The Reading of the Book of Oa
by Crazymike Prime/Moon Chaser
Twilight’s tree house became quiet after Princess Celestia, her guards, the military officers and attachés left the Elements of Harmony alone. He said in private to Twilight she had another meeting to attend and asked Shining armor to remain behind as her official representative and as a liaison to the lantern corps. Twilight pleaded for the princess to stay as Applejack was bringing lore she would find interesting. Celestia declined as she had another pressing meeting to attend. Shining Armor offered to give her a full report and briefing as liaison, to which the Sun Princess stated that such action would be acceptable. Twilight made a sour face at that statement. She had been reporting to the princess about the lantern issue since the beginning, were her reports not good enough? Celestia read her student's expression perfectly.
"Twilight I want you to continue to send me reports to me as you have been, but Shining Armor's reports will not be just for me or Luna like yours have been, they will be for the court. Your correspondence to me is private Twilight, Shining Armor’s is public.”
The princess then came forward knelt down slightly and nuzzled her best student. “Never forget Twilight, you always have my ears. I trust you.” Celestia then rose and with a gentle smile she turned and departed, calling her guards to her. Her chariot was seen rising into the nighttime sky from the windows of the library.
A gentle breeze made the branches of the tree sway and the leaves rustle softly, the noise adding a bit of foreboding to the mood of the remaining ponies.
Applejack excused herself and went outside to use her ring to summon her brother and Raindrops for what she hoped would be answers to at least some of her questions. She placed her mind into the ring, using it to reach out to the rings of her brother and the weather pegasus.
“Ok…what’s happening now?” RL Rainbow Dash asked out loud to any pony that would answer her, the leader of Red Lanterns’ impatience and her aura growing together by the moment. “What is this thing that Applejack has that Twilight wants us to see?”
Pinkie Pie jumped on the central table so she could look the hovering rage wielder in the eyes. The pink pony smiled. “Applejack found a book in her ring! A big book! It has LOTS and LOTS of stories and history and stuff in it!” Pinkie bobbed up and down in place on the table while she spoke. “Applejack needs a good story,” she said as she stopped and grinned, “and I want to hear a good story, too.”
“Pinkie darling…don’t you have something you should be preparing for right now at Sugar Cube Corner?” Rarity inquired as she made herself comfortable on a reading bench. She used her magic to levitate a couple of cushions onto the bench before she lay down. “Shouldn’t it be ready before you listen to any myths out of a ring?”
“It’s all ready right now!” the party planner assured the Indigo Herd leader “Mr. and Mrs. Cake have it all ready to go! When we walk in after story time—POW! Party time! It’ll be great!” Pinkie cartwheeled over to the bench Rarity was sitting on and landed with a thump on the empty part of library seat, smiling at the white unicorn when she came to a stop. Rarity twitched and made a quick frown before resuming her normal composed demeanor and charm.
“Ok, fine. Surprise party blah blah blah. I get you guys wanted to keep it a secret, but where is Applejack? What’s she doing? Are we going to do this or not?” The red lantern leader kicked the air with one of her hind legs.
“She’s outside calling in the other Green Lanterns here,” the Yellow Lantern unicorn said with a hint of annoyance at her friend’s lack of patience. “She feels they need to see it too. The Book of Oa is the history of the Green Lantern Corps and the ones who created the rings, an ancient race called the Oans who also called themselves…” Twilight was cut off from completing the sentence.
“The Guardians of the Universe! Those little blue twerps!” The pegasus’ red aura got distinctly brighter when she heard Twilight mention the original creators of the power rings. “Feah! Those stupid eggheads were responsible for the Manhunters’ Twilight! The Manhunters killed millions…no, billions and those ‘Guardians’ are the thoughtless freaks that created them!” Red bloodlike fluid began to run out of the mouth of Rainbow Dash as she spoke. “They’re the reason Atrocitus created the Red Lanterns. That book is probably full of lies! Why would you listen to it?”
Twilight Sparkle mentally called on the power of her ring as she spoke. The uniform of yellow materialized around her and she rose into the air while speaking to Rainbow Dash. “For the same reason I read the notes of Thaal Sinestro! The same reason I listen to what you just said! The same reason we counseled with Princess Celestia! Ignorance can get you killed and truth can be found in the aggregate of many facts and stories, but you must do the work of collecting and sifting through them to get the whole picture! It’s wise to get as complete a picture as you can!”
The Red and Yellow lanterns hovered in the middle of the library main room glaring at each other for a moment. The other ponies in the room were silent, not knowing exactly what to say or do, when Applejack walked in with Big Mac and Raindrops, reverted to their normal form, each having a glowing green ring. The three Green lanterns looked up at the Red and Yellow lanterns frowning at each other then looked around the room at the dragon and the other ponies watching the floating posturing lanterns. The atmosphere in the room was tense and churned with feelings of fear and rage.
“Um, did Ah miss somethin’ while Ah was out?” Applejack looked first at Rarity and Pinkie, then at Shining Armor. Pinkie was quietly twiddling her hooves, a nervous grin on. Rarity simply shook her head and rolled her eyes as she got up and called her staff and the Indigo Herd raiment to appear. She then floated behind Rainbow Dash, placing the head of the staff over one of her wings. Shining Armor reached up with his right foreleg for his sister and gripped her right rear leg.
“Ok Twilie, I think you’ve made your point. Please come down so we can look at this book you found.” The Captain of the Royal guard firmly tugged on his sister. The purple unicorn turned to look over her right shoulder and, for a second, Twilight’s eyes glowed with the yellow energy of her ring, giving her big brother a cold feeling in his heart. The Yellow lantern then realized the effect her presence was having and let herself return to the ground, reverting to her normal form, letting the fear power return to the ring.
At the same time the unicorn stallion was talking to his sister, a unicorn mare wielding compassion given form tugged on her friend to get the rage lantern to come to earth. “Dear, please! We’re here for Applejack. Let’s hear what the book has to say first.” The cyan pony at first would not move, but after a couple of gentle tugs of her friend’s staff she decided to come down and landed with the rest of the ponies assembled.
“Applejack, did Scootaloo make it to your house?” the rage lantern inquired as she touched the ground. “she said that she and Sweetie bell were going to sleep over tonight with Applebloom.”
