Outside the Carousel Boutique
Scootaloo groaned, rubbing her head with a hoof in confusion and pain. "...did somepony see the cart that hit me?" She sat up, glancing around to get some bearing on her surroundings. She saw the broken window, her eyes growing wide in fear. She quickly looked her body over, and, not finding any wounds, sighed softly. "Thank Celestia!"
She frowned, remembering exactly what sent her through the window. "...Sweetie Belle...what are you doing?"
A bright green light caught her attention, and, turning, she saw it was heading straight for her. With a surprised yelp, she leaped off to the side, trying to dodge it.
The light flew through the smashed pane, illuminating the inside of the building for a few seconds before dimming.
Overcome with curiosity, Scootaloo peeked into the broken window. Inside, she saw one of the weirdest things she had ever seen: Spike was backed up against a wall, and Sweetie Belle was staring in surprise - at least, it seemed like surprise - at the ring floating in front of him.
Spike of Equestria.
He blinked, tilting his head in confusion. "...yes?" He knew it was odd to talk to a ring, but, hey, it talked to him first.
You stand up for what you believe in, even when others attempt to persuade you to do otherwise.
Spike thought back to the dragon migration a few months ago, remembering when he refused to break the egg. He then recalled that he had fled from the other dragons. "But I wasn't that brave. I ran away!"
Bravery requires not just sticking to one's morals, but knowing when to fight and when to walk away.
It floated even closer to the dragon, gently bathing him in its emerald light.
You have the ability to overcome great fear.
It slowly wrapped around the middle claw of his right hand. He closed his eyes as the light became blindingly bright once more.
Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.
Oa
Rainbow stared at Hal, confused and surprised. He noticed this and slowly raised his hand to his face.
Hal blinked, surprised that it was just that - a hand. He looked exactly the same. "...huh?" He turned back to Celestia, curious. "I thought you were going to change me into a pony? I mean, I'm happy to stay human - no offense." He turned to Rainbow, who had raised an eyebrow at the remark, hands held up in front of him. He quickly looked to the pony princess, confused. "What's going on here?"
Celestia smiled at him, giggling a bit. "I wasn't going to permanently turn you into a pony, if that's what you thought."
Hal looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "...I see. Then what was with the light show?"
She looked directly in his eyes, stern but warm at the same time. "You are still not setting a hoof on my planet until you're in pony form. That's what the light show was about." She waved her hoof, a sly smile forming on her face. "It's just a charm that I added to your ring - a modification, if you will."
Hal leaned in close, frowning slightly. "What did you do to it?"
Celestia laughed softly, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "I'll let you figure that out for yourself. As for you..." She faced the still-costumed pegasus, an eyebrow raised. "...who are you?"
Rainbow blinked, confused. "...Princess...you don't recognize me? I'm-" Before she could continue her sentence, her costume dissipated. Rainbow held her hooves up to her face, curious, glancing up at Celestia.
The pony princess was just standing there, her mouth open in shock. "...wha...R-Rain...?" Then she did something that Rainbow thought she would never see.
Celestia fainted.
Spike opened his eyes, blinking as he got used to the green glow coming from...himself.
He did a double-take, raising one of his claws to his face. It was covered in white cloth, tinted green from the aura around him. He glanced down, seeing that his legs were covered in green, and his chest had a white circle on it. His eyes snapped open wide as he noticed he was a good foot off the ground. "Holy guacamole!"
He was brought out of his reverie by a gasp in front of him. He looked up at Sweetie - no, Star Sapphire - as she floated closer to him, a smile on her face. "You look so handsome, Green Lantern..." She took his hand in her hooves, leaning forward, her face inches from his, pink eyes looking into his emerald ones. "...I just want to-"
She suddenly pulled away, her face contorted in a strange mix of anger and fear. She turned away, her hooves pressed to the sides of her head. "Stop...struggling!" She seemed to be arguing with herself. "N-no! I w-won't let you do this!" She turned to Spike, her green eyes brimming with tears. "Spike! P-please...run! F-find somepony who...can r-remove the g-gem!" She tapped a hoof to her chest.
Spike stared in a blend of fear and morbid curiosity as her eyes slowly morphed into pink. Before she could say anything more, he flew off, intent on finding a way to save Sweetie.
Star Sapphire growled, tendrils of pink energy flowing off her body. "...if I can't have you willingly..." Her mouth twisted into a vicious grin. "...then no one can." She flew after him, completely ignoring the orange filly she passed over.
Scootaloo gulped, looking back at the crystal containing Rarity. "...oh...what would Rainbow Dash do?"
"She would be reckless."
She jumped in surprise, turning around to see a yellow pegasus slowly approaching. "...F-Fluttershy?"
"Don't worry, little one. I'll take care of her." She faced Rarity, frowning in concentration. A pink circle appeared over her forehead, an eight point star in the center.
Love.
With hardly any effort on her part, Fluttershy shattered the crystal, freeing the white unicorn inside.
Rarity sat up, shaking her head in confusion. "...wha...Big Mac...?" She looked at the two pegasi in front of her, blinking in surprise at her best friend. "...darling, why are you wearing that tattered outfit?"
It was at that point she noticed the state of disarray her shop was in, horror growing on her face. "And what happened to my beloved boutique!?"
Sugar Cube Corner
A tan mare walked inside, a wide smile on her face. Her grin quickly turned into a look of confusion, seeing Pinkie hard at work scribbling something on a notepad. She carefully approached her, prodding her with a hoof. "Pinkie, are you okay?"
The magenta earth pony looked up, smiling brightly at her. "Oh, I'm doing fine, Bon Bon! I really like how you mimicked Twilight's voice! You have her speech pattern thingy perfect, right down to when she raises her brow to ask a question!" She turned her attention back to her notepad, missing the frown that flashed across her guest's face. "How does one celebrate multiple birthdays at once?"
Bon Bon blinked, unable to recall and ponies who had a birthday soon, much less many of them. "...who all are having theirs?"
Pinkie laughed, shaking her head. "I wouldn't throw one party for a bunch of ponies! No, this is for Sweetie Belle, who apparently gained three or four years overnight!"
Before the tan mare could ask what she meant, a green streak of light soared through the building, followed closely by a magenta one. Both ponies turned to look at where the lights exited, shocked.
Pinkie jumped to her hooves, outraged. "Hey! Nopony invited me!" She raced after the lights, leaving behind a very confused Bon Bon.
"...I'll just ask the Cakes about catering, then..."
Once again, sorry for the relatively short chapter, but I hope you enjoy it!
This may be the last chapter until June, considering that I'll be on vacation starting Friday.
Have a nice day!
Enigma out.~