//------------------------------// // Orange Definitely Isn't Your Color // Story: The Emerald Dragon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Sombra smiled to himself as he walked down the memories of the mare, seeing all that had brought her to where she was today. All the success, all of the glamor and all of the love that she received from all the other ponies. It would be so easy to turn her fears against her. He had kept the orange ring off of her with a barrier of yellow, wanting to wait for the right moment before it took control. 'Here we are,' Sombra thought to himself as he saw the door to where Rarity kept her dreams. He made a gagging face at the prissy door as he opened it and slipped inside, taking on his more smoke like form as he saw the mare standing by a table and sewing up a suit. His ring flashed once as he moved forward and he took on the appearance of Applejack, albeit a bit more yellow than usual. "Hey there sugarcube, what are ya making?" "Oh hello Applejack, I am simply creating a new outfit that I am certain will take Equestria by storm," Rarity said as she held up the outfit so Somjack could see, forcing him to resist gagging at the sight of it. "Oh come now, give me your honest opinion of it," Rarity said when she saw Applejack's face. "It looks fine, that's to be certain," Applejack said before Sombra cursed himself inwardly for forgetting the accent. "But ah don't know why ya bothered making it." "Excuse me?" Rarity asked. "Well, it's good, but there are so many ponies out there better at it than ya and ah feel like yer wasting yer time," Applejack said as she began to walk around Rarity, Sombra constructing copies of the ponies who were considered to be the best. "Ah mean, why would ponies want anything from you when they have these talented folks to make them outfits?" "Y-you might be right, but I can still put my own unique touch on it," Rarity said defiantly, but Applejack vanished behind her and came back around as Twilight. "But statics show that ponies only want to get things from the best of the best and you're not that good," Twibra said as she created a yellow chart, Sombra smirking inwardly as he saw Rarity's eyes shrink. "You'll be mediocre at best and ponies will either never pay attention to you or they'll consider you a flash in the pan." "A flash in the pan? Darling, I am the prettiest and greatest designer in all of Ponyville," Rarity said with a flip of her mane, never noticing as Twilight changed to Sweetie Belle. "Let's talk about that beauty of yours for a moment," Sweetie said with a smile that Sweetie could never make in real life. "You seem to be beautiful and everpony considers you to be, but that is because they don't know the real you. The greedy Rarity, who wants everything and if she can't get what she wants, she'll stab even her friends in the back to get what she wants." "You're lying. I am the Element of Generosity," Rarity shot back, but Sweetie let out a laugh that chilled Rarity to the core. Sweetie then flashed and was suddenly her adult form and Rarity's jaw hit the ground when she saw just how beautiful her sister was. "Generosity? You used a baby dragon to do most of your work. You selfishly cry whenever the littlest tragedy strikes you, forcing others to pay attention to you," Sweetie said with a radiant smile that blinded Rarity. "That is why I will become far more beautiful than you will ever be. Because my beauty comes from the inside, not out." "L-liar," Rarity spat back, but Sombra could feel her will beginning to weaken, giving him even more power. "Oh, am I?" Sweetie asked as she changed to Spike. "Spike, the little dragon that loves you so much is now spending all of his time with Sweetie Belle, your sister and he seems to be quite happy doing so. Think about it. Has he even bothered to come visit you in the past few days when it wasn't about Sweetie?" "S-Sweetie's a Lantern now, of course they'll-" "Oh, but he was spending time with her long before that. But let's talk about this whole Lantern thing, shall we?" Spike asked as he changed into the Emerald Dragon with Sweetie in her Blue Lantern outfit next to him. "If you are truly an Element of Harmony, then why did the ring skip over you? Spike admitted that the green ring was originally Twilight's, but she rejected it. But the blue one went right for Sweetie, passing you over entirely. Can't you see Rarity, for the rest of your life all you create or all you deserve is going to be taken from you by somepony else, until you have nothing left." "W-what?" Rarity asked with tears in her eyes as an image of the Elements leaving her for Sweetie Belle played out, for all of her best ideas being stolen by others and used against her and finally her being old and forgotten, all alone. "No, this cannot be! Why did this happen!?" Sombra smiled as he could see the fear coming off of her and he changed back into his regular self in full yellow as she looked up at him, full on crying. "How can I stop this from happening?" "Take it all," Sombra whispered as he help out his hoof, a single orange ring sitting in it. "Nopony has worked harder than you. They don't deserve what they have. You deserve it all." Rarity looked at the ring for a moment before her eyes flashed orange and she reached out for the ring, Sombra smiling as it floated off of his hoof and onto her horn. "And I'll help you take it all." And then he began to laugh as Rarity's mind was completely overtaken in a flash of orange. Sombra chuckled as he began to twists Rarity's will so that she would obey him with his power, just as he heard those words echo across her mind. 