“Yeah, she and Sweetie were arrivin’ as Ah left to meet y’all an’ the Princess and those yea-hoos from Canterlot. They should be alright. Ah trust Scootaloo to behave with Granny around, an’ it should do Applebloom some good.”
Raindrops was quietly assessing the Red lantern from a new perspective. Now that she possessed a ring of her own, she started to think of what she could do if Rainbow Dash got ‘out of hoof.’ Applejack quietly thought to herself the same thing. Rainbow Dash had a reputation for ferocity since the red ring had found her, and she was gaining notoriety for brutality. The farm mare started to think of what she would do if her friend went suddenly berserk. It was not a pleasant way for her to think, but she had to at least try to act if things went sour.
Twilight took a deep breath and turned to look at the three Green lanterns. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yeah, Ah believe we did.” Applejack presented the ring in front of her on her foreleg, its green glow softly casting light all around. “Ring? Ah gotta question.”
[=Yes=]
“Ring. Is there a story a new Green lantern should know? Is there something that shows …where they came from?”
[=Yes. There are a number of accounts from the history of the corps that would be used to convey to a new lantern the meaning and purpose of the corps and its mission when the recruit asks for guidance after charge imprinting=]
Applejack paused in thought before she asked the ring the next question. Twilight Sparkle had activated her own ring to take a record of what the Book of Oa was about to tell. She might not be able to ask questions of it directly, but she could record the image as a memory in her ring for recall later.
Fluttershy was still and quiet, sitting on a large pillow on the floor, her own violet ring softly glowing. Pinkie Pie leaned forward, her ears tilted toward the ring. Shining Armor’s eyes locked onto the ring, his ears twitched from the sound of its ‘voice.’ The green ring’s sound was different from the yellow one his sister wore.
Rainbow Dash sneered silently in a corner, sitting higher than everypony else in the room, as was her custom. She remembered what the founder of her corps had said about the Guardians, and she did not trust the Book made in their name.
[=It is tradition that the telling of the saga of Avra, the first lantern, be the first account all lanterns are told. Avra is the one who defined the way for all Green Lanterns that followed=]
“Avra was the first? Who was he? What is his story?” the green eyed mare asked the glowing emerald-colored ring.
[=Information playback option: Interactive Datagram display or Audio Visual Narrative display?=]
“ Is it going to lecture again like before? No thank you, please! Listening to it was like being in school again!” Pinkie rolled her eyes. Twilight looked at the party planner with a slight frown. “Ah heh…sorry, Twilight.”
Applejack chuckled. “Audio Visual…um the second way please.”
[=Audio Visual Narrative display selected=]
As before a bubble of green light burst into appearance above the ring, forming a sphere with the image of Avra that she had discovered earlier, a small biped with a tail, two forelimbs, and no nose.
Spike smiled at the image. “He looks like a dragon,” he chuckled.
[=Avra: The First Green Lantern=]
The ponies all stared for a moment, wondering about the creature in the bubble. Applejack in particular stared at the image, as if she were trying to reach out with her thoughts to it. The image bubble grew and changed, becoming dark. Points and swirls of light appeared in the image. It looked like the deep night’s sky.
“OOO,” Pinkie Pie said as she produced a cupcake from somewhere, “now, this is better! More like a show and less like a school.”
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at the pink pony’s statement.
[=Chapter 1, Volume 1, Codex 3, of the Book of Oa=] the ring began.
[=The first one given a ring was not the first lantern. The first lantern was the first chosen by a ring.
The first lantern was Avra. Long ago, before our stars had first ignited, Long ago when life was new, and the universe was in its infancy. Before Order, there was Chaos=]
The image projected by the ring was in color now, as if the ponies were looking through a window or a scrying crystal at something happening right now. A lovely scene appeared. There were creatures going about gathering water by a stream when a large shadow appeared over them.
The image became filled with objects that looked very much like a fish or an ancient squid floating in the black, starry sky. Beams of light burst out of these objects, burning whatever the light fell on. Strange flying craft came out of them and alien creatures nopony had ever seen before landed on the ground and attacked other creatures with weapons clearly greater than what their targets had to fight back with.
[=Chaos outbalanced creation. Hate outbalanced fellowship and all life suffered. The Guardians saw it all. The evil was too great to be left unchecked. And so, they gathered The Light. They knew of its variety and strength and the light with the most power. They sought their answer in the Light of Will. To form from it a weapon unequalled. To turn armies to sand. Will given substance and form=]
The image changed again. A group of large-headed, blue-skinned creatures, looking like monkeys with only white hair on their heads, were circled, looking at the image the ponies had just seen. They then pulled light together into a ball. They then used their power to manipulate the ball, stretching and pulling the light into a loop that began to form a ring!
“They must be the Oans.” Twilight Sparkle’s eyes shimmered as the image of the small aliens in the process of forming the first ring continued. They seemed to be manipulating a power that was like magic as they formed the green energy into a power ring.
A new picture appeared of a strange and impossibly large city. It stretched from horizon to horizon with a large central plaza in the middle of the picture. The blue aliens floated over a multitude of creatures of every color, size, shape, and texture imaginable. Twilight herself would not have thought some of these creatures were alive, let alone sentient. Her eyes widened in awe.
[=The greatest warriors in the universe were gathered. Four would be chosen. The first four. An event to be remembered and recorded. From among them the Guardian Ganthet said to the assembly:
‘Stand tall warriors. If we are to be Guardians, you are to be our strength. If you are to be our strength, these shall be your arms.’ And the rings were presented before the multitude=]
The small blue skinned ones opened a box that contained four rings glowing green.
[=The Guardians first chose Wachet. The First Ring was given to her=]
The ring showed a creature that looked like a upright walking floor rug with tentacles. The ring flew out of the box and landed on one of its appendages and she became clad in the uniform of a green lantern.
[=Then the second they choose was G'Hu. To him was given the Second=]
The creature that now appeared in the bubble looked like a Manticore. He had a huge mane that parted into two tails and large long-toed paws. A ring landed on the middle toe of his right forepaw and he too was in uniform.
[=The third the Guardians selected was Blu. She claimed the Third of the rings=]
She was a biped, tall and blue-skinned with large eyes. The ponies watched on, fascinated. Pinkie munched on some crackers she had with her, trying to be as quiet as possible. Even rainbow Dash took interest.
