that flail! Your will is weak!” yelled Quilla. Applejack looked up just in time to see her create quill constructs and fire them at Applejack. The farmpony moved quickly, flying backwards in order to avoid the sharpened energy, before firing an energy blast at Quilla. Her constructs had gotten stronger as she learned to harness her will, and her blasts were no different, this one comparable to Kilawog’s. Quilla created a construct of a wall of vines to shield herself, but to Applejack’s surprise, her blast punched through it and hit Quilla.

As Quilla doubled over, Applejack pressed her advantage. “For the love of Celestia, SHUT UP!” she yelled, creating a hammer out of Will and swinging it through the air. It connected with the side of Quilla’s head, sending her to the ground for once. Applejack created a thick slab of energy and slammed in against Quilla’s back, pinning her to the forest floor. Keeping up the pressure, she flew towards where Quilla was confined. Giving a sneer herself, she said, “Yield.”

Quilla, to her credit, put up a huge fight, even sending out pulses of energy to break Applejack’s construct. However, her attempts barely made a dent. Applejack’s will had been hardened by her desire to beat Quilla’s flank, to the point that her slab was enough to fend off her attacks. Finally, Quilla stopped fighting, and Applejack heard faintly from underneath, “I yield.”

Applejack banished the construct, and Quilla got up, not looking at Applejack. She crossed her arms, her face unreadable. This really confused Applejack. She had expected Quilla to be furious, to demand another round, to which Applejack would have accepted. But Quilla’s face had almost no expression. The emotion that did show on her face wasn’t anger, though. It kinda looked… sad? “We’re done, Applejack. Come back next time,” she said, turning and walking over to a stump, where she sat, cradling herself in her arms.

Applejack padded softly over to her, her hooves not making a sound against the grass. She could barely believe she was doing this, but what was she supposed to do? Applejack placed a hoof on Quilla’s shoulder, frowning. She tried to say something, but nothing came. Direct approach it is, she thought. “Quilla, why is it you have such a problem with me? Ah know yer upset about Seron, but Ah think yer-“

Quilla’s spines rose a bit as her face turned to Applejack’s tears running down her cheeks. “You wanna know what my problem is? Seron Gruto was the best Lantern I knew. He was kind, compassionate, strong, and patient. He was also the Green Lantern who taught me how to use my ring, making a silly jungle dwelling girl into a halfway-decent ring slinger. He helped make this sector one of the safest in Guardian space. The man was like a second father to me, for the sake of the Green!” Her voice started to lose its edge, sadness slipping in where fury had once been. “And while I’m busy backing up a Lantern in another sector, he gets blasted out of the sky by who-knows-what, lands on some backwater planet, and his ring goes to some hick who, as far as I know, was just in the right place at the right time. And on top of that, I have to take his place as teacher to the one person in the galaxy I wanted to avoid. And now it turns out that she can kick my ass,” she said, bringing her knees up to her chest. She sniffed softly, placing her head on her legs.

Applejack took her hoof off her shoulder, backing away from her slightly. “Quilla-“

“Just go,” the alien said, her voice choked with emotion.

Applejack put her hoof down. “No, Quilla, Yer gonna listen ta this,” she said. It took her a moment, but Quilla turned slightly to her. “Look, Ah get it, Seron was important to you. From what Hal told me, he was important to a lot of people. And yah have more right than most ta miss him. But at least yah knew him. Yah had someone take yah under his wing, help yah out. And it sounds like yah had more than just him, yah said second father. When Ah was growin’ up, Ah’d have traded mah left hind leg ta have even one memory of mah Pappy, or mah Mama. But they died when Ah was just a little filly. Don’t get me wrong, mah brother Big Macintosh is a great pony, like my Granny, but still… Ah’d see all the other fillies and colts with their folks, and at first Ah’d ask them ‘How come Ah don’t have a mama and papa?’. They didn’t know what ta say, but they can’t lie ta me, so they have ta tell me I’ll never see them,” she said, looking at her hat. “Then Big Mac tells me that this hat belonged to Pappy, and that Ah should have it. Ah say thanks, but all Ah’m thinkin’ is that it’s just a hat. It can’t pick me up from school, or tell me how proud it is of me, or… or care about me…” She sniffs, holding her hat in her hooves. “Just remember, you’re not the only one who’s lost somepony,” she said, rising up off the ground and flying out of the woods.

She didn’t want Quilla to see her cry.

The sun filtered into Applejacks window as Applejack’s eyes opened blearily. She was awake before the rooster, as she usually was, but instead of going back to sleep, she yawned loudly and swung her hooves out of bed. Quilla’s training sessions had been hard, but Applejack had done harder. She winced a bit, though as her sore muscles stretched. It was a good thing she had the day off today…

The sound of hooves pulled Applejack from her thoughts. She looked towards her door, and saw Big Mac leaning against her door frame. “Howdy, Sis,” he said. “You wanna tell me what that cryin’ in yer room was about last night?”

The orange earth pony balked for a moment, then cursed under her breath. Of course Big Mac had heard her. It was never easy, was it? “It was nothin’, Big Mac. Just thinkin’ about Mama and Pappy again. Old wounds.”

Big Mac stood on his back legs, crossing his hooves. “That it? Or are ya lyin’, like yah have been fer the past month?”

Applejack froze, looking up at Big Mac slowly. He looked down at her sternly. “Ah’m not a stupid pony, AJ. Ah’ve seen ya runnin into the forest at night, when ya think no one’s awake. Ah’ve seen the bruises on ya, the ones ya think yer hidin’. Either you’ve taken up monster fightin’ or there’s somethin’ else goin’ on. Like Ah said, Ah ain’t a dumb pony, so yah best
start tellin’ the truth, like yah should’ve done in the first place.”

Applejack balked for a moment, dropping to her haunches. He had seen her? And her bruises? But she thought she had been so careful… This was the downside of not lying or sneaking, you were terrible at it when you had to. She sighed a bit, and looked at her brother. “Alright, Big Mac, yah caught me. Ah have been keepin’ somethin’ from yah. Ah’m sorry, and Ah’ll tell yah all about it. Very soon.”

Big Mac raised an eyebrow. “There’s a lot to it,” said his sister, “And Ah need a little while to get it all right in mah head before I can tell yah. Ah promise, yah give me five minutes, and you’ll know everythin’ Ah know.” He looked at her funny one more time, then exited the room, his way of saying he agreed.

Applejack groaned and facehoofed. Great, just peachy. She had been hoping to keep this away from her family, if only to keep them from worrying about her. She should have known better than to try and hide something from Big Macintosh, though. He was right; he was quiet, but he was also one of the smartest ponies in Ponyville, purple unicorns excluded. The farm only ran so well because Big Mac was so good at the finances.

Applejack brought up her ring, checking the time. It was incredibly handy that it did that, it was like a pocket watch, but on her fetlock. The green display read 6:32. Usually around the time she woke up. Suddenly, out of her ring came a voice:

Ring power at 2%. Please charge to avoid sudden loss of life support and construct capability

Applejack put her head in her hooves, groaning loudly. She had forgotten to charge it again! It had been two weeks, now that she had thought about it. She always forgot to charge it… Oh, well, at least it was a quick fix. She reached into the little fold in space that housed the ring, and the lantern battery popped out, materializing on the floor. She was about to put her hoof in when there was a loud rap on her second floor window, followed by a woosh as it opened. Applejack jumped and hid the battery behind her back, looking to see her visitor.

Looking back at her was her cyan friend with the multi-colored mane, Rainbow Dash. She was hovering about a foot above her floor, and she looked like she was panicing. “Dash! Uh, Ah was just-“

“Never mind what you were just, AJ! We’ve got a problem, a big problem!”

AJ stood, her lantern forgotten. “What problem?”

“Sugarcube corner is on fire!”

Applejack’s hooves pounded on the ground, propelling her quickly towards Sugarcube Corner. She was almost there now, following Rainbow Dash as she flew through the air. Her ring was flashing, but she wasn’t paying attention. The entirety of her mind was focused on one thing: getting to the bakery.

Her heart sank lower in her chest as she saw the great plume of smoke in the sky. It reminded her too much of the dragon she and her friends had tried to chase off. But it wasn’t a snoring beast this time; she had seen enough brush fires on the farm to know that this was a raging monster. An image of Pinkie Pie trapped in the flaming bakery flashed in her mind, and she pushed herself harder, hooves a blur.

After what felt like hours, Applejack skidded to a stop in front of the building. It was a fiery tower of heat, the flames reaching high into the morning air. The cupcake-shaped tower looked like it was about to collapse onto the gingerbread themed roof, which was charred black and burning brightly. The windows had been blown out by the heat, and flames poured out of them. High above the roof were pegasus ponies with dark clouds, jumping up and down frantically to shower the fire with rain water. The fire was proving too hot, though, because the water was evaporating in the heat far before it could reach the burning wood. There was a bucket train leading back to the lake, but that was doing even less for the fire

The image of the bakery was blocked by the panicking face of Twilight Sparkle. “Applejack! Thank Celestia you’re here! Pinkie Pie’s in there with the Cake twins, and the roof’s about to collapse! I’ve got Rainbow up working on the flames, so-“

Applejack cut her off by pulling her hat off and pressing it on Twilight’s head. “Hold onta this,” she said, as she was covered in her Green Lantern uniform. Her ring spoke up again about the energy levels, but she ignored it, charging the door, cloaked in green energy and disappearing into the smoke and flames.