'Rarity of Equestria. You want it all.' lOl "...And you were training with Zecora for that entire day?" Spike asked Sweetie under the shade of the CMC clubhouse, both of them having met there since Spike wanted to talk about the fact that Sweetie was a Lantern now. "So that's why you were gone all day. But why Zecora? If you needed help, shouldn't you have gone to somepony who has, I don't know, a ring?" he asked as he showed her his green ring, causing her to giggle. "But that would have ruined the surprise for you!" Sweetie said the blue ring rested on the grass next to her. "After all, you're the dragon who helped me be so hopeful. Besides, Zecora is like skilled at everything. She's the one who taught me how to summon my hope in bursts like that! She's really good at teaching control and focus as well. She's the reason I could fly in a little under a day." "I'm just wondering how she is so skilled with alien tech," Spike muttered. "But thanks for helping yesterday, my ring can't combat fear the way yours can I guess. It would have been a lot worse without you. Thanks." Sweetie blushed at the praise before she looked up at the sky, still not believing that she was a Lantern. "So, did you get a battery as well and does your ring talk to you as well?" "Yeah, I have a blue Lantern that I hid in my closet," Sweetie said as she slipped her ring on, the blue suit forming over her coat. "But while my ring can talk, it doesn't know as much as yours. Wonder why that is?" "Probably because it's not part of the biggest corps," Spike said as he felt his ring become stronger by her presences, wondering why that was before another thought crossed his mind. "Hey Sweetie, how's Rarity doing? After that attack on her house and all the crazy stuff that's been going on, I've been wondering how she's been holding up?" "Not sure really, I haven't had an actually talk with her in a while," Sweetie replied as she lay back on the grass, levitating slightly off the ground as she looked up at the sky. "She wasn't home this morning, but she left a note saying that she would meet you and me in the center of town around noon. Her hoof writing looked a little weird, but I don't know how she's been doing." Spike frowned a bit at that, but he figured that he could ask her around noon how she was doing. He hadn't spent as much time with her as he wanted to due to his Lantern duties and he missed her, although he knew being a Lantern came first. He made sure of that. "Well, we'll talk to her at noon then," Spike said as he suited up before looking over at Sweetie Belle. "What do you say we do a quick flight over the town before heading to the town square? I need to talk to Twilight real fast before meeting with Rarity." Sweetie nodded and flew up beside him, struggling a bit before righting herself and the both of them flew off into the sky, Spike slowing down just a bit so that Sweetie could keep up. The two landed in the branches of Twilight's library and floated downstairs, Owlicious alerting Twilight to their presences by hooting and flying over to Spike and landing on his head. "Hey Spike...hi Sweetie," Twilight said as she squinted at the Blue Lantern, confirming what Spike had told her last night. "So I see that our ring count is up to five now. How many rings did you say there were Spike?" "At least seven," he replied. "Great," Twilight muttered as she sat down at the table, looking at the two floating light shows with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't this the time that you usually do a sweep of the town and look for trouble?" she asked Spike. "Just came to say hi and to recharge," Spike said as Owlicious took off, retuning a moment later with the green battery clutched in his talons. "Owlicious, you don't have to keep doing that. I can get it myself." "Hoo." "In brightest day or in blackest night, I shall never again lose my will to fight! And let all those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's Light!" A flash of green went off as he said this and he pulled his ring back away from the battery with a fully charged ring. "Need to charge yours Sweetie?" "Hold on," Sweetie said as she reached into a portal to drag out her battery. "I'm still getting used to being able to do that. In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite! When all seems lost in this war on light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright! Done." Both her and Spike floated off the ground and waved at Twilight before shooting out of the house, leaving Twilight to sigh at the new hole in her roof. "Remind me to get a sun roof installed," she muttered to Owlicious, who picked up the battery in his talons and began to lug it back up the stairs. Spike