[=And the Fourth was sent, and stopped, as if waiting, searching. But then, the unexpected happened. It was called an accident. But accident is only the Will of the universe expressing itself. The fourth ring flew about as if looking into the beings assembled. The universe, through the ring, looking for whom to choose=]
The bubble showed a lone ring, zipping back and forth, searching. The guardians looked puzzled. From their facial expressions it appeared they had not intended this to happen.
[=And it was the universe’s will that the fourth chosen would be Avra. A mere scribe, chronicler to the Guardians=]
Spike and Twilight looked at each other and smiled at that information. A scribe was the first chosen. Ha! The bubble now showed the image of Avra they had first seen before this story had started.
[=So it would be, for all time, from that day forth, the Rings would choose their successors. The Guardians had armed the first four, and sought to train them. Though no training could prepare them for what was to come, when training gave way to duty=]
The four were now sitting in some sort of vehicle unlike anything ponies had seen before. While it looked like it was using magic, Twilight knew it was very high-level technology—science Equestria itself would likely not develop for thousands of years.
Applejack shifted a bit as the saga continued. She was uncomfortable for some reason, but she was watching the record intensely. Mac was his normal calm self, silently taking all the images in. Raindrops looked as if she were taking notes with her mind.
[=A plague had savaged the universe, a plague of Chaos. The Guardians dispatched the first four to stop its advance. The task was theirs—ready or not.
Wachet asked Avra, “Is this your first battle?” Avra nodded.
“Do what I do and try to stay alive,” Wachet instructed.
Avra held up his ring and asked, “Is this really enough to stand up to all that?”
The first chosen said, “The guardians say so.”
“But they are just rings,” Avra said. To that Wachet responded, “And before getting yours you were just a scribe. Use your imagination.”=]
The vehicle the four were in exploded. They were in the void, the glow of their aura showing their rings working. Around them were more of the same things from the beginning of the record. They were vehicles, huge vehicles.
“Those are warships of some kind,” Shining Armor gasped. They were huge and their power could easily destroy mountains with the flash of one of their weapons. The unicorn captain’s eyes went wide in wonder and horror. “What kind of place was it these rings came from?”
[=And they battled the Chaos, their rings burning with light and yet, they did not stand. It was too much for them, for anyone. Long they fought, and many fell before them, yet they did not prevail. Blu was lost—she fell fighting to her last. She was the first to fall. Her ring left her hand when life left her body=]
The images went from showing the four aliens using their rings, beams of green energy shooting out, destroying whatever the emerald ray struck, to the blue female being repeatedly struck by light from the enemy. She had been hurled into a small moon like rock and had one of the enemy warships crashed into her. There was an explosion and she was cast up into the void, her body limp. The glowing green ring removed itself from her limb and started to fly away. One of the surviving warriors grabbed the ring as they flew away towards another small moonlike rock floating in blackness. Fluttershy wept at the sight of a being killed so blatantly. Rarity gasped, holding a hoof over her muzzle. Pinkie wrinkled her nose up as if she too were about to cry. Shining Armor just closed his eyes for a moment. As a soldier, he knew what battle could mean, even though he had not seen it himself. He knew, especially after the changelings’ attempted invasion of Canterlot, what could happen in battle. Macintosh frowned at the thought of sending so few against so many, with only a little ring.
Twilight looked at Raindrops and Applejack. The two green lanterns were stone-faced. If either of them were were moved by what they had just seen, their faces gave no indication.
[=They were overwhelmed and fell back to an asteroid, a stone island in the void. Among themselves they counseled on what action should be taken=]
[= “There is no victory here. Our choices are retreat or death,” G’Hu despaired out loud.
Wachet spoke next, “Go and I will cover your retreat.”
But the First lantern saw, and would not run.
Avra stood up. “The Guardians forged these rings from Will. Willpower can do more than pave our retreat. Will is the first cause behind any action. We must will our survival.”
Wachet waved her tentacles. “Your faith in the Guardians is commendable, Avra, but this is a failed endeavor. You will die.”
Avra responded, “So be it. I choose to believe in the Power of Will. I choose to believe in the cause for which we fight. I choose to believe in my ring.”
“This is battle, Avra, this is real. This is not like your books where you can change the ending,” Wachet warned, but Avra was unmoved and headed back to battle and left his compatriots behind=]
Avra’s image flew away from his comrades, who were huddling together in what appeared to be a cave. He grew smaller and smaller, becoming a tiny green star as he flew back to the battle they had just fled from. ‘How could he hope to win, no matter how amazing that ring is,’ the farmer thought as she watched the tiny Avra fly into the rain of death. “That feller was sure brave,” she said out loud quietly while she watched the image.
[= And the fire of Chaos poured on to Avra, and he was pressed and battered. Yet he would not yield.
“These rings were forged from Will, we must will our survival.” Avra understood and willed himself to live=]
As fire and light poured on Avra he did not die. He screamed in agony, yet he lived and he would not yield. The image of the small being flared; green light burst forth brighter than before, becoming for a moment like a great sun of green light, its intensity filled the room with almost blinding light. The ray of light from Avra’s ring cut one of the great warships in twain. The vessel burst into fire and shattered.
Pinkie quietly went ‘ooo’ as she watched, the pink pony crunching on a cookie while offering another to Rarity. The unicorn mare politely refused.
[=And then, in the midst of the fury, Avra did the impossible. He used the light to do what had never been done. The used the Light of Will to create=]
As the smoke and lights cleared, a long sword had appeared in Avra’s hands. He marveled at the creation of his mind with the ring. Arva gripped the sword with his fore limbs and began to swing down; the sword grew as it traveled its arc, becoming monstrously huge.
[=He held aloft his first construct. No longer a scribe, now a warrior—The First Green Lantern. The first of the Corps, the founder of the way=]
The sword cleft another of the huge vehicles in half, shattering it. ‘Such power!’ Twilight thought. Never had she imagined that the rings held such raw power. Even after all her study and experimentation, these rings continued to surprise. She began to wonder at the limits of the ring.