Up in the second floor of the bakery, in a room that had once been bright and cheerful, there were huddled three figures amongst the acrid smoke. Two were small and crying, coughing loudly with each inhale in high, ragged voices. The third was bigger, with her hooves wrapped around them. Pinkie’s mane had deflated, her eyes were pouring tears from the smoke, and she was coughing just like the foals. But she hung on to the two, whispering to them quietly as they cried.

“Shh, shh, it’s ok, it’s ok. Someone’ll come for us, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. It’ll be ok; everything’s going to be ok…”

And she knew it would be. She wasn’t saying it because she had to be strong for the foals, or something silly like that. Things were bad right now, really bad, more bad than they had ever been, but she knew her friends would find a way. Any minute now, Applejack or Rainbow Dash or Twilight would burst through the door and get them out, no problem. She just had to have hope.

Just as she thought that, she heard a splintering crash as the door broke apart, leaving behind a green hoof. She looked up through the black smoke, and saw Applejack, glowing green and floating a bit. She heard a voice say "1% power", and Applejack responded with “Shut up, Ah know!” before heading over to the three ponies. “Applejack!” Pinkie cried, hugging the foals tighter. “See, little guys, I told you someone would come!”

Applejack smiled a bit, in spite of the situation. “You were right, Pinks, Ah’m here. Now, let’s get’cha outta here, huh?” she said, extending her ring out and wrapping Pinkie and the Cake twins in a green bubble, keeping any smoke and fire out. The bubble flickered for a moment, but Applejack concentrated as hard as she could, and it finally solidified. Applejack floated out the doorway, pulling her precious cargo along with her.

She barely made it out of the room before a flaming beam fell from the crumbling roof, slamming into Applejack’s bubble. It held, snapping the beam in two, but the green sphere dissolved around the helpless ponies, exposing them once again to the harshness of the inferno. One half of the beam, however, came to close, and slammed into Pinkie’s leg. The pink pony screamed, her leg bent in a way that it was most certainly not meant to bend. Applejack cursed under her breath, coughing from the awful black smoke, rushing over to Pinkie Pie. The pony still had her hooves wrapped around the twins, not letting go for a second. “Pinkie, Ah know yer in pain, but yah gotta hold on, just fer a little longer, ok?” Pinkie whined in pain, but nodded, keeping a hold on the foals.

Applejack did her best to reform the bubble, but she had to expend more energy to keep Pinkie levitated off her broken leg. She knew that this one would cave if it was hit like the last one, and Pinkie would be hurt further. Why, oh why didn’t she recharge her ring before she got here? She had been in such a hurry…

Applejack shook her head. No time to think about that now. Her ring sounded off again. Ring failure imminent. Applejack coughed loudly, the suffocating smoke invading her lungs. Her ring wasn’t strong enough to completely keep the smoke out, and she could barely float with the bubble formed. She had to proceed on hoof, keeping Pinkie and the Cake twins suspended in the construct. She bolted down the stairs, jumping up and pushing off the wall to take the sharp turn down the stairs, rushing to the door.

Just as she was about to jump out the door, there was a mighty crack as a massive beam fell, blocking the door and barely leaving enough room for Applejack to stop. “Celestia damn it!” she yelled, looking over the blocked entry. Her problems compounded as she heard the roof above her head splinter, buckling under its own weight. She looked around frantically, but all the exits were covered, either by fire or by charred wood. Applejack looked back at the ponies she had in her construct, trying to come up with something, anything…

It hit her. She had an idea, but it was… well, suicidal might be a generous term. With how little power her ring had, there was no guarantee that it would even work, let alone that she could get out with them But it was the only thing she could think of. She looked back at Pinkie.

“Pinkie Pie, Ah want you ta hold onto the foals tight, got me? Don’t you let them go fer a second. Ah know it’s gonna be hard, but you gotta get them and yerself ta the paramedics. Ah’m gettin’ yah out of here, Ah promise.”

Pinkie Pie nodded, holding the coughing little bundles close to her chest. Applejack screwed up her face, putting what little power she could into the sphere, shaping it into a rudimentary cone. She redistributed some power to make the tip as hard as she could, then reared back with her right hoof, the cone moving back along with it. As hard as she could, she punched with her hoof, sending the hardened cone of Will careening towards the fallen beam, gritting her teeth with the effort. The solid tip connected with the charred wood, and the wood gave, splitting apart and letting the cone fly through the door. Applejack’s ring finally gave out, and the cone dissolved, sending Pinkie and the twins rolling across the ground, the pink party pony shielding the foals with her body.

Applejack’s Green Lantern uniform disappeared, the green energy that had surrounded her gone. Applejack coughed loudly, feeling the full effect of the smoke. The heat of the blazing roof pressed down on her like a weight, and she made her way blindly towards the newly cleared doorway. She cried out as she bumped into a piece of furniture, patting her shoulder to ease the heat rash. Applejack opened her eyes by a fraction, looking around frantically. There! The little speck of sunlight that was the door. She bolted for it as quick as she could, hearing the roof beams snap above her as the roof finally caved in. She leapt forward, hoping beyond hope that she cleared it before the roof came crashing down on her. She heard the thundering crash as the charred roof slammed against the floor, sending soot and ash flying in every direction. Applejack landed on her belly, safely out of the way of the downed ceiling.

Applejack gasped for air, letting the clear oxygen fill her smoke-filled lungs. She looked around, and saw Pinkie Pie on a stretcher with a paramedic pony, and the twins being tended to by a few others. Her head slumped down onto the ground, and she saw Twilight heading for her. “Applejack! Are you alright?”

Applejack just looked back at Pinkie and the twins, battered, bruised and covered in soot, but alive. “Yeah, Twi,” she said in a raspy voice, “Ah’m just fine.

` “But Ah’m fine, nurse!” Applejack cried, crossing her hooves in frustration. She was lying in a hospital bed, dressed in a paper gown and her muzzle covered in an oxygen mask. She furrowed her brow, giving Nurse Redheart the biggest stink eye she could muster.

Nurse Redheart, to her credit, kept looking Applejack straight in the eye. “Well your chart says otherwise. Let’s see; severe smoke inhalation, heat rash on your right shoulder, possible carbon monoxide poisoning… You’re not going anywhere, missy, not for a while. Better get comfortable,” she said. “Oh, you have a few visitors,” she said, smiling. “It’s a good thing the doctor cleared you, too, because I think the rainbow one is about to have a heart attack.”

Applejack chuckled, but coughed in the middle of it. If she really thought about it, she supposed the doctor was right. She didn’t really feel very well, and maybe a little time in the hospital was called for. Any further thoughts were shoved out of her head by the streak of rainbow followed by a sharp pain in the back of her head. “You stupid filly! I’m the one who does dangerously stupid things, remember? I’m good at it!”

Applejack winced as she heard someone tsk at the door. “Really, Rainbow Dash, must you be so rough? I agree that Applejack was a bit reckless, but there’s no need to be rude.” Applejack smiled in spite of herself; Rarity might be a bit prissy at times, but the big marshmallow was sensible… sometimes.

The farmpony heard the tiniest little squeak, and she looked to see her cream colored friend, Fluttershy, holding her hooves up to her mouth. “Oh my, Applejack! Are you alright? Oh dear, you look awful! Are you comfortable? Do you have enough oxygen?”

“Ah’m fine, Shy, Ah’m fine,” she said, chuckling. “Ah swear, Ah’m ok.”

Applejack smiled as the rest of her friends filtered in, along with her family. Big Mac was first, with Applebloom riding on his back and Granny Smith following behind with her walker. Pinkie pie was absent, of course, being in worse shape than Applejack was. Applejack was surprised, though, when the owners of the bakery, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, came in as well.

Applebloom was the first to speak, jumping off Mac’s back and landing on Applejack’s belly, hugging her. “Hey, Big Sis! Are yeh all right? When Ah heard you were inside the fire, Ah was so worried! But Ah shouldn’t have been, cause you always come out ok! Always! Ah kept tellin’ that ta Big Mac, cause he kept crying and sayin’ that you two fought last time he saw ya, and-“

Big Mac picked the filly up and placed a hoof over her mouth. “Ah think that’s enough of that,” he said, his face redder than usual. Twilight giggled a bit, and Applejack could have sworn that he went even redder, which was strange. He then looked at the orange pony, with their sister squirming in his hooves. “Look, AJ, Ah’m-“

“Aww, shut up, Mac,” she said, laughing. “You’ll get yer answer, as soon as Ah can give it to yah.”

