Spike had just arrived back at the library to recharge his ring when he first heard the screaming coming from the town. He muttered something about the ponies going five minutes before he shot back out the front door, his lantern still grasped in his claw. He came to a stop at the scene, stopping dead in the air as he took in what he saw.
"Is that...Gilda?" he asked nopony in disbelief as he saw the red griffon destroying everything in sight. She laughed as she spat out a torrent of red energy onto the house, corroding them as she shot back into the sky. "What happened to her? And is that...another one of those rings?"
'She is a red lantern now, those who have been consumed by their rage,' the ring explained to him as he watched. 'They are powered by rage and tend to lose their minds to their hate once under the influence of the ring. Be careful, red lanterns are extremely dangerous. Ring at twenty percent.' Spike aimed his ring at her to hopefully take her down in one shot, but the griffon spun to face him and snarled at the green dragon.
"So, you finally bothered to show up?" she snarled with an evil smile, glaring at him through hate filled eyes. "You thought you were so tough when you were the only one with those rings, but now I've got one too. And I'm a lot stronger than you!"
"Gilda, you're not thinking straight, the ring is influencing you," Spike said, trying to reason with her. But his efforts were wasted when she vomited a torrent of red energy at him, which he moved to the side to dodge. She roared and threw herself at him, bolts of red shooting out of her ring. Spike dodged out of the way of the bolts before summoning a giant claw to grab her. "Gilda, that ring is making you hurt ponies and destroy their homes! You have to snap out of it!"
'It is no use. Once the ring is on, they will be consumed by their rage, one way or another,' the ring said as Gilda broke apart the claw with a burst of red energy. 'Nineteen percent.'
"I know exactly what I'm doing!" she roared as she flung herself at him, tackling him in midair and knocking the lantern out of his left claw, but he couldn't go after it as he had to focus on avoiding the beak that was going for his eyes. He slammed a wall of green into her face and drove her into the ground, where she struggled to escape.
"You can't beat me Gilda, I've had this ring longer than you," he said, trying to think of something that would make her give up. But all his words did was make her angrier, so angry that she was able to push the green construct off of her before shooting out from underneath of it, firing more red energy out of her beak towards him. He created a shield to defend himself, but when the red energy hit, he found that it began to eat away at his construct.
"What the heck ring?" Spike yelled as he moved out of the way of more red energy. "I thought these constructs were unbreakable!"
'The red lantern energy can eat through my green energy,' it said as Spike slammed Gilda in the face with a boxing glove, sending her crashing through a number of stands. 'It can also eat through the thin energy that protects you from attack.'
"And you didn't tell me this before I started fighting a red lantern?!" Spike yelled at it as he shot off, Gilda following him with a roar.
'You did not ask for such information.'
"You really can get me to hate you, you know that?" Spike growled at the ring as he picked up the statue of the mayor in a green claw and chucked it at Gilda, who dissolved it with her red energy.
'I am a green ring, I cannot make you hate. That would be the red ring you are currently battling.' Spike swore the ring was doing this on purpose, but that thought was sent to the back of his mind when Gilda slammed into his back, sending the both of them skidding across the ground, kicking up dirt and debris as they did so. Spike was the first back to his feet and he created a giant hammer over Gilda's head, driving it down upon the griffon with authority. He picked it out of the crater and drove it home again, repeating this action two more times until he was fairly certain that Gilda was done.
"Give up yet Gilda?" he asked the crushed griffon in the crater, but she roared with a savagery that Spike hadn't heard in her before and she sent tendrils of red energy towards him. He counted with a barrier, but one of the tendrils managed to snake around and latch onto his ring hand.
'Power levels at fifteen percent. Twelve percent,' the ring began to say, causing Spike's eyes to go wide before he shot into the air and dragged Gilda along with him. He then swung the griffon on the end of his hand into the ground, where her red lasso broke and freed him. He placed a green cage around Gilda, but knew that wouldn't hold her long. 'Power level at seven percent.'
