The three Lanterns were able to see the dark pink crystals that had essentially consumed the planet from orbit, telling them that they had reached their destination. Yet, the moment they entered the planet's atmosphere John switched the ship to autopilot before motioning for Spike and Sweetie to join him in the back.
"Alright kids, I hate to do this to the both of you, but you're going to have to solo this without me," John informed them as he leaned against the bulkhead and crossed his arms. "It's far too risky for me to even be seen in this ship, let alone seen on their home planet. So, the two of you are going to have to find out why Rex sent us here."
"Sweet, I'm finally getting a chance to show that I can be smart without your guidance," Spike said with a laugh that only caused John to worry more.
"Yes, but it's not by my choice," John grunted with some regret.
"Any advice on how we should act around the Star-Sapphires?" Sweetie asked. "Chrysalis is the only one we know, and I highly doubt that she acts like the others do."
"Star-Sapphires...ugh, they can be trouble. They're fascinated by love and proclaim that they are the defenders of love across the cosmos, but it wasn't until recently that they actually started to live up to that motto," John began to explain while memories flashed across his mind. "For centuries, they actually trapped those whom they loved within crystals on their home world so that they could always be with the ones they loved, while also infusing them with Star-Sapphire energy so that the being trapped would love them back."
"Okay, so they're all psychos. Good to know," Spike muttered as he crossed his arms with a frown.
"Well, that's how they used to be, but after Hal and his team showed up on their planet a few years back they've tried to return to their roots as defenders of love, but some of them still abide by the old ways. You'll have to be careful, especially you Spike," John warned the young dragon, who raised an eyebrow in response.
"Why do I have to be careful? I'm not the Green Lantern that they swore to destroy," Spike asked.
"Maybe not, but Star-Sapphires are powered by love, which is on the farthest end of the emotional spectrum," John reminded the both of them. "Just like what red does to the Red Lanterns, the Star-Sapphires can sometimes be consumed by the desire to be loved and it makes them go crazy. Not to mention, all of them are female. So if any of them fall for you while you're here, there's a good chance they might try to keep you here. Wouldn't be the first poor bastard that was trapped here for eternity," John muttered under his breath.
"Well, I've never had any reason to beat up a Star-Sapphire before, but perhaps today will be a new experience," Sweetie said in a calm manner, but only Spike knew her well enough to know that there was magma starting to bubble beneath her smile.
"Thanks for the warning, John, but this dragon already has a true love so none of those Star-Sapphires have a chance anyway," Spike laughed with confidence as he wrapped an arm around Sweetie, getting the mare to blush as she hid her face.
"Well be careful, according to Hal once a Star-Sapphire is locked onto you, they'll try anything to get you. I normally don't say this, but this may be a place where you might need to shoot first and ask questions later," John grumbled before lifting his ring hand and creating an image of a tall, regal looking alien lady. "This is Aga'po. She is the queen of the Star-Sapphires and an ally of Hal's. If you tell her that you're here on his behalf, she should help you with no questions asked. Just avoid mentioning me and all should be fine."
"Sure. Anything else?"
"Yeah. Don't take any drinks or food they offer," John warned them with a deadly tone, getting the two young Lanterns to shared worried looks.
'Lantern Stewart, the ship is landing on one of the Star-Sapphire landing pads. It seems there is already a welcome committee.'
"Thanks. Alright you two, remember what I told you and try not to take too long. And don't worry about them searching the ship, I'm more than capable of avoiding a couple pink Lanterns," John said with a smirk. Spike and Sweetie nodded before the ramp to their ship opened and they floated down together onto the homeworld of the Star-Sapphires, not knowing what to expect.
"Ouch, did I just walk into my sister's place?" Sweetie half-joked as both of their eyes were assaulted by a large variety of pink and purple colors that shone from the large crystals that surrounded the area, as well as the sky which was a deep hue of purple.
"Not even Rarity's was this tacky," Spike muttered under his breath before he and Sweetie faced forward at the sight of three Star-Sapphire's floating towards them, each alien in design. The largest of the Sapphires bowed to Spike and Sweetie before flashing a friendly smile at the pair of them, showing off rows of fanged teeth that made her look similar to a merpony.
"Welcome, Green Lantern. We have not seen one of your Corps in a while. And I do not believe that we have ever been graced by a Blue Lantern before," the Star-Sapphire said before casting a glance up at the ship. "I see that you travel in the same vessel as the one called Hal Jordan. Do you know of him?"
"He was one of my teachers when I first joined the Corps," Spike said before quickly deciding to change the subject. "Lanterns Spike and Sweetie by the way. Not to be rude, but I didn't catch your name."
