After the massive battle between the two ring wearers, ponies everywhere were talking about the new hero in green. And it wasn't just Ponyville that was talking about him, all the cities and towns all of Equestria were. Ponies wanted to know who this mysterious hero was and where did he come from. How did he do the things he did? Naturally, Twilight kept the reporters who came to the princess at bay by telling them that it wasn't anypony she knew. This was correct because Spike was a dragon. So with all the praise going around about how he had saved the town and defeated a giant monster, Spike did what any hero would do after such a great victory.
He slept through the next day.
When he eventually did wake up on the following day, his entire body was stiff and sore, not helped by the fact that he was hungry. So as Spike got out of his bed with a yawn, he noticed that the ring was still on his hand, which was weird to him because Twilight had seemed to want to examine it earlier. He fell out of his bed (his legs still being asleep) and floated himself down the stairs into the kitchen, a frown crossing his face when he noticed that Twilight wasn't there either.
"Where are you Twilight?" Spike asked as he started to look around the room.
'She is in the basement with the other ring,' the green ring answered for him after scanning the whole house. 'It also seems that she is suffering from severe stress and lack of sleep.' Spike wondered how the ring knew that, but he simply shrugged it off and floated to the stairs that led to the basement. Just as the ring had said, Spike found Twilight at her work bench with a certain stone object under her microscope. He heard the furious scribbling of a pen on parchment and knew that Twilight was hard at work with something.
"Hey Twilight, what are you doing?" Spike asked as he landed next to her. She stuck out a hoof to tell him to shush as she continued her research, leaving Spike to sit in the air for a minute as he waited for her to finish. After about three minutes of waiting, Twilight finally turned around to look at Spike.
"Well look who's finally up," she said with a tired smile. "With the way you slept yesterday I thought that it would take a crane to get you out of bed. I had been planning on let you sleep through today as well, but you managed to get yourself up."
"Wait, I can sleep through today as well?" Spike asked with a smile as he hopped to the floor and started to head towards the stairs. "If that's the case then I'll see you tomorrow." Spike didn't even make it to the first step as Twilight grabbed a hold of him and brought him back over to her.
"Since you're awake, can you tell me what you know about this ring?" Twilight asked, indicating to the stone ring that lay under the microscope on her table. Spike walked over to it with a frown, wondering how something so small could have caused so much trouble for him and Twilight. Then again, his ring was an incredible source of power in its own right and the orange one fed off greed, something that all dragons struggled with. "I've been observing it for over a full day now and I still can't figure out how it works."
"It runs on greed, that's about it," Spike said as he picked it up, feeling a small desire to take something for himself. Despite the ring being encased in stone by the Elements, it power and desires still radiated through.
"I know it runs on greed, but it's a piece of technology that I've never seen before," Twilight said as she levitated some books down next to her. "I don't think its runs on electricity and it certainly doesn't have any wiring, it's...just a ring."
"That's what I thought at first, then my ring let me fly and shoot lasers with it," Spike said as he looked down at the green ring to avoid looking at the stone one for too long. "Sometimes there are things that we don't understand, like how you don't understand how the rings work or I don't understand why I have to arrange the library ever two days."
"That's different Spike, these...weapons are dangerous!" Twilight said as she walked back over to the ring. "Just the orange one nearly wiped out our home alone and I'm worried about what would happen if another were to fall into somepony else's hooves," Twilight muttered as she looked at Spike's ring, which he hid with his other hand.
"Please Twilight, how could there be more than two of these things?" Spike asked with a laugh before remembering what his own ring had told him about the multitude of other Lanterns out there. "Besides, even if there were more rings, what are the odds they'd land on our planet? I think we just got a few lost ones." Twilight looked back at the stone ring, which was even tapping into her desire to take and own.
"I hope you're right Spike, because we had a hoofful of a time just trying to deal with one of these things," Twilight said as she looked at his ring. "We're lucky that you had the green one as well or else we'd probably be down a town. Why does it work for you but not me anyway?" Spike wasn't sure of that either, since he knew that the ring originally was supposed to go to Twilight. But if he told her that she might try to take the best thing that happened to him since he met Rarity.
