//------------------------------// // 1. A Farewell And A Welcome // Story: The Soldier From The Stars, The Green Lantern Of Equestria // by biznizz //------------------------------// The planet Oa. Existing in the very center of the universe, the sight of the planet is enough to make one take in it’s splendor even without any knowledge of it’s inhabitants. For it even from orbit, one could see it’s great citadel which at night can be seen bathed in a wondrous green light. This citadel, which takes up nearly a complete quarter of the planet’s surface, is home to the great Green Lantern Corps. In an underground facility, near one of the citadel’s edges, lies the holding facility for the prisoners detained by the Corpsmen. The most remarkable thing about the facility is the sheer number of sciencells lining the walls, seeming to go on for miles in every direction. Not every sciencell was full, however, but the fact that one could say that they are never wanting for bodies to fill was a testament to how much crime occurs in the universe… and how diligent the Corps truly was. Most prisoners were only held in this place for a short time after their capture and imprisonment; they are shut in, fed, and eventually transferred to any planets where they face outstanding charges to face proper punishment. It was only rarely, more recently becoming much more frequent, that the occupants of the sciencells became permanent residents of the prison; deemed too dangerous to society or the safety of the Corps to let loose even for a short time. Lantern Voz, the warden of this prison, home to some of the worst scum in the universe, had heard the news from some of his comrades when they came to deliver the food for the prisoners. Voz, a former soldier with many years of experience working the beat in his home sector 571, had no love lost for any of the prisoners who he was presided over… except for the rare Lantern who found themselves on the other side of the door. Being a big intimidating hairy biped, who Lantern Gardner had once called “a big friggin’ Bigfoot with tusks for claws”, Voz had depressingly seen a fair share of Lanterns behind sciencell doors during his tenure. He hated it because it always reminded him that he still had a heart, a fact that he had always tried to forget even before getting his ring. But this would be hard to hide from the four he was escorting to the prisoner for his transfer. When they had reached their destination, the five green glowing figures stopped and floated outside of the sciencell, it’s occupant on the “bed” asleep… or at least appearing to be. Voz turned and faced his guests: two of the Guardians, Honor Guard Tomar-Tu, and Lantern Kilowog, a close friend of the prisoner. “Must he go without saying goodbye to his fellow Earthlings?” one of the Guardians, a bald female asked her ponytailed male counterpart. Like him, she was one of the few Guardians to retake her name after eons, Sayd. “Ganthet, couldn’t you give him that?” With a grim face, Ganthet looked at Sayd, the woman he loved and shook his head, his hand gripping the handle of the large green lantern-shaped Power Batter which the Corps was named for. “Unfortunately, Lantern Stewart was forced to leave when a situation arose on Earth. And most of the Honor Guard was called in to deal with the Red Lantern attack of one of the Sector Houses… Gardner & Rayner amongst included,” he replied. Voz turned his head and looked through the transparent portal of the sciencell door. “For whatever it’s worth… his brothers did come to visit the day before,” Voz informed the Guardians. “It didn’t really do much good.” Voz turned slightly to face the door and outstretched his paw which adorned his ring. A small beam of green light shot forth from it and touched the sciencell door. A second after the door identified the ring as having the proper clearance, it beeped and opened. Kilowog, a big hulking red-eyed being who vaguely resembled a giant pink bipedal pig with a jaw with four grooves that belayed his huge teeth, floated over to the sciencell to awaken it’s tenant. He put one of his huge hands, still covered in it’s green aura, on the prone figure’s side and, surprisingly for his size, gently shook it. “Hey, time to wake up poozer,” Kilowog said sadly in his low, growling voice. “It’s… it’s time to go.” The figure sat up and stood up facing the wall opposite of the door. He nodded his head and Kilowog used his ring to create a large green bubble around the standing figure, sealing him in completely. Kilowog floated out of the sciencell and flew out toward the direction of the exit, still carrying the bubble and the human within it. Tomar-Tu, a tall bipedal alien with yellow skin, pointy ears, a head fin and a beak, turned towards the three still at the open door. “We will wait for you at the surface, Ganthet,” Tomar spoke to the Guardian. After putting a hand to his chest and giving a short bow, he too turned and left. Using his free hand, Ganthet removed a ring he had hidden up his sleeve. When Voz saw the green ring, a shine under the over head lights bearing down upon it, his eyes widened. “Is… that…?” he began. Sayd slowly nodded her head, answering Voz’s query. With a mental command, the ring resting in Ganthet’s open palm began to glow, rising into the air and, like a small green glowing firefly, shot out towards the other side of the room, to the other exit and was gone in the blink of an eye. “The ring will reach Equis… will reach Pax Harmonia in three local days. Lanterns Tomar, Kilowog & myself will be there in five,” Ganthet began, speaking to Sayd. “When we reach the planet, the princesses will interview Jordan and if all goes well, will agree to give him sanctuary.” “And… is there any concern that Jordan will do anything that might prevent that?” Sayd asked. Ganthet shook his head. “No, Jordan may be hotheaded and his emotion are wildly in flux, but he is no fool. He knows that this is his best chance,” he replied. Ganthet then turned to the warden. “May we have your word that this all will remain between us, Lantern Voz?” Ganthet