The Cakes came up to the bed, holding hooves. “Applejack, we just… we wanted to thank you for saving out little family,” said Mrs. Cake. Mr. Cake looked a little too choked up to talk. “And not just Pound and Pumpkin. Pinkie’s always been like a daughter to us, even with all her antics,” she said, sniffing. “We saw how you got all three of them out, and…” She clutched onto her husband, sobbing slightly into his shoulder before looking up. “Just… thank you,” she said. The Cakes left then, presumably to visit with their loved ones.

Rainbow Dash spoke up in the silence. One thing I wanna know, though,” said the multicolored pony. “What was that green thing that Pinkie came out of? Did you see it, AJ?”

Twilight laughed nervously. “Oh, come on, Rainbow, that place was full of smoke. Do you really think that Applejack saw anything?”

The pony in the hospital bed shook her head. “It’s alright, Twilight, it’s time it came out. Everypony, there’s somethin’ Ah need to show y'all,” she said.

Suddenly, the nurse came in again. “Uh, Miss Applejack? You have another visitor, kind of a strange one. She’s… well, not a pony, that’s for sure…”

Applejack chuckled a bit. “It’s alright, Ah think Ah know who it is. Let her in.”

The nurse nodded, stepping out and returning with the visitor. It was Quilla, not dressed in her uniform, as Applejack had expected, but in some kind of robe-like dress. She looked a bit sheepish, her hands behind her back. “Hello, Applejack.”

Applejack smiled a bit, even as all her friends gave her funny looks. “Hi, Quilla. Ah appreciate you comin’ ta visit.”

Quilla laughed slightly. “I couldn’t just leave my partner out there, could I?” she said. “You did real good in the fire,
Applejack. So good, I brought you a present.” She brought her hands around to the front, clutching Applejack’s Green Lantern power battery.

Applejack grinned. “Mighty fine gift there, Quilla. Bring it here, Ah’ll use it now.” Quilla carried the lantern over and held it up, and Applejack stuck her ring into the swirling green light. “In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape mah sight. Let those who worship evil’s might, beware mah power- Green Lantern’s light!”

Those gathered around the bed shielded their eyes as Applejack lit up with green light, and when they looked back, she wore her Green Lantern uniform. “Ah’m a Green Lantern, a protector of the universe. And Ah’m damn proud to be one.”

Chapter Six: The Eve of Fear

The grunting of a certain orange farmer could be heard from the fields of Sweet Apple Acres as she worked amongst the grain. It was again harvest time, and the wheat needed reaping as it did every year. Applejack brought the blade of her scythe across the stalks of wheat, bringing them down so she could bind them later. It had been a few days since she had been let out of the hospital, and she had been eager to get back to work. Quilla had insisted that she get some rest before they continued training, though she conceded that Applejack was a decent ring slinger already.

Applejack was more concerned about Pinkie Pie. Though she supposed that she shouldn’t be, Pinkie was unshakeable. Moments after her cast had been finished, she started planning an ‘Applejack saved the day and I got a new hoof cast’ party, which the Cakes were offering to cater free of charge. The party was later that day, and Applejack made a note to bring a couple apple fritters. It just seemed rude not to bring something to a party, even if it was for her.

As Applejack reared back with her tool for another pass, the blade of the scythe flew off the haft, spinning through the air and heading for a tree. Applejack reached out with her ring, sending a tendril of green energy to wrap around the spinning blade. She caught it just before it split the bark of the tree, and Applejack brought the blade back, examining what could have gone wrong.

“Ponyfeathers,” she cursed, examining the blade. The back had rusted through, meaning there was nothing keeping it in place against the screw. The blade was useless now, and it would take Iron Tongs, the blacksmith, at least three days to make her a new one. Applejack sighed as she unfastened the leather straps that fastened her hooves to the haft. Looked like she was done reaping today…

Applejack looked at the construct she had made to catch the blade. Huh, maybe she wasn’t… She closed her eyes and focused, creating the curved blade and haft of the farming implement as a construct. She grinned as the scythe floated in the air, moving along with her hooves as if it was strapped to them like the old one. Applejack’s grin faded slightly and became tinged with confusion as she felt the construct. For some reason, It felt… stronger than many others she had created before. She couldn’t explain it, it just felt… right. She gave it an experimental swing, and as she expected, the construct’s blade met with no resistance as it cut the wheat.

Applejack didn’t have much work left, but is still needed to get it done. She grinned as the scythe sailed through the air. Whatever made this construct different, she liked it.

Hours later, out in the barn, the party was in full swing. Most of Ponyville had turned out, since it wasn’t everyday that a resident became an intergalactic cop and representative to your whole planet. Applejack had decided to come clean to everyone in town, since it would be pretty hard otherwise to explain how she managed her now famous rescue.

Applejack was currently over by the punch bowl, carefully smelling the brew before taking a sip. It wouldn’t be the first time Pinkie made her “special” punch and not told anyone, and Applejack needed to work tomorrow. It didn’t smell off, so she decided to have some. Pinkie came bounding up to her, somehow still as maneuverable even with her cast. “Hi, Applejack! Are you enjoying the party? I hope you are! I really worked hard on it, and-“

Applejack laughed. “It’s a great party, Pinkie. Thank yah kindly. Ah know Quilla thanks yah, too, fer makin’ this her welcome party too.” Applejack waved to her alien friend, and Quilla waved back before returning to her conversation with Fluttershy. Applejack chuckled. “She ain’t one fer big deals, yah know. One sec, Pinkie,” she said, before turning around to look at the punch bowl. “Rainbow, if yah even think about spikin’ the punch, Ah’ll buck you half way back to Cloudsdale,” she said, through her grin.

The cyan pony hovering above the punch bowl quickly hid a bottle of whisky behind her back. She chuckled nervously, then groaned when she realized she was rumbled. “Aww, horseapples. Did that ring give you some kind of super alert system?”

Applejack laughed and winked at Rainbow Dash. “Nah, sugarcube, Ah just know yah too well,” she said, laughing a bit. Rainbow Dash laughed too, then flew away, heading to mingle with the other ponies. Applejack always did like the way Dash flew…

“Hello, Applejack? Equestria to Applejack, come in!” yelled Pinkie, waving a hoof in front of Applejack’s face.

Applejack shook her head a bit, clearing her mind. What had she been talking about? “Uh, sorry, Pinkie, Ah guess Ah
got distracted…”

“I’ll say! You were all like…” She swayed on the spot and her eyes went distant and swirly, as only Pinkie Pie could make them.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Pinkie, I kinda doubt that I looked much like that.”

Pinkie giggled. “Ok, maybe not EXACTLY like that, but it was close! What’cha thinking about, AJ?”

AJ blushed a bit as the image of Rainbow Dash creeped it’s way into her mind again, but she shook her head to clear it. “Uh, Ah don’t remember… S’cuse me, Pinkie, Ah need to talk to Quilla ‘bout somethin’” she said, seeing that her quill-covered colleague had parted ways with Fluttershy.

AJ made her way over to Quilla, who smiled as she approached. “Ah, Applejack, just the quadruped I wanted to see.”

Applejack tilted her head. “Uh… Ah’m a what now?”

Quilla chuckled. “Never mind. Anyway, I needed to talk to you about something. I’ve been called out of the sector on an important situation. The Green Lanterns think they’ve finally cornered a big time crime boss, and they’re calling in backup. I’m going to be leaving this sector to you, but don’t worry too much. It’s been pretty quiet lately, and I’ve quelled anything that might require Green Lantern aid. Just keep an eye out, and you’ll do fine,” said Quilla, smiling and patting Applejack on the
shoulder.

Applejack’s mouth hung open for a moment. She was going to be looking after the sector… alone? “Well, Alright, Quilla. Ah’ll do mah best,” she said, giving a salute.

Quilla chuckled a bit. “I know you will. Now that I’ve talked to you, I’m going to duck out early. I need to head back to my planet, tie up a few loose ends before I go. Tell your friend Pinkie I had a great time, and she was very… creative with the cake,” she said, laughing. That was certainly true; Pinkie had made it shaped like the Green Lantern symbol.

Pinkie Pie popped up between the two of them. “Wow, thanks, Quilla! I was worried I would run out of green frosting or green food coloring, but I didn’t! And I’m sorry you’re leaving so soon, but thank you for coming! It wouldn’t have been much of a welcome party if you hadn’t shown up! Here!” she said, producing a slice of cake, “Have a piece for the road! Or sky! Or vacuum of space!”

Quilla blinked, but smiled and took the cake. “Thank you, Pinkie,” she said, walking out the door of the barn. There was a flash of light, and Quilla took off, flying high up into the sky and leaving the atmosphere.

As Quilla disappeared from view, there was the sound of a huge belch. Applejack turned to look at the source of the sound, and saw Spike with a scroll in his claws. Celestia was sending a letter? Now? Curious, she made her way over to Twilight, as did the rest of her friends. Usually when Celestia sent sent something to Twilight without having been sent something first, it was important.