"It said that it chose me after its previous host died," Spike explained quickly, hoping that Twilight didn't catch on. "And that only one who can...do something with it is worthy to wield it. So I guess I'm worthy of whatever it’s talking about." He could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't buying the whole thing, but she gave a shrug that told him he was out of danger for now.
"Speaking of responsibility, I believe that you wanted to help Rarity finish the designs she never got around to finishing due to the attack?" Twilight said, smiling when she saw Spike's eyes light up. "And that was a promise for yesterday."
"Nice talking to you Twilight, but there's somewhere I need to be!" Spike yelled as he shot up into the air and flew up the steps, just barely hearing Twilight tell him not to use the ring in public. Twilight watched until the green trail that followed him vanished before she turned and headed back to her microscope.
'I don't know how I feel about letting him hold onto something that powerful, but it seems to be in safe claws for now,' she thought to herself as she looked down at the stone ring, wondering how something so small could have caused so much damage. 'Then again, maybe this will help him become more responsible. And it's not like I can't take it from him if he abuses it...oh...right.' While Twilight continued to examine the ring, Spike was running down the street as fast as his dragon legs could carry him. He enjoyed spending ever moment at Rarity's and always hated having to miss a day, so he had a huge smile on his face as he ran to the front doors of the Carousel, stopping to make sure that it didn't seem like he rushed to get there. He took one last breath before opening the front doors and walked inside.
"Hello everypony!" Spike called out to the shop, looking around to see if anypony was home. He heard the sound of hooves on the floor as he turned to see Rarity come walking out from the back of the shop, looking a little tired but as beautiful as he remembered her. Her mane sparkled in the sun and her eyes were like a gate way to a sea of stars that he wished that he could fall into forever and...
"Um, Spikey? Are you paying attention?" Rarity asked him politely as her words brought him back to reality from his beautiful day dream. When he nodded to show her he was paying attention, Rarity continued on. "Well, I know that I told you that I had a large number of orders to finish, but the pony that hired me sent me a letter earlier today to tell me that the order was to only be done by me. My client asked that only I work on the designs, so I will probably need to pull another all-nighter in order to finish it on time. I hope you understand." Spike's scales on his head had slowly drooped as she explained what happened, telling him that she wouldn't need him today. He turned around and started to head to the door sadly, but was stopped when it was flung open as a white blur ran past her.
"Rarity! It's almost time!" Sweetie said with a huge smile as she raced over to her sister, Spike having to throw himself to the floor to dodge the backpack that she threw off as she entered. "Today's the big school party and you promised to be one of the chaperones for it!...So why aren't you ready? You should have gotten dressed hours ago since you hate being in the park without your park outfit." Rarity bit her lip as she looked down at the confused face of her little sister, trying to figure out a way to break the news to her as gently as she could.
"Sweetie...now don't yell at me, but something has come up that might require me to stay home tonight," Rarity said slowly, sadness filling her eyes as she watched the realization dawning on her little sisters’ face. "It's not that I don't enjoy spending time with you, but this order is really important."
"But...you said that we'd get to spend time together," Sweetie said with a trembling lip, her eyes starting to fill with tears.
"I know dear, but this order is very important," Rarity said gently, but Sweetie looked away from her older sister.
"Every order's important, more important than me," she whispered to herself, with Spike hearing what she said but Rarity didn't.
"Don't look so glum, your friends will be there to keep you company," Rarity said, hoping to lift her sister's spirits. Sweetie looked back up to her sister with a forced smile on her face, trying to be positive.
"You're right, I'll have my friends there with me to keep me company. And maybe we'll finally get our cutie marks at the party," Sweetie said.
"Now that's my sister," Rarity said as she pulled Sweetie into a hug. "Strong and unshakable. Now you should get going, you said that the party was going to be held in the park right?" Sweetie nodded and headed to the door, coming to a stop and looking over her shoulder one last time before she left.
