Chapter 3
Cadence had taken Shining flying once, the day he had proposed to her. It was one of the greatest experiences he had ever had, swooping down between clouds and soaring over Equestria. They had found a nice cliff overlooking the Manehattan valley just as the sun set, the myriad colors of the sky providing the perfect background for Shining’s proposal.
Being dragged through the air by some freaky ring was a different experience entirely.
“Put me down!” Shining cried, trying his best to reach the ring around his hoof.
“Unable to grant request, as it would lead to you falling several hundred feet to your death.”
“I said put me down, not drop me!” the ring did not respond, continuing on it’s course while Shining continued to struggle. “Where are you taking me?”
“Power Battery must be relocated. Explanations for new bearer shall be forthcoming.” Shining frowned, but ceased most of his struggling as the ring flew on. Since arguing with the ring was no longer an option, he took a moment to examine the uniform he was currently wearing. Had it just been the jumpsuit he would have been less freaked out, but that he was wearing a copy of his armor left him spooked. Had the ring somehow peaked into his mind and learned about his military service? He would have asked the ring, but his speed had dropped and he had begun to descend.
Scattered across the snow before him were the remains of a ship. Shining would have called it a spaceship, but he had no way of telling whether or not the thing had been capable of flying in space. The hull had been cigar shaped, but had been roughly snapped in half and shredded from impacting debris. Shining approached cautiously, searching for anything that might be a threat, while the ring only glowed brighter as he neared the ship.
Lying amongst the wreckage was a body, clad in a similar uniform as Shining Armor. His first instincts said ‘Diamond Dog’, but closer examination showed that the creature would have been taller and less heavily built had it been alive. Shining stepped a little closer while the ring continued glowing.
“Abin Sur of the planet Ungara, former wielder of this ring. The ship he commandeered was damaged in combat against hostile forces and crashed here. Abin Sur died shortly after.”
“So... this alien is why I’m out here?” Shining kneeled down next to the corpse while the ring responded.
“Negative. All rings search for suitable replacement once current wielder is deceased. Will of Shining Armor strong enough to be viable replacement.” Shining backed up, looking down at the ring.
“Wait, I never agreed to be a replacement to... whatever he was. Don’t I at least get a choice?” there was a pause before the ring answered.
“Preparing message now.” Shining tried to stop the ring, but it projected an image of the dead alien before him, and he took another step back to put some distance between him and the image.
“Hello. My name is Abin Sur,” the image said. “I am the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and if you have activated this message then I have fallen and my ring has selected a new bearer.” Shining opened his mouth to speak, but the image continued on.
“It is a great honor to serve as a Green Lantern. It is our task to guide and defend the universe from those that would seek to oppress or destroy it, to maintain peace and order between all races. Only those that posses indomitable will are chosen to become Green Lanterns, and you have proven yourself to be one of these beings.
“I ask you now to take up my ring and join the Green Lantern Corps. It may seem confusing at first, but be assured when I say that the rings rarely make wrong decisions about their bearers.” Shining tried to ask another question, but the image vanished and the ring dulled. He looked the the corpse of the alien, Abin Sur, before reaching out with his magic and pulling the body out of the wreckage. He found an empty patch of ground not too far away, and using more of his magic he dug through the snow and dirt before setting the body of Abin Sur to rest. it’s the least I can do for him, he thought.
“Requesting answer.” the ring said. Shining was drawn back to reality and looked at the ring. It was crazy, to think that some alien ring wanted him to go out and be... whatever it was a Green Lantern was supposed to be. How would he deal with the scope of the galaxy and, more importantly, there was the issue of informing Cadence. He had sworn to be with her no matter what; he could not just abandon her to go and be a “Green Lantern”. That would go back on everything he had promised her.
However, even as he tried to voice his answer, he found that he did not want to turn the offer down. The ring and Abin Sur never said he had to give up his personal life to become a Green Lantern, and his natural curiosity was getting the better of him. He could always talk with Cadence about what he was up to, and maybe he would be able to win her over.
But what if he got killed? Yes, he had already had that talk with Cadence when they first started dating, but that was when he was joining the Royal Guards, where his body would be more recoverable. What if he was killed by some giant alien monster? Cadence was a strong mare, and while him dying might not hurt her as much as it would a normal pony, being unable to recover one last trace of him would... he hoped.
Then again, he had always been drawn to dangerous situations, not because he enjoyed the adrenalin rush, but because he felt that he was capable of doing something. He looked back to where his cutie mark was, ignoring the fact that the jumpsuit he was wearing blocked it from view. His special talent was about defending ponies in need, and from what the message had said that was what Green Lanterns did on a regular basis. It was like joining the Royal Guards all over again; someone had presented an opportunity for Shining to defend others, now on a larger scale than the Guard ever offered him.