“What does it say, Darling?” asked Rarity, looking over Twilight’s shoulder. As Twilight was about to open the scroll with telekinesis, Spike belched again. This time, a mahogany box appeared from the green flame, ornate and well made. Twilight looked down at the box, and seemed to pale, before opening the letter. She read it aloud.

“Dear Twilight. I am sorry to say that this is not a social letter, though I dearly wish it were. I am sorry to intrude upon you in this manner, but I am afraid that Equestria needs you and your friends once again.

“Reports have come in from many rural areas of devastating circumstances. Entire villages ravaged and destroyed, leaving behind very few survivors. The ponies that do survive are traumatized, becoming jittering, paranoid wrecks of their former selves. What is worse, these ponies’ accounts vary wildly, even in cases where they were in the same village. One might say that it was a dragon, others an Ursa Major, and still others say stranger things. One pony even claimed it was his Mother-in-Law grown giant.

“Unfortunately, this is not the end of the harsh news I bring you. Luna and I have tracked the path of the destruction, and we believe that this… force is heading straight for Ponyville. If our calculations are correct, it may be there as soon as tomorrow. That is why I have enclosed the Elements of Harmony.”

The five ponies not reading the letter gasped, looking to the inlayed mahogany box. Twilight picked it up in her telekinetic grip, flipping the lid open. Inside were five gold necklaces and a tiara, each piece of jewelry set with a stone in the shape of one of the ponies’ cutie mark. Twilight picked the letter back up.

“I leave them with you, assured in the knowledge that Equestria could not be in safer hooves. Luna and I have decided our place is with the ponies who have lost so much, so it is with a heavy heart I must ask this of you. Defend yourselves. Defend Ponyville. Defend all of Equestria. I know that you and your friends are up to the task. Good luck, my little ponies.

“With much hope and confidence, Princess Celestia.”

The six of them stood there, huddled around the letter, before the sound of breaking glass caused them to turn around. Somepony had dropped a punch glass, and everypony’s eyes were on the Elements. Silence reigned for a glorious moment “Um… I think the town may have heard you,” said Fluttershy, twiddling her hooves.

“Gee, you think?” said Rainbow Dash.

That break in the silence was enough to open the floodgates. There was a scream, and then everypony was screaming, several rearing up on their back hooves. Applejack heard someone shout “The horror!” and faint. Another pony crashed into the refreshment table, sending the Green Lantern cake and the punch flying. Fillies were crying from confusion, while their parents panicked like frightened deer. Applejack was about to let loose a flash of light from her ring, but a voice cried out.

“Hey! Shut up!”

Every eye turned to the source of the voice, the cyan pony hovering above the ground. “Would you all cool it?! Come on, everypony! Yeah, we’ve got a problem, but we can handle it! Me and the girls have never let Ponyville down, so there’s no reason to think we will now! And besides, we’ve got a Green Lantern on our side!” she said, gripping Applejack’s right hoof and holding it up. “You know that we’ll kick whatever’s coming right in the flank! And you can count on that!”

There was a massive cheer as the crowd rallied behind Rainbow Dash’s words, and Applejack was once again struck by her. Something about her, she just… exuded confidence. It was almost foolish, but she had enough skill to make it work for her. She just had that quality about her, a special something that made her different.

She closed her eyes and shook her head a bit. Damn it, what was wrong with her? That was the second time tonight she had zoned out. Maybe she’d go talk to Zecora at some point, see if she was coming down with something. Strange as the zebra was at times, she knew her way around herbal remedies.

She felt a tap on her shoulder. “You ok, Applejack?” asked Pinkie. “You were doing that thing again.”

“Ah’m fine,” Applejack replied hazily. “Just… tired, Ah guess.”

“Alright, everypony,” said Twilight, sparing Applejack any more confusion. “The six of us need to prepare for tomorrow. I say we all head back to the library, because tomorrow we’re going to stop whatever it is that’s coming.”

“Sorry, everypony!” yelled Pinkie Pie. “Party’s over! Don’t worry, though, I’ll throw a ‘We beat the bad guy’ party after we beat the bad guy!”

` As the ponies filtered out, Applejack went up to Big Mac patting him on the shoulder. “Would yah mind puttin’ Apple Bloom ta bed tonight? Looks like Ah’m gonna be at Fort Elements,” she said, chuckling. Big Mac nodded, following the crowd of ponies out the door of the barn. Applejack turned towards her friends and smiled. “Well, let’s get to it, then.”

The six Elements of Harmony sat gathered around the table, their necklaces and Twilight’s crown sitting in the center.

“Alright, girls,” said Twilight, “we all know what the letter said. Whatever’s coming, it’s dangerous, but I think we’ve faced worse in the past. If we can handle a living embodiment of chaos itself, we can handle this,” she said. The other ponies nodded in agreement. “Still, if we’re going to fight it, it would be a good idea to try and figure out what it is.”

“Why bother?” piped up Rainbow Dash. “Whatever it is, one rainbow shot from the Elements will send it packing.”

“What if it’s not evil, though?” asked Fluttershy. “Maybe it’s just alone and scared, and acting out?”

“Yeah!” yelled Pinkie. “Maybe all it needs is some cheering up!”

“Could it be possible that it’s more than one thing?” asked Rarity. “Remember when those awful parasprites came to town? They certainly could cause a lot of destruction.”

“I don’t think that’s it, Rarity,” said Twilight. “If it were big, like a dragon or a swarm, someone would have seen it. A traveler or a hermit pony would have reported it. Whatever it is, it’s small enough to move around relatively unnoticed by the community at large,” she said. Twilight’s horn glowed, and she pulled over a chalk board and began writing on it. Up at the top she wrote, ‘What we know’.

“Ok, let’s start with what we know for sure. We know that whatever it is, it’s strong. It has to be to be able to do this. We also know it’s most likely small, or at least common place enough that no one would notice it. It also seems able to severely debilitate ponies, enough that they think they saw something they didn’t.”

“Hey, wait a sec,” said Applejack. “Yah say it’s powerful, hard tah notice, and messes up ponies’ minds, right? Well, what do we know that could fool a whole heep of ponies, us included?”

The whole group thought for a second, then Pinkie raised a hoof. “Oh! Oh! The changeling Queen!”

Twilight’s jaw dropped, thinking it over. “Of course! If Chrysalis could overpower Celestia with enough love, she certainly could take out a few towns and feed on the love of the remaining!”

“And draining the love from Shining Armor turned him into a shell,” offered Rarity. “I bet that would happen to other ponies too!”

“But why would Chrysalis come alone?” asked Applejack. “Last time she had to so the rest of her army could come in. Why the solo act this time?”

“Maybe she thought that smaller assault would be better,” said Twilight. “And her army could be waiting while she weakens Equestria from the inside. Taking out farming towns and such could severely hamper any military defense. An army marches on its stomach, after all.”

“Well, I guess she didn’t realize who she was dealing with in Ponyville,” said Rainbow Dash, grinning. “We’ll just have to be careful about any new ponies coming into Ponyville.”

“Right,” said Twilight. “Pinkie, you know every pony in Ponyville on sight, so we’ll be counting on you. Let us know right away if you see a new pony, or anypony acting strangely.”

Pinkie sat up and pulled out a helmet, putting it squarely on her head. “Yes Ma’am!”

“Rainbow Dash, I’ll need you to be an eye in the sky,” said Twilight. “Just keep a lookout, make sure to tell us if anything is headed this way.”

“Got it!”

“Fluttershy, Chrysalis might be able to turn herself into an animal, so I’ll need you to keep an eye out as well. If an animal starts acting strangely, let us know, and ask them if anything odd’s happened.”

“Ok,” said Fluttershy, softly but with confidence.

“Applejack, Rarity, tomorrow the three of us will be helping the town get ready for the attack,” she said. “Boarding up windows, getting the citizens to safety, that sort of thing.”

“You got it, sugarcube.”

“Of course, darling.”

“Alright, everypony, put your Element necklace on. We need to be ready whenever Chrysalis decides to attack.”

Applejack took the piece of jewelry in her hooves, feeing the polished gold. She admired the apple shaped gem embedded in it for a moment, then placed it around her neck. She was once again struck by just how natural to felt, like it was a part of her. She looked down at her ring, smiling as she realized that the two accessories were very similar in that regard.

“Alright, everypony,” said Twilight, wearing her Element tiara, “go home and get some rest. Tomorrow we defend Ponyville.”

Chapter Seven: Hollow Victory

Ponyville was quiet. The usual hustle and bustle of the little town had disappeared, replaced with a pregnant silence that filled the air. Only a few figures moved around the village, preparing it for the great storm approaching.