'This isn't good,' he thought to himself as he began to look around for where he had dropped the Lantern. Ponies below him were running around in a panic and through the hundreds of legs he could see vaguely what looked like a green lantern getting kicked around. 'Okay, there it is. Now how do I get it without letting Gilda go?' He didn't need to worry about keeping Gilda trapped, since she used the red energy coming from her mouth to burn through the cage bars. Spike turned too late to stop the griffon that was charging towards him, but a blur of rainbow slammed into the side of the griffon and sent her crashing into the side of a building.
"And now she has one of those rings?!" Rainbow Dash asked in shock as Gilda pulled herself out of the hole in the building, turning her head to see the Emerald Dragon floating beside her. "Hey dragon, aren't you going to take her ring? That's how you stopped the orange you, right?" It had crossed Spike's mind to take her ring, but with his current level of energy, he wasn't sure if he could last in a drawn out battle with her. And since Gilda's ring was fueled by her rage, he figured that Dash showing up would only make her stronger.
"DDDAAASSSSHHHH!!" Gilda roared, the fire coming from her mouth blazing even hotter confirming Spike's fears. She threw herself at the two of them and plowed right through the shield Spike put around Dash and himself. Dash shot off and Gilda streaked after her, giving Spike a moment to regain his balance. But that moment quickly passed as he wobbled and fell to the ground, his shield surrounding him preventing him from breaking anything as he hit.
'Power levels at three percent,' the ring said in a softer voice, telling Spike that he was in trouble. He got back to his feet as he heard the sounds of hooves running behind him and he turned to see Twilight and the others run up to him.
"Are you alright?!" Twilight asked him, resisting the urge to call out by his name. Spike opened his mouth to answer before he heard a shriek and an explosion of red went off in the distance.
"Rainbow is battling Gilda, who now has a red ring," he said quickly, causing the Elements to gasp in unison. "I'll go help in a minute, but there's something I have to do first so just buy me as much time as you can."
"What could be so important that you'd leave fighting a...one of you to Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked in disbelief, but Twilight placed a hoof across her chest before looking at Spike.
"Alright, we'll buy you as much time as we can," she said before flying off towards the battle, the other Elements giving Spike a look before they followed her. Spike frowned as he watched them go before turning and running towards where he had last seen his lantern, coming out into the streets to still see the ponies panicking.
"Why don't they ever run away from the danger?" he muttered to himself before a smile crossed his face as he saw the lantern lying in the center of the road. He ran towards it and was just about to reach out for it when he heard a roar, causing him to look up to see Gilda crushing Twilight with her red energy lasso. Spike looked down at the ring that barely had any charge left before taking aim at the griffon and firing a blast into the back of her head, causing her to turn towards him with a snarl.
"Not my best idea," he muttered to himself as she tossed Twilight aside and lunged at him as he turned for the lantern, kicking it away from his grasp as she landed in front of him.
"You're so dead," she snarled at him as he raised his ring to shoot her, only to hear it say,
'Power levels...zero...' Spike's suit faded away as the last of his rings energy left him, leaving the baby dragon standing before the rage filled griffon without means of defense.
"Well, this is awkward," he said before Gilda picked him up and glared at him.
"YOU?! You're the Emerald Dragon?!" she asked with disgust before an angry smile spread across her face. "No, you WERE the Emerald Dragon," she said as she brought her claw back. Spike swallowed nervously as his eyes widened, but before Gilda could strike the final blow, a bolt of purple magic blew her away from Spike and sent her crashing through the side of a building.
"You will not TOUCH him!" Twilight yelled at Gilda as she continued to send more magic blasts into the griffon. Spike wanted to thank her, but he spent that time looking for the lantern instead. He spotted it rolling down the street and with a groan he ran after it, picking up speed when he heard Gilda fight her way out of the rubble. As he sprinted down the street after the rolling lantern, he was aware of the fact that the lantern was heading for a cliff at the edge of the town.