The others who were given their rings came back after seeing what Avra had done and followed his example. Where they had faltered and barely been able to fight before, now the ring users were unstoppable. G’hu created what looked like a giant snake, larger than any dragon that had ever existed in Equestrian history. The serpent coiled around another vessel and crushed it like a constrictor snake, the once mountain-sized ship became dust in the void. The lanterns flew with greater speed than before, their rings cutting great swathes across the sky. Large flashes popping like fireworks told of the ring users’ victory.
[=His compatriots saw, and understood what he had said. Avra, Wachet and G'Hu drove back the Chaos and prevailed, and the Light of Will had been secured in the fight for life. This was the beginning. In time the Rings would be passed on, while a hundred more were forged, and then thousands. All would be taught as the first lantern had learned. A new path to victory. A use for the Ring that even the Guardians had not predicted=]
More beings appeared, being given rings like Applejack’s. As they placed the ring on one of their appendages the uniform of the Green Lantern corps appeared. The vision then shifted, showing a multitude of lanterns all standing before what looked like a power battery only much larger. They numbered in the thousands.
[=In time, old lanterns would fall. Their rings choosing successors, to learn as they did. Even Avra would fall, his ring choosing another who would be taught his lessons, and, in turn, would one day teach them=]
Now the image was a hall of some kind. There was Avra facing another lantern. The larger hammer- headed creature summoned two curved swords with its ring. Avra called up the energy of his ring and flung it at the other lantern as a unicorn might fling magic. The hammer- headed creature sliced the ball of energy in two with his construct swords and Avra smiled.
“ Training, ” Shining Armor offered.” He is teaching.”
[=Thus was born the Green Lantern Corps, dedicated to preserve life in all the forms that it chose. What was once a unique innovation became the way for all: The way of Will=]
The scene showed Avra, in his uniform, holding up his ring. Then the image changed, the ring itself was unchanged and unmoved, but the lantern wearing it was not Avra, but a creature with four eyes clad as a Green Lantern. Then the image again shifted, faster this time but in the same way; the ring itself did not move, but the lantern wearing it did—it looked like a kind of bird, marked with the corps symbol like the others, and the sky behind the lantern was dark blue. As more and more creatures of every shape came into the image, the places behind each of these lanterns changed as well. They saw forests, icy wastes, cities of designs never before imagined, and mountains, but the ring was the only thing unchanged in these images.
Twilight Sparkle caught the meaning of that key element. “Those are the lanterns who wore Avra’s ring after him, and those were the places they came from.” Twilight looked at the ring on the farm pony’s leg and gasped.”How old is that ring?” she wondered out loud. The images slowed. The holder of the ring now looked very much like a goat or a minotaur with slightly curving horns.
[=Know you then this, you whom the ring chose for this duty=]
When the image shifted again, the ring wielder was another biped. He was hairless and his skin was red. He stood in a beautiful lush forest with strange trees and a purplish-colored sky. Another alien appeared, the ring again unmoved. This time to creature much like the previous one, its skin lighter. The lantern had brownish hair on its head and was standing in what looked like a desert. The sky behind the creature was like the sky of Equestria—a beautiful light blue. Applejack could swear she had seen him before when she charged the ring the first time.
[=When you shape the light of your ring, you and all who came before you…=]
The next to appear was very like the previous. He had black hair this time and his uniform was somehow different. Then the ring, unmoved through all this time, glowed brightly and flared, filling the bubble with light that then dimmed to become what appeared to be a world that quickly grew bigger and filled the bubble. Clouds rushed by as the image they were watching was falling to the ground.
[=…walk in the steps of Avra, the First Green Lantern=]
The ring reappeared in the image again, filling the entire bubble as if it were being looked at very closely up to the eyes. The ring began to shrink, or recede, growing smaller slowly, showing that it had attached itself to another being. The image at first was blurry but quickly cleared…
…showing Applejack herself that day when the ring first appeared bathed in its green energy.
[=The first to wield the light in the cause of life=]
The last image, of Applejack receiving the ring faded away. The bubble that had been summoned collapsed and the green light dimmed. The library was silent.
"That was AMAZING!" Spike exclamed, his qwill had stopped scratching at his parchment. "That little guy was awesome!"
Applejack’s face had a strange expression. Her eyes were wide as she looked at where the image had been. She had sat hard on her haunches and was running things over in her mind. She looked at Twilight with an expression on her face her friend had never seen on the farm mare before.
“Ah…Ah,” the first lantern in Equestria sputtered. It was clear she was awestruck. “Ah…had no idea…” she looked about at her friends and then she looked down at the glittering ring on her leg. “It…the ring…is this ring Avra’s?”
[=Negative. This ring is not the original ring. This ring is descended from the fourth original ring known to you as the ring of Avra=]
“Descended? As in a child or grandchild of Avra’s ring?” the farm mare was becoming numb to all the information she had just found out, and while hearing the story of the first Green Lantern helped answer many of her questions, it also made her seem so small, tiny in the vast space and time that the ring on her leg ‘lived’. It also had told her a great tradition had just been bequeathed to her.
[=In actuality the comparison is not quite correct, however the analogy is valid=]
The apple farmer almost swooned. The magnitude of what she had just been told left her thunderstruck. She reflexively rubbed the glowing band on her hoof as another thought came to her. “Looks like mah ring has its own legacy to live up to,” she muttered.
“Easy, Applejack!” Twilight walked up to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
The orange earth pony could only stare at the ring. The shimmer of its green light now no longer seemed fresh, it seemed old now, impossibly old, like the magic from the Elements of Harmony, but this light and the ring that used it was so much older! And just like with Avra the first, it had chosen her! She began to speak to somepony, the question being was it to anypony or was it to herself...
“…Know you then this …” Applejack looked up at her friends.
Big Macintosh came up to her and hugged her with his foreleg. Mac’s little sister looked into his eyes in a way that conveyed something between them that only they understood.
“Um…Ok..I’m a bit confused,” Pinkie Pie squeaked at first as she spoke. “ I mean, I don’t understand! I know that was like an important and exciting story with sad parts, but it ended alright! Those bad guys got stopped and the little guy, Avra, saved folks and showed how to use the ring.” The pink pony walked up to her applebucking friend and nuzzled her gently. “Applejack, what’s wrong? Why are you so upset?”
Rarity probed with the empathy of the indigo ring.
[=WILL=]
The feeling was ‘heavy’, almost burdensome. Applejack was feeling something Rarity had felt from her before…obligation.
