Deep within the castle at the center of the changeling empire, a mother worked long into the night with the potions and magic rituals she was creating. Her eyes were red from not having slept in days and she had barely attended to her kingdom at all, leaving it and her subjects in the hooves of her daughter as she tried in vain to resurrect her fallen son. But no matter what she tried or what she concocted, he still remained cold and motionless.
"Why?" she whispered to herself with tears in her eyes as she poured all of the magic in her newest potion onto her son, but the magic did nothing as it slid off of him, leaving Chrysalis to roar in rage as she threw the vial across the room and into the wall where it shattered. "Why does nothing work?!" she yelled to the heavens as she laid her head next to her son, sobbing bitterly into her arms. "There has to be some kind of spell, some kind of magic that can bring him back!"
"Mother?" a small voice asked from the entrance to the dark chamber, Chrysalis looking at the door to see her daughter standing at the entrance, looking in with worry on her face. "Mother, you have been in here for days and have barely eaten or attended to your kingdom. The changelings are strong, but without you there even their strength begins to waver. You have to come back and attend to them, despite how painful it may be. It is your duty-"
"Do not speak to me about duty, I have been ruling for far longer than you have been alive Insectum," Chrysalis said in a hoarse voice as she turned her attention from her daughter back to the unmoving body of her son. "And I do not need to be there. You will one day replace me, so why not learn now how to rule while I am still alive? Now go, leave an old fool to her suffering."
"This isn't you mother," the small changeling said as she turned to leave. "You love all of your subjects and would never abandon them, no matter what has happened. And I'll be waiting for you to come back and lead us when you realize that." Insectum said nothing else as she left the room, leaving Chrysalis to think about what her daughter had said to her.
'I know that she is right, but I cannot bring myself to leave your side,' Chrysalis thought as she placed her head on her son’s chest, the tears starting to fall from her eyes. 'I would do anything to bring you back. Anything.' At that mere thought, Chrysalis felt her soul go cold as she felt something around her. She stood up and caused her horn to blaze with magic as she looked around in fury for whoever was there. "Who is there?! How dare you to trespass in THIS room!"
'We come to offer you your greatest wish,' a cold voice devoid of feeling said to Chrysalis, who turned her head to look around her as she could not discern where the voice was coming from. 'We have heard you pleas and we can grant what you want most. For your son to rise.'
"How do I know that I can trust you?!" Chrysalis yelled back as she looked around for the source of the voice. "If you can do this, then prove it to me by raising my son here and NOW!"
'We could, if we were not so weakened,' the voice said, Chrysalis barely registering a small, black object flying around her head. 'We need someone strong, such as yourself to be our power, so that we can raise your son.' Chrysalis narrowed her eyes, wondering what they meant by being their power. 'You will fuel us and in return we will use our strength to resurrect your son.'
"How do I know that I can trust you?!" Chrysalis roared out at them, only to see the ghost of her son standing in front of her.
'Because you have no other choice.' Chrysalis closed her eyes as she thought about it, knowing full well that it was a trap. But then she heard the laugh of her son in her ears and could see his smiling face even though her eyes were closed and that was enough for her will to give in.
"I agree" Chrysalis said nothing else as black walls shot out of the ground around her and quickly enclosed themselves around her. She felt a terrible pain pass through her before the emptiness began to creep in. An eerie white light began to glow from inside the walls, but Chrysalis had no idea that any of this was happening anymore. As soon as the walls went up around her, the small, black object that had been floating around her flew over to her son and rested itself on his horn.
'Prince Ragna of Equestria,' the object said as light began to flood through his corpse, causing it to roar as it shot up, an unholy white light shining from its eyes as it slowly got up, looking at the giant, black lantern that Chrysalis was inside. It looked upon it with no emotion for a moment before it placed its horn against the lantern, a horn with a single, black ring.
'Rise.'
IOI
A few days had passed since the defeat of Sombra and Ponyville (who was used to having their town destroyed at this point) had managed to repair all of the damage that had been caused by him and Rarity, allowing them to move on with their lives and life in the small town was continuing like it normally would, except for two little fillies who were sitting underneath of their clubhouse in awe of what they had just been shown.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Sweetie Belle asked them to their faces, except she was floating a good foot over them in a blue outfit. Applebloom and Scootaloo could say nothing as they stared at their friend who was looking down at them with a huge smile on her face, although she was still waiting for a response. "Well? Do you two think it's cool or not?"
"We..." Applebloom began only to shake her head as she tried to form the words to say something, but Scootaloo beat her to it.