"Why is there even a cliff there?!" he yelled as he realized that he wouldn't get to the lantern in time. "And why does this always happen to me?" What made matters even worse was that Gilda had incapacitated Twilight and was looking around for him, so he was doubly screwed. He was wondering if he should dive off the cliff after the battery and hope he could recharge before he hit the ground when a white filly jumped out onto the lantern and managed to stop it. "SWEETIE!" Spike said before he doubled over, trying to catch his breath as Sweetie rolled his lantern over to him.
"Lose something?" she asked him with a smile as he did his best to thank her. Another shriek of rage was heard and the two of them looked back to see that Gilda had spotted Spike again and was hurling herself at them. Spike saw this only for a second before he had lifted the lantern and ran as fast as he could, placing the ring against the light as he said as fast as he could,
"InbrightestdayinblackestnightnoevilshallescapemysightletthosewhoworshipevilsmightbewaremypowerGREENLANTERNSLIGHT!" He spun around as he finished the oath and swung the lantern right into the side of Gilda's head, sending the red griffon into the ground. He smiled as the ring blazed with green energy and his suit returned, allowing him to float over the griffon with a smile as she pulled her head out of the ground.
"Okay, so you managed to get me at a bad time for round one," he said with a smirk as he spun the lantern around with one finger. "But's let try this again." He tossed the lantern into the air before constructing a giant battering ram, which he then introduced to Gilda's face. The griffon was sent hurtling off the side of the cliff and into the trees below as Spike caught his lantern, wondering what to do with it.
'Can't just fly home and leave Gilda out here on her own, who knows what would happen,' he thought to himself before spotting Sweetie Belle back where she had given him the lantern. With a smile he flew back over to her, knowing how he could get the lantern home. "Hey Sweetie can you do me a quick favor and take this to the library thanks bye!" he said quickly before flying off towards the griffon, while Sweetie looked at the lantern still trying to figure out what Spike had just said.
"I will kill you dragon and tear your heart from your chest!" she snarled as she sent tendrils of energy at him, but before they got close to him they were struck down by a beam of rainbow energy. "The Elements," Gilda said with a snarl as she turned to face the six ponies that were glowing with power, taking just a second to roar before she threw herself towards them. Spike constructed a pair of hoof cuffs that he wrapped around Gilda before attaching the other end to a building. The Elements began their magic, but Gilda broke through the cuffs with her energy and sent bolts of red energy towards the six, forcing them to scatter.
"Darn it! Emerald Dragon! Can you keep her still?" Twilight called out to Spike as he tried crushing Gilda under a book. "We need her to stay still if we want to get her with the Elements!"
"We gee Twilight, her I was just fine with letting her fly around and shoot lasers at me and what do you think I'm trying to do?!" he yelled back at her as Gilda caught him in the chest with a blast, sending him flying across town. He righted himself in the air and shot back towards the battle, but ran into a hammer that Gilda had constructed with her ring. "Okay, that's new," he muttered to himself.
'Some red lanterns are capable of using constructs, but only those with intense willpower,' the ring said. 'Or in the presence of a blue lantern.'
"I am tired of being a joke around here," Gilda said with a bit more control than she had a moment ago. "And I am tired of being second rate to a pony who dye’s her mane! So I'm going to...AAARRRRGGHHH!" she roared before throwing herself back into battle with the same intensity she had just a moment ago. Spike created a baseball bat that he used to swing for the fences, surprised when Gilda didn't construct something to defend herself with.
"Didn't she create a hammer just a moment ago?" Spike asked in confusion as Gilda landed in the square, creating a small crater with her impact. "Why didn't she make a shield?"
'She has lost control of her sense again,' the ring answer. 'I am curious to how she regained them for that brief time in the first place.' Spike couldn't think about it long as Gilda began to pull herself out of the crater and he sensed an opportunity to attack. Before she could fully regain her sense, he pulled two light posts out of the ground and wrapped them around the griffon, picking her up with his ring and throwing her in front of Twilight.