Rainbow Dash and Raindrops were silently staring at each other. Rainbow normally would have something pithy to say, but this time she held her tongue and focused on Raindrops. It was sad that the pegasus was not in her corps; her rage was pure, honest. Now she was a green, the color of the corps of those Guardians.
“Urr…those little blue creeps,” she muttered to herself. The red lantern really didn’t like the Guardians from what the red ring told her about them. Self important, uncaring, unfeeling masters of the Green Lanterns. They answered to none for their crimes. Rainbow Dash did not trust them, but she trusted Applejack, and, for some reason, AJ felt this ‘book’ was important. Out of respect for her friend, Rainbow Dash kept her mouth shut. However, the rage wielder did notice the profound effect the story had on her friend; it was something she had only seen once before—the iron pony competition.
‘ I guess you’re right, Rarity,’ she thought to herself.
“ I think I know what’s wrong. May I?” Shining Armor asked. Mac nodded and stepped back and let Twilight’s brother get close to his sister. The Captain of the Royal guard walked up to the dumbstruck farmer. The other ponies had confused looks on their face, even Twilight. The unicorn waved Pinkie away as well. Reluctantly, the party pony moved aside for the Captain. He looked at Big Macintosh and talked to the red stallion first, loud enough for all in the library to hear.
“Twilight has told me a lot about her friends.” He looked at the farm mare, then back at her brother. “Tradition is important to the Apple family, right?” Big Mac nodded. “Yeeup, sure is,” the farmer responded. “It’s how we remember who we are.”
The white stallion put his hoof on the farm mare and looked at her in the eyes. Applejack responded by looking back at him, her face still expressing the mixed feelings that were running through her mind and her heart.
“It’s a lot isn’t it? The burden of history and tradition that comes with this ‘duty’, the obligation this…” he placed a hoof on the green ring and looked deep into her eyes ”…brings. The history and honor you have to live up to. It’s a lot. You don’t want to dishonor it, to fail those who went before. They become like…family, and you never want to fail or let down family.”
Shining Armor placed Applejack’s hoof on his Royal Guard Crest and spoke, “I always wanted to be a guard, and I enlisted in the service and went to the academy.“ She touched the metal symbol on the Captain’s chest as he told her something that not even his sister knew, “I never sought high command, I never politicked and lobbied for my position. I was made Captain of the Royal Guard over many other candidates.” He looked at his sister. Twilight Sparkle’s eyes were wide and her mouth agape.
The stallion continued, “It was a shock to many, but especially me, when I was made Captain of the Guard. I asked myself at the time why I had been chosen, why me? The tradition of the Guard, in battle and in peace was…a lot to live up to, and knowing what the guard represented, in its duty and its history…it was a lot! I felt like all of the Captains before me were watching me , judging me in how I handled my duty. I know it sounds silly to some, but that is what I felt.” He looked at the ring and placed his hoof on the ring again “…I know you didn’t seek it out. It literally chose you like the element you carry.” He looked in her eyes again. “Like Avra the scribe.”
The farm mare turned her head from the guard’s gaze, “Ah bet neither Guards nor Green Lanterns foul up outta the gate like Ah did, Shinin’ Armor. I made mistakes…and friends paid the price.”
“You cannot do your duty, if you do not know what it is to begin with,” he said simply. “You did not know, Applejack. You were discovering it at the time. Now…” he tapped the green glowing ring, “… you know. “ Shining Armor leaned back and smiled at the earth pony. “ And trust me on this, I speak from experience; we in the guards have had our share of mess-ups who turned out awesome.” He turned to look at his sister and gave her a quick smile. Twilight smiled back. “And, ponies who looked great at the beginning who turned out awful. I’m sure the Green Lantern Corps has had that happen to them as well.”
Applejack got a thoughtful look on her face as she leaned back. She looked at Mac, then Raindrops, as if searching for something from them and returned her gaze to Shining Armor. Applejack then stamped her hoof on the ground and said, “Why not.” She raised the ring up again…
“Ring. Does the Book of Oa say anything about a Green Lantern that…um, started out rough, like with a major mess-up that turned out to be good in the end?”
[=Clarification: Does Lantern Prime mean Green Lanterns that had disastrous or deleterious beginnings to their careers but went on in the course of service to be useful if not illustrious lanterns? Is this the nature of the query?=]
Shining Armor nodded silently. “Um, yes,” the apple farmer answered.
[=The Book of Oa records many cases fitting such parameters=]
The image bubble reappeared. The heads (or what passed for a head) of various lanterns of different species appeared. The sheer number of lanterns ‘meeting criteria’ seemed unbelievable. The first Equestrian Green Lantern looked at Shining Armor, her jaw hung open. The unicorn simply smiled. It was just as he had said.
[=List of lanterns meeting criteria is in reverse chronological order. Additional records can be displayed if required=]
“Ah don’t even know where ta start. So many faces, so many stories.” The farm mare was feeling a little bit overwhelmed, and a little bit comforted. Raindrops and Big Mac looked at the portraits with Applejack. The problem was just as she had said: whom to choose, where to start.
“My word. So many. August company to be with, indeed.” Rarity lounged on a bench while sipping at a small tea cup levitated with her magic. Her gaze quickly turned to the direction of Rainbow Dash. The lantern of rage was unusually silent and still. Was it possible she was actually trying to learn something?
[= Do you wish to run the record further back in time?=] the ring’s intelligence asked.
She was lost. She could not decide which to choose and started to play a game of hot hoof, hot hoof, trying to pick at random when Raindrops, to everyone’s surprise, spoke, “That one!” She pointed with a wing at a picture of a creature that had a head like a Griffin or some kind of bird with a large crest and beak. “I’ve seen that one! When I first charged my ring, when it…bonded with me, I saw that one.”
“Really?” Applejack shrugged. “Well, ok then, good enough fer me. Wonder who that is. Ring?”
The portraits all faded but the image Raindrops had pointed to, that picture enlarged and became full size.
[=Lantern 0002, Raindrops, has selected the example of Tomar-Re of Xudar. Sector 2813. Overview record of incident meeting requested criteria. Information playback option: Interactive Datagram display or Audio Visual Narrative display? =]
“Datagram, please,” the yellow lantern asked politely.