"Wait a minute," Rarity said quickly before she could leave, seeing the sadness in her sisters eyes. "Why don't you take Spike with you?"
"What?" both Sweetie and Spike said at the same time, both giving Rarity a look of confusion. "Why would I take Spike with me to the party?"
"Yeah, I don't want to go to a lame party," Spike said with a huff, not noticing the glare Sweetie gave him. Rarity motioned for Spike to come over to her and quickly pulled him close.
"I don't want Sweetie to go to the party all alone, the bullies at school have been very hard on her lately. I also want somepony I trust to be there to keep an eye on things."
"I don't know..." Spike muttered.
"I'll let you help me clean the Carousel tomorrow," Rarity said as she gave him her pleading eyes.
"Alright Sweetie, let's go to that party," Spike said with a smile as he shot by her to open the door with a bow, Sweetie looking at Rarity with a sad glare as she headed out the door with a huff. Spike smiled to himself at his good fortune and the fact that he got to spend a full day with Rarity the next day as he closed the door behind him as he and Sweetie walked down the street.
"So why did you bother to come to the party?" Sweetie asked in an unfriendly tone, looking at Spike with suspicion in her eyes.
"Because Rarity asked me to," Spike said with a shrug, turning the ring again so that she wouldn't see it. "And a gentlecolt never refuses a request from a lady."
"Then why do I hear you and Twilight constantly argue?" Spike opened his mouth to answer, then realized what she was trying to do and quickly shut it, giving her a look this time as she giggled to herself.
"Yeah yeah. So what's this whole party about? I'm fairly certain that school for you girls doesn't end for a few more weeks," Spike said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well. since the me and the other CMC kinda ruined last year’s party, Cheerilee decided to throw a second party before the school year comes to an end so we can wreak this one," Sweetie said with a embarrassed smile. "But she made us promise this year that we wouldn't burn the park this time."
"This time?" Spike asked with a smile, having heard the horror stories from Twilight's friends enough times to know what the girls could do when they put their minds to something. The two of them eventually reached the Ponyville Park where a large number of foals were all playing, with a magenta pony trying to keep them all under control despite the futile battle that it was.
"Oh Sweetie Belle, there you are," Cheerilee said with a smile as she tried to help a filly out of the tree that she had managed to get herself into. "I thought you said that Rarity was coming with you today? Where is she?" Sweetie's face fell again and Cheerilee could guess why. "She's not going to show up, is she?"
"No and she stuck me with Spike instead."
"Hey, what's wrong with me?" Spike asked only to be ignored.
"Well, I'm certain that she has a good reason for it," Cheerilee said as she tried to cheer Sweetie up. "I think I see Applebloom and Scootaloo over there. How about you three go have fun without burning the park down." Sweetie looked to her friends who were under another tree with a smile, leaving Spike alone with Cheerilee with a frown.
"Now what am I supposed to do for another two hours?" Spike grumbled to himself as he crossed his arms.
"Well, you can go through the snack bar if you want," Cheerilee suggested, pointing her hoof towards a massive table filled with food and drinks. Spike's smile grew at the sight of it and he raced over to the table, stuffing his face with a number of treats and snacks. While he decimated the food, three little fillies started to prepare for what they were going to do.
"Alright girls, today will finally be the day that we get our cutie marks or die trying," Scootaloo said in a serious tone as the other two looked at her like she was crazy.
"Ah hope yer not being serious," Applebloom muttered as she leaned back against the tree they rested under, looking up through the leaves to the blue sky that rested above them. "Ah think that ah want to take a break from crusading today and just enjoy the day. It's not often that ah get to enjoy a day off from farm or school work."
"But these are our cutie marks!" Scootaloo argued as Sweetie Belle rested against the tree next to her friend and closed her eyes. "These are the sole reason we founded the CMC and the two of you are telling me that you'd rather just waste a perfect day like this away to relax? What happened to the brave crusaders I once knew?"