and Sweetie flew over the town, looking around for any signs of trouble. After helping a pony that had lost control of her cart and stopping some rabbits that had escaped, the both of them floated above town hall, waiting for Rarity to arrive. "So why do you go on patrol?" Sweetie asked. "Because ever since my battle with Sombra, I've been trying to be the best Lantern I can," Spike replied as he kept an eye on the streets, looking for any signs of trouble. "I was careless with my power before, but now I know the weight of what I wield." "It doesn't really weight that much," Sweetie muttered as she looked up at her ring, Spike slightly rolling his eyes. "Anyway, I'm thinking that I need a cool name like yours! I haven't given it too much thought, Zecora's training regime wiped me out, but I was thinking along the lines of Sapphire Sweetie. How does it sound?" "She should be here by now," Spike muttered as he looked at the clock to see it read five after, Sweetie pouting at the fact that Spike ignored her. "Why would she be late?" "That might be on me." Spike and Sweetie both spun around to see Sombra floating behind them, his yellow suit reflecting in his eyes, eyes that shone with delight at the looks of rage on the both of them. Spike shot bolts of green energy and Sombra, who threw up a shield to defend himself. "Nice to see you as well. You haven't heard from me for a week, but do you show any concern when I do show up? No, it's all "shoot the bad guy" with you. I swear I'm the only one trying in this relationship." "I was hoping that I would never have to see you again," Spike growled as he unleashed a concentrated beam on Sombra's shield, but it was unable to get through. "How about I help?" Sweetie offered as she combined a beam of her own with Spike's supercharging the green attack until it pushed through Sombra's barrier, sending the yellow clad pony crashing into the streets. While he was down there, Spike shot a bolt of green into the sky that exploded far above the town, letting green energy rain down. "What was that?" Sweetie asked. "A call for Twilight and the Elements to gather," Spike said as Sombra got up and shook his mane. "They'll see it and they'll bring their Elements with them." The ponies in the streets only needed to take one look at Sombra before they all began to panic, running around and screaming while Sombra looked at them. "But I haven't done anything to all of you yet," Sombra pouted as Spike and Sweetie landed in front of him, Twilight arriving a moment later in a burst of magic. Pinkie appeared next to her as well while AJ and Fluttershy were flown in by rainbow Dash, all of whom were wearing their respective Elements. "Sombra," Twilight said with venom. "You were expecting Star-Swirl?" Sombra replied before ducking under a blast of magic. The ponies all prepared for the battle with Sombra, but Sweetie began to look around as she realized somepony was missing. "Hey, where's my sister?" she asked. "Above you," Sombra said. Spike looked up just as a bolt of orange energy slammed into him, sending him skidding across the ground and into the side of a building. All of the ponies there gasped and looked up, only to find who was floating above them. Her suit was made of orange and her mane was the same color, but there was no mistaking the mane style or the fact that orange suit looked a lot more fashionable than last time. "Rarity?" Sweetie both asked in absolute horror before she had to protect herself from a blast of orange that sent her skidding back as well. "Oh that face makes not killing you so worth it. What's the matter Spike?" Sombra asked as he floated up next to Rarity and placed a hoof on her shoulder while Spike pulled himself out of the wall. "You look like you've just had the love of your life stolen away by some crazy pony that used his power to manipulate her into fighting alongside him to destroy you, which couldn't have been the case because I'm brilliant and not crazy." "You monster!" Twilight yelled as she prepared to fire at Sombra, but Rarity shot down and grabbed her Element. "Rarity, what are you doing? You have to fight his control!" "Give it to me!" Rarity yelled back as she took the Element off of Twilight's head before swatting her aside, the other Elements catching her. Rarity looked at the tiara with pure delight as she placed it on her head, laughing to herself while Spike and Sweetie returned to the battle. "What have you done to my sister?!" Sweetie screamed as she fired a bolt of blue at Sombra, but it was stopped by a combination of yellow and orange. "She works for me now," Sombra said with a smile. "It would have been too bothersome to deal with two ring wielders myself, but I decided to get some backup. Fortunately your sister was susceptible to the orange rings power. I just helped it along a bit." "Impossible, her Element would have protected her!" Spike yelled as he engaged Sombra, who tried to snare Spike in a bear trap that the young dragon barely avoided. "Don't worry, I took care of the Element," Sombra said with a smile as he swatted Spike away with a flyswatter. "You'll never see it again. Or if you were referring to her inner