asked. Voz turned away from the two Guardians and used his ring to close the sciencell door. He took a moment to reply. “I’ve…,” he began. “I’ve seen more Lanterns than I’d like behind these doors. Jordan, Laira and her father Kentor… Sinestro…. Some of them deserved it. But others…” Voz turned towards Ganthet and Sayd, looking straight into their faces. “Laira deserved better. Jordan deserves better, too. I promise that I will speak of this to no one. Just… make sure that he doesn’t go down the same road that Laira did.” He stopped, knowing full well that the Guardians knew what had happened to the young warrior, what those red… animals had done to her. Ganthet & Sayd closed their eyes and gave a slow nod. With that, they flew in the direction which Tomar & Kilowog had gone; Ganthet joining the two Lanterns & Jordan in their journey to Pax Harmonia and Sayd back to the Guardian’s Chamber in the Main Building. Unbeknownst to them, their conversation was overheard by a fourth; one of the high risk prisoners clad in a uniform of black & yellow, a strange symbol on her chest that was resembling the Green Lantern crest, but looking far more sinister… “Now isn’t this the beginning of an interesting story…” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To my most loyal student Twilight Sparkle, As you may very know, it is sometimes necessary to help a pony when they are in need of help. A simple kind gesture can lead to a strong bond of friendship. It has come to Luna’s & my attention from an old acquaintance that there is one who is need such need: a land to abide by safely, a house to be live in, an outstretched hood offered in friendship. This lost soul is currently on his way to Canterlot as quickly as he can, accompanied by his friend, my old acquaintance. Upon his arrival two days from now, he will meet both Luna and myself and we will try our very best to welcome him to our country. It is for this reason that I cordially invite you and the other Elements of Harmony to Canterlot to greet him. However, it is with a heavy heart that I must ask you and your friends to once again prepare for a need to use the Elements. Although I do no expect there to be any trouble between this new guest or my old acquaintance, wise ponies do have a saying for a such an occasion: “An ounce of prevention can be worth more than a pound of cure.” In the best scenario, we will be able to welcome an new friend, so I must insist that you do not treat our guest with suspicion or prejudice; I have heard a little of his story and his life appears to have been full of hardships. There is so much more I wish I could tell you, to better prepare you and your friends, but this situation is very fragile. This information can cause a great uproar if not handled properly. I will better explain when you all arrive at the castle. I cannot wait to see you again, my little ponies. Sincerely, Princess Celestia P.S. Do not be shy in inviting Spike along with you all. It has also been a while since I’ve seen your faithful, dependable assistant. I will be sure to cover all charges for the tickets. Celestia stopped writing her letter to Twilight, satisfied that the letter both conveyed the urgency she had wished to convey to her pupil and certain that her postscript would sufficiently butter up the small dragon into actually coming to Canterlot as opposed to remaining home in Ponyville. Using her magic to simultaneously put down her quill and roll up the scroll she had been writing on, she whistled to summon Philomena to her side. “Philomena, please sent this to Spike posthaste. It is a matter of no small urgency and time is of the essence,” Celestia asked of her magnificent pet phoenix. Knowingly, the phoenix nodded her head and, as Celestia used her magic to hold the scroll in mid-air, flapped her great wings in a small, but powerful firey swoop. The scroll vanished and Celestia knew that any second, it would reappear in a show of green dragon fire as Spike received the message. Normally, Celestia used her own magic to send letters to Twilight and Spike, but using Philomena’s fire was much faster. It was still, fortunately, mid morning, less than an hour had passed after it had appeared. It was with even greater luck that the scheduled meeting with the representatives from Manehattan had ended and the ponies had left the room when it decided to fly in like a small glowing green bird. When it was right in front of Celestia, it came to a dead stop and spoke with a voice of what sounded like a young stallion, “Message waiting for Princesses Celestia and Luna. Awaiting both recipients.” Naturally, with this unusual event occuring, her loyal guards had thrown themselves between Celestia and the foreign object; only standing down when faced with a direct order to do so. Trying to reassure her guards, she ordered them to fetch Shining Armor and bring him to her sister’s chambers for a meeting with the princesses as this was related to their guest from several days prior. The object, which Celestia could now see was clearly a strange green ring, did not need any prompting from her magic; it moved with a life all it’s own as it followed her to wake her sleeping sister. As she had predicted, Luna was not happy being awakened from her slumber. However, her annoyance instantly vanished when she saw the reason for the disturbance. When the ring appeared to be satisfied that both Celestia and Luna were present and prepared, the ring leveled itself with the flat surface bearing the Guardian’s mark upright towards the ceiling and a small figure of Ganthet appeared, to relay the message recorded in the ring. “Wise rulers of the kingdom of Equestria, Princesses Celestia and Luna… As you are sure to remember, my name is Ganthet. Several nights before, I met you at your castle and requested your assistance in a serious matter: the possible fate of former Lantern Hal Jordan. Upon our agreement, this message is to inform you that, in approximately two of your local days from receiving this message, an envoy of myself, several Green Lanterns and Jordan himself will arrive. There, Jordan