//------------------------------// // Kingdom to the North // Story: The Emerald Dragon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Spike, Sweetie and the mane six headed out the following morning, heading to the Crystal Empire by train after Twilight sent a letter to the princesses telling them what had happened and where they were going. The princesses would eventually join them, but they had to deal with the public after the ponies found out that Sombra was back. The public had also seen what had happened, but the princesses’ official report was that Sombra had hypnotized Rarity into working with him. The ponies of Ponyville were hit hard by this news and Sweetie said that she had spent most the morning answering the door for ponies that were offering condolences. The train ride up was quiet, nopony really saying anything as they all thought about what had happened the previous day. Spike was sitting next to Twilight and Sweetie, with Fluttershy sitting across from them while petting Owlicious. "It just doesn't make sense, that's all I'm saying," Twilight said with some frustration. "Rarity is the Element of Generosity, how could she have possibly fallen to the Orange Lanterns power?" She was looking to Sweetie to answer this, but the little filly was simply staring out the window, the blue ring resting beside her on the windowsill. "Well, Sombra did say that he did do something to Rarity to make her fall under his influences," Spike said as he recalled some of what Sombra had said during the battle. "Maybe he did something to her mind that made her more susceptible to the ring?" "It's just not like Rarity to be that mean," Fluttershy said weakly. "I mean, she can be a bit selfish at times, but to go after her own sister? That has to be Sombra's doing." Spike couldn't forget that scene either, how Rarity was trying with all of her might to kill her own sister, despite the blue ring supposing to be able to weaken the orange ring. It had been a chilling sight as he had seen the murder in Rarity's eyes himself. "Ah feel for the poor girl though, ah can't imagine what it's like being under the control of both Sombra and an evil ring," Applejack said with a shake of her head. "Yeah? All I can imagine is how much pain I'm going to inflict on Sombra when I get my hooves on him," Rainbow said as she slammed her forehooves together. "Don't worry, once she's back to normal everything will be just the way it used to be," Pinkie said with a happy smile as she stuck her head out the train window. "My biggest question right now is where did they go?" Spike asked as he looked under the seats, not really looking at the bags that contained his and Sweetie's batteries. His and Sweetie's rings had been unable to find either of the two despite them being able to scan most of the planet. "If the rings couldn't find them, does that mean that they're no longer on the planet or that Sombra has somehow found a way to mask the rings energy?" "If he has, then it will make him even harder to find," Twilight said before looking out the window. "I hate being this powerless. I'm a princess and an Element of Harmony and yet when my friend needed me most I was powerless to help her." "Just be thankful that we do have somepony on our side that can fight these threats," Fluttershy said with a warm smile at Spike. "I'd hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't gotten your ring." "She could be extremely selfish at times," Sweetie said, causing all heads to turn to her. "I've lived with her long enough to know that she had a selfish side. She might be the Element of Generosity, but don't trick yourselves into thinking that she couldn't be stingy. You should see her when she was trying to get a stallion to fall for her, she could be downright mean. But she would never hurt me, not if she was in her right mind." "I'm sorry that happened Sweetie," Spike said. "I had no idea that even Sombra could stoop so low. But know that we will get Rarity back, even if that means I have to tear Sombra's ring off of his horn myself. Don't worry." Sweetie looked to Spike with a small smile on her face before she picked up her ring and looked at it. "I'm not worried, not that much. Rarity's a tough one when she needs to be and I think the reason she didn't kill me back there was because she was fighting both the ring and Sombra the entire time," Sweetie said with her boundless optimism. "All will be well." Spike and the others smiled back at her as the train pulled into the station, Spike and Sweetie placing their rings inside of their bags before the got up to leave the train, following Twilight and the others off. He waved goodbye to Owlicious as the train left, the owl going back to keep an eye on the library. The group was greeted at the station by Shining Armor, who was immediately tackled by Twilight as the both of them began to laugh. "Hey Twily, glad to see that you haven't forgotten about me up here," Shining said with a smile as he pulled his sister into a one armed hug. "Like I could forget you," she said as she pushed him off, allowing him to greet the others. Despite the cheerful greeting, Shining had also read the letter and knew why they were there, so he didn't waste any time in walking the most of them to a number of taxi's that were parked next to the station. "Come on everypony, princess Cadence is waiting at the castle," Shining said as he hopped into one of the taxis, Twilight and Spike joining him while the others headed into