"That. Is. AWSOME!" she yelled before leaping into the air and tackling Sweetie down to the ground, the two of them laughing as Scootaloo took a step back to look at Sweetie in the Blue Lantern uniform. "I can't believe that you, our best friend, was a lantern and we didn't know it. Heck, how didn't we notice you were a lantern, it's not like you changed your voice or anything."
"I was wondering that myself a bit, actually," Sweetie said with a smile, looking at Applebloom who was still trying to get her words out. "I know that I'm supposed to keep my identity secret, but you two are my closest friends and I figure that if I should tell anypony besides Rarity, it should be you two."
"Thanks Sweetie...oh, so that's why you've been hanging out with Spike so much," Scootaloo said, putting two and two together. "Because you're both heroes now! With as much time as you two have been spending together lately Applebloom and I thought you were dating, but if you’re both Lanterns then this makes way more sense!"
"You thought we were dating?" Sweetie asked, both her and Scootaloo making a gagging sound before beginning to laugh, but their mirth was interrupted as Applebloom finally managed to get out what she had been trying to say.
"Are you crazy!?" Applebloom yelled at Sweetie Bell, who jumped into the air and remained there as she looked down at her friend’s furious face. "You've been fighting against all those evil creatures and beings with only SPIKE as your ally?"
"Don't dis Spike, he's actually a pretty good fighter," Sweetie said, but another glare from Applebloom silenced her.
"Do ya know how dangerous some of those foes have been? Do you have any idea what it would have put us through if ya had been hurt or worse?!" Applebloom asked, the rage giving into fear. "Why didn't ya give the ring to yer sister? Or Celestia? Or somepony else who would be better suited at this kind of thing?"
"One, because the ring doesn't work like that," Sweetie said as she floated back down to the ground. "The ring picks who best exemp...exemp...whoever is best suited to wear it and then it gives its power to them. Even if I gave my ring to my sister, it wouldn't work for her like it would me. Second: I like being able to fly and create things and stop the forces of evil, though that last one isn't as fun." Scootaloo went back to looking over Sweetie Belle's uniform while Applebloom looked at Sweetie as if she was crazy.
"So what can you do with your power?" Scootaloo asked.
"Anything I want really, as long as I have the hope for it," Sweetie said with a smile. "I can fly, create whatever I want, mostly, along with a bunch of other nifty powers." Scootaloo placed a hoof under her chin as she began to think, a huge smile growing on her face as an idea came to her.
"Do you think that the ring could help us get our cutie marks?" she asked in an excited tone, all of Applebloom's rage leaving her when she heard this idea. Both of her friends sat down in front of Sweetie with huge smiles on their faces as they looked at her, Sweetie looking up at her ring for a moment before she answered.
"Sure, I don't see why not?" Sweetie said with a smile, the three forming a circle as they began to think up ideas on how to use the ring to help them get their cutie marks.
"Maybe we can use it to help us with our skills that Twilight's trying to teach us?" Scootaloo suggested, getting rejected by the other two.
"No, if we're going to use it, it needs to be for something big, something that no pony could do," Sweetie said, the other two agreeing with her almost immediately.
"Well there's one thing I know that we have to use it for and that's getting Tiara off our backs," Applebloom said with a wicked smile, the other two nodding in agreement with equally wicked grins. "Ah can see the look on her face now when she tries to bully us again and instead gets a face full of blue! It'll be so great!"
"Yeah! Then she'd never bother us again," Scootaloo said. "Maybe we could even get her to do something for us for once." The fillies were all about to agree on this course of action when the blue ring spoke up and said that there was a green ring nearby, causing Sweetie to look up to see Spike floating above them with a less than pleased look on his face.
"Hey Spike! Um, can we help you?" Sweetie asked. Spike motioned for her to join him before he flew off higher into the sky and Sweetie gave her friends a sorry look before she shot up after him as well. She found him resting on a cloud overlooking the land, his ring keeping him informed if anything was going to happen down below. "Uh, hey? Is something the matter?"
"Not much, just wondering what that conversation about getting back at Tiara was about." Sweetie lowered her head a bit, hearing in his tone that he wasn't happy. She floated over next to him and rested on the cloud as well, amazed at how weird it felt to be sitting on a cloud. From here the two could see not just all of Ponyville, but also Cloudsdale in the distance as well as Canterlot.
"I didn't mean like hurt her or anything, just like...scare her off or something," Sweetie said meekly, Spike simply sighing at her answer as he turned to look at her and showed her his ring.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked her, to which her first response was that it was a ring. "It might be a ring, but it is also a symbol of peace and protection across the galaxy," Spike explained as he looked back down towards the town. "The Green Lanterns are protectors of all of space. No matter what race or where it is in the galaxy, there will be a Lantern to help those in need."