"Do it Twilight!" Spike yelled at her, Twilight nodding as she and the other Elements took up their positions. Gilda managed to break free just as they finished the spell, but instead of getting out of the way she threw herself right at them, taking a blast from the Storm of Harmony for her efforts. She screamed in fury as she tried to fight it, but the stone quickly began to form around her, trapping her within it. Spike let out a sigh as he floated down to the ground, the Elements walking towards him.
"Well that went better than last time," Pinkie said with a smile before getting glared down by the others.
"What happened to Gilda?" Twilight asked Spike. "Why was she wearing a red one of those rings?"
"I have no idea why she was wearing it, but my best guess is because she had a great rage in her heart," Spike answered as he looked at the stone griffon. "That's apparently what fuels a red lantern. Rage."
"Red Lantern?" Twilight asked in disbelief as she placed a hoof to her head with shock. "But I thought you said that there were only two of these rings! How could there possibly be more!?"
"How am I supposed to know? I just use the thing," Spike said in his defense. Twilight had to sit down for a moment as the other Elements looked to the stone statue.
"It was just two he said, no more," Twilight muttered to herself.
"That's what this stupid ring told me," Spike muttered.
'You never asked how many corps there were,' it answered, causing Spike to growl.
"Okay wise guy, how many-?"
"Did she just move?" Rainbow asked. All eyes turned towards the statue, each thinking RD had to be seeing something. When it didn't move for a moment, they all thought she had just thought it moved, but then red cracks began to form all along the stone.
"That can't be! Nopony can break free of the Elements!" Twilight said as she backed away. With an explosion of red, Gilda broke free of the stone, snarling at all of the ponies. Spike acted first by constructing a wall that he used to push her back.
"Any ideas?" he asked the ponies as Gilda began to eat her way through the shield.
"Get rid of the ring," Rainbow said. "That's how we stopped the orange dragon and I'll bet my Wonderbolt tickets that's how will stop Gilda! She wasn't this much of a pain before she put on the ring."
'Actually, there is something you should know about red lantern rings,' Spike's ring began, but he shushed it as he deflected a blast of red. With no other plan to go on, Spike tried using his construct to grab the ring off of Gilda's finger, but she snapped the construct in two with her red energy.
"No good, I won't be able to get it as long as she has the red barrier around herself," Spike said as he forced himself to strengthen the barrier. "I'll need one of you to get it while I keep her back!" RD nodded and shot over towards Gilda, but was knocked back by a red whip. Gilda finally managed to push through the green barrier and flew at Twilight, grabbing the unicorn by horn and driving her into the ground.
"This will be your fates!" she roared as she began to stomp on Twilight, who cried out in pain as the red energy began to eat away at her. Spike roared with a rage of his own and straight up punched Gilda in the face, knocking her back a few steps and off of Twilight. "You are weak without that ring! I am bigger and I am stronger than you!"
"You think you're bigger?! You think you're stronger?!" Spike roared as he looked down at his ring, allowing all of his will to flood into it. With a roar the green light began to wrap around him, causing him to grow bigger and bigger until he towered over Gilda as the Emerald Dragon, who glared down at Gilda through green eyes. "You know nothing of power!" he roared as he drove his fist down upon her. Gilda tried to intercept with her red energy, but the green fist was too large for her to dissolve all at once and she was crushed by it.
"I am stronger and faster and BETTER than all of you!" Gilda roared as she broke through the green fist, flying into the sky over Ponyville. The Emerald Dragon bent over as his massive wings began to unfold, allowing him to take to the skies much faster than Gilda was. He met her in the skies over the town, where she rained red fire down upon him. The Emerald Dragon held out a hand and allowed the fire to strike it, only somewhat dissolving the hand.