will submit himself to answer any queries or tests you ask of him, for your determination. This advance message is to allow you the time to make any preparations you may need. I humbly ask you one thing however…,” the message stated. The two sisters believed they knew what the Guardian was to request from them. “I ask..,” the message continued. “…When it is time for your meeting with Jordan, that you do not take offense to his attitude. This is still an unbelievably hard time for him… forced to say good bye to everyone and everything he has ever known… I ask… for your understanding of this pain he is going though. ….Until our arrival, farewell for now.” With the message concluded, the ring stopped glowing and fell upon Luna’s bed, it’s energies apparently drained. Using her magic, Luna immediately covered the prone ring with the bluish glow of her magic and raised it into the air yet again. As she and Celestia examined the ring with a great deal of interest, wondering how the strange jewelry worked, there came a knock at Luna’s door. The visitor was given permission to enter and, as Celestia had requested, it was Shining Armor. After a short discussion of new security measures to enforce when the Lanterns arrived (such as giving most of the on-hoof staff a holiday, cancelling or rescheduling previous meetings and engagements, increased Royal Guard presence and the like). It was towards the end of this meeting that Celestia brought up the plan of inviting Twilight Sparkle and her friends to meet this “Jordan”. Luna agreed with this action, however Shining Armor was a bit more apprehensive to the idea. “It’s not… like I don’t know that my sister and her friends haven’t tangled with some dangers before,” Shining began, knowing full well to avoid any mentions of Nightmare Moon. “Heck, when Discord broke loose, every guard, INCLUDING myself, were powerless to oppose him. I don’t think I even have to mention what happened at the wedding…” Shining Armor shivered, the mere thought of the changelings or their queen made his skin crawl. “I would love the chance to see my little sister again, but this… “Jordan” is a complete unknown. I… just don’t want my sister to be put in any position where she could be harmed,” Shining finished, looking towards Celestia. Celestia lowered her head and closed her eyes, understanding the concern the stallion had over his younger sister. “I understand, Shining Armor,” Celestia retorted, opening her eyes to look her captain in the eyes. “I would not ask for Twilight or her friends to come if I did not believe there was any chance that there would be any danger.” Celestia walked towards Shining, continuing to speak, “But I will err on the side of caution here, to help alleviate your fear… I will ask them to wear the Elements of Harmony as a precaution. The magic they contain will ensure that if any threat, no matter how unlikely, does come about… it will be ended as quickly as it began.” Celestia disliked the words she was saying: her nation thrived because of friendship and acceptance, of believing that everypony, no every being, had some good within them. However she knew this was necessary, not only to convince Shining Armor, but because Jordan was almost a complete unknown! Humans, going by the myths, could range anywhere from brutal savages to intelligent but loyal to no one… not that ancient ponytales such as those could be taken as absolute fact. Thankfully, with Celestia’s mentioning of the Elements, Shining did some thinking and gave a nod of approval. Celestia felt a bit of relief at her captain’s acceptance and quickly began mentally writing her letter her student. While this was going on, Luna continued to examine the strange ring. She got up from the bed and, still using the magic on the ring to make it follow her, walked over to her vanity. ‘How curious,’ Luna thought to herself as she gave the ring another once-over. ‘I wonder why it isn’t glowing any more? Did it run out of magic? Wait… that Ganthet said it ran on… willpower right? Maybe…’ Testing out a hypothesis which she had just thought of, Luna used her magic to lower the ring onto her horn. ’After all, it IS a ring,’ she thought as the ring was placed around her horn. The results were something that Luna expected. “User not recognized,” the youthful voice said yet again, “Removing ring.” At that, the ring jumped off Luna’s horn and fell onto her vanity’s table top. After that, it became prone and did not speak again. This attracted Celestia & Shining Armor’s attention and they walked over to join Luna in staring at the ring. A minute went by before the silence was broken by Celestia’s giggle. “It looks like the ring doesn’t like you wearing it, Lulu,” Celestia teased her little sister. Luna was not amused and picked up the ring once again with her magic, holding it in front of her sister. “Well, let’s see what happens when YOU wear it, Tia!” Luna grumbled. However, just as it did with Luna, the ring reacted the same way and did not allow Celestia to wear it. The same results occurred when Shining Armor tried the ring on. “Apparently,” Luna spoke, “the ring does not allow just anypony to wear it.” A puzzled look appeared on Luna’s face as she added, “I wonder… what would happen if this Jordan were to wear the ring? Would the same results occur?” After a moment of reflection, Luna & Celestia came to the silent agreement that perhaps it would be best to not remind Jordan of the ring, and so left it still on the vanity. The three ponies then left to begin their business; Luna & Shining Armor to begin preparations and Celestia to write her letter. It was with no small relief to the snow white princess that less than three quarters of hour after sending her letter to her student, did she get a response. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Omigoshomigoshomigosh! I wonder what he looks like!” shouted a very excited Pinkie Pie as she jumped all around the cabin of the train. “I wonder if he’s a pony! Nowait! Maybe a dragon! Ooooh! Maybe he’s a gargoyle! Aah! I wonder what kind of party to give him?! A “Welcome to Equestria” party or a “Nice to meet you part” or…” Pinkie’s rambling was interrupted when an orange Earth pony wearing a Stetson hat put her hoof into the pink pony’s mouth. “Now, hold yer horses Pinkie Pie,” Applejack began, her southern drawl began. “Didn’t ya hear what th’ letter said after? This critter might need to be taught some manners if Princess Celestia thinks we might need th’ Elements!” Pinkie sat down on her haunches and Applejack removed her hoof from Pinkie’s mouth. Standing up on her seat and looking at the two was Twilight. “Applejack’s right. If the Princess believes that Elements of Harmony might need to be used, this must be an incredibly dangerous and delicate situation. I only wish she could have been more specific in her letter…” Twilight announced, using her magic to hold up Celestia’s letter for her friends to see. The car which they were all in was largely deserted, save for seven occupants: six ponies and one baby dragon. Twilight heard a snort and looked over at the cyan pegasus Rainbow Dash. “Aw, relax Twilight,” Dash waved her hoof dismissively at her friend. “If this guy even thinks of trying anything, I’ll kick his flank so hard and so fast, he’ll never know what hit ‘im!” Rainbow Dash’s aggression was not shared by the butter yellow pesasus that sat next to her as she squeaked and recoiled at Dash’s last word. “M-maybe he’ll be friendly…,” Fluttershy spoke in a very timid voice. “I mean… the princess did say that he needed help…” Dash rolled her eyes at her friend’s words, but otherwise said nothing. “Well regardless of intentions, at the very least this whole experience has given us an excuse to go to Canterlot,” said Rarity, in her most refined voice. Canterlot was always a place she looked forward to seeing. “I only hope this situation will afford me some time to shop and catch up on any new designs which have come out…” Sitting next to Rarity was a small purple dragon with green spikes. Spike’s presence with the group was not entirely of his own volition. Rarity had visited the library to check out some books and was talking to Twilight when Princess Celestia’s letter had come in. When he had read the P.S. on the letter, he looked over to Rarity and announced that he would go too. “After all, somepony needs to make sure this guy doesn’t hurt such lovely ladies,” was the way Spike had said it. Regretting it when he heard Rainbow Dash’s laughter; he had forgotten that she was there, so engrossed by her book was she that Dash seemed to be invisible at the time as opposed to her usual manner. Thankfully, she was gone a short time after that as she left to tell their friends the news. It wasn’t too long before the six ponies and dragon bought their tickets and awaited for the scheduled time for the train’s departure. During this time, Twilight had Spike compose a letter letting her teacher know of their status. The train eventually departed the station and began it’s hours long journey to Canterlot. The train began it’s final approach to the station and seconds after it stopped, the group grabbed their luggage and set out for the castle; Rarity giving longing looks at the city, frustrated, but understanding that for now, this was not a pleasure trip. In a short time, they reached the castle and were surprised to meet Celestia at the castle gates. "It has been far too long, everypony," Celestia beamed at her guests. "We'll discuss matters in the throne room, but for now... I just wanted to know how all of you are doing, my dears." As the Princess escorted the six ponies and dragon to their destination, they talked briefly about how things were progressing at Ponyville: Pinkie was trying to come up with a new recipe to add to Sugarcube Corner's menu, Rarity had recently finished a sizeable order for a client, Applejack joked about her hands being full with her little sister & the other Crusaders' antics, Rainbow mentioned her starting an application to join the Wonderbolt Acadamy, and Fluttershy had recently helped a colony of bees rebuild their nest after Harry the Bear had accidentally destroyed it while trying to get some honey. "You all certainly have been keeping busy, my little ponies," Celestia chuckled. She then turned her attention over to Twilight & Spike, " And how has my student & her steadfast assistant been doing lately? I've heard you've recently gotten a new telescope for your library. Have you been studying the night sky again?" Spike answered his foster mother's inquiry, "Yeah, we've been doing such here and there.... but I saw something a few days ago and Twilight doesn't believe me!" The alabaster alicorn gave a gentle look over at the baby dragon, "Oh? And what did you see, Spike dear? Do you think you discovered a new star?" Twilight gave a small glare at the young drake and sighed, "He's been reading too many comic books lately, Princess. He says he saw.... it's a bit embarrasing to say... an alien landing in Equestria." Celestia's face froze and she stopped walking in shock; Spike & Twilight began arguing, not noticing the Princess dead in her tracks. "I swear I saw it Twilight!" Spike declared, "A green light coming out of the sky! And I think it landed somewhere near Canterlot!" Twilight rolled her eyes, rebuking him, "I think you just fell for a prank, Spike. It was probably a pegasus, or maybe a firefly that made an illusion..." "Princess.... a-are you okay?" Fluttershy timidly asked, drawing the group's attention to the Princess, who had fallen behind them. Celestia quickly snapped out of her stupor and responded, "Yes... I'm fine, Fluttershy. I just wasn't expecting to hear such a thing.... I didn't hear any reports about anypony spotting this light that Spike saw...." Twilight reassured the Princess, quietly panicking that Spike had upset her in someway, "I sent several letters to a few nearby observatories. Nopony saw Spike's 'alien landing', which is why I think he just saw something fly by the lens at the right time." The purple unicorn chuckled to herself, "Aliens landing in Equestria... I think it's just someone's overactive imagination, enhanced by their sleepiness that night." Celestia gave a small smile and resumed the walk to the throne room with the others. 