//------------------------------// // Cracks in the Core // Story: The Emerald Dragon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Luna growled as she slammed herself into the yellow bars that imprisoned her and the others, but they held firm as she bounced off of them and landed on the floor of the cell. After Sombra had defeated Spike, he had immediately thrown the princess and the other ponies into a dungeon he had constructed with his yellow energy, promising them that the kingdom was safe in his hooves until he came to get them. The ponies had spent the last few hours trying to escape, but their magic was ineffective against the yellow energy and without their Elements they were powerless. "It is no good sister, the bars will not budge," Celestia said as she helped her sister back up, looking at the ponies in the room with sad eyes. The CMC were doing their best to keep from breaking down, although Sweetie didn't look as upset as her friends. But the pony that was truly broken was Twilight, who sat in the corner of the cell curled into a ball and looking away from everypony else. They had tried to talk to her a few times, but she hadn't said a word in response. "But we have to get out of here!" Luna shot back as she fired a bolt of magic into the bars, only to snarls as it shattered against the construct, just like all of the spells before it. "We cannot allow Sombra to win! There has to be a way to-!" "There is no hope, ponies." All of the ponies turned to see Sombra walking towards them, glowing with power as he descended down the stairs to the dungeon. "My ring makes me more powerfully than all of you combined and with your stupid little dragon dead, nopony can hold a candle to me." The moment he mentioned Spike Twilight shot up and threw herself against the bar, pure wrath in her eyes as she tried to get to Sombra, who chuckled at her as he moved his face just outside her reach. "Now now Twilight, that is no way for a princess to act." "I. Will. End you," she whispered in a deadly voice. "I doubt that," Sombra said as he looked at all of them with a smile, his ring glowing with power. The ponies all gasped as yellow chains formed all along their bodies, wrapping themselves around their horns and wings. "These chains will keep you from using your magic or your wings, so don't bother trying to break free." "Why bother putting these on us?" Celestia asked. "We are already in prison." "Because Celestia, what good is beating you if I don't get some slaves out of it?" Sombra asked as he lowered the cell bars, yanking on the chains to drag the ponies out. "And trust me Celestia, I am going to enjoy this. Now come with me, I finally got a throne that doesn't hurt to sit on." The ponies fought as best they could, but power of the ring was too strong as Sombra dragged them up the stairs into the throne room, where he had replaced all of the banners with the yellow rings symbol. He walked over to a throne made out of yellow energy and hopped down onto it, smiling at all the angry looks he was getting. "So, what now?" Luna asked. "Let's see...wow, I actually didn't think this far ahead," he said with a chuckle as he shrugged. "Never expected to get this far actually. Just give me a few minutes and I'll think of something terrible to do to all of you...like have Luna eat cake in front of you. Or make you eat the cake yourself, heaven knows if you eat anymore you'll explode." "And if I refuse?" Celestia asked, furious at Sombra, who smiled wickedly at her. "Then I'll do...this." The ponies all cried out as pain coursed through them, Sombra chuckling as the little ones fell to the ground exhausted. Fluttershy rushed to their side, checking to make sure they were okay before glaring at Sombra. "How could you do that to them?! They are only fillies!" she yelled. "Does that mean I should shock them again?" he asked in a bored tone. "I'm bad with foals, so I have no idea. But I'll make this clear so even the two idiots in the back can understand. If you mess with me or try anything, I won't kill you...I'll kill the fillies first and make you watch, then I'll kill your friends. And only after I have done all of that, then I'll finish you," he said with a smile at their horrified faces. "So don't any of you try anything." The ponies all looked at each other, but knew there was nothing they could do as long as the fillies were in danger. So all of them hung their heads in disgust, except for Sweetie who kept looking around. "What are you doing?" AB hissed at her. "Looking for somepony," she whispered back. "Sweetie...noponies coming. Sombra won." Much to AB's surprise, Sweetie gave her a quick wink in response. "Don't worry. I have hope that someone will." IOI Pain. That was all that flooded through Spike's mind as he felt his consciousness begin to return, causing him to cry out as he opened his eyes, wondering where he was before the pain took over him again. "Wait a moment, I did not know you were awake," a voice said out of his view. "I will get rid of the pain, but a potion you must