Rainbow Dash was perched atop a cloud, her forehooves dangling over the edge of it as she watched the horizon. She flapped her wings in opposite directions and rotated the cloud, scanning every direction she could. The cloud she was laying on was particularly soft, the kind she would normally nap on. But not this time; she had to be alert.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, had her eyes open on the ground. She had hidden herself in a bale of hay, combined with a trench coat and Groucho Mare glasses. The perfect disguise. It was a bit hard for her to be sneaky, though, with her broken leg. She crept along the streets of Ponyville best she could, looking carefully for anypony she didn’t recognize. Not a hard thing to do, since most ponies were hiding in their homes right now, but Twilight said it was important, and she believed her.

On the other side of town, Fluttershy was in her element, surrounded by her animal friends. She had a clip board and quill, cutting a very Twilight-like figure as she took census of all the creatures in and around Ponyville. Every rabbit, squirrel and ladybug had to be accounted for. Chrysalis could be hiding anywhere, so Fluttershy was more than happy to help.

The other three Elements were in the process of battening down the rest of Ponyville. Rarity and Twilight were going over every detail of the town, making sure all the entrances were covered and their defenses were strong. Said defenses were being tended to by Applejack, who was using her ring to build barricades. Several ponies had gratefully donated their market place stands to provide lumber, and Applejack was stacking it along the roads toward Ponyville.

Applejack finally hammered the last nail into place, dismissing the hammer construct she had been using. She trotted back over to Twilight, her brow shining with sweat. “That’s the last one, Twi,” she said. “Better top off mah ring, just in case.” As Applejack produced her lantern battery, Twilight nodded to her.

“Good job, Applejack. Now that the town is barricaded, we have a better chance of defense. It’ll be much harder for somepony to sneak in, meaning that we’ve crippled one of Chrysalis’s strongest assets. We should be careful, though, she’s still very powerful. As soon as she reveals herself, we need to use the Elements before she can shape shift.”

Rainbow Dash dropped down from her cloud, looking a bit nervous. “Uh, Twi? I saw something headed this way, something not very friendly. I didn’t get a good look, all I know is that it’s definitely headed for Ponyville from the east.”

Twilight nodded, her horn glowing before shooting a light up into the sky. It shone high in the sky before disappearing. Moments later, Pinkie Pie, still in her disguise, came running up. “I didn’t see anypony I didn’t know, Twilight,” she said. “I haven’t seen anypony out all day except for us, in fact.”

“Good job, Pinkie. That’s probably a good thing; we don’t want any collateral damage. We have most everypony here, now all we need is-“

“I-I’m here,” said a soft voice. Fluttershy came trotting up slowly, scared but determined looking. “I took a census of all my friends, and there were no new animals in town.”

“Good, we’re all together,” said Twilight. “Rainbow Dash saw something headed this way from the east, so get ready everyone.” Twilight turned to face the eastern barricade, digging her hooves into the ground. Applejack stored her battery away, squaring her hooves as well. Rarity flipped her mane out of her face, placing a hoof on her necklace for comfort. Rainbow Dash hovered in the air, hooves up and ready for a fight. Fluttershy stood slightly behind Applejack, doing her best to hide behind her mane. Finally, Pinkie Pie shook herself, getting rid of the hay, trench coat and glasses.

As they formed up, there was a huge boom and the barricade shook, as if struck by something. The ponies flinched, but held their ground, waiting. Again the barricade shook and the wood splintered as something else struck it, stronger this time. With the next strike, the wood collapsed in on itself, kicking up the dust of the road into a cloud. Applejack gulped audibly; she remembered the Changeling queen, and she was a frightening sight.

But as the dust cleared, it wasn’t Chrysalis’s form that appeared out of the debris. The figure’s wings were spread wide, but had no holes in them, and in fact seemed feathered. As the dust settled, it became clear the figure was female. Her profile was more like an eagle’s, a few feathers falling in front of her face in an odd style. While the rest of her feathers were white, the tips of her headfeathers and those around her eyes were a light purple. Her body was covered in a yellow and black uniform, with a symbol on the chest. Her right claw glowed with yellow energy, casting shadows across her face. Every pony’s jaw dropped as the figure became clear, but it was Rainbow Dash that finally spoke up.

“Gilda?!”

The griffon grinned as she saw the six ponies gathered around. “Well, well, all the little ponies I wanted to see in one place. This day is better than I thought it was going to be. Only question now is, which one of you do I get rid of first? Oh, wait, first thing’s first.” She thrust her right claw out, and a tendril of yellow energy snaked out and gripped the tiara on Twilight’s head, snatching it up and bringing it up to her face. “You’d be surprised at how forthcoming ponies can be when you force them to see the things that make them the most afraid,” she said. “Oh, yeah, I know all about your little Elements, but that was way easier than I thought.” She clenched her claw, and the tendril constricted around it. Gilda looked confused as the tiara remained whole, but continued to squeeze the metal. Finally, it appeared she gave up, growling slightly. “Huh, guess this hunk of junk is stronger than I thought,” she said, before rearing back and throwing the Element away, towards the Everfree forest. “Ah, well, same thing happens. You stupid losers are just as helpless with it out of reach as with it destroyed.”

Applejack’s jaw dropped as she saw Gilda create her tendril. It was frighteningly like the constructs that she created, only yellow. “How in Celestia’s name are yah doin’ that?” she yelled, pointing her hoof at Gilda.

The griffon laughed cruelly at her, holding up her right claw. Perched on her middle digit was a ring, again just like Applejack’s, but yellow. “A little gift from some out of town friends,” she said. “And made even stronger by the fear of about three hundred ponies. That’s how it works, you know. Fear is what makes me strong. And I can feel just how scared you are, especially the little loser in the back,” she said, pointing at Fluttershy, who was crouching behind the others

“Course, this leads me back to which one of you lameos should waste first,” she said. She touched down on the dirt road, walking towards them on four feet. “It’s definitely between the pink one and you, Rainbow. You infuriate me, pinks, but then again, Dash and I have… history,” she said, chuckling a bit. When she reached Dash, she winked a bit. “Don’t we, Dash?”

Rainbow Dash’s face contorted with fury, and it looked like she was ready to pounce the loudmouth griffon. “Shut your beak, feather head!”

Gilda laughed. “I’m hurt, Dash. I guess you don’t remember flight camp as well as I do,” she said, walking in a circle around Rainbow. The griffon flicked her nose with her tail, grinning wolfishly. “Don’t you remember that little spot we had by the racetrack? We’d sneak out after light’s out and just spend hours curled up with each other, remember?”

WHAM

Before Gilda could say another word, she was sent flying by a giant green hoof connecting with her side. She crashed into the fountain, the base of it cracking from the impact. The statue that spat water toppled over, barely missing her. She looked up, rubbing her side, only to see Applejack hovering in the air in her Green Lantern uniform. The hoof construct faded as she looked down at Gilda, fury in her eyes. “Now yah’ve done it, missy,” said the floating pony, her teeth gritted.

Gilda’s eyes narrowed, and she rose into the air with her ring’s energy. “Sinestro told me about you loser Green Lanterns. Said you didn’t have the guts to do what you had to. I think you’ll find-“

Again, Gilda was struck with a burst of green energy, but she didn’t go flying as she had last time. “For the love of Celestia, shut up!” she yelled. “All the time with you evil types, flapping yer gums about just how evil yah are. Shut up and fight!” she yelled, charging at the griffon with her hoof reared back, ready to shove it into the big bully’s smug face.

Gilda brought up her arm to block the punch, diverting it up and bringing her other fist up into Applejack’s gut. Applejack breathed out quickly to prevent the air from being knocked out of her, and brought up a kite shield to block the spinning kick Gilda aimed at her head. It only held for a moment before shattering, though, as Gilda’s leg was wrapped in a yellow greave construct. The griffon’s paw slammed into her face, sending her spinning into the ground. As she hit, she slid, cutting a swath into the ground behind her. She had barely opened her eyes when she saw Gilda screeching down at her, a sword construct stabbing down at her. Applejack forced herself out of the groove she had formed, looking down as the sword sank into the ground. Gilda looked up, screaming her eagle’s scream before charging up at her, using her wings as well as her ring to increase her speed, a giant claw construct in her wake.

Applejack barely managed to dodge it, forming a sledgehammer out of Will and swinging it towards Gilda’s stomach. Gilda just brought her existing construct up to block it, then backhanded Applejack with the claw. Applejack staggered back, looking at Gilda in shock. Gilda’s strength was phenomenal; her constructs were so much stronger then the farm pony’s, and she seemed to have more training than Applejack did. It was going to take a lot for her to beat Gilda, that was for sure.

As Applejack and Gilda continued to duke it out, the five ponies on the side lines looked on in awe. Twilight in particular was amazed at this latest development. Gilda had a ring? And it wasn’t a Green Lantern ring, either. It was some kind of yellow perversion. Applejack said that her ring was powered by Will. Did that mean that Gilda’s ran on something else? What could it be? What force had power comparable to Will?

“Go Applejack!”

Twilight looked over to Pinkie Pie, who was jumping up and down regardless of her cast. She had pulled two pom-poms out of nowhere, and was shaking them over her head like a high-school cheerleader. “Pinkie, what on earth are you doing?!”