[=Unauthorized sentient attempting to access AI database. Query to sentient refused. This ring will not respond to instructions or query request from a lantern of another corps=]
“Ugh!” Twilight snapped in frustration. “This again! Applejack, please?”
“Datagram if ya please, ring,” the keeper of the Book of Oa asked her ring, restraining the urge to laugh at her friend’s expense.
[=Tomar-Re of Xudar. Sector 2813. Deegan training class LRBT-7681125-B graduate. Deceased in the line of duty during the battle of Qward, during the Great Crisis. At time of death, Honor Guard Lantern of great name. Tomar-Re’s first mission as Green Lantern of Sector 2813 was to prevent the destruction of the planet Krypton due to internal instability. Tomar-Re secured enough Stellarium to stabilize the planet’s unstable core but failed to arrive in time to prevent the destruction of the planet. Tomar-Re was badly wounded when the planet Krypton detonated as he entered the magnetosphere in his attempt to prevent the planet’s end. Though badly wounded, he was able, before loss of consciousness, to protect a lone craft fleeing the dying world, allowing it to escape unharmed. Estimated loss of life of the dominant intelligent species from Krypton’s destruction: 1.2 billion. Estimated number of the dominant species known at the time of this record to have survived: 9 individuals. Tomar-Re went on to have a very successful and illustrious career as a green lantern after his initial failure, saving many billions of lives later throughout his career=]
“Twilie…did that thing just say…a world exploded?” Shining Armor looked as if he had been struck with a hammer between the eyes. He looked at his sister and shook his head. “By the Sun and the Moon…” the white unicorn breathed.
The scale of what they had just been told was shocking. An entire world like Equestria destroyed, all of the beings that lived on that world dead; entire species wiped out at once; all its animal life eradicated; its cities, history, culture, all of it gone in a burst of light! Only two ponies in the room fully understood the totality of the horror the Book of Oa in Applejack’s ring had just told them. Was what they were facing now, like what Tomar-Re of Xudar had tried to prevent? Was this the scale of things lanterns had to deal with?
Twilight Sparkle turned pale, changing into a light mauve color. Fear, real total fear gripped her. On her hoof, the yellow ring seemed to hum.
“I…don’t think you’ve made any mistake that big, Applejack,…ever!” the fear lantern sputtered and gulped.
“Uh…yeah! “Applejack looked at her ring, still in shock that the small device had so casually mentioned the death of an entire world. “Kind of a kick in the flanks, ain’t it? What the hay would cause that, Twi? What could…do…that? And why didn’t they hurry? ”
[=Initial analysis of core instability by probe concluded a timeframe of 40 years before explosion. That conclusion was incorrect as the planet exploded 8 months later. A more detailed analysis of Krypton after its destruction indicated two likely causes for core instability, one accidental the other deliberate=]
“Wait…DELIBERATE!?” Rarity’s voice almost cracked with the incredulity of the statement. Tears welled up in her eyes as she cursed a vanished race. “Somepony may have deliberately done this? The very idea is madness! Who would do such a thing? What horrible creatures!”
The ring continued, ignoring the Indigo herd leader’s outburst, [=The first probable cause was harnessing of the core of the planet for energy production by the dominant species. The second probable cause was a planetary genocidal weapon of mass destruction intended to destroy the planet. It is also possible that a combination of the two triggered the event that destroyed the planet Krypton=]
“He thought he had more time,” Applejack whispered “An’ the first thing he tried to do was save those folks. He didn’t know he was out of time….like I didn’t know Zacora was in trouble.”
“How could somepony be…so…stupid” Twilight asked behind gritted teeth. It was bad enough that a world died, but to have caused it? She looked at the yellow glowing ring on her leg and fretted; she and her friends and the other lanterns had become so tiny and so mighty at the same time. Were things like this what had driven Sinestro to do the kind of things he had done? Twilight understood that everyone had a history behind their name; everyone had reasons for their actions. It still did not excuse Sinestro’s reign of terror, but it did explain much. Perhaps his reasons had not been so black and white.
Then there was the fact that it was just a Green Lantern, and no other color. What did that mean? There was mention of conflict between the various corps in all the material Twilight had been able to access, but this story made no mention of any other color but green. What did it mean? Did the various colors bring about a greater catastrophe later? Where they preventing a greater catastrophe now? How long had the Green Lanterns been the only lanterns?
Twilight shook her head in confusion. It was all so big, so much. ‘Get back to center, Twilight; get back to the now,’ she told herself. ‘We have issues now to deal with, like we need more than three green lanterns‘. Princess Celestia had left with what information Twilight could collect, and it had been a double hoof-full. The book of Oa just made that information the appetizer to a huge feast of lore, and, like all feasts, it was hard to decide where to begin.
Shining Armor rubbed his chin with his right front hoof. The implications were horrific. 'A weapon made to kill an entire world! Even Discord had not been that mad.' he thought as he looked around the room at everypony. 'Rarity was right, it was madness!'
The other pony who understood the full meaning of the ring’s statement began sobbing the moment total realization sank in to her head and into her heart. Great rivers of tears poured out of her eyes as she mourned the end of all the animals she had never nor would ever see that had been lost when that world had died. Fluttershy wailed. The thought of all of the animals of a world all gone broke her heart. She loved all creatures great and small, even if she was scared of them sometimes; but the idea that all the animals and insects…gone! It was too much.
The violet light seemed to glow brighter around her as tears poured out of the yellow pegasus. The Queen of Star Sapphires began to shine as bright as the light in Applejack’s vision bubble. The almost blinding violet light was slowly filling the room, startling the others with its intensity. Pinkie had started to tear up in sympathy to Fluttershy, but her mane and tail remained as fluffy as ever. She pulled some sunglasses from somewhere and got close to her friend, touching her forehead to the violet lantern’s.
“ Fluttershy, FLuttershy! It’s ok. Shush.” Pinkie pulled the Star Sapphire’s head close to her, nestling the crying yellow pegasus into her neck, hugging her tightly.
“All those poor creatures—gone! All gone!” The animal-loving pony wiped the tears from her eyes with a constructed violet kerchief. “How? How could that happen? How could they let it happen?”