"I am sorry, where are my manners? I am Lareatha, a senior Star-Sapphire," she said with a small bow before motioning to her two assistants. "These are our newest recruits. Leleah here will be in charge of making sure that the both of you are comfortable during your stay. Nattily will show you around, that is if you have any spare time. I assume that this is not just a sightseeing visit for why you are here?"
"Nope, it's business," Sweetie said in a no-nonsense tone as she walked forward slightly, gaining her three sets of interested eyes as she did so. "We've come here because the Manhunters are back and one of our leads led us here. If you don't mind, we'd like to meet with your leader so we can figure out what's going on before we have to leave." Spike did his best not to chuckle at her seriousness, which he always found cute, while Lareatha raised her eyebrows with an interested smile.
"Of course. Sadly, our leader is not here at the moment but I have been informed that she will be returning soon," Lareatha informed the Lanterns before turning to her two assistants, not seeing the concerned look Sweetie and Spike gave each other. "But until she does, you are welcome to stay here until she returns. Night is almost upon us and I would not ask the two of you to sleep in that ship while comfortable beds are available." Sweetie could barely mask her annoyance at the delay, but Spike stepped forward and nodded courteously.
"We will take you up on that offer, thank you," he said with a polite bow before Sweetie walked in front of him.
"But we'd like to share a room, if you wouldn't mind." Her face burned when the two newest Star-Sapphires began to giggle at her statement, but Lareatha snapped her fingers and they calmed down immediately.
"That will be fine. Please, this way if you will," Lareatha gestured as she led the way across the purple landscape to a large city that rested on the side of a mountain, immediately reminding Spike and Sweetie of home. Though that feeling was tossed out the window, when they saw that the buildings were made of a light pink material that made Sweetie gag, while Spike forged ahead and didn't pay too much attention to the other Star-Sapphires who had gathered at the arrival of the strangers.
"Here is your room and, just as you requested, it is large enough to accommodate the both of you," Lareatha said with a smile as she pushed open the door and revealed a large, well furnished, chamber. "But your journey has been a long one and must be tiring for the both of you. Perhaps you would like to relax and wash off first?" Sweetie narrowed her eyes at the statement, but a quick nod from Spike got her to exhale her frustrations in a sigh.
"Fine. Where's the bath?" Sweetie asked.
"Nattily will lead you to them. And I am sorry Spike, but you must wait here until they are finished. We do not have a men's bath here." Spike shrugged before floating into the room, looking back at Sweetie one last time and winking before closing the doors behind him. Lareatha bowed as she and Leleah floated away, leaving Sweetie to cast a quick glance at Nattily as she motioned for Sweetie to follow her. The pair walked in silence at first, but after a while Nattily looked back with a question in her eyes.
"What is it?" Sweetie asked her in a less-than-friendly tone, annoyed that she seemed to be the focal point of every Star-Sapphire that they walked by on the way to the bath.
"I was just...I mean if you don't...can I ask you a question?" Nattily eventually stammered out. Sweetie raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what question the slightly wood-looking lady would want to ask.
"Only if I can ask mine first. Why do all the Star-Sapphires keep staring at me?" Sweetie grumbled after staring down another Sapphire that became curious with her.
"Well, the answer to that question depends on your answer to mine," Nattily said with a giggle. "How long have you and Spike been together?" Sweetie slowly turned her head, almost menacingly, towards the Star-Sapphire with a blank expression on her face.
"Why, if I may ask?"
"Just answer."
"About three years now. Why?" When Nattily giggled again Sweetie's anger rose to the point where she was expecting a Red Lantern ring to appear at any moment.
"We Star-Sapphire's can sense how much love a person holds within their hearts, and whenever you're around him or thinking about Spike the "love energy" that surrounds you increases greatly. So naturally all Star-Sapphires around here would be curious about an energy like yours," Nattily said as the two of them reached the bathing area, which was a large room that held divine looking spring water. Sweetie hopped in without bothering to deconstruct her suit, but even her rage began to melt away as the spring water started to do its work.
"Okay, that actually feels really nice," she muttered while closing her eyes and leaning back as Nattily entered with her, though when Sweetie cracked them open again slightly she saw that Nattily was staring off into space with a look of longing on her face. "What's the matter with you?"
"Oh, it's nothing, just thinking," she said with a sad sigh before she leaned back and stared up at the sky. "About how lucky you are to find your true love at so young an age. You are young, right?" she asked and Sweetie nodded in response. "We Star-Sapphires may be the protectors of love, but nearly all of us dream about finding our true love eventually," She sighed, and continued, "that prince charming who will ride in on that white horse and whisk us away to eternal happiness." Her aura began to glow brightly as she said this, but it died immediately when Sweetie threw her head back and began to laugh aloud. "What? What's so funny about true love?"