"Okay, I get that," Sweetie said. "But what does that have to do with me?"
"When we were given these rings, we were also given the responsibility that comes with them," Spike said. "When I wear this ring, I am honoring the Lanterns that are out there fighting for peace and justice, just like I am. I know that what Tiara did to you isn't right and that the ring would be a great way to try a bunch of different skills, but we have to be more responsible with this power."
"But I am responsible," Sweetie pouted as she crossed her arms. "Besides, the ring chose me right? Doesn't that mean that I can do what I want with it?" To Sweetie's surprise, Spike started chuckling at that statement as he looked down at his ring.
"You know why the ring chose you, because you’re full of hope, but do you know why it chose now to choose you?" Spike asked her, smiling when she shook her head at him in response. "The only time a ring seeks out a new hosts is either when the Guardians of Oa send a ring out or the previous wielder dies." He saw Sweeties eyes widen at this and she looked up at her ring as well. "I used to misuse my power, but I now realize that I'm not just fighting for my friends and family, but also for the other Green Lanterns. For the Lantern who fought for justice with this ring before me and made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause."
"So, using my power for my own gain is wrong, that's what you're trying to say?" Sweetie asked him, Spike thinking of his answer for a moment.
"All I'm saying is think about why your using your power and what you're fighting for," Spike told her before he narrowed his eyes as the ring sounded a small alarm, Spike rising off the cloud before looking down at Sweetie. "Because there's a legacy behind that ring." Spike shot off towards the distress call while Sweetie took off after him, one last question on her mind.
"So when did you figure all of this out?" she asked him as she flew alongside of him.
"When Sombra beat me down into almost nothing and I had to face myself in my blackest day in order to realize the lantern that I am," Spike told with a smile. "That's why I told you this, so you wouldn't have to go through what I did." Spike shot further ahead and Sweetie flew after him, thinking about what he said.
IOI
In the furthest reaches of Equestria, in a hollowed out grove that no pony remembered anymore lay a single gravestone that was still in perfect condition from the day the pony that died had been placed there. The grove was a mystic place that had been known to only one pony and if any other pony knew who lay there they would never have disturbed the grave. But it was no pony that found the grove, as a single black object flew to the grave and pierced the ground beneath the tombstone.
'Star-Swirl of Equestria,' a voice said as a grey hoof shot out of the ground as the corpse began to pull itself towards the surface.
'Rise.'
IOI
Twilight had been lost in the twelfth issue of Power Ponies when Owlicious hooted from the room below, telling her that Spike had come back and she threw the comic on her bed as she went down to see him, walking up to him with a smile as she pulled the dragon into a hug.
"Welcome back Spike, have a good day of fighting the forces of evil?" Twilight asked him as he slipped off his ring and sat down in one of the chairs, letting out a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling.
"I can't believe how many hydras can show up in one town at the same time," Spike groaned as Twilight went to the cabinet to get him some gems for him to snack on as he rested.
"You actually had trouble fighting off a bunch of hydras?" Twilight asked Spike with a smile as she placed the gem in front of him along with a glass of lemonade. "Maybe you should go train with Celestia and Luna to learn how to use your ring more." Spike choked on the gem he was eating and coughed for a moment before giving a smile back to Twilight.
"Nah, it wasn't how hard it was to beat them, it was how to do it without hurting them," Spike said before both him and Twilight looked towards the door as somepony knocked at it. Twilight opened to door to reveal Princess Luna and Celestia, both of them greeting Twilight with a smile before she stepped aside to let them in. "Hey Luna, hey Celestia. Something up or you two just dropping in to say hello?" Spike asked them as they sat down at the same table as him.
"For once the fate of the world does not hang in the balance and almost everything is normal," Celestia said with a smile as Twilight immediately ran to the pantry to try and get some snacks for them, through Spike was more interested in the fact that Celestia had said almost normal.
"But my sister and I have to thank you Spike for the current calm that is spreading over Equestria," Luna said to Spike with a smile as Twilight came back with cake and tea for the two princesses before running off to get something for herself. "The Emerald Dragon is the talk of nearly every town or city across Equestria and that is an impressive feat."
"So on the behalf of all of Equestria, my sister and I wanted to thank you for your brave efforts by giving you this," Celestia said as she brought out a golden medal that shone like the sun, but when she gave it to Spike he saw that the other side looked more like a moon. "It is the highest honor that we can give and while we wanted to award you this in front of all of the citizens of Canterlot, we figured that you didn't want that kind of attention."
"You got that right," Spike said as he looked at his reflection in the medal, smiling to himself before he placed it on the table and looked back to the princesses. "So everything's almost normal, right? Care to tell me what the almost is in case I need to go deal with it in a few days?"