“We will not let anything like that happen here! So long as we have means to stop it, we will!” As the no-longer-quiet Raindrops spoke, the ring on her hoof started to glow, as if emphasizing the intensity of what she had just said.
Fluttershy rose into the air, the violet light swirling about her. She pulled herself away from Pinkie’s embrace and continued to rise into the air, the garb of the Star Sapphires appearing over her from the flux of light. With sorrow raining from her eyes she turned and headed for the open window Rainbow Dash had entered the library through. She ignored the entreaties of her friends pleading with her to stay and was gone in an instant, her wails quickly silenced with distance.
Rainbow Dash leaped from her perch and landed on the floor of the library, dressed as the leader of the Red Lanterns. The red ring glowing again as before; pulsing like the heart beat of the lantern that it was.
“That went well, didn’t it.” Rainbow Dash commented sourly. She spread her wings wide while she reared up on her hind legs, the red glow of her ring increasing as the crimson aura flowed around the cyan pegasus. “Twilight, AJ…let me know when you guys want to do this again…” She scrunched her face into a half frown. “I’d really like to ask that book a few things myself. I have to get going…I have some ponies to punish.” The Rage Lantern rose into the air and zipped through the open window, moving at a fast clip.
Spike scribbled furiously in the corner, taking down all that had transpired as quickly as it had happened. The scratching of his quill pen had become harsher as the meeting had progressed and he was beginning to show the strain of writing so much so fast.
Applejack was lost in thought. She rubbed her ring and pondered for a moment what it would all mean. Inside, she was arguing with herself, feeling out what the true answer in her heart should be. The farm mare churned with emotion. History did battle with ignorance, pride fought with humility, responsibility and fear warred with each other. She knew the answer in her heart. She did not want to fail again—the stakes could be even higher. But what to do next?
She always did this, when decisions of great consequence came to her and she was clear headed and could fully think things through, she would do what she was doing right now. Granny called it ‘chew and swallow,’ taking the problem and biting small chunks off at a time, chewing them up thoroughly and then swallowing them.
But she didn’t have time now. Like the book had said: ready or not.
…and she hadn’t been ready.
“Ah like helpin’ the pony folks,” the earth pony whispered. She had said that more times than she could remember, and now that sentiment pulled at her heart. She could hear Zecora’s voice in her mind. What would the zebra shaman have said to her if she were here now?
“ The ring this duty asked of you. Your choice is simple: do not, or do.” For an instant the zebra’s face seem to hover before the farm mare, and indeed a wispy image of Zecora’s head had appeared, made of the emerald energy. Applejack willed the image to evaporate. “That is something like what she would say.”
“…you whom the ring chose for this duty.”
That word, the heaviness of it. It had a foreboding gravitas. Duty was cousin to responsibility and had a texture and weight to it, as if it were fully loaded saddlebags or a thick heavy coat that one could wear. Sometimes the burden of its weight could become tiresome and crippling if you let it. She had felt the weight of those words only a few times before: as an Apple, as an Element of Harmony…and now, by Celestia, with this ring, she was feeling it again.
“Ah didn’t ask for any of this,” she whispered to herself.
Applejack looked at the picture of Tomar-Re and then at Shining Armor. He returned her gaze with a questioning look. The image of Tomar dissipated as she let it return to the book. Then, she fixed her gaze on the chest emblem of the Canterlot Royal Guard, then shifted it back down to her ring, the green fire within it burning like a captive star, waiting to shine in the sky.
Applejack sighed. The glint of a tear momentarily shone in one of her eyes. Then, she raised her head up and whispered with firm resolve “for Zecora.” The ring flashed brightly for a moment. Applejack could feel it, like a limb with muscles and bones knitting tighter to her being. It felt like it had in the beginning, that the ring had become a piece of her, but now it was different. She could feel it growing, changing. It felt alive, the ring growing into her and her growing into it. It felt like muscle and bone, blood vessels and nerves meshed together in her mind, weaving together to make a single whole. The two: the ring and the pony became truly one being, one mind, and a whole with one purpose: a warrior of Will. The feeling made her quiver all over, like she had just been hit with a blast of icy wind. The feeling was…exhilarating. She felt…whole.
Rarity smiled, the indigo ring glowed softly as she felt the new state in her friend. In her heart, the Indigo Herd leader hoped that Rainbow Dash was wrong, but at the moment, it appeared she was right: the farmer needed something to strive against, but the ruin that could come from it! ‘Why did I let her bind me with that promise…you would have thought I had learned my lesson from last time with Fluttershy. Why did I do that?’ she asked herself silently.
It was because Rainbow Dash needed that assurance at that moment. Despite her misgivings about making that promise, it was the compassionate and generous thing to do at the time. And every time she thought about it, Rarity got a little sick in her stomach and her heart ached. She resolved that she would hold to her agreement until honoring it became endangering to others; then she would speak up. But for now, as she watched Applejack, everything seemed to be going as RL Rainbow Dash had said, so for the time being she would hold her tongue.
Applejack trotted up to Shining Armor and tapped him on the shoulder. The great white stallion faced the Keeper of the Book of Oa. The green eyes of the farmer, like the green color of her power, showed determination and resolve. The commotion had died down until even the scratching of Spike’s pen had stopped. Pinkie Pie was biting her bottom lip as she clutched Rarity in a nervous hug. The Alpha Mare of the Indigo Herd had called her garb around her and summoned her staff to use as a lever to extract herself if necessary from the party pony’s embrace. She reached out with ring-gifted empathy to feel what was transpiring.
[=WILL=]
[=FEAR=]
“The job is mine whether Ah like it or not, ain’t it?” Applejack said flatly to Twilight’s brother. The captain nodded.
“Ah ain’t afraid of fightin' Captain...Ah’m just worried about the others.” She turned quickly to point at Big Mac and Raindrops with her hoof then turned back to look at the Royal Guard’s commander. “Ah’m worried what my decisions may do ta them. If’n Ah’m the leader of the greens, Ah’m responsible to em’ and for em’.”
“The fact you are worried about it tells me your head and your heart are in the right place. It tells me that you understand the responsibility that comes with leadership and do not take it lightly.” The white unicorn clicked his tongue while he shook his head. “I wish you luck. I fear all our lives one day may depend on it.”
“Um…” the Green Lantern Prime cautiously began, “So what do Ah do now? What’s the first thin’ Ah do Captain?”