Element, I dealt with that also. Not to mention brainwash her a little, just for fun." "You monster!" Sweetie yelled as she fired her ring at Sombra, whose shields cracked under her blue power. "That could be a bother. Rarity, be a dear and deal with your sister," Sombra commanded in a sweet tone. "She does have everything you want after all." Sweetie prepared to fire again before she was tackled by Rarity, whose eyes were a pure orange as she drove the two of them through a number of buildings, the Element she had stolen falling off her head as she did so. "Give them to me!" she roared at Sweetie as she pinned her to the ground, trying to drill through Sweetie's horn to get her ring. "Your beauty, your ring...YOU! Give it all to me!" Sweetie sent out a burst of hope that knocked Rarity off of her and flew into the air, trying to comprehend what had happened to her sister. The mane six were about to enter the battle as well before they felt the ground began to shake. The ponies turned to see a hydra with yellow eyes enter the town, roaring as it started to step on the buildings and chase the ponies. "Don't worry girls, I brought something for you to do as well," Sombra said as he waved goodbye to Twilight and the others, all of who glared at him before running off to deal with the hydra. "I'm always thinking of others, even when they don't care about me. Maybe I should be the Element of Generosity?" He had to focus his attention on Spike as the dragon came flying back at him with a vengeance, using anything he could think of to try and crush or impale Sombra. Sombra smiled as he turned to smoke and vanished into the ground, Spike firing at the trails with all his might. "You've gone too far this time Sombra!" Spike yelled as he used tweezers to pull Sombra out of the ground, preparing to squish him until Sombra broke free and flew into the clouds, Spike chasing after him while shooting, getting more and more frustrated each time he missed. "Trying to kill me is one thing, but turning Rarity against her own sister and making her become an Orange Lantern?! You will be sorry!" "As much as I would love to take credit, again this is...mostly you and your friends fault," Sombra replied with a cackle as he created thunderstorm clouds that shot lightning at Spike, who had to focus on dodging. Sombra was about to go on when a streak of blue flew by him, quickly followed by one of orange. Sweetie spun around and tried to wrap her sister in fabric to stop her, but Rarity dodged and tackled her sister, again trying to tear her ring off. "Rarity, it's me! Sweetie!" Sweetie yelled in a desperate attempt to get to her sister, but to no avail as Rarity roared and continued to claw at her. Spike gritted his teeth in pain as he took aim at Rarity and shot her off the back of Sweetie, closing his eyes as the bolt struck Rarity and sent her into a spiral. He tried to catch her, but Sombra got there first and caught Rarity within a sphere before turning and blasting Spike with yellow energy. "How hard is this to understand Spike?" Sombra asked with an evil smile as Spike caught himself. "She belongs to me now!" "Never!" Sweetie roared as she came flying back down at Sombra, firing with all of her might at him while trying to free Rarity from the sphere. Sombra managed to stay one step ahead as he created a mirror that reflected the attacks at Spike, who took them head on. "Spike!" Sweetie yelled as she tried to fly over to him, but both Rarity and Sombra fired beams of energy into her back, causing her to scream before the pain knocked her out. Spike recovered just in time to fly forward and catch her, but he looked up to Sombra and Rarity with worry in his eyes now that the battle had become two on one. "You talk about your precious friendship and your unbreakable bonds, but I have taken those bonds and ripped them apart," Sombra said with glee as he pointed his ring at Spike. "And all it took was to convince one of your friends that her little sister was taking everything away from her, turning her against said sister. Oh the delicious pain it must have caused you. Rarity, let's end this." "She tried to take my future," Rarity spat as she pointed her horn at Spike and Sweetie as well. "So I will take her life in exchange." "Rarity, this isn't you," Spike said as he desperately thought of what to do, trying to keep Sweetie out of the line of fire. "You are one of the kindest, most generous ponies I know. This is not you talking. This is whatever Sombra did to you. You have to fight it; you have to remember who you are." "I know who I am," she snarled. "I deserve it all." As she said this, both she and Sombra fired two beams of pure energy at Spike, the twin beams combining into one as they came closer to him. Spike aimed his ring at the two beams and prepared to fire as well, despite knowing full well that he couldn't push them both back. 