"My turn," he said as he opened his maw and let loose a torrent of green flame down upon the griffon, whose personal shielding barely protected her from the fires that now consumed her.
"You will burn with my hate!" she screamed as she created a spear of red energy and hurled it at the Emerald Dragon, who deflected the blow with one of his wings. He shot out a claw and grabbed Gilda with it, bringing the griffon close enough so that she had to look into his eyes.
"You have endangered the lives of those who reside in this town and those everywhere. As a member of the Green Lantern Corps, it is my duty to bring you down," he said with authority. Gilda broke free of the claw and circled above him, sending more tendrils of energy into the Emerald Dragon who never flinched from the attacks.
"Your authority means nothing! My wrath is absolute!" she screamed as she create a giant red claw and dove towards the dragon, screaming with rage as she did so. The Emerald Dragon chuckled as she dove at him before he vanished into green energy, causing Gilda to miss wildly with her attack. The moment she let her guard down in confusion, Spike fired a beam of green energy into her ring finger, severing it from her hand. She howled in fury as the red energy began to leave her and head back into the ring as the both of them fell to the ground.
"Gotcha!" Spike said with a smile as he created a pillow for Gilda to land on before she hit the ground, placing her down next to the ponies as he caught the ring as well. "One ring for the princess and one griffon for anger management, just as ordered," he said with a smirk as he tossed the ring to Twilight, who caught it with her magic.
"Alright girls, you know what to do with this," Twilight said as she channeled power through her Element, the other six following suit. The ring glowed red and started to float back to Gilda, but the Elements came crashing down upon it before it could reach her. Despite its resistance to magic, the Elements were still strong enough to encase it in stone and prevent it from moving; meaning all it could do was fall to the ground.
"And that's the end of that," Twilight said as she picked up the ring, all of the Elements walking over to the Emerald Dragon. They all congratulated him except for Fluttershy, who went to check on Gilda.
"Got to admit hero, that was pretty impressive," Rainbow said with a smile.
"Yes, thank goodness that we had a noble hero such as yourself there to protect us," Rarity said with a sigh of longing as she batted her eyelashes at him. Spike blushed in embarrassment before Twilight looked towards him with a sigh.
"I'm just glad that everyponies alright," she said, before a cry was heard from Fluttershy over by Gilda. The ponies all rushed over to their friend, who was pushing her hooves against Gilda's chest with tears falling down her face. "Fluttershy, what's happening?" Twilight asked as Fluttershy began giving Gilda mouth to beak.
"Her heart's stopped beating!" she exclaimed in between CPR attempts, trying with all of her might to keep the griffon alive. Twilight started to give out orders on what to do before Fluttershy let out a small sob and sat back on her hooves, tears streaming from her eyes.
"There's nothing I can do," she said sobbing. "She's dead." All of the ponies were dumbstruck by this and looked down at the unmoving body of Gilda, who's eyes still looked at them with rage within them. Spike used his claw to close her eyes and shuddered when he felt how body felt.
"How did this happen?" AJ asked. "Sp-The Dragon caught her before she hit the ground! She shouldn't have died from losing a finger!"
'That is what I was trying to say,' the ring said, all eyes turning towards it. 'When a red lantern takes on the ring, the red energy replaces all the blood in their body and takes the place of their heart. When you remove the ring, they will die not long after. That is the curse of their rage.' None of the ponies had anything they could say to this, all they could do was look down in horror at the red ring encased in stone.
IOI
"Are we there yet? I want it!"
"If you don't be quiet, I swear I'll-!"
"Calm down, he's just impatient. His copy didn't vanish after the twenty-four hours and now he wants to get it back, so just put up with him for now. The ring's in frontier space, so it's going to take a bit of time to find it."
"How long? I don't know how much longer I can put up with him...look, he's trying to take the toilet now."
"Your turn to stop him. And it's a week at most. I have a few stops I want to make and then we'll find the orange ring."