Canterlot City had never seen such widespread pandemonium on a scale like this. Sure, there had been the occasional magical event and demon attack from people infected by magic, but this was completely different to all of that. Buildings had been blown apart, blood could be seen on the streets, streetlights had been completely annihilated, and there was absolutely no-one around to witness any of it. No-one, except the Rainbooms.
The seven of them were all gathered together in a heap on the hardened pavements of the road. Their hairs had been singed, sliced, bent out of shape, and generally wrecked. Their clothes had been shredded to tatters and they felt overwhelming amounts of pain running up and down their bodies. It was nothing like they had ever felt or experienced before. Pure, unbridled agony and suffering for what they had done. As if all of the mortals sins that they had committed were rising from the ground to swallow them up. The few of them that tried to move found it increasingly difficult, as all of the stamina and wind had been battered out of their bodies by the Red Lantern Corps.
"Well? How does it feel?" Adagio sadistically taunted as she and the others stood high above the Rainbooms. "Do you feel like you wanna cry out for your mommies and daddies, little girls? Good." The smile burned away when she smashed her hands together. "This is what you get for meddling with things you can't control. This is payback for what you did to us at Canterlot High. All of this? All of this destruction, death, and pain? It's your fault. Not ours."
"Now, you get to know what it's like to lose everything. To see what you love and hold dear get blown to smithereens!" Aria snarled as she gathered energy, coiling it around herself. "Now you know how it feels to have reality ripped out from underneath your feet. And NOBODY is coming to save you this time, Rainbooms!"
"But don't worry! We'll be sure you get a super-special little place in the graveyard. One where all your family and friends can put down all of the wonderful treats you could ever want." Sonata was the only one out of the sirens who was still smiling as the Red Lanterns looked down upon them.
"Twilight..." Sunset Shimmer spluttered as she reached out for the body of her felled friend. "Is this... the end?"
"It can't be..." Twilight, with her vision starting to blur, took one last look up at the superpowered sirens preparing for an attack that was sure to leave more than just a mark. "After all of this time together, this is how it's ending? Destroyed at the hands of a bunch of flying teenagers with power-enhancing rings?"
"No. It's not." Sunset could only smile in that time of crisis. "Things might look like they're at their bleakest, but there's always going to be a way forward. Whether it's the simplest things like school life, to the really tough moments like this." Sunset found some strength in her body to attempt to stand back up. It took her a few moments to properly get back on her feet, but eventually—and despite her wobbly stance, she was back on two legs again. "And as long as we always have a reason to survive, then we'll survive. That's just what the Magic of Friendship does."
"How touching. But it's ultimately flawed. Your magic is no match for the might of a Red Lantern Ring, girls." Adagio cracked the most devilish of grins as her Equestrian Form danced around her body. "All of that power that we've been gathering over the years might have been gone, but it pales in comparison to the strength of our unending, unfiltered fury we feel for all of you. You. Fuel. Us. And because you do, we get to do this!" Adagio made a claw out of her fingers as the other Dazzlings did with their hands. "Now, PERISH! MEATSACKS!"
The rings on the Dazzlings' fingers shined with the most radiant of red light imaginable as they threw their hands towards the Rainbooms. This sent the three Equestrian Form projections of themselves down towards the teenage girls who had so wronged them. With teeth poised and ready to strike, fiercely seething red eyes of their own, and a speed that would have rivalled that of a meteor impacting the planet, this strike would have proven fatal if it landed.
"Together?" Sunset asked as she took Twilight's hand.
Twilight just closed her eyes and reached out for Pinkie Pie's hand. "Together."
"To... gether," Pinkie whispered as she limply reached for Applejack's hand.
"Together, ya'll," Applejack mutely spoke as she clutched Rarity's hand.
"Together." Rarity gave a very weak nod as she grabbed onto Fluttershy's hand.
"Together," Fluttershy whispered so quietly that nobody could have heard her over the noise of the creatures coming crashing down on them.
"Together." Rainbow Dash just grabbed Sunset and Fluttershy's hands together, completing the circuit.