take." Spike looked to his side as a zebra he knew well walked over to him, placing a bowl by his mouth and helped him to drink what was inside down. He gagged at the taste, but in a few minutes he could feel the pain beginning to subside, allowing him to sit up. "Zecora?" he asked weakly as he looked around the hut, having been here enough to know that this was the home of the shaman that lived in the Everfree Forest. He saw the number of jars on her selves and a strange staff that rested against her wall. "What happened to me? Why am I here?" Then it all came flooding back to him, the battle with Sombra in Canterlot and the blast that had shattered the Emerald Dragon and had flung him into the forest. He tried to get up, but Zecora placed a hoof on Spike and pushed him back down. "You cannot get up yet little one or the healing properties might be undone," Zecora said as Spike laid back down, but he waited until she had turned her back before he hopped of her bed and almost immediately collapsed to the ground in pain. Zecora sighed as she hoisted him back onto the bed, but he remained sitting up this time instead of laying down. Spike tried to will himself off of the bed with his ring, but then he looked down and realized that the ring was no longer there. "Relax young man, I have the ring from your hand," she said as she hoofed a small ring to Spike. "What...happened to it?" he asked as he looked down at the ring, which was now covered in cracks and had no glow whatsoever. He slipped it onto his finger and tried to conjure something, but nothing appeared from the ring. "Ring! Respond!" The ring said nothing, causing Spike to worry. But then his thoughts turned to Twilight and the others and what Sombra would have done if he had been out for a few hours. "Zecora! How long have I been out?" "A week at least," she responded, causing Spike's heart to sink into his chest. He had failed them. There was no way that Twilight and the others could still be alive after a week under Sombra's rule. And all because he couldn't overcome his fears. Tears began to fall from his eyes as he sat down and pulled his knees up, crying into them as Zecora gently patted him on the back. "Hoo." Spike looked up through tear stained eyes at the source of the hoot, seeing Owlicious sitting on Zecora's shoulder. He hooted again and fluttered over to Spike, landing on his head and hooting sympathetically. Spike looked up at him before he continued to cry, but looked up at Zecora when he ran out of tears. "What happened to the others?" he asked her. "What happened to Canterlot?" Zecora bit her lip as he said this before allowing Spike to climb onto her back, walking him out the door and outside of her house, where even with the thick trees covering almost everything, Spike could still see the yellow symbols that were all over Canterlot. "Canterlot has fallen to the yellow light," Zecora said sadly as Spike stared dumbfounded at the city, not believing that this was happening. "And so far nopony has had the courage to fight. It seems that the princesses have fallen to the evil king, all thanks to a strange, alien ring." "I should have stopped him," Spike whispered as he hopped of Zecora's back, looking down at the ring that refused to work. "Maybe the reason that it's not working is because it's out of power." He looked to Owlicious as he said this, who had been floating close behind the two. "Owlicious, can you go back to the Ponyville Library and grab my Lantern? I left it in the closet on the second floor." Owlicious let out a hoot before he flew out of the forest, leaving Spike to look at his ring. "Why won't it work? What's the matter with it?" "Maybe you should think at the reflecting pond. It could help you to divine what is going on," Zecora suggested as she picked him back up again. "I will take you there myself, but one there you must reflect without help." Zecora walked him through the forest until they came to a small pond surrounded by a number of torches. Zecora then gently lowered herself so that Spike could climb off, but as she said she turned and left the pool, leaving Spike alone to look into the water. "Okay pool, tell me what's the matter with the ring," he said to it, but all he saw when he looked into the reflection was his face. He sighed and sat down on the bank, occasionally looking to the sky for Owlicious. "The ring is run on will and I have the will to fight, but it still doesn't work! Why?! What I am doing wrong?!" He yelled to the skies before lowering his head back into his knees, thinking about how many times Twilight had helped him in his time of need, but when she needed him he had failed her. 'Why...why do I always fail no matter what I do?' he thought to himself as he gazed into the pool, still waiting for something other than his reflection to show up and look at him. 