'That boy sometimes has the strangest luck, I swear.... she thought to herself. I hope this won't be too shocking to Twilight's sensibility... The group made it to the throne room and, after ordering the guards posted to close the door and not allow anypony to listen into their conversation, made it to Celestia's throne and the Princess began to speak, catching the group up on Ganthet and his request, what they knew of the Green Lanterns, Jordan’s intended meeting with the Princesses and the fact that he was a human. Each of these facts were like a bombshell had been dropped on Twilight & her friends (including Spike, but not before he had jumped up in celebration and gave Twilight a "I TOLD YOU!" before realizing the full extent of Celestia's words), but taken in all at once left them speechless; even Pinkie Pie was at a loss for words. “…and so, if my sister and myself deem him to not be a threat, we will allow the human sanctuary,” Celestia finished. An uncomfortable silence filled the room for several moments as everypony tried to digest this information, before it was broken by, not surprisingly, Spike. “But then Princess… if you think that things will go well, why do you want Twilight and the others to ready the Elements of Harmony?” he asked, answering the question that had been on everypony’s mind for a while. Celestia’s face flashed the briefest bit of shame; she knew the question would come eventually but still dreaded it. “The answer is difficult to say… while I do not think that Jordan nor the Lanterns would cause a ruckus…,” Celestia struggled to answer. “The power the Lanterns wield is not to be looked down upon. During the brief time my family was hostile to the Corps, it was fortunate that the situation did not become so grave that the Elements were used. However, the fact that even with my parents’ power, the best they could do was reach a stalemate. That fact cannot be denied…. nor can the possibility that they were holding back.” Twilight gave out a frustrated yell and shook her head hard, as if in a vain attempt to remove this new information by force. Fluttershy tried to put a hoof on Twilight in an attempt to calm her, but Twilight brushed her off and stared incredulously at her teacher. “Please,” Twilight begged. “tell me that this is just a joke, that it’s a prank! Humans? Aliens? Life on other worlds?! Power greater than yours and Luna‘s?! This can't be real!” It was too much for Celestia to bear, as she sat up from her throne, flew over to Twilight and held her in a hug. “There, there… it’s alright,” Celestia whispered in a soothing voice, calming Twilight. “I know… that this is indeed a lot to take in,” the Princess continued, this time addressing all in the room, “Life… life is full of great wonders… and great mysteries. There is still so much we do not know, but we shouldn’t turn away from them. Rather, we should face them head on and try to understand them. For better or for worse… this is a great opportunity, to learn from one who has seen life amongst the stars, who is from the stars.” Twilight looked up at her teacher and gave a small smile. “…You’re right, Princess,” she said with a small shake in her voice. “And… who knows, maybe we can teach him a bit about us…” At this, Twilight’s smile spread to Celestia. “I.. think I know why you want us to have the Elements ready. Doesn‘t the saying go… “It’s better to have a weapon and not need it, than to need it and not have it”?” Celestia nodded. Celestia let Twilight go from her hug and looked over at her subjects, their faces a bit more relaxed but still full of worry. “The meeting is in two days, so you will have time to prepare for it,” Celestia addressed them. Pinkie Pie’s ears twitched at this and a mischievous smile spread to her face, her apprehension long gone. “I advise you to get settled in. Tomorrow, you’ll have some free time to enjoy yourselves while you are here,” the Princess concluded. Their luggage had been left in the care of the guards in the outside of the throne room, most of the ponies, after bowing and excusing themselves, decided to take them to their rooms and unpack as the Princess had advised. Twilight, however, had asked Spike to take her bags to their room since she wanted to go to the library. Celestia’s ears overheard and she walked over to her student. “The library, Twilight?” Celestia asked. “I thought the same thing, but I wouldn’t trust old legends and myths to gain any information on the human.” Twilight nervously chuckled. “I know,” Twilight replied, “but I always feel better while I’m reading.” That was a fact that Celestia was all to aware of; years of being Twilight’s mentor lent her a great insight to the purple unicorn and her habits. Twilight gave Celestia a farewell and left for the library. The rest of the day passed without incident and soon Luna raised the moon and the land was embraced by the night. When it came time to rest, the six ponies and dragon all looked out of their windows to the night sky in silence before climbing into their beds. It took a long while before sleep overtook them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day had come at last. Each of the six ponies were wearing their respective Element, but they still felt like there was a great weight in their stomachs. They had been waiting for several hours and it was soon noon. “Where the hay are these guys?!” Rainbow Dash fumed, stomping her hoof on the floor. She had been trying to hide her nervousness with false bravado, a fact that didn’t fool her friends. Spike, who was with the ponies shrugged. “Who knows, maybe they landed on the wrong side of the planet?” he suggested. Applejack gave an unconscious nod, she’d been thinking the same thing. Rarity was not pleased. “Even if that WERE the case, you would think that they would know it is rude to keep a lady waiting,” she said, a touch of venom in her voice. She had woken up two hours before the others to make sure she looked her best for the visitors; she was not happy that it was looking more like it was wasted. Pinkie was also somewhat upset. She had known that she wouldn’t be able to throw a proper “Welcome to Equestria” party in the castle, which was why she had spent her time planning the one she was going to throw in Ponyville. Any attempts to ask why the human would automatically go there were answered with a “Duh… where else would he go, silly?” She, like Rarity, didn’t want her planning to have been for nothing. Most of the others kept silent, like speaking would scare away the Lanterns from showing up. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the pony most anxious to meet the visitors next to Twilight was Fluttershy. Although she probably wouldn‘t have the courage to get very close, Fluttershy was excited to meet new forms of life she hadn‘t before. “I wonder if they’ll all be human… or is some of them are some other species…,” Fluttershy said quietly. The question hung in the air and the weight the ponies felt in their stomachs seemed to double. That is when, for better or for worse, one of the guards announced a confirmed sighting. The meeting would take place in the gardens, out in the open for the aliens’ comfort. Shining Armor and Twilight had worked together to devise a variation of the barrier bubble that had been in place at his wedding: the outside would be solid purple, but from the inside anypony would be able to see. It would, in addition, be sound proof from both sides, and it’s smaller size would be much more inconspicuous. Shining Armor’s horn glowed and the bubble went up. For those inside, it suddenly became incredibly quiet. The princesses were waiting by one of the statue exhibitions while the Elements and Spike were a short distance away, trying to stay out of sight behind a wall covered with plaques stating the names of the artists who’s statues were in the collection. It was there on the edge of the barrier that the visitors landed. All eyes were on the visitors. All eyes widened the short, floating blue figure held out a green lantern and the two strange-aliens held out their hands towards it, appeared to say something and a glow emerged from the lantern. Shortly after, they entered the barrier. The two uniformed aliens remained by the edge, at alert, while the Guardian led the human towards the princesses. Before Celestia and Luna, they stopped. For the first time, the princesses and the Elements, peering over the wall saw the human, the one all of this was for. He stood on two legs and had both of his, if the descriptions were accurate, hands in the pockets of the brown jacket he was wearing. His mane was brown in color as was, as Celestia & Luna’s sharp eyes could see, his eye color. The jacket looked well aged and appeared to hang over him a little, like it wasn’t made for him; it’s front had what looked like an eagle on the left and some writing that looked unfamiliar on the right. He was wearing blue pants, what looked to be made of denim. And on it’s feet were two black laced shoes. “We are well met, Ganthet,” Celestia addressed the Guardian, “but would you please introduce your compatriots?” Ganthet nodded and gave a small bow. “Princesses Celestia & Luna of Pax Harmonia, diarchs of Equestria,” Ganthet addressed, “allow me introduce Lanterns Kilowog and Tomar-Tu.” His hand gestured to the uniformed aliens. Everypony’s breaths were held as they took in the appearance of the strange creatures. “…and this is Hal Jordan.” The Guardian turned everyone’s attention to the human, who had an unhappy look on his face. He eyed Celestia and Luna, then the guards including Shining Armor which were at their royals’ sides, appearing to commit each detail of their ponyage to memory. He took a step forward and opened his mouth, everypony’s full attention on what the human was about to say. “I think I can safely say that I feel my masculinity beginning to die.,” the figure spoke. The reaction from the Lanterns was surprising: Ganthet looked at the human with an unamused look on his face, the big pink alien put a massive hand to his face and sighed, and the yellow beaked one shook his head. None of the Equestrians understood what the human had said, but apparently it wasn’t good. “Please, do not take offense,” Ganthet sighed in an attempt to do some damage control. “He is still adjusting to the situation.” Celestia & Luna looked at each other with their eyebrows raised and explained that while no offense was taken, they could not understand what he had said. At this Ganthet summoned over the two Lanterns and they stood in line at the human’s side, somewhat of a mirror image to the princesses. The human opened his mouth to speak again, “Can you understand me now?” For a quick second, the Princesses and Shining Armor were taken aback. The human’s voice had initially sounded familiar, but now that they recognized it: it was the which the ring spoke with! The princesses gave a nod in answer and Celestia took a few steps forward. The human stood as tall as her, not counting her horn, showing that the average pony would stand about to the bottom of his torso; however the big alien Kilowog stood even taller than her. She put on a serious face, it was time to begin. “This inquiry is to determine one thing: if the human, Hal Jordan, will pose a threat to any citizen of Equestria,” Celestia proclaimed in a strong voice. “If he does not, he will be permitted asylum on our planet, in this country.” Luna stepped forward and joined her sister. “Please speak,” Luna ordered. “Tell us about thineself.” Celestia’s brow rose again at Luna‘s archaic speech, but said nothing. Hal focused his attention at Luna, his face hard to read. “My name is Hal Jordan. I was born on the planet Earth,” Hal began. “I was the second born of three brothers. I’m… I was a Green Lantern off-and-on for seven years. Two months ago, I turned 19 years old, Earth calendar.” He went on about semi-interesting facts in an monotonous voice like he was reading from a text book, but he didn’t waver his eyes. Rainbow Dash shook her head and huffed. “I can’t believe it!” she