'I'm sorry Rarity, I've failed you,' he thought to himself before looking down at the unconscious Sweetie. "And I'm sorry for failing you." Then Spike fired his own green beam, preparing to fight off the attack as long as he could. But the sudden burst of power that shot from his ring was beyond anything he had ever felt and he had to catch himself as the power pushed him back. The green beam shattered the combined orange and yellow and engulfed both Rarity and Sombra within its power, sending the two of them flying across the land until they had both vanished. "W-what happened?" Spike asked in disbelief once the attack had stopped, looking down at his green ring which seemed to have hints of blue in it. 'Will is a powerful emotion in its own right,' the ring said. 'But when combined with hope, it is one of the strongest emotions on the spectrum.' Spike looked down at Sweetie as the ring said this, realizing that ever since she got her ring whenever he was close to her he felt stronger and now he knew why. His first instinct was to fly after Sombra and Rarity, but Sweetie groaned in pain and he knew that he had to take care of her first. So with tears running down his face he flew back to where the Elements of Harmony were battling the hydra, pointing his ring at the beast as he did so. IOI "I can't believe that Rarity is with Sombra now," Rainbow Dash said in disbelief as she and the other Elements sat around Twilight's table. The group had come back to her library after the battle where Twilight discerned that while Sweetie's injury might be painful, it wasn't life threatening and she could treat it. "She isn't with him, he and that ring did something to her mind," Twilight reminded the five of them, Spike having gone to check on Sweetie. "Remember what the orange ring did to Spike on its own and now Sombra has done something to Rarity's mind to get her to work with him. She's not thinking right." "But she is dangerous now," AJ reminded them. "And ah don't think we should let two children be the ones doing all the fighting, but we're all powerless against those rings. We can't even go looking fer Rarity since with that ring she could be in space for all we know." Twilight thought about Applejack's words for a minute before she decided something. "You're right, but if we're going to fight against Sombra and Rarity, then we're going to need some more power in our corner," Twilight said as she walked over to her Element and placed it on her head before pulling out a number of train tickets. "So we're going to give my brother and sister a visit and tell them of our plight. Maybe their power along with ours will allow us to beat him." "I hope so," Rainbow Dash said as she looked up towards the stairs where Sweetie rested. Spike sat beside her, but he was looking down at a picture of the mane six, with him placed in there from another picture. "Hoo?" Owlicious asked from the bed stand, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Sorry bud, I was just thinking," he muttered as he looked back at the picture. "It's just...I know that Sombra isn't gone for good, a pony like him never stays dead. But I know that when he comes back, Rarity will be there as well and I don't know if I have the strength to fight her." 'But if you don't then Sweetie will have to,' the ring said, Owlicious hooting in agreement. "I know and this has to be ten times harder on her," Spike said as he put the picture down to the side and looked down at the sleeping Sweetie, who was resting peacefully despite the pain she had to endure. "And just this morning she was so excited about being a Lantern with me and now she has to fight her sister...I don't know how she's going to handle it." 'She is a Lantern of hope. She will not give up on her sister,' the ring said. Spike nodded before looking out the window, still able to feel the rage for what Sombra had done. "And I swear that I will make Sombra pay for his crimes and I will find a way to break Rarity free of both him and the ring," Spike said as he looked down at the green ring before activating his suit, shooting out of the top of the library as he flew off to where he had seen the pair fly. But he found no traces of them anywhere and the ring said that their powers were being cloaked by something, giving him no leads there. He flew around until the sun came up before he decided to call it and head back to Twilight, who he hoped had a plan. IOI "I want Sweetie! I want her ring!" Rarity roared from inside a hidden chamber far beneath the old castle, but she gritted her teeth in pain as yellow energy flooded into her. "Enough," Sombra said before attending to his own wounds. He had found this place in his week of hiding and had converted it to a home that also hid the energy signatures of his and Rarity's ring. "We were taken by surprise today and both of us were gravely injured because of Spike's hidden power. That is a mistake I will not allow to happen twice, but we need to rest." "But I want her now!" Rarity roared, only to get another shot of yellow to the chest that pinned her to the wall. "Oh don't worry, you will, but for now rest," Sombra said as his horn glowed, causing Rarity to pass out on the ground while Sombra turned his attention back to bandaging up himself. 'But I will need a distraction so that I can have time to heal and plan since neither of the two Lanterns will rest until they have found me. Perhaps it is time I pay a visit to an old friend of mine.'