“Duh, what does it look like I’m doing?” asked Pinkie. “I’m cheering on my friend! I can’t just sit here afraid, or that meany Gilda wins!”

Twilight was flabbergasted for a moment, but as it often did, her mind started whirring away with ideas. If they were afraid, Gilda won? Wait, hadn’t Gilda said something about fear? How it made her strong?

“Pinkie Pie, you’re brilliant!”

“I am? Wow, and I didn’t even see it coming this time!”

“Girls!” said Twilight, looking at the remaining four, “Pinkie’s right! We have stop being afraid of Gilda! Her ring is using that against Applejack! It’s like AJ’s ring! While hers uses her own will for power, Gilda’s ring uses the fear of the ponies around her!”

“Go AJ!” yelled Rainbow, shaking her hoof in the air. “Beat that stuck up griffon’s flank!”

“Show that ruffian who’s boss!” Rarity cried, waving a hooferchief in the air.

“Yay Applejack! Woohoo!” ‘yelled’ Fluttershy, her voice barely going above a whisper.

“You can do it, Applejack!” Twilight finally exclaimed, hoping beyond hope that this would work.

The fight waged on above them, and Applejack’s friends did the only thing they could think to do; cheer on their friend.

Applejack’s construct sword met Gilda’s, and again she was forced to duck as the griffon’s weapon slashed through hers. Why weren’t her constructs holding? Gilda was forming the same ones Applejack was, and still the yellow weapons were beating her green ones consistently. Applejack brought up a shield to block a yellow mace, and the shield buckled and faded as Gilda brought the weapon up again to strike.

Applejack thought back to anything Quilla might have said about this, or something that would make her constructs stronger as she dove out of the path of the spiked ball. Her eyes widened as she remembered yesterday morning, how the scythe she made had seemed so much more solid than her other ones. As Gilda brought a sword swinging at the farm pony again, Applejack did the only thing she had left; she constructed a scythe out of Will and blocked the sword with the haft of the tool.

As the blade cut into the energy haft, Applejack was sure her hunch was wrong. But the blade stopped, and the construct held. Applejack grinned and brought the bottom of the tool up across Gilda’s face, smashing the fake wood into her beak. Gilda was the one who staggered this time, and Applejack looked down at her construct. She grinned wider, and brought the scythe up at the ready.

“Ah think Ah figured somethin’ out, Gilda. Yer constructs’ve been able ta beat mine cause you’ve been usin’ stuff you know about. Swords, maces, claws, things yah’ve probably been around yer whole life, if the rumors about how military-like griffon society are true. Ah’ve been tryin’ ta match yah in that, but mah heart just wasn’t behind it. But Ah’ll tell yah somethin’ Gilda,” she said, raising the scythe. “Farmin’ tools can be dangerous if yer not careful.”

With that, Applejack charged her opponent, swinging the green blade at Gilda’s throat. The griffon blocked the tool at the point where the blade met the faux wood. Applejack used her opponent’s blade as a point to spin on, turning and slamming into her side. Gilda’s sword faded as Applejack made contact, and the griffon flipped in the air before she righted herself. Applejack let her scythe fade, but created several sickles in mid-air, thrusting a hoof forward at Gilda and sending them spinning towards her. Gilda managed to bring up a shield against them just before they would have sunk into her skin. The pointed ends of the curved sickles pierced the yellow energy, but they were effectively stopped. Gilda dropped the shield, which faded into nothing along with the sickles as she brought a sword swinging for Applejack’s head. The orange farm pony brought up a shield to defend herself, but it didn’t look much like a shield.

As Gilda’s sword was stopped by the construct, she groaned. “A barn door?! You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Applejack grinned as she pushed the sword aside and brought her hoof up to slam into Gilda’s face. “Whatever works.”

Gilda floated out of Applejack’s range, her beak contorted into a scowl. However, her scowl didn’t last long as she started grinning, and then laughing. Applejack groaned a bit herself. “Yer laughin’? Why don’t Ah like that?”

Gilda cracked her knuckles, grinning ear to ear. “You know, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this already. It just didn’t occur to me because I didn’t see any of the lame ponies in this stupid town. They must all be hiding, which is great for me. Means they’re all too scared to come out,” she said, holding up the hand that she wore her ring on.

Applejack shuddered a bit as she felt a chill in the air. From every building in town, a kind of yellow smoke was rising. It wafted into the air, and began drifting towards the griffon. As it floated through the air, it seemed to form different shapes, some indistinct, others very clear. Applejack realized quickly that the shapes were the fears of the ponies inside the houses. The yellow smoke flew into her ring, which shone bright with sickly light. Gilda leveled her arm at Applejack, and with little charge up, fired a massive blast of energy at the pony. She had no time to react, and the energy exploded against Applejack’s body. She was blasted far back, landing on the outskirts of Ponyville. She actually skipped a few times on the ground, finally skidding to a stop on her back.

Applejack groaned and rubbed her head with a hoof. Sweet Celestia of Equestria, Gilda had just blasted her clear across town! Applejack was good with her ring, but she couldn’t muster a blast like that. And Gilda made it look so easy! She barely charged the attack at all! Applejack was definitely in trouble.

Applejack gasped as Gilda came flying in, a new construct in tow. It was a massive spikes ceiling, easily the size of her barn’s ceiling. There was no way she would be able to dodge it in time. As Gilda slammed the spiked plate down on her, Applejack constructed a wooden beam to keep it at bay. It was fueled by her will to survive, but even that wouldn’t last long. She used the time to fly out from under the trap, just in time to see Gilda extend the spikes into the ground.

Applejack flew up until she was level with her opponent, who once again leveled her ring at Applejack, charging another blast. Applejack brought up a shield in preparation, pouring all her will into maintaining it. Gilda’s ring flashed with power as she fired.

The bang from the blast could be heard all the way from the center of Ponyville. Applejack’s friends gasped as they saw the blast, and saw Applejack’s shield barely hold it back. “What just happened?!” cried Rainbow Dash. “Applejack was beating the snot out of that yellow jerk, and then all of a sudden Gilda pulls a blast like that out of nowhere!”

“She must have gotten some kind of huge influx of power,” mused Twilight. “But where could she have gotten all that fear?”

“Um, what about all the other ponies?” Fluttershy asked, raising a hoof. “I know if I heard a whole bunch of bangs and smashing, I’d be scared too.”

“Right!” The four other ponies turned to look at Pinkie Pie. “I’m on it!” The pink pony reached into a tree and pulled out a megaphone. “Good thing I left this here for megaphone emergencies!” she giggled, before deftly climbing up a nearby flagpole.

“Hey, everypony, listen up!” She had the volume cranked up all the way on the device, and her voice stretched all over Ponyville. “You gotta come out! Applejack needs our help! I know it’s scary, that’s exactly what the meany Gilda wants! We gotta believe that Applejack can beat her!”

Pinkie Pie grinned and lowered the megaphone, expecting every pony in Ponyville to come out of their houses, maybe even waving Applejack banners. But as the fight raged on in the distance, nopony showed. After a full minute of nothing, Pinkie brought the bullhorn up to her mouth again. “Come on, where is everypony?”

“It’s no use, Pinkie,” called up Twilight. “they’re just too scared!”

“Phooie, Twilight!” Pinkie yelled back. “They just need a little help, is all!” With that, Pinkie picked her megaphone back up. “Everypony, come on! You can’t let Gilda make you scared! I know how you all feel, I’m afraid too! But you can’t let that fear make you forget who it is that’s fighting for you! For all of us! Applejack needs us, more than she’s ever needed anypony! So come on! Get out here and cheer for the most dependable of ponies! Go APPLEJACK!”

Twilight jumped as a door nearby opened with a bang, and she saw Ditzy, the mail mare, fly out and hover next to Pinkie Pie, hollering just as loudly as she was for Applejack. Another door opened, and another, and yet another, until every door in Ponyville had opened and at least one pony filed out of it. The filled the streets, stallions and mares, fillies and colts, all of them calling out for Ponyville’s resident farm pony.

“Beat her back to wherever she came from, AJ!”

“Go for it! Show her what Ponyville’s made of!”

“Nothin’ stops an Apple! NOTHIN’”

Several villagers turned to see the matriarch of the Apple family, Granny Smith, shook her wrinkled hoof at the distant battle. It emboldened ponies further, shouting support to Applejack and insults at Gilda. The din of pride and confidence drowned out all else, until the ponies couldn’t even hear the battle. All they could hear was a town united.

Applejack panted heavily, her hooves drooping from their defensive stance. Gilda had been coming at her hard and fast, her constructs bashing through hers repeatedly. She was covered in several nicks and cuts, and she thought she might have broken a rib, or at least bruised one. One of her eyes had swollen shut, and blood flowed from a cut above that eye.