"You think that's what true love is? Oh sister, you sound...like my sister," Sweetie said with another chuckle as she rested her head against the edge of the pool and stared up at the stars. "Prince Charming's and happily ever after...no, that's not how love works."
"But what about all the stories? About the princes and dragons and...happily ever after?!" Nattily argued, but all her argument did was cause a large smile to break out on Sweetie's face.
"Yeah, those stories never showed what happened after the ride off into the sunset, did they? Look, I'm not an expert on love, but I can tell you what I've learned about it through dating Spike," Sweetie said seriously as she looked over at Nattily. "Love is made up of hard work, of compromise and being willing to forgive your significant other. And some days you question how you even fell for them in the first place."
"Wait a moment...you've questioned...being with you're true love?" Nattily whispered in disbelief, looking like Sweetie had shattered her world.
"Questioned it? Heck, once we stopped talking to each other for a full month we were so mad at each other," Sweetie remembered with a shake of her head. "That was not fun. If it hadn't been for the help of some experts on love we might have never reconciled."
"Was that expert your sister?" Nattily had to wait nearly five minutes for Sweetie to stop laughing and at one point the mare almost drowned herself.
"My sister! Faust, that's good. No, my sister's still sitting up in her castle waiting for her prince charming," Sweetie choked out as she wiped tears out of her eyes. "No, who helped us were a pair of ponies called the Cakes. They're the ones who told us about the whole work, compromise and forgiveness. Some of the best advice I'd ever gotten."
"So a pair of kindly..."ponies?" saved your happily ever after? How romantic," Nattily sighed happily as Sweetie slammed her head against the rim of the pool in frustration.
"You come from a world of princes and princesses, don't you?" Sweetie asked, getting a wistful nod from Nattily. "You a princess yourself?"
"No, just a lowly wood fairy who can't find love," Nattily sighed again, but it sounded more depressed than before. Sweetie nodded slightly before looking down at herself to realize that she was starting to prune up, telling her it was time to get out. She waved farewell to the Star-Sapphire after drying off, but her action was lost on the wood fairy who stared off into her dreams.
'Well that was bizarre. Still, she seems like a nice enough person, just really delusional about what love really is,' Sweetie thought to herself as she walked back to her room. 'If all the Star-Sapphires used to be that delusional, then it's no wonder they did some crazy things.' Sweetie's thoughts about the Star-Sapphires were cast aside when she came back to her room to find two large, green constructs blocking the door.
"Spike? You alright?" Sweetie asked as she knocked against the door. The green constructs vanished a minute later and a very annoyed dragon opened the door, but the annoyance faded into relief when he saw that it was Sweetie Belle. "I take it some things happened while I was away?"
"Star-Sapphires have to be some of the most intrusive Lanterns I have ever met," Spike snarled as he let Sweetie inside before immediately barricading the door once again, though when Sweetie looked around at the green curtains that covered every room she began to understand the problem. "Nearly every minute a new one would show up. I've seriously considered taking John's advice to start shooting...ugh, how was the bath?"
"Went fine. Had an interesting talk to Nattily about her vision of true love in contrast to what love actually is," Sweetie explained as she claimed the largest bed in the room as her own by leaping onto it, getting a smirk out of Spike as he laid down on the small bed.
"So how did you shatter her illusions?" Spike asked with a smile while he brought out his battery and proceeded to charge his ring.
"I don't think I did, but I told her the same thing the Cake's told us after that really bad fight we had," Sweetie said as she followed Spike's example and charged her ring as well. "Work, compromise and forgiveness. Those are some of the best things couples can do."
"Compromise...like in the way you just took the larger bed?" Spike teased with a laugh.
"Of course. I get the large bed and in return you get to escort me to meet the queen tomorrow," Sweetie poked back. "But the Star-Sapphires don't seem like bad Lanterns, just obsessed by what they believe to be love. What do you think, Spike?" A loud snore told her what Spike thought, so with a roll of her eyes Sweetie tucked her head onto her pillow and drifted off to dream land.
|) o (|
"It's just like I thought," John muttered to himself as he flicked through the images before him on the monitor, a frown growing larger and larger as smaller pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
'What is the matter, Lantern Stewart?' his ring asked.
"I've looked at all the information the Guardians have sent me about the missing Lanterns and there's always one constant, no matter what world it was on," John said with a growl. "That there was a strange moon in the sky that day. A moon that I've seen before."