said in a loud whisper to her friends. “He’s only a year older than me! I was expecting some grizzled old guy, covered in battle scars! Not… him!” None of her friends replied so they wouldn’t miss anything he said, but their expectations WERE different from the reality they saw before them. The most surprising being that he was apparently allowed to fight when he was a colt. Celestia raised her hoof and Hal stopped speaking, his focus on her now. “I’m afraid that we’ll have to move on. We do have more questions to ask.” Hal didn’t move. “I must ask… from what you say, you were recruited to join the Green Lantern Corps at a young age. Why did the ring choose you?” With this question, Hal’s face flashed a look of surprise before it fell back into the blank expression it had been. “Many…” Hal started, his voice slightly low before raising it to a more audible level. “There are many who assume that to be chosen, you have to know no fear. They assume that you have to show off greatness or intelligence.” Hal’s face, though he didn’t know it became more expressive, excited, something the princesses took note of. “However they’re wrong. I’m not all that smart, nor was I able to do anything great since I was so young. And I certainly felt fear… a lot of it.” It was at this that his face had a pained expression, remembering his father’s crash from when he was 10 years old. “For a long while I wondered why I was chosen and it took years before I found my answer,” Hal continued, his face now full of determination. “I was chosen, not because I didn’t feel fear, but because I could overcome it.” Luna looked the once-over on Hal. She felt that there was still questions to ask, so she decided to go with a big one. “Doesth thou believe thou deservest this punishment, Hal Jordan? Or mayhap does thou believe thine actions in the crime in which you were charged with were just?” Luna inquired, her voice hard. Celestia felt that familiar apprehension again, this was an important question but Luna had asked it right out without sugarcoating it. The question hit Hal the hardest as he put his hands back into his jacket pockets, closed his eyes and held his head down. “That…,” Hal started, voice full of emotion. “That is a hard question to answer…” Turning around and walking away from the princesses and passing Ganthet, Hal suddenly stopped. “I’ll have to give two answers… because those are two very different questions,” Hal replied, his voice still facing away from the others. The ponies and dragon hiding behind wall tensed up, ready to act if any funny business went on. Celestia waited with baited breath towards the response. Luna bit her lower lip, afraid she had asked too callously. A minute went by before Hal began to speak again, “I’ve tried to do my best to help, to serve. Despite what many think, Lanterns aren’t perfect. And I’ve made many mistakes in my life time.” After another brief pause, “I’ve got blood on my hands. A lot of it. And not just from the lives I couldn’t save.” With this, everyone’s heart began to race. Kilowog stepped forward. “Hal, you poozer… what are you trying to do?” Kilowog growled in a low voice. Hal looked over his shoulder, his face full of pain. “Kilowog… you don’t have to try to hide it. Not after everything I’ve done. Not after what I did to you… and to Tomar,” Hal responded. At this Tomar-Tu looked at Hal Jordan, knowing full well what he was trying to say. “A few years ago… my home city was destroyed… and I wasn’t able to save it. My anger… and my fear were manipulated by another and I went crazy. The Corps tried to stop me… my brothers in arms tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen. I hurt them… and killed them. Thanks to me, the Corps was nearly destroyed…” Hal went on. “I was possessed by another and because I wasn’t able to stop, I hurt and ruined so many other lives.” Luna gave a small gasp and put her hoof up to her face in shock. Celestia put her own hoof on Luna’s shoulder. This was a tale that was all too familiar to them and they knew why he was in so much pain. “Luckily… despite my efforts to put out that light, there was someone to carry the torch and so the Corps was able to rebuild,” the human continued, turning around to face the princesses again. “To answer your question… Yes, I was just in using lethal force to save the Guardians. I would do it again. And while I don’t think I deserve punishment for that… I do for the sins I’ve caused.” Hal finished and looked at Ganthet and the Lanterns, their heads lowered knowing full well that this revelation could get Hal kicked off the planet. Luna looked at the human, a soul that knew that pain of what she had once felt. “Hal Jordan… we understand what it is that you have gone through…” Luna began, but was interrupted by the sight of Hal’s glare. “I’ve heard enough ‘I understands’ and ‘It wasn’t yous’ already. I’m sorry, but you don’t. You can’t possibly know what it’s like to turn against those you’ve sworn to fight alongside with. To hurt them…. kill them….” Hal retorted. Luna lowered her head, and silent tears fell from her eyes. Celestia looked at her little sister and then stared at Hal yet again, her face deadly serious. “The final question we shall ask you, Hal Jordan,” Celestia began, getting Hal’s attention. “You did not need to tell us about this transgression. So I must ask… why did you?” Hal’s face sported a small, slanted smile. “This place is a like a sugar bowl. You all look so freaking adorable with your soldiers in their get up and your ladies in waiting hiding behind walls hoping I wouldn’t see ‘em,” Hal pointed over at wall where Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash & Spike were hiding. They all jumped slightly when they were pointed out and, seeing as their cover was blown, walked out into the open. “And of course they all have pretty jewelry to boot, huh?” Hal muttered to himself before refocusing on the sisters. “This place… it’s too innocent for me to be here. And you deserve to know that.” Celestia and Luna walked back to the guards and began to speak with Shining Armor. When they