other taxis. "So, Sombra's back huh?" Shining asked once the group began to move. "Last I heard of him he was defeated by the Emerald Dragon at Canterlot nearly a week ago. How can he be back already?" "Because cockroaches were taught by Sombra on how to be so hard to kill," Spike muttered, getting a chuckle out of Shining before he took on a more somber expression. "I'm sorry about Rarity," he said. "We'll get her back," Spike said with certainty as the taxi's approached the castle. Shining paid for all of the cabs and the group headed inside to the throne room, where Cadence sat upon her throne with a smile as she saw her sister and their friends approach. Twilight and Cadence did their usual greeting while Spike looked around at all the crystal guards and noticed that they seemed to be a bit on edge. "Is something going on?" he whispered to Shining, who told him that Cadence would tell them all. After the greeting Cadence sat back down on her throne and let out a sigh, the group noticing that she looked more tired than usual. "I'm afraid it's business," she said once asked about her condition. "We knew of the takeover of Canterlot, but we had our own troubles to deal with that had to be dealt with. Recently there have been reports that changelings have been spotted around the Crystal Empire and while further searches have yielded no evidence of this, I'm still up most of the time searching for them. I can normally lure them out with my love spells, but so far none are biting if they are here." Spike frowned at the thought of changelings being here and made a mental note to talk to Twilight later about looking around the Crystal Empire for the changelings. "We'll be happy to help if we can, be I'm afraid that we also need your help. We've lost one of the Elements of Harmony," Twilight said sadly, Cadence nodding her head with a sad look. "Yes, I read your letter and I am so sorry that Sombra did this," Cadence said with rage in her voice. "I should have made sure that he was beaten last time for good, but now he has become your problem. I will help you in any way I can." "But from what I've read about the past few weeks, it seems that Ponyville and Canterlot have a hero to call on if needed," Shining said as he walked over to his wife. "The Emerald Dragon right, the dragon with the ring that can do anything? Is he going to help us as well?" "Of course he will," Twilight answered, Spike nodding in agreement although he did wonder why Twilight hadn't told Cadence and Shining his identity. "We also have a new Lantern and while she's a bit newer at the whole superhero thing, she's willing to fight alongside the Dragon." Spike saw the fire of determination in Sweetie's eyes as Twilight saw this and he knew that there was nothing Sombra could throw at her that would break her. "Very well, I will return with you to Ponyville in a few days," Cadence said as she got up with a sigh, Shining gently placing a hoof on her shoulder as she walked forward. "I want to confirm that there are no changelings in my Empire before I go, but once I am certain that there are not, I will be with you." "We can help you look for them, I enjoy kicking changeling butt," RD offered before shooting out the window, the other Elements agreeing with Rainbow Dash before they too took off to the streets, except for Fluttershy who stayed behind to make sure Cadence was alright. That left Twilight, Spike and Sweetie along in the room with the guards and the royal couple, Spike motioning for the other two to join him. "Planning to go off and look for the changelings by yourself?" Twilight whispered once she and Sweetie had walked over. "Yes, but not in Lantern uniform," Spike whispered back. "It would be far too obvious if me and Sweetie showed up and then two Lanterns that looked almost identical to us appeared as well. Sweetie, do you want to come with me or spend some time here in the palace?" Spike would have liked to have some back up out in the field, but he wasn't sure how Sweetie was holding up even though she said she was fine. His worry must have shown through his face because she rolled her eyes at him before answering. "I'll come with you, I have a personal score with the changelings as well," Sweetie said with a smile. Twilight nodded and after they both procured their rings from their bags, the two of them headed out into the streets while Twilight stayed behind to speak with her brother. "You don't have to worry about me so much Spike, I know that we'll get Rarity back," Sweetie said to him once they had entered the streets of the Crystal Empire. "I still have hope," she said as her ring began to glow. "See?" "Alright, but we don't need a light show right now," Spike said as he and Sweetie headed to the marketplace, where a large number of crystal ponies were all shopping around. "Ring, scan the ponies here to see if any of them are in disguise, but do so without being seen." Some of the ponies that recognized Spike waved to him as he passed and he waved back, although his attention was more focused on scanning the crowd. Sweetie was looking around as well, but he could see that her attention was more focused on the items that were up for sale. "See something you like?" an old mare asked as Sweetie walked over, looking at all the crystal items with interest while Spike stared to look through the crowd, waiting for the ring to tell him something was up. When it failed to, he frowned and headed off deeper into the market, Sweetie following him with the crystal ball that she had bought. "Think it will let me see the future?" she asked him as she placed the bag it was in on her back. "If it can, see if it will tell us where the Changelings are," Spike said as the two of them came to the center of the market, where a number of crystal ponies were watching a street performer. "Anything ring?" 