"It is nothing that would require your expertize, just a few cases of grave robbing," Luna said with a shake of her head, looking at the disgusted face of Spike with a smile. "These are things that my sister and I occasionally have to deal with. It is rare but occasionally something like this happens. You want something truly disturbing, you should have seen when a thousand years ago a cult of crazy unicorns tried to summon the ultimate demon to kill us."
"I remember that one," Celestia said with a smile as she drank her tea, the cake have been obliterated by her. "They thought that the demon rested under the castle of Canterlot, but it turns out that they got their map wrong and it was in the griffon kingdom. Well after that, they just gave up on the spot and surrendered."
"And we haven't had a problem with them since," Luna said as she too went to eat her cake, only to find it missing. While see gave her sister a look, Spike wondered to himself why would a pony bother stealing a dead body. He shrugged it off, figuring that it was just a bunch of weirdoes and went back to listening to the princesses bicker over the cake, glad that everything was peaceful.
IOI
'King Oranos,' a black ring said as it flew into a grave in the catacombs underneath of Canterlot.
'Queen Gaea.' another said as it too slipped into a grave next to the kings, both ponies hooves breaking towards the surface as the undead ponies began to fight their way out.
'Rise.'
IOI
'Mr. Apple of Equestria. Rise'
'Mrs. Apple of Equestria. Rise.'
'Gilda of Equestria. Rise.'
'Rise.'
'Rise.'
'RISE.'
IOI
"Where are these things coming from?!" Shining Armor yelled as he blasted another of the dark beings into nothingness, only to watch with horror as it repaired itself within seconds. Cadence wasn't fairing much better, though her magic at least had the added bonus of pushing the creatures back instead of just destroying them.
"I don't know, but it seems...that my empire has fallen," Cadence said with sorrow in her voice as she looked around at all the blackness that covered her kingdom, seeing what was once her loyal subjects now trying to tear out her heart. "But we must protect the crystal heart, no matter the cost!" Shining and Cadence backed up to the heart as each of them prepared to fight to the end, but to their shock they found that the barrier that protected the heart prevented the creatures from getting close. But all that meant was that they were both trapped, trapped with no way to signal for help.
IOI
"Remind me why I have to do this again?" Sombra asked as he threw the broom across the hut at Zecora, who caught it with one hoof and sent it flying back at him, hitting the fallen king squarely in the face and knocking him over. "That's no way to treat a pony that you're supposed to be treating for injuries."
"You are the one who threw the broom. I simply returned it to you," Zecora said with a smile before she went back to her meditating, trying her best to block Sombra out. The dark pony grumbled again as he picked up the broom and began to continue sweeping the hut despite the fact that he felt like hell. His wounds weren't fully recovered although that didn't stop Zecora from making him do light tasks such as sweeping. Zecora heard him drop the broom again and was about to yell at him when a wave of words washed over her, causing her to break her meditation and fall to all fours.
"The hell happened to you?" Sombra asked as Zecora shakily got back to her hooves, fear the only emotion in her eyes as she ran to the closet faster than Sombra thought possible. Then, much to Sombra's shock, she grabbed the bottle with his ring in it and shattered it against the ground, allowing the ring to fly out of it and back over to him. "The hell are you thinking? Why in your right mind would you...?" Then Sombra stopped talking as Zecora walked back out of the closet, but instead of her normal attire she was covered in indigo robes, causing the king to gasp as she walked past him to grab the staff against that leaned against the wall.
"What are you...?" Sombra began to ask again before Zecora placed a ring on her hoof into the staff.
"Tor lorek san, bor nakka mur, Natromo faan tornek wot ur. Ter Lantern ker lo Abin Sur, Tann lek lek nok--Formorrow Sur!" Sombra shielded his eyes as a blinding light of indigo went off and when he could see again he found that Zecora was floating over him, looking out the window with a look of dread on her face.
"I could hear their voice loud and clear," she whispered to herself as she ran out the door, Sombra following her as his yellow uniform appeared on him. "We must find Spike and Sweetie before they appear."
"Why? What's going on?" Sombra asked before the two of them turned at the sound of a noise, both backing away as something came out of the bushes. It was a griffon, but her eyes were hollow and cold and empty, a weird black goo coming from her mouth. She let out a scream and rushed the two only to be blasted into nothingness by Zecora's purple light. "What the hell was that thing?" Sombra yelled as the creature began to reform itself, getting a blast from Sombra this time.
"It is my greatest fear finalized," Zecora whispered as she looked up at the darkening sky, knowing what was coming. "By somepony's black hand, the dead shall rise."