"They got tired of being yelled at by their teacher and decided not to burn down another park," Sweetie said as she half opened her eyes. "Besides, one day won't make any difference. Also, I don't really feel like crusading right now," she said in a sad tone that neither of her friends picked up on. Scootaloo went on for a few more minutes, but in the face of her friends laziness she eventually gave up and joined them resting under the tree. The other colts and fillies ran around while finding a number of ways for them to entertain themselves, despite the teacher trying to bring them together to do the games she had planned out. Hours passed while the ponies played and during that time Spike had completely destroyed the buffet by himself, also nearly doing the same to the punch bowl when he noticed that it had gotten darker all of a sudden. He stopped eating long enough to look into the sky to see dark rain clouds forming in the sky.
"Odd, the Pegasus ponies weren't supposed to have a rain storm today," Spike muttered through his stuffed cheeks as he looked at the clouds. "Wonder why they would suddenly change their minds all of a sudden?"
'This is not a natural occurrence,' the green ring said, causing Spike to become slightly worried. A natural disaster in a town where the ponies controlled everything was never a good sigh, especially with everything that had been going on as of late with the rings.
"Is this another one of the rings?" Spike whispered to the ring after looking around to make sure no pony had been looking at him. "Should I suit up?"
'...No, scans of the immediate area show no other ring nearby,' the ring said. 'But the wielder should be on guard in case something happens. I will alert you should any danger appear.' Spike nodded as he turned the ring back inside and looked up at the sky, watching with a frown as lightning crackled across it and the first signs of rain began to come down on them. The foals all groaned as they felt the rain drops hit them and Cheerilee decided that it was time to call it a day.
"I'm sorry my ponies, but it's a bad idea to play outside in the rain," she explained to them as they started to boo her for telling them to go home. "Now I trust that each of you can get home safely, but for those who can't I'll be willing to walk each of you home. Spike, would you please help clean up the snack table since you were the one who wrecked it?" Spike grumbled to himself about having to clean up the mess, especially since he couldn't use his ring, but he started to anyway as ponies around him began to leave. The CMC all said farewell to each other and Scootaloo and Applebloom each headed in their separate directions, while Sweetie Belle stood off to the side and waited for Spike to finish up.
"Well well, look who's all by herself," a cruel voice said from behind Sweetie Belle. Sweetie turned around to see that the two worst ponies in her class, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, were standing behind her with arrogant and cruel smiles on their faces. "What's a blank flank like you doing all alone? I thought that your sister was supposed to be here with you?" Silver Spoon asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Tiara asked in a whisper so that only the three of them (and Spike) could hear. "It's obvious that her sister doesn't love her anymore and sends her off so that she can finally have some peace and quiet. I don't blame her, why would anypony love a blank flank like you?" Sweetie gritted her teeth as the insults dug into her like knives, but refused to say anything back. Her sister had told her that a lady never responds with violence when she doesn't have to, only as a means of self-defense.
"My sister loves me no matter if I have my cutie mark or not," Sweetie said through her clenched teeth, closing her eyes and trying to ignore what they were saying. Over the past few weeks, these two bullies had singled Sweetie out from the rest of the CMC to target because of how sensitive she was.
"Why would she love you? You're nothing but a mess up who can't do anything right," Tiara said with venom in her voice that pierced through Sweetie Belle. "I've heard that you can't even cook without blowing up the kitchen. What use are you anyway?" Sweetie started to tear up as she closed her eyes to avoid looking at the two, trying to avoid looking into their evil eyes. Unbeknownst to the three ponies, Spike himself wasn't able to listen to these insults either as his claws trembled with rage at what they were saying to her. He wanted to do something so badly, but didn't know what. But as he looked down at the punch bowl in his claws and the green ring on his finger, a smile spread on his face as he figured out exactly what to do.
"Besides, it not like anypony really likes you besides those other two blank flanks you hang out with," Tiara continued. "All the colts in our class find you annoying and all of the fillies don't like you because of your sister. Really, it makes me wonder why you even bother showing up to class when all you can do is mess up." Sweetie bit her lip as the tears started to fall, the words beginning to get to her. Maybe Tiara was right and she wasn't any good. Maybe she really was hopeless-
SPLASH!