Mere split seconds before the creatures could collide with the Rainbooms and seal their fates, a faint glimmer resonated in each of their geodes. Light sprung out in a weak trickle from each of the seven gemstones around their neck. It was quickly blotted out as the three siren's machinations finally struck, creating a titanic pillar of red energy after that. By the time that it faded away, the Rainbooms had disappeared; seemingly wiped from existence.
"It's done." Adagio sighed as she clutched her hand into a fist and turned back to the rest of her new corps.
"The Rainbooms are finished, Master Atrocitus." Aria, with the first smile she had had in years bowed before the Red Lanterns.
"No... It isn't." Atrocitus gave a low grown as he looked beyond the Dazzlings. "Those curs came just in time."
"Curs?!" Adagio snapped her head back, and sure enough, the Rainbooms could be seen, standing back on their own two feet as waves of rainbow-coloured energy danced around them, as well as the cutting-glow of a warming green light. "No! No this can't be!"
"But it is!" Bleez pushed through the Dazzlings, her scathing eyes locking with that of the instruments of the Rainbooms safety. "The Green Lantern Corps!"
"I figured I wouldn't have been able to take you all on at once; especially with those new recruits of yours," Hal Jordan replied, rejoining the Rainbooms. "The willpower of these girls was the last little push we needed. How's that for evening the playing field, Atrocitus?"
Atrocitus just snarled under his breath, slamming his hands together. The sight of seeing Hal Jordan's race here, challenging the likes of his kind was enough to drive him wild. His breathing became incredibly heavy, and his ring began to surge with pale red light.
"When I saw Hal Jordan's signal, I wasn't expecting to see this level of danger." A bulky, alien-esque creature with a face resembling that of a bulldog and a porcine spoke, in a low-toned, gravelly voice. He stood in front of the Rainbooms, throwing his arms out to the side. "But to see Atrocitus himself indoctrinating a new wave of Red Lanterns, and having them target innocents like this is something I simply cannot abide."
"Innocents?! These girls stripped us of our powers and left us with nothing!" Aria snarled to the newcomer. "Who are you to defend them, when they are getting what they rightfully deserve?!"
"I am Kilowog. One of the most loyal to the Green Lantern Corps," he simply stated. "And you three would be?"
"Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. We were a group of singers called the Dazzlings," Adagio Dazzle pushed through Aria and Sonata before either of them got the idea to take over the introductions and butcher it. "These girls you protect are the Rainbooms, consisting of Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. And these seven girls ruined our lives by destroying the crystals that allowed us to sing. So now, we're part of the Red Lantern Corps. And destroying them is our first assignment."
"As well as your last." Kilowog stated, as he manifested a large green warhammer. "We cannot allow the Emotional Spectrum to fall out of order because of some new recruits."
"You wanna save these girls? These girls who WANTED nothing more than to hurt us and destroy us?" Aria asked as her ring thrummed with energy. "These Rainbooms aren't innocent. They know that they're not innocent and they delude themselves into thinking that they are! Fact of the matter is, they wanted to ruin our lives by sticking their noses into our business!"
"Be that as it may, that doesn't make up for the fact that you want them destroyed. Nothing ever justifies murder; not even revenge." Hal Jordan floated to Kilowog's side. The other Green Lantern agents joined the two of them. "Especially not revenge at a Red Lantern's hands."
"Typical errand boy. Always fighting blindly. Never seeing who's really at fault." Atrocitus came closer to Hal. "Bring all of the Green Lanterns that you want. It won't do you any good. It just makes me—and all of us much stronger!" Atrocitus's eyes burned with fire. Yelling, he threw himself into Hal Jordan's body. The two of them would have flattened the Rainbooms if not for a wall of green bricks conjured by one of the other Green Lanterns.
"Back off back to Ysmault. You've done enough to this town, Red Lanterns." A man with brown skin and glowing green marks underneath his right sleeve remarked as he recalled his hand.
"Says you!" Bleez dashed forward for the one with the glowing arm. Her fist crashed into a large green one, only for it to be shattered with a kick. Bleez nearly clawed away at the man's face when he just threw his arms down, conjuring a green wrecking ball on a chain that knocked her backwards.
"Hey! Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's not nice to hit a lady?" Skallox joked as he crafted a red morningstar and swung it down at Kilowog and Hal, who both made an interlocked hard-light shield. It withstood the attack, but Skallox was undeterred. He viciously swung more and more, each strike accompanied by grunting noises. Sure enough, it was beginning to leave cracks in the shield.
"This is gettin' far too weird..." Applejack could only watch as the rest of the Red Lanterns got to work in scuffling with the other Green Lanterns. A whirl of colours, with heavy strikes being felt even from where she was standing. Between Atrocitus and Hal's showdown, the other Lanterns' power struggles, the Dazzlings offering assistance to their fellow Red Lanterns with their own projected powers, and with the Rainbooms all at the heart of it, Applejack didn't know what to make sense of anymore. "Girls. We need to hightail it outta here while we've got the chance!"
"But where are we gonna go?" Pinkie asked, tossing her hand towards the sirens. "The Dazzlings went from meanies to being super-duper meanies with superpowers! They're never gonna stop chasing us, and they'll tear the whole planet up just to get to us!"
"Not to mention, they have those new... friends of theirs. Ugh." Rarity just turned up her nose at the sight of green and red colliding, as Lantern on Lantern conflict went on. Many times were punches, kicks, and the occasional lava barf traded between sides, but neither gave an inch. "The very thought of seeing this much red and green at the same time is a travesty! A sin on the world of fashion, even!" Rarity fainted and, seeing her distress, one of the Green Lanterns conjured up a green couch for her to tumble onto.
"So what if they've got a few new tricks. So have we! We just needed a little bit of a warm-up, that's all." Rainbow Dash tilted her neck, feeling the bones creak inside of her. She grew her wings and was about to head into battle when Twilight's magenta aura held her back down.
"No, Rainbow. Those Red Lanterns are INCREDIBLY dangerous. You've seen what they've done to the city, right?" Twilight grabbed Rainbow's head and turned it towards what remained of Canterlot City. All the charred earth, splintered buildings, raging fires from cars, trashcans and other various objects stood out clear as day. Even more of it now that the corps were striking each other into the city.
"But we can't just sit around and do nothing, can we?!" Rainbow turned back to Twilight, shooting her arms into the air. "This is a mess we've gotta fix, since the Dazzlings are so keen on having our heads for this! Plus, we never got to finish that little battle of ours, did we? They just ran off before the results."
"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. Red Lantern powers or no, the Dazzlings are still just the Dazzlings. And if all of their powers come from those rings..." Sunset locked her eyes with the rings that laid firmly on the sirens' hands. "Then we've just gotta slip those rings off when we get the chance. Then, the sirens are little more than teenage girls again."
"It's a solid plan, but it won't work." A male Green Lantern with gold-blonde hair remarked, eyeing up the Dazzlings' rings. "The Red Lanterns are fuelled on their rage. The stronger it is, the more dangerous they are. If those girls really do despise you, it'd be near impossible for you to get close to them without their powers crushing you into dust."
"Just hang tight and leave this to the professionals," came the voice of a female Green Lantern as she formed a barrage of green missiles around her and launched them at Nite-Lik, who just sliced them apart with his tendrils. "I don't wanna see these three girls get revenge on you like this."
"But... I..." Sunset tried to interject and contend with the girl's words, but when she watched the Dazzlings' Equestrian Forms regroup, any feeling of arguing with the heroes vanished in the blink of an eye. Further solidified when the beasts took in a large gasp of air and let sonic-screams ring down on the building, rupturing the very foundations and causing the entire structure to collapse beneath their feet.
The Rainbooms could only scream for a brief instance as the ground left them, only for those screams to be stopped when Kilowog turned back from his fight and formed a large green crash mat to nullify the shocks. Each of the seven teens collided with the mat safely, before finding their way back onto their feet.
"Stop protecting them!" Sonata barked out, before she slapped Kilowog across the face as hard as she could. Following that up, she zipped over to the ground where he was about to fall and kicked him in the stomach in the way that a horse could. "Aria! You wanna play Jerkball with some punks?"
"Jerkball? I like the sound of that!" Aria drove her feet into Kilowog's back just as he formed a bubble-shield around himself. But it just crumbled underneath the force of Aria's advance. Before Sonata could knock him back into Aria, however, the alien Green Lantern just drove his fist into the ground, pushing back both Aria and Sonata into two separate buildings.
"Hey! Don't ever touch my sisters like that!" Adagio made her hand dance in the air before throwing it down, causing her Equestrian Form to ram into Kilowog from above his head. A large hole was made in the ground when she lifted the beast back into the air. "I don't know much about you Green Lanterns, but I can only assume that you're all brainless fools who would defend the monsters rather than those abused by them! That's not justice whatsoever!"
"Neither is picking a fight with underclassed civillians." Hal Jordan struck Adagio square in the chest and soared over to her flying body. A giant green boxing glove knocked her into his actual fist, sending her airborne. Hal was about to press the advance, when Atrocitus grabbed him by the leg and hurled him down towards the ground.
"Stay out of their way, Jordan! Your fight is with me and me alone!" Atrocitus barrelled his way towards Hal Jordan, right shoulder leading the charge. Hal met the advance with a green fighter jet, but Atrocitus merely smashed through it and him, tossing both to the ground. With Hal pinned, he tried to land a blow to his face, but Hal retaliated by pushing his hands into Atrocitus's face, which caused a green whip to yank him back into the air. Roaring with fury, Atrocitus snapped the whip by tearing it into two separate pieces of green rope.
"The Lanterns don't matter. So long as the Rainbooms suffer, right?" Aria asked as she and Sonata regrouped with Adagio. "We just take 'em out, then go back to Ysmault, right? That's why we're even here in the first place."
"Yep! That's our mission!" Sonata nodded.
"Then let's hurry up and complete it." Adagio looked down upon the Rainbooms. "All of their little Lantern friends are busy fighting the other members of the Corps. So we can just waltz in and take what's rightfully owed." A sadistic grin formed on her face as she lifted her hand high into the air, as did her two sisters.
The three projected Equestrian Hippocampi, fully obeying the Dazzlings and them alone swam through the air, frills barely scraping the red clouds above them. Eyes seething, their very presence caused the Dazzlings to glow a majestic ray of red. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata took in air, which caused their monstrous creations to do the same. Then, with a combined scream as loud and as painful as a banshee's, the three former sirens let out a titanic wave of energy that came crashing down on top of the Rainbooms.
"Bring it together!" Kilowog announced, rallying every Green Lantern to his side and the Rainbooms' side. Together, with their rings held high, the Green Lantern Corps, composed of human and alien alike, formed a tightly-woven dome shield around themselves, which was completely swallowed by the raw power of the sirens' scream, yet still held firmly.
"Whoa..." Fluttershy looked up at the green dome and how it was managing to hold back the all-encompassing fury of the siren's Red Lantern-powered screams. "This is... amazing. Now, I feel safe." She let out a sigh of relief. But a quick rumble shattered that relief.
"Not just yet..." Hal Jordan remarked, throwing his free hand out to the side as small splinters began to form in the dome shield. "These Red Lanterns are merciless."
"Come on! Put your backs into it!" Bleez demanded as she barked orders at the other Red Lanterns. Atrocitus was already funnelling his own fiery breath along with the Dazzlings' projected laser scream of death. After she saw the others add their power to the mix, she let out her own little yells, which resulted in the beam getting stronger. Strong enough that it could have torn the whole city apart.
"We can't hold it much longer, Hal! We need to do something!" A human girl Green Lantern replied as she did her best to withstand the assault.
"I know that! But we're pinned down out here and there's nothing we can do to push back!" Replied Hal as he gave his all to keep the dome shield standing. "Those three new Red Lanterns are really, REALLY powerful..."
"Think, Hal! Those girls we're trying to save are the cause of their rage! We've gotta make sure they don't ever get to touch them. Anything you can think of, go for it!" A black-skinned Green Lantern replied.
"I got an idea, but I'm not too fond of it. We've gotta get those girls as far away from the Red Lanterns as possible." As he said this, the dome shield grew more and more cracks. It wouldn't hold for much longer. "Even if it means we get them out of here and take them back with us to Oa."
"Oa? Are you nuts?" As Kilowog replied, the barrier broke some more, with some of the shards raining down by his and the other Green Lanterns' feet. Conceding before it was too late, Kilowog let a sigh slip. "Very well. Better them be safeguarded there than be a punching bag for the Red Lanterns. You open the portal, Hal. We'll hold the line."
"But what about you? You and the others can't handle the Red Lanterns alone..." Hal could only look on as Kilowog and the other Green Lanterns did their best to add all of their remaining power to the dome to hold back the attack.
"Just go, Hal. Get the girls out of here before that shield comes crashing down!" Kilowog replied. "Don't you worry about us. Just make sure that the Red Lanterns never get their hands on these teenagers. Nobody should EVER have to feel Atrocitus's wrath for something they weren't involved in..."
Hal, with those final words from Kilowog opened up a green vortex with his Power Ring. One that all seven of the girls caught wind of immediately. "Follow me, girls! Let's get you somewhere safe!" And without any other words, Hal Jordan zipped through the portal.
The other Rainbooms were about to add their voices, but they were silenced when the dome shield broke even more A few more seconds and they would have been vaporised from existence from all of that Red Lantern rage given shape and form. Each giving a nod to each other, the teens ran for the portal together, vanishing from the face of the earth as the barrier finally gave way and collapsed, and the Green Lanterns dove out of the way of the ensuing torrent of Red Lantern energy.
When the ray of light collided with the ground at long last, a wave of red light shot into the skies, piercing through the clouds. When it faded away, both the clouds and the Green Lanterns were gone from sight. Nothing but the Red Lantern Corps could be seen, as everything else but the remnants of the city had been blown away around them.
With nothing left of their former enemies, Adagio breathed deeply, as did her sisters. The glow that they once had dissipated into nothingness. "That. Felt. GOOD." She replied as she turned back to Atrocitus. "Guess that means we're in, doesn't it?"
"It does. You have slain those who sought to destroy you, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk. Your initiation into the Red Lantern Corps is finally complete," remarked Atrocitus as the three sirens knelt before him. "I look forward to seeing what the three of you can really do with proper training and experience."
Bleez, still unimpressed with the idea of the Dazzlings being Red Lanterns just turned her back.
"For now, you must return to Ysmault and await further instruction." Atrocitus punched the air behind him, reopening a portal back to the fiery world where they had all come from. "As goes for the rest of you. Return."
Obediently, the other Red Lanterns followed after Atrocitus. First came the Dazzlings, and then Bleez, followed by Skallox, Nite-Lik, and then Zilius Zox. Once they left the rubble behind, the portal closed. And once it did, the Green Lantern Corps emerged from the wreckage, like green phoenixes.
"This isn't good," The blonde male replied.
"You're telling me, Guy. The Red Lanterns got some new members and they are STRONG..." The girl rubbed the back of her head, then brushed her hair back down in the places where it was sticking out from the adrenaline of the battle.
"But what are we supposed to do about it, Jess? The Red Lanterns all came together and we barely held on," replied the black-skinned man. "In all my years serving the corps, I don't think I've ever seen such raw power from some new recruits."
"I'm just glad that Hal made it back to Oa safely. Any later and we'd have all been charred into green pancakes." Jess, as she had been called looked down at Kilowog, whose suit had been torn in places by the attack. "What do we do now, Kilowog?" she asked, flitting down to his side.
"We need to head back to Oa as well, see what we can do about safeguarding those girls the Red Lanterns wanted to hurt so badly." Kilowog, finding some strength to turn around faced his fellow Green Lanterns. "If what those girls were saying about these Rainbooms is true, then we had better make sure they stay as far away from Atrocitus and his kind as possible; even if it means they can never go back home..."