“Can I at least explain the situation to my wife first?” he asked.
“Explanation to significant others is allowed.” Shining looked around for a moment, then looked back to the ring.
“I... I accept.” he said. “Now can I go and-”
“Willpower accepted.” the ring chimed. “Summoning Power Battery.” several pieces of the ship shook for a moment before a glowing green object rose from the rubble. It was similar to the design printed on the ring, a sphere with two flat surfaces on top and bottom and two holes on either side, and like the ring it glowed a bright emerald green. The object floated over to where Shining was standing, coming to a rest at his hooves.
“This is your Power Battery. It is used to recharge your ring once it begins to run low on energy.”
“Thanks.” Shining picked the battery up in his telekinesis, turning it around a few times. “How... How does it work?” instead of giving him an immediate answer, the ring dragged his foreleg into one of the holes, green energy wrapping around his leg and the Power Battery.
“Recharge commencing. Recite oath.”
“Hey, let go!” Shining tried to pull his hoof away from the power battery, but the ring refused to yield.
“Incorrect oath. Recide proper oath or recharge shall remain incomplete.”
“I don’t even know what the oath is!” the ring said nothing as Shining continued. “How am I supposed to recite something if I don’t know what it is?” there was a pause before the Power Battery stopped glowing and Shining’s hoof was released.
“Please resume recharge and recite oath:
In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power... Green Lantern’s Light.” the ring did seem to glow a little brighter once it had finished speaking. He looked to the power battery before hesitantly placing his hoof inside, allowing the green light to wrap around his foreleg once more.
“Well, it’s worth a shot.” Shining cleared his throat before continuing.
“In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,
No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power... Green Lantern’s Light!” it did not sound right, and Shining felt that he put just a little too much emphasis in the last verse, but it would be sufficient. The power battery glowed brighter, almost to blinding levels, but Shining was not affected.
“Ring charged. Power Levels at 100%.”
“Okay. Can I go and explain to Cadence what’s-”
“Green Lantern 2814: You are to report to Oa immediately for training.” What?
“Wait, I never got a chance to explain-!” Before Shining could finish speaking, he was launched into the air again, racing away from the ground at increasing speeds. He tried to find some way to stop his ascent, but the ring was unresponsive and continued to pull him higher into the atmosphere.
Soon clouds began to vanish, and the rush of air past Shining’s ears faded into nothing. Shining looked down and saw that he was now surrounded by a green aura, but what drew his attention was that the could now see the entirety of Equus, the planet shrinking as he continued on his course.
“... how...” was all he could manage. The ring did not respond, continuing to take him higher and higher before turning him away from the planet below towards a point just right of the moon.
“Preparing for hyperspace travel. Adjusting for visual spectrum.” At this point Shining decided to remain quiet, trusting that the ring would not get him killed. There was another pause before he was propelled forward, light twisting around him as he flew through space. The course the ring had set brought him close to dozens of stars and planets, planets that nopony had ever seen before. Combined with the speeds at which he was flying, Shining was exposed to a veritable kaleidoscope of colors and images, thousands of them dancing across his vision as he flew. He tried and failed to keep himself composed, his jaw hanging open as he flew on.
I... Nopony’s going to believe me if I tell them about this. he thought, ... How am I going to tell ponies about this? He set that thought aside when he noticed that he was slowing down. Ahead was another planet, this one also glowing green like the suit and ring. As he neared, it seemed that the planet also bore a similar symbol to the one on his ring, but he passed it off as the ring’s aura playing tricks on his eyes. Shining flew into the planet’s atmosphere, and now he could make out dozens of buildings through the green. When he flew closer, he could see shapes flying between the buildings, some that looked like ponies and some that bore no resemblance to any other living thing Shining could think of.
“Reducing speed; switching to manual flight mode.” Shining was pulled away from observing his surrounding rather abruptly when he began to fall faster than before. Remembering what Cadence told him about flying, Shining let out as much tension in his legs to prevent them from snapping when he landed, praying that the ring would slow him down enough that he would not die upon impact.
Shining hit the ground with enough force to drive the air from his lungs. His legs buckled and he tumbled forward, bouncing along the ground before slamming into a wall. Shining groaned and rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky as others passed him by.
“Well, that was interesting,” he heard a voice say. Shining turned his head and saw two creatures standing over him. One looked like a giant featherless bird with a fin on it’s head, while the other was a very large, red-furred minotaur. “I don’t believe I have ever seen a ring react to a new bearer in such a way.”
... Maybe accepting the ring wasn’t such a good idea.