'Did I do something to offend some powerful wizard and they cursed me with this infernal luck? Or maybe Faust just hates me and decided that the whole universe would hate me as well.' He sat in silence for over an hour, looking into the pool before he heard the flap of wings. He looked up to see Owlicious, who let out a tired hoot as he landed next to Spike with a green lantern in his talons. "Thanks Owlicious, I owe you one," Spike said with a sad smile as he picked up the lantern, Owlicious letting out a small hoot before he flew into the trees and out of the sun. Spike then took his ring hand and placed it against the glowing green core of the battery, where it remained for a minute as fear began to cloud Spike's mind. 'But what if it still doesn't work?' he thought. 'What if the ring stopped because I'm not somepony who can overcome their fears...that I'm just a failure.' He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and glared into the lantern as he said, "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!" He waited a moment after he said this for the ring to glow or for the power to flow into him, but nothing happened at all. His heart sank to all new lows as he said the oath again, only to have the same results happen. "No...It has to work! It has to!" he yelled as he pointed the ring at a rock and tried to create anything, but nothing came out of the ring, not even a few sparks. 'Why? Why!?' He closed his eyes as he felt just how powerless he was before falling to all floors, letting out a cry of anguish to the sky at his own powerlessness. He didn't know if Twilight was alive or if any of the others had survived the wrath of Sombra, but he knew that there was nothing he could do to change that. 'Here I am with the only thing in Equestria that has the power to stop him and I can't get it to work!' he screamed in his mind. 'Is it because I'm not willing hard enough...or maybe it's because I'm not supposed to be a lantern in the first place? Maybe the ring took pity on me when I tried to use and decided to humor me. I wasn't supposed to be its first pick, Twilight was. And she'd make such a better choice than me. Heck, who would even choose me to begin with? I'm just...' He looked down at the ring as he said this before he slipped it off, looking at the cracked symbol of the Lantern Corps on the front of it sadly. 'There are so many of them, heroes that fight across the galaxy to defend people from evil, yet this is the only place that got a dud,' he thought, throwing the ring away from him in disgust. All those heroes and the ring had picked him. 'It hadn't been joking when it said it was damaged by Twilight's spell, it sure picked a failure with me.' Spike couldn't see it, but Owlicious had flown down from his perch and had scooped the ring up in his beak, standing beside Spike and waiting him for look. "Hoo," he said after a moment, causing Spike to look up at him. "You want the ring? Sure, it would probably be better suited for you than me anyway," he said with complete despair in his voice. "Hell, anything on this planet would be better than me." Owlicious blinked once before he dropped the ring at Spike's feet, Spike looking at it for a moment before he picked it up and threw it again. And again, Owlicious hopped over to the ring and brought it back to Spike, who glared at the owl angrily when he dropped it at Spike's feet. "Don't you get it, you stupid animal?!" Spike roared angrily as he took the ring and threw it as hard as he could into the forest before looking down at Owlicious with fury. "I am not a hero! I never was a hero! I was a pretender who was using something that didn't belong to him and now everypony I care about is either dead or trapped by one of the evilest pony’s know with one of the most powerful weapons! I am not a Green Lantern! I can't stop him!...I can't..." He sobbed slightly as he said this and looked back to the pond, which still only showed his reflection. Owlicious looked at him before he flapped his wings and flew away, leaving Spike alone on the shore. 'And now I'm alone, not that I deserve any better from the way I just yelled at him,' Spike thought as he gazed at the water, feeling hopeless. 'He's trying to help me and here I am shouting at him. That's not a way a hero would act. But maybe that's why the ring won't work. Because I'm not a Lantern. I never could be one of those heroes. They're fearless souls who battle everyday across space, yet I can't even defeat Sombra.' Spike stared at the water some more until he heard a sound next to him and he turned his head to see what it was, only to be stunned by the sight. It was Owlicious, holding the green ring in his beak with a look of fire in his eyes. He then hopped over to Spike and very deliberately dropped it at his feet, glaring into Spike's eyes. "Why do you keep giving it back to me?" Spike asked as he looked away from Owlicious. "I can't be the hero. I never was the hero. You're better off just finding somepony else." Spike closed his eyes again as he said this, lowering his head back onto his knees. He wished that Owlicious would just take the ring to somepony else, anypony else who could use it. 'Anypony else.' ... ... ... 