'Nothing. No indications of any pony in disguise,' it replied, causing Spike to sigh. "Relax Spike, there's nothing we can do until the changelings are found, if they are here," Sweetie said as she sat down on a bench and pulled her ball out of the bag, looking into it with interest as smoke swirled inside of it. Spike didn't sit down; instead he pulled out his ring and looked at it for a moment before walking off. "Where are you going?" "There's something that I want to test real fast," he said as he slipped off to the side, down an alleyway that had no ponies in it. He slipped on the ring and had barely allowed the suit to cover him before he shot up into the sky, climbing higher and higher until he was in the upper atmosphere. He stopped here as he looked off into space, wondering just how many planets were out there with life like his own. "If I wanted to fly to Oa, how long would it take me to get there?" 'The frontier is not a part of the normal guardian space. You would have to fly for a very long time to get to Oa,' the ring replied. 'Why do you suddenly have interest in the Guardians?' "Just wanted to see what they were like. I also would like to meet some of the other Lanterns, in case I ever need to ask for their help" Spike muttered. "So how fast can I fly? If I was really trying I mean?" 'You have a certain speed in atmosphere, but in space you can almost reach light speed,' the ring replied, Spike whistling at that kind of speed. He then turned around and looked down at his planet below him, able to see almost all of the continents from up above. Yet he still couldn't see where Rarity or Sombra was and that fact continued to frustrate him. 'But I will find her. That I promise,' he thought to himself before he flew back down to the planet. IOI "So where did you go?" Sweetie asked once he had gotten back. She had relocated herself to a park and had bought some lunch for herself in the short time Spike was away. "I flew into space for a moment," Spike replied. "Wanted to see if I could get to Oa from here, but the ring said that was a bad idea." "You didn't just ask it here?" Sweetie muttered before taking a bite into her sandwich. "I wanted to test it out for myself," he muttered before looking around at the crystal park, which was like a regular park but with crystals in place of plants. Then he looked over at Sweetie and realized that the wound on her back from the other day had almost completely healed up. "Didn't you have a bad wound on your back the other day?" Spike asked her, getting her too look behind her at where the burn had been. "I did, but apparently my blue ring has to power to heal wounds super quick," Sweetie said with a smile. "What's really weird though is that whenever I get close to you I can feel myself suddenly get stronger all of a sudden. I don't know why that is." "I do. The ring told me that both will and hope are strong alone, but when the two of them combine their powers is when they're at their strongest," he explained as he moved his green ring close to her blue one, both of them watching as the rings began to glow with an even greater light. "So what you're saying is when we fight together we're at our strongest?" Sweetie asked as she looked down at her own ring. "Will and Hope huh? Does that mean greed gets stronger when it's with fear?" 'No. Greed feeds off of all the other powers if it's wielder chooses for it to, but it cannot be made stronger because of the feeding little one,' the blue ring said, Spike noticing that the blue ring sounded a lot nicer than his. 'Rage can burn through almost all constructs, but the light of a blue ring can nullify a Red Lanterns rage if needed.' "What else can you do?" Sweetie asked it. 'I can heal, just as you observed but only in the presence of a green ring. I can also replay past events, but cannot change them and I also can feed off the hope of others to gain greater power little ones,' the blue ring explained. 'I can also create constructs, but unlike the green ring I do based on the wielders hopes. I can also nullify other lantern rings if needed. The blue light of hope is also the strongest of all the emotions.' "Wow, seems like you got one of the best rings out there," Spike muttered, wishing his ring could do some of these things. "Sounds like there is nothing your ring can't do." 'I can only tap into my true power whenever there is a Green Lantern nearby though, little dragon,' the ring said to Spike. 'Hope is nothing without the will to act upon it.' Spike nodded at that before he looked back to Sweetie, who finished her sandwich in one bite. "So why did you go to Zecora for training again? I could have trained you if you wanted." "Thanks for the offer, but she actually sought me out," Sweetie said. "After I had gotten the ring, I was training at the CMC clubhouse, not a good idea, when she found me. She said that she could help me to master the ring faster than I could on my own. I took her offer and she helped me to get a good handle on the ring." Spike wondered how Zecora would know how to train a pony with a power ring, but then Spike figured that Twilight would probably want to know about what the blue ring had told them. So he and Sweetie both left the park and headed back to the castle, Spike asking his ring if it had sensed anything, only to get the same answer as before. "Twilight is still talking to Cadence," Shining said to the pair once they had reached the castle again, the other members of the main six waiting outside the door to the throne room as well. "I can let you in when they're done." Spike nodded and went to sit down when the ring began to glow. 