Gilda, on the other hand, was still in top form. It looked like she had barely broken a sweat, and she held a yellow sword construct in each claw. She chuckled, pointing one of them at the battered Green Lantern. “Looks like Sinestro was right, Green Lanterns really don’t have what it takes. I wish you could see yourself now, loser. I’m going to enjoy crushing your skull,” she said, preparing to charge at her with both swords. Right before she gave herself the burst of energy she needed, however, she paused. Applejack raised her eyebrow, wondering what on earth she was waiting for, when she heard it. It started as a dull roar, but began to build as the seconds passed. She turned her head to the sound, and saw a massive group of ponies gathered in the streets of the distant Ponyville, each one roaring at the top of their lungs. Applejack couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could guess. Gilda looked dumbstruck as the ponies rallied. Applejack looked at Gilda and grinned.

“Yah know, it’s always good ta get a reminder of what it is yer fightin’ for,” she said, creating two sickle constructs and having them hover near her hooves. She smirked as she felt the strength of the tools, turned hard as diamond by the will to protect those wonderful ponies. She shot forward as fast as she could, crossing both her hooves to slash at Gilda in an X shape. Gilda brought up her swords to block, and both she and Applejack were surprised when her sickles cut right through them. Applejack’s surprised face split into a grin just as Gilda’s face fell. “Looks like that little rally back there’s done a little more’n just give me a bit more will,” she said, bringing a hoof up in a vicious kick to the griffon’s chin. Gilda flipped in mid air, and Applejack created a construct around her back legs, giving herself two iron hoof boots. As she turned and bucked with her back legs, she activated the bottom of the shoes, which fired out on a loaded spring into Gilda’s ribs. She heard a resounding crack as her enemy’s ribs broke, and she shot off in the direction of Ponyville. Applejack flew after her, grinning wide.

The ponies parted as they saw Gilda streak in, leaving the Yellow Corpsman to land harshly on the dirt. Gilda looked up and saw the green streak headed for her, and she balked. These dumb ponies weren’t doing their jobs! Stupid useless morons! She reached out with her ring, trying to find a kernel of fear amongst them, but she couldn’t gain purchase on any of them, not even the foals. She shrieked as loud as she could, but again nothing. Damn it, that Apple jerk was almost here! She did the only thing she could think of; using her ring, she gripped the fountain with a large claw construct and pulled mightily. Using all of her strength, she warped it in a yellow force field, breaking it apart into decently sized pieces. She threw the bubble holding them into the air, and the large pieces of debris flew up, barely missing Applejack as she grew close. “Later, loser!” she held, bolting from her spot into the air.

Applejack was about to go after her, but then she realized what it was Gilda had done: she had thrown the debris in the air, not to hit Applejack, but to put the ponies below in danger. Applejack cursed as she realized she would have to stop and protect them. Thrusting her ring forward, she formed a large bowl and caught the falling stones as they fell, not missing a single one. She deposited it in the road, and the ponies below her cheered louder, taking a moment to locate her family and let them know she was alright. She saw a big red mass amongst them, and ginned until she got a better look. Big Mac and Apple Bloom were there, but they looked incredibly upset. They were also looking off in the direction of where Gilda had flown off, and she looked a little bulkier…

“Oh, buck…”

Gilda felt like screaming as she flew away from the crowd. She wanted to scream anyway, because of the pain of her ribs as she beat her wings to aid in her retreat. That damn stupid Lantern! If she ever got her claws on her again, she’d rip her orange head off. She faltered in the air as her insurance policy squirmed, even trying to bite her through her uniform. “Would you knock it off, you old mule!?”

The green pony she held glared up at her, gripping her arm in her hooves. “Yah dern scardy chick! Put me down and fight like a pony!”

The griffon rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on the geriatric, trying to cover her mouth. “I should have grabbed the brat…” she growled, shaking her head. She looked behind her, only to see the green dot that was Applejack on her heels.

Applejack, for her part, was laying on as much speed as she could, but Gilda was still ahead of her. The griffon was obviously a much better flyer than her, having done it her whole life. The only thing that was keeping her competitive with Gilda’s speed was the fact that she was carrying a pony. And if Gilda put one claw on Granny Smith…

Applejack wanted to grab Gilda with a construct, but she couldn’t risk dislodging her grandma with a wayward strike. He only option was to keep following as close as she could, Hoping beyond hope that Gilda valued Granny too much as a hostage to let her go.

Her hopes were shattered as Gilda’s arm jerked, and Granny Smith started plummeting to the ground as they passed over Whitetail Woods.

Applejack’s eyes widened with fear, and she put on as much speed as she could, her hooves outstretched to catch her beloved grandmother. Granny was quickly picking up speed, but Applejack was getting closer and closer to her. She forced herself to keep her eyes open, focusing only on catching her grandmother. Finally, Applejack wrapped her hooves around Granny Smith as she made contact.

Applejack righted herself, Gilda out of her mind temporarily as she held her grandma close. “It’s ok, now, Granny, Ah got yah,” she said, holding her hooves out at foreleg’s length, expecting to hear Granny Smith’s voice berate her for losing Gilda.

She didn’t expect to see her head hang forward limply.

“Granny?” asked Applejack, her voice confused as she tried to look her in the eyes. When granny didn’t answer, she brought them down to the ground in Whitetail Woods. Applejack layed her grandmother down on her back, placing her ear against her chest.

It was silent and still.

Applejack’s mouth fell open, looking down at the once fiery old mare, now apparently… No, Applejack wouldn’t accept it. She tilted her head back, ready to give her CPR, but realized that it was moving far too freely. With growing horror, the cowpony realized that her neck had broken, by Gilda or Applejack’s impact she didn’t know.

Applejack’s vision blurred as the reality of what happened filled her head. Granny was dead, and she knew exactly who was to blame. With tears staining her face, she took off, the ground beneath her cracking from the force. She grit her teeth and put every ounce of her being into catching up with the griffon who had broken her family. She was gaining fast, and she saw the monster look back. She hoped she was afraid. She hoped she felt exactly what she had made all those ponies feel before she killed them, like she had killed her grandmother.

The enraged pony flew above her quarry, and gave a savage kick to her back with her hind legs. She watched as the poor excuse for a life form fell to the ground. She followed her down, and watched as Gilda’s beak moved as she said something, but Applejack didn’t hear it. Nothing she said mattered. Applejack brought her hoof up high in the air, and brought it savagely down into Gilda’s beak. She brought her other hoof up and hit her again. And again. Over and over she brought her hooves down on her enemy, beating her as hard as she could. The griffon beneath her became bloodier and bloodier, but again, Applejack took no notice. As she raised both her hooves to smash the monster’s face, she felt something touch her shoulder.

She looked up sharply, her tears glinting in the afternoon sun. Her eyes were filled with rage, but even through the tint of red, she saw Rainbow Dash, the pegasus’s face showing none of the brash confidence she knew her for. Of course Rainbow Dash had followed her. Then again, Rainbow was always there for her friends, wasn’t she? The farm pony turned back to destroy the griffon at her mercy, but she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice say, “Don’t.”

Applejack looked back at Rainbow, and in her eyes, she saw something. Along with the magenta color she had come to know so well, there were many different things. She saw anger, not just for Granny Smith, but for Gilda’s other atrocities. She saw fear, both of and for Applejack, worried about what she was about to do. But most of all, she saw pleading. Pleading for Applejack to weaken, if just for a moment, and let Rainbow be dependable. As she saw the permission for weakness in Rainbow’s eyes, Applejack crumbled, and the true weight of her sorrow crashed down upon her. She bellowed, wrapping her hooves around cyan shoulders as she started to cry in earnest. She felt a pair of hooves wrap around her, and she hugged her friend tighter, staining her fur with salty tears. She barely noticed when the rest of her friends gathered around her, even Pinkie having the good sense not to speak. They all just gathered around the two embraced figures, as Applejack grieved at the loss of a longtime constant in her life.

It took minutes, but Applejack finally seemed to recover. She looked over to where Gilda laid, tears still flowing from her eyes, and felt a stab of anger pierce her heart. It looked like she was coming around. Applejack stood, and pressed a hoof onto her right claw, applying pressure enough to break her wrist. Gilda groaned, unable to muster any more of a response, but the distraught pony paid no attention as she took the yellow ring in her mouth and pulled it off. She spat out the hunk of metal, the taste almost profane, and placed it in the same fold in space she kept her lantern. She looked to Twilight, her eyes barely focused. “Can yah keep her down with yer magic? So we can turn her in?”

Twilight nodded solemnly, her horn glowing as she cast a spell. Gilda’s claws were pulled behind her back, kept there by an aura of violet magic. Gilda was yanked into mid air, and all the ponies except Applejack began to head back to Ponyville.

The farm pony had somepony else she had to bring home.

Chapter Seven: Beware Rage

“Celestia bless you all this day,” said Noble Shine, the resident priest of Ponyville. He stood at a podium, his hooves resting on the top. Spread out in front of him was a huge crowd of ponies, many of them not even from Ponyville. There were apple-related cutie marks scattered throughout the crowd, basking in the light of the sun. Rainbow Dash had offered to make the sky overcast for the ceremony, but Applejack had squashed that idea. Granny Smith always hated cloudy days, the moisture in the air irritated her joints.

