Grudge Match
From the book of OA-
“…all life is precious, intelligent life more so; and this ring is far too powerful to fall into the hands of someone who doesn't understand that!”
Abin Sur of Ungara: Green Lantern of Sector 2814 to his successor Hal Jordan of Earth just before his death.
Equestria, Canterlot, the Royal Palace, Tower of the Royal Vaults.
Standing before the open vault door which contained the Elements of Harmony and the rings of the Emotional Spectrum, Princess Celestia stared at the sparkling treasures of the vault and sighed. Both the bejeweled chokers of magic and the glowing bands of science brought no comfort or calm to the Alicorn’s heart.
In truth, Celestia, the treasures before her teasing with their twinkling light, felt something she had not felt in a very long time: bitterness. She clenched her teeth as a frown creased her face, her eyes narrowing to hard slits. Her mind went over and over again the events that had transpired in Manehattan with the filly wielding the orange power ring. The ‘hunger’ she felt when she touched the battery, the rising desire for the power the copper lantern contained, Celestia was sure that it had corrupted her in a way she herself was not aware of, in a way she had never known in all the long years of her life.
‘So much contrast from the indigo,’ Celestia thought. The princess shuddered. The contrast she