'Shape shifter in the other room.' Spike's eye widened immediately and he slipped his ring on, the green suit covering him as he blasted the door down, flying into the room to see that he had startled both Cadence and Twilight, not to mention all of the guards inside of the room. Twilight asked him what the heck he was doing as he began to scan the room with his ring, the ring narrowing in on a guard that was closet to Cadence. "I'm saving your flanks," Spike said before he fired a bolt of green energy into the guard, who yelped as the bolt struck him in the chest and sent him flying across the room and into the wall. All of the ponies were starting to ask what was going on when the green fire surrounded the guard and he reappeared as a changeling, who growled at Spike as he pointed his ring at the changeling, cuffing him with green energy. "So changeling, care to tell me what you're doing in here by yourself?" "You think that I am foolish enough to come here by myself?" the changeling asked him with a wicked smile. Spike wondered what he meant before there was a large explosion of energy and the barrier protecting the city started to fall. "They've gone after the crystal heart!" Cadence yelled as she ran out of the room, Shining and the other guards following suit while the six ponies remained behind with Spike. "What was that all about?!" Spike asked as he grabbed the changeling by the throat and lifted it up, the changeling still smiling despite knowing that it was horribly outnumbered. But the creature didn't need to answer as Spike looked out the window to see a swarm of changelings descending into the city, their sheer numbers blocking out the sun from how many of them were swarming the city. And then, in the center of it all, Spike and the others could see the queen of the changelings riding in on a green chariot, commanding her forces from there. "Queen Chrysalis," Twilight said in horror as the changelings began to swarm the castle as well. Twilight and the others took up fighting stances and prepared to fight off the changelings, but the ones that were climbing in through the windows took bolts of blue energy to the face and were immediately thrown out of the castle. "Whaddya think Spike?" Blue Lantern Sweetie asked as she floated over to the windows in her full uniform. "Think these changelings need to be introduced to the hero of Equestria?" Spike smiled as lifted the other changeling up to him, preparing to throw him to the mane six before he headed off to fight. But then the changeling began to glow with a yellow energy before he said, "Hail to the queen." The changeling exploded in a blast of yellow energy, sending Spike's smoldering body across the room and into a wall, where all he saw was blackness. IOI From her chariot that was pulled by some of the strongest changelings in her ranks, Chrysalis was able to watch as her children...her army invaded the Crystal empire down below. She knew that she shouldn't be worried about them, they were the best of the best, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this was a mistake. 'But we need the crystal heart,' she thought to herself as she sent in more changelings. 'With its power we will be able to feed ourselves for centuries without the need to conquer and maim. I know that I cannot trust everything that Sombra says, but at the very least this might prove to be our greatest triumph.' Her thoughts were interrupted when one of her generals flew up beside her, saluting before she allowed him to speak. "Team three is in place and the prince is fighting the guards closest to the crystal heart, but we have bad news," he said while nervously looking at the ground. "It seems that...the Emerald Dragon is here." Chrysalis showed no outward reaction to this, but she was worried on the inside. The Emerald Dragon was the protector of the ponies and had a ring that rivaled the power of the one Sombra had. If he was here, then she needed her forces to win quickly and escape with the heart. "It also gets worse my queen. There is also another pony that wields one of those rings with them as well. This time it is a filly who uses a blue ring. Our spies said that she can match the power of the Emerald Dragon and also helped to defeat Sombra." 'Curse you Sombra, for leaving that part out,' Chrysalis thought to herself before trying to come up with a plan. Her forces were no match for the dragon, even those with the boost that Sombra had given them. But if she could keep the two ring wielders distracted... "Tell our forces to avoid the dragon at all costs," Chrysalis instructed before she took her own battle armor off of the floor of the chariot and placed it over herself, finally picking up the spear that had been passed down through generations. "I will keep the Dragon's focus on me while my son deals with the heart. We shall not leave this battle empty hoofed." And with that she began to buzz her wings as she flew into the fray, hoping that this battle would not be her last.