“You tell me Prime Lantern.” Shining Armor was being deliberately calculating, he wanted Applejack to come to the understanding on her own. He had opened the door, he would offer a hoof to help her, but he wanted her to try alone first. “What should you do?”
The earth pony raised her leg up with the ring on it, the glimmering green band’s light reflected off her eyes, making it appear that the green fire was inside of them. Seriousness was written on her face as she steeled herself for what she was about to do.
“Ah do what Avra did. Ah’ need to get good with this if Ah’m gonna lead. Ah also should get some learning on this kinda thing.” Applejack looked over the unicorn with eyes hungering for guidance, wisdom and knowledge. The farm mare swallowed hard. “Ah need an…advisor. Somepony to teach me how ta do what Ah’ve got ta do. A book is good, but experience is better. Twilight’s too busy and Ah think Ah need a less scholarly approach to this. “
Rarity, in the back of the room, nodded quietly. Twilight Sparkle frowned at the fashion pony.
“How about you Shining Armor? Ah could use the guidance.”
The unicorn smiled and waved his hoof. “I am honored by the request, but I must decline. I have responsibilities and duties, too— an oath I took that I’m bound by like the oath you’re bound to.” He thought for a moment, resting his jaw on the back of his foreleg. “I’m going to be busy being your liaison officer to the court. Hmm…I know a few ponies who might be able and willing to help, especially now that we’ve cleaned house of some of this clandestine mess you lanterns uncovered.”
“The best teacher you could ask for is in Cloudsdale,” Raindrops stated as she stepped forward to look the Captain of the Guard and the Green Lantern Prime in the eyes. As she sat down she raised her ring up and caused an image to appear in a bubble as Applejack had done earlier. The ball of green ring energy collapsed and twisted on itself, becoming the image of a pegasus mare in a body suit that covered her head to hoof. Only her mane, tail, and muzzle were exposed. The costume had a jagged stripe running down the centerline, looking like a stylized lightning bolt. The hoof ends of the legs also had lightning-like bands. The suited pegasus’ mane and tale had shapes and texture not unlike a flame.
“Spitfire is leader and head trainer of the, Wonderbolts, the greatest flyers in the world. She is an excellent trainer and planner. I can think of no better choice than her. ” Raindrops dissipated the image “She is at the Wonderbolt Academy right now, teaching the latest class of cadets.”
“Spitfire?” Shining Armor thought on the idea of the Wonderbolt leader as a Green Lantern for a moment. To him, Spitfire was an expert flyer, and could help the lanterns that way, but they needed fighters, combat experts. “Maybe! I can get you a pass to see her at the academy. I also have contacts in the Guard, some vets who have seen some action against the air pirates and the griffins during the last border skirmishes. I’ll get word to Captain Brass Hat in Twenty Nine Fronds. He knows a lot of the retired service ponies there, a good resource for experience. A lot of officers retire there.”
The unicorn captain raised a hoof up. “Spike, I think this meeting is over now. Right, Twilie?“ Twilight absently nodded her agreement as Pinkie was whispering in her ear. “Spike, can you send a message to the Princesses to approve a meeting between the Green Lanterns and the Commander of the Wonderbolts?” The blue-maned unicorn arched his back and rolled his shoulders, stretching out the tightness that they had developed during the meeting. “I also need to send a contact to Captain Brass Hat. He’s in Twenty Nine Fronds, so I’ll have to use official channels to contact him. Let me know when you’re done. I’ll seal it when it’s ready to go.”
“Right away, Captain.” The small dragon saluted the stallion and began writing on a fresh parchment, pausing between paragraphs in order to carefully word the requests.
Pinkie Pie bounced in front of Applejack, a loud ‘thump’ signaling her intention to inject herself in the proceedings. She smiled broadly as she faced the conferring ponies, twisting her head upside down.
“Well…if the meeting is over, I have something for Applejack…well, Ponyville has something for her.” Pinkie then untwisted her head and pulled on Applejack’s hoof. “This is a not-to-miss engagement, Miss.” Pinkie then giggled.
“Pinkie, Ah ain’t done. Ah still gotta confer with Mac and Raindrops,” The earth pony protested.
“AJ, it can wait till tomorrow. Ain’t it been heavy enough today? Ah need a break anyway and so do you.” Mackintosh nudged Applejack’s ribs with his forehead. “Let’s take a break and look at things fresh in the morning.”
Raindrops nodded agreement. She opened her wings and used a sweeping motion to urge the farm mare out the door. “I agree with your brother. You have had a very hard day, Applejack. You have tackled much. What cannot wait till tomorrow? What is it you wish to do?”
The green eyes of the first Equestrian Lantern blazed with an inner fire Raindrops had not seen before. Something in Applejack had changed. An image of the Book of Oa appeared in front of the three green lanterns . The Prime Lantern’s face was a strange sight: her eyes were narrowed, but she smiled. As the three of them cleared the door of Twilight’s library, Applejack declared out loud, “We become the best. We save ponies. We stop the Black Lanterns. We keep what happened to Zecora from happening again. We uphold what this,” she raised her glowing ring, “represents!”
“ Sis,” the big stallion’s face had concern written on it, “isn’t that what those officers from Canterlot were worried about? Won’t they take that as we’re buildin’ an army?”
Applejack half-smiled as she looked at her big brother. Big Mac could tell from her body language and her tone that this had put a bit in her mouth and she was not letting go, now or ever.
“We already scare those ponies, Mac. Ah ain’t got time for em’ to worry about what Ah may do. The Black Lanterns are a comin’ and we just ain’t ready….yet!” She looked up at the stars in the night sky. “This whole thing just got bigger than all of us— that’s what Ah got ta worry about.”
“Has anyone tried to make contact with the Guardians? Maybe they can send help. Surely there are fully trained lanterns who could help out and train us properly?” Raindrops asked, her face as expressionless as ever.
“Ah tried once I learned about em’…Ah didn’t get an answer and that worries me. Ah don’t know what it means. So, for the time bein’ we do what we can with what we have.” Applejack looked at her fellow Green Lanterns as she summoned the image of the Book of Oa before them. “It’s all we can do, and, unlike the others, we got a book to tell us what it is that we’re supposed ta do.”