'But there isn't anypony else.' Spike opened an eye as that single thought ran through his mind, causing him to lift his head and look down at Owlicious, who still looked at Spike with a fierce fire in his eyes. 'There's nopony else who can fight against Sombra. The ring would have flown to that pony if there was. But it hasn't left my side, meaning that it still believes me to be worth of the Green Lantern.' Then Spike looked at Owlicious again and a tearful smile spread across his face. "And that's why you haven't left me either, because you believe in me." "Hoo," Owlicious said in agreement, hitting the ring with his beak and looking up at Spike, who gently took the ring and looked at it with hesitation. 'But the Green Lanterns are supposed to have no fear and I'm still afraid,' Spike thought as he looked at the ring. 'I'm afraid of what will happen if it doesn't work or if I go back into battle and Twilight and the others are dead. What if I fail again? What if..." Spike shook his head as he tightened his grip on his ring, not sure if he could do it. But then another random thought crossed his mind that caused him to focus. 'But it's impossible to be completely unafraid, but the rings still choose Lanterns. Maybe...it's not that they aren't afraid of anything, but they overcome those fears whenever they're needed.' "Hoo," Owlicious said. "And I kept forgetting that," Spike said with a hint of fire in his voice as he got to his feet, clenching his claw around the ring. "That every day there are other Lanterns out there risking their lives to fight against foes that I probably have never seen before. And they fight despite being afraid and despite their shortcomings. Because they have the power to overcome great fear." He unclenched his claw and looked at the cracked ring laying on his palm, narrowing his eyes at it. "And this ring chose Twilight, knowing that she was the perfect pony to be one," Spike said not with despair, but with power flooding through his voice. "But the ring knows who it picks and it only picks those who have what it takes to be a Green Lantern, those who have the will!...That's the reason the ring wouldn't work, not because I didn't have the will to beat Sombra, but because I didn't have the will to face my fears like the other Lanterns!" "Hoo!" "But no more," Spike said in a quiet tone as he took the ring and slipped it on his middle finger, clenching his fist as he looked down into the pond at his reflection, finally getting what Zecora had meant. "I don't care if I'm not supposed to be the true Green Lantern of Equestria, because right now Equestria doesn't need the first Green Lantern, it needs a Green Lantern! And Twilight wouldn't tell me to give the ring to her, she would tell me to fight! And this ring wouldn't have chosen me...if it didn't believe that I had what it took to be like all the other heroes who wield this ring!" Spike looked over to his lantern as he said this and picked it up, holding the ring against it with fear still in him, but it was being completely overpowered by the will he had. "I will stop Sombra. I will save everypony. And this time, I will be the Lantern I was chosen to be," he said as he pushed his fist into the center of the lantern, feeling for the first time the weight of all the other Lanterns upon his shoulders, of what it meant to be a Lantern. Those that fought for justice all over the galaxy and all those who had fallen defending it, no matter the fear they had faced. And then he felt the weight of those who had wielded the ring before him, those who had died fighting for peace. And with those thoughts running through his head, for the first time he spoke those words that so many lanterns before him had said not just with will, but with belief in what he was saying as well. With belief in himself. "In brightest day or in blackest night, I shall never again lose my will to fight! And let those who worship evil's might...beware my power...GREEN! LANTERN'S! LIGHT!" The lantern flashed with a light that sent a column of green energy into the air, filling Spike with its power. The cracks on his ring repaired themselves as the power of will flowed through him as his suit formed around him, glowing with the light of the Lantern itself. Spike pulled the ring away to from the lantern to look down at it, smiling when he saw it was all lit up. 'You finally listened to what I've been saying,' the ring said to him. "You were right," Spike said as he looked up at the castle, the castle that still had the ensemble of Sombra all over it. "I have the will to be a Green Lantern. Now the time has come to see if I can defeat a yellow one." 'Are you afraid?' the ring asked him. "Of course. But I will overcome it," Spike said with a smile as he looked back to Owlicious. "Thank you, for not giving up on me." "Hoo," Owlicious said as he looked up at the castle, Spike nodding as he knew what the owl was thinking. So with determination in his eyes, Spike willed himself into the air as he flung himself towards the castle. 'I'm coming for you Sombra and this time I have the will to defeat you. Be afraid.'