Tiara screamed as a punch bowl flew through the air and landed smack on top of her head, drenching her in fruit punch and knocked her to the ground. Silver Spoon immediately began to try and get the bowl off her head while Spike laughed to himself, the green claw he had used to throw the bowl receding into the ring.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Tiara screamed as she turned to face the laughing Spike, rage filling her eyes as well as the punch. "HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" Spike stopped laughing as she said this and looked at her with rage in his eyes, causing the two to back away from him.
"Do you know what's one of the dumber things a pony can do?" Spike asked as he slowly walked up to them, glaring into their eyes. "Upset a dragon." As he said this he let loose a blast of fire from his mouth in front of the two fillies, both of whom screamed and ran as fast as their hooves could carry them away from Spike, yelling at him that they would get back at him. The dragon chuckled as they ran before looking down at Sweetie Belle, who was looking at him with both gratitude and confusion in her eyes.
"T-thanks for doing that," she said as she took the claw he offered and pulled her up. "But why did you do that? Twilight doesn't like it when you use you fire breath on other ponies."
"Eh, I just don't like bullies too much," Spike said with a shrug as he looked up at the sky, which was starting to rain harder on them. "Come on, let's get you home before this rain really starts to pour. I don't like getting my scales wet." Spike and Sweetie both started to run through the streets of Ponyville as the rain started to come down harder, so that by the time the two of them finally reached the Carousel Boutique both of them were completely soaked to the skin.
"Are you sure I can't invite you in until the rain passes?" Sweetie asked as she stood in the doorway to her home, Spike standing inside just enough so that the rain didn't hit him. "I don't want you to have to run home in this weather."
"I'll be fine, my fire keeps me warm," he said with a wave of his hand as he turned to leave, wanting to get home quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow when I come over to help Rarity. Oh, forget what those bullies told you. Just because you mess up doesn't mean that your sister doesn't love you or that you have no talents. It just takes time. Trust me, if Twilight hasn't kicked me out for all the times I've messed up I'm sure Rarity won't get rid of you. Bye."
"Hey Spike?" she called out, Spike coming to a stop and looking back at her. "Thanks...for saying that." He waved and ran off, Sweetie shaking her head with a smile at what he had said. She knew that he had messed up a few times with Twilight but that the two of them were still close, so why was she worrying about her own sister not wanting her.
"Sweetie, you can be so stupid sometimes," she said to herself as she closed the door, a smile spreading on her face. Spike smiled to himself when he saw the door close behind him since he was tired of standing in the rain. The moment he knew that Sweetie wasn't looking, he surrounded himself in a green aura that kept out the rain and kept him dry. That didn't stop him from running into somepony and falling over.
"Hey, watch where you're going shrimp!" the griffon Gilda yelled as Spike shook his head and got up. "I don't have time to deal with somepony like you. Y'know where Crash is?" When Spike shook his head, she growled and walked past him.
'Wonder what's in her feathers?' Spike thought before deciding he needed to get home quick. With a laugh he flew into the sky and back towards the library, cringing at the scolding he was going to get from Twilight when he got there. He landed on the doorstep and dried himself off the bet he could before placing a claw on the door and opening it, expecting Twilight to be there waiting for him. When she wasn't he figured that she was out doing something important and decided to head upstairs to sleep. He passed out in his bed the moment he laid down on it and slept through to the next morning, where he woke with a yawn and after charging the ring, headed downstairs to see if Twilight was back.
"Hey Twi, sorry I'm..." Spike's words died in his mouth as he saw not one, but two princesses sitting at the table, drinking tea and talking with each other as he came downstairs. "Celestia?"
"Hello young dragon," Celestia said with a smile. "Twilight tells me that you have quiet the tale for me. So, care to share it?"
IOI
In the storm that shook the town below it, a single red light could be seen sailing through the clouds towards a city in the far off distance. Nopony saw the light due to the dark clouds surrounding it, but as it passed overhead, ponies started to feel angry with each other for no reason that they could think of. But the ring never stopped for any of them, for there was only one the ring had in mind. A ring a crimson red.