Behind him was a small coffin, made from dark apple wood. The cover was open, as was tradition for the Apple family, Granny’s body open to the elements. The coffin was suspended over the grave, waiting to be lowered into the welcoming earth.

As the gathered ponies murmured the appropriate response, Noble continued. “Today we are gathered to celebrate the life of a staple of this town. Granny Smith was one of the original settlers of Ponyville, and was in fact one of the reasons the village survived to this day. But more than that, she was a mother, a grandmother, and one of the most loved ponies in Ponyville. Her death saddens us all, but none more than her many family members. I would like to thank the Apple family for coming, some from as far as Appleoosa. I am sure that the local Apples appreciate the support, and I grieve for you.

“With that said, I will turn the ceremony over to the Mayor, who has prepared a small eulogy for her dear friend,” he said, stepping away from the podium. An older mare took his place, with tan fur and a grayed mane. The Mayor of Ponyville cleared her throat quietly before speaking.

“I first knew Granny Smith as the mother of one of my oldest friends, Pippin Apple. Pippin and I grew up together, along with his future wife, Gala. When we were growing up, everyone wanted to go to Sweet Apple Acres after school. Not only was it the biggest yard to play hide and seek in ever, we all knew we’d always be welcome there. Pippin had the sweetest mother, and she always had snacks ready for us. True, they were always apple related, but they tasted so good we didn’t care.

“As the years went by, play dates were replaced with real dates, and games of hide and seek turned into sleepovers. Through it all, though, Sweet Apple Acres was always a safe place for us, a place we could always come to. This was in no small part because of how kind the ponies were. Gala and Pippin’s wedding was here, and I had never seen Granny Smith prouder. It would only be eclipsed by her terrible sadness as she went through the one thing a pony should never go through; the death of a child.”

The crowd, who had been smiling a bit at the sweet story, fell into a somber silence. Mayor Mare lowered her head a moment in respect. “That was as low as I had ever seen Granny. She had accepted the death of her husband with quiet dignity, but that day was almost too much, for all of us. Since I was so close to the two of them, Granny and I took comfort in each other. As long as I live, I’ll always remember the Sunday afternoon teas we would share. She helped me so much when I was first starting out as your Mayor. She was, as all Apples are, the most dependable of ponies, and Equestria is a sadder place with her gone. She will be sorely missed.”

Applejack sniffed in her chair, cradling a sobbing Apple Bloom as Mayor Mare finished her speech. She softly stroked her mane, trying to comfort her as best she could. Applejack looked up, her head turning to look anywhere but the coffin. She saw Braeburn, his normal brown vest replaced with a more appropriate suit as he dabbed his eyes. She saw Big Mac looking solidly down at his hooves, with Twilight next to him, rubbing his large back. She looked to her left and saw Rainbow Dash, who was sitting completely still, a very uncommon thing for her.

As the mayor descended from the podium, Noble Shine took the stage again. “Thank you, Mayor. And now, we commend Granny Smith Apple’s body to the earth. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” he said. Many of the ponies stood, forming a line as they processed past the coffin. Several of them held flowers in their teeth, each one laying it gently against the deceased mare’s hooves. By the time Applejack came to her, it looked as if a bouquet had been laid with her.

The farm pony looked down upon her ancestor, her face so peaceful. The undertaker had done a very good job preparing her for burial; Applejack had to remember to thank him later. As she placed the flower on Granny’s hooves, her mind flashed back to the way she looked when she… passed, so different from how she looked now. This was the way she wanted to remember her grandmother, not the image of her neck sagging like it had… Applejack shuddered, not even wanting to think about it.

The orange mare finally placed her lily against Granny’s hooves. She then picked Apple Bloom up and helped her place her flower, before the two of them walked past the coffin. She and Applebloom were some of the last mourners, and the gathered ponies stood around the grave as the coffin was slowly lowered into the hole. As the coffin descended into the ground, Noble Shine and a small contingent of robed ponies began to chant. Applejack recognized it from other such ceremonies; it was a hymn in ancient Equestrian, praying for safe travels through the afterlife.

As the choir sang their time-honored dirge, Applejack performed the last part of the ceremony. She took her hat off and reached into the lining, producing a single seed from the faded fabric. At the head of the grave, she dug a small hole with her hoof, dropping the seed into it. Applejack placed the hat against her heart as Noble said something about the ceremony concluding. She barely paid any attention. Instead her attention was focused on the little seed she had planted.

After a few minutes, the grieving mare placed the hat back on her head and started towards the barn. As she placed one hoof in front of the other, her heart felt like a weight deep in her chest. She had her moment of weakness back in the forest; now she had to be strong. For Apple Bloom, for Big Macintosh, for everyone.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Among the barren wasteland of the planet Ysmault, a number of objects broke the uniform bleakness. Five X-shaped structures, with shackles on each of the points, rose from the ground like twisted monuments. All but one held within it a creature, each of them singularly grotesque. All of them had sharp, jagged teeth, and most had more than one mouth. None of them moved, as they had not moved in centuries. Their lack of movement, however, wasn’t due to imprisonment this time.

All four aliens had been brutally and savagely slaughtered. Helpless against whatever had come upon them, the four of them hung from their restraints, body’s covered in claw marks, save one. This one’s entire skull had caved in, brought low by an onslaught of blunt force trauma. But despite the shrine to carnage that stood there, not a drop of blood was found.

It had been collected by the one other creature present. He stood tall and proud, as red as the blood he had spilled that day. His hairless head shone in the sickly light that shone on the planet, and his teeth and claws were stained red. Before him was a pool, filled to the brim with the blood of his former partners. A rocky outcrop stood in the center of it, just wide enough to support the lantern-shaped piece of rock at the center.

“My brothers,” he said, seating himself cross-legged in front of the pool, “your sacrifice will not be in vain. The accursed Guardians will never be safe, not while I still draw breath. The same is true of the greatest Green Lantern, though he may no longer bare their ring.”

As he said this, the blood in the pool began to rise, and the alien’s yellow eyes glowed. The blood began to swirl around the rock, just as the alien began to speak again. “I swear myself to vengeance. And I will spread the gospel of rage to those whose hearts call out for it, as mine does.”

The lantern at the center shone with bright red light, as did the small lantern at his side. From the center of the larger structure, a ring floated out. It was as red as blood, and had a symbol consisting of a circle with two jagged lines on either side. The alien held out his hand, and the red ring floated onto his middle finger. As soon as it did, he doubled over, clutching at his chest. He began to cough violently, until from his mouth poured his own blood. The crimson liquid poured from him, until finally it began to subside, the remaining trickle staining his lips. He stood then, looking down at himself.

Where before his body had been bare, clothing now covered him. The symbol on his ring adorned his chest, a black circle blazoned across red. Black cloth covered his arms and legs, and his shoulders were covered by red armor. He raised his right hand to the lantern, and spoke.

“With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead, together with our hellish hate, we’ll burn you all, that is your fate!”

Beams of red light shot from the lantern, flying up into the air and out into space. The alien looked after them, a twisted smile playing along his lips. There would be a reckoning, for all those who deserved vengeance. The so-called Guardians would see their precious Corps destroyed, their planet Oa torn asunder, and only after that would he smear their blood over the steps of their city.

For Atrocitus, lord of the Five Inversions, had returned. And the universe would tremble at his coming.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Big Macintosh pulled the yoke from around his neck, the normally comforting weight oppressive against his taught muscles. As he stripped the black suit from his body, his mind drifted unbidden to the day’s ceremony. It was the second such event he had witnessed, and he was already tired of them.

Granny Smith was dead. It was perhaps the fourth time today that he had to remind himself of that. Even after two months, it felt like he would wake up, head downstairs, and see the old pony asleep in her rocker. By all accounts, that should have been where she had drifted off for the final time, if the world had been fair.

But it wasn’t. He had learned that a long time ago, the first time somepony had been taken from him. Was it fair that his parents had been killed by that combine? Was it fair that he was the one who had to take up responsibility, even though he was still just a colt? “Nnnope,” he said aloud, his voice carrying a hard edge to it. And now the matriarch of the Apple clan was gone, not quietly in the night as she deserved, but ripped away by a psychotic griffon with a freaky ring.

His eyes narrowed as he climbed into his bed, picturing the monster in his mind’s eye. He never wanted to forget her, never. Her name buzzed in his mind like an angry hornet; Gilda, the griffon who killed splintered his family.

And as Big Macintosh drifted off to a fitful sleep, a red flicker of anger grew in his heart.

Sequel

Hey, everypony, it's sequel time! I'm proud to present the latest chapter in my little fic. It can be found here:

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/107090/applejack-of-the-green-lanterns-rage-in-equestria

Now, this story has a mature tag, mostly because of the graphic nature of the Red Lanterns, which are going to be quite prevalent. So make sure your mature filter is off for this one. With that said, happy reading!