were done, Shining’s horn glowed as the barrier was dispelled and Celestia cleared her throat to speak. “Hal Jordan of Earth. After consideration and the evidence before us, my sister and myself have come to a consensus,” Celestia proclaimed. Hal and the Lanterns prepared for the inevitable refusal when: “We are not so innocent as to think of the world in pure black and white, we have long since accepted there is a lot of grey between them. We did not expect a perfect Lantern to appear before us today. All life is fallible, and we all have the weight that comes with that fact. Even my sister…. And even myself.” Luna closed her eyes in shame at these words, but forced herself to open them and look at Hal. With conviction in her voice, Celestia went on, “This inquiry was not to see if you were without sin, Hal Jordan, but to see what kind of… person you are… and we have found that you ARE a good person. We would be honored to allow you asylum and recognize you as a citizen.” Hal was stunned, but closed his eyes. Speaking with a small voice he said, “Thank you.” With this, the heavy tension in the air faded and Pinkie began to celebrate, she’d be able to throw her first party with a human! Ganthet and Kilowog smiled, and the big alien put a massive hand on human’s shoulder and shook. Tomar-Tu took in a deep sigh. “To commemorate this occasion, I would propose that we have a feast and welcome our newest citizen,” Celestia suggested. Twilight was about to ask just what a human COULD eat when Ganthet politely turned down the invitation; the Lanterns and himself had to head back to Guardian space and resume their duties. But before they could fly off, Hal addressed them, “I guess… this is good bye, huh? Thank you, Ganthet. For everything. ‘Wog, give my best to John, Kyle & Guy.” Hal then turned his attention to Tomar-Tu. “Tomar… I just wanted to say… I am sorry for everything I’ve done. To your friends and to you.” Tomar-Tu closed his eyes and spoke, “We were lucky to survive the rampage… and the Manhunters when they found us. I do not speak for my fellow Lost Lanterns, only for myself. I may not be able to forget what you have done… but I do forgive you, Hal Jordan.” Tomar-Tu held out his hand. “Farewell, and may you find some peace at last.” Hal took Tomar-Tu’s hand with his own and gave it a firm shake. “Thank you. Heh. Well, considering I couldn’t understand word one when they first started to talk, I think that lunch is going to be quiet entertaining indeed,” Hal looked over at the ponies who were all gathered around their princesses. Just as they had been unable to understand him when he spoke, he was similarly lost until he got closer to a ring for it to translate. Ganthet smiled and snapped his fingers. A few seconds later, a small green light flew out from the castle and appeared stopped in front in front of Hal’s face, shocking the human when he saw what it was. “It’s… my ring,” Hal said quietly. The sight attracted all attention to Hal and the floating ring. Luna shared Hal’s shock, she had left it in her room, believing it was without power. “It took some arguing, but I was able to convince the other Guardians to allow you to keep it, if only for translation only purposes. I did have to modify the ring’s programming, however…” Ganthet began, watching as Hal held the ring in his palm. “As dictated by it’s new orders, the ring will never be able to leave this system again unless directly ordered by one of the Guardians… myself not included.” A look of mild disgust spread on Ganthet’s face, that provision was by Herupa and the majority ruled had ruled in his favor. “And as I’m sure you remember from Kilowog’s boot camp, even the translation functions use power, so you will need this to recharge it when the time comes.” Ganthet handed the lantern-shaped Power Battery over to Hal, who reluctantly took it. Hal didn’t know how to respond. “….Ganthet, are you sure about this?” Hal asked, still nearly speechless. Ganthet nodded, the group didn’t need it any more, having already used it to recharge their rings before entering the barrier. “Good bye… Hal. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” Ganthet apologized to the still flustered human. The Guardian and Lanterns glowed a familiar green as their auras and ascended into the sky. Soon they were gone, leaving the human alone. Hal just looked at the ring he held in his hand, melancholy awash over him… but also nostalgia. After a while, Fluttershy and Spike looked at each other and took the initiative to walk over to him. As empathetic as she was, Fluttershy didn’t need any special connection to others to tell that he was still reeling. In Spike’s case, he just thought the dude had some issues and wanted to see if he could help. “Umm… Mr. Jordan,” Fluttershy timidly asked the human, “are… are you alright?” “Yeah… how about we go and join the princesses and everypony for lunch. I’ve been wondering what a guy like you eats to get so big,” Spike added. It was the truth, after all. Hal looked at the two and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and put the ring into one of the pockets in his jeans and when it was secure he opened them. “Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go get some grub,” he assured the two and started to walk towards the others. “Errmm… When you say ‘grub’,” Rarity eyed the human with some disgust on her face, “do you perchance happen to mean… insects?” Hal eyed the purple maned unicorn and put his hand to his chin as if in deep thought. “Not usually, but there WAS that one time when Kilowog dared me to eat some Rannian pillbug. Tough shell to break through and once I did… you wouldn’t believe the smell! I had to eat that sucker’s innards with a hand up to my nose to keep the smell out!” Hal teased the prissy looking unicorn. He felt a little bad when she fainted from his graphic description, but couldn’t keep the first real smile he had in days off of his face. Deciding to be a gentleman, he picked up the unconscious unicorn and they all walked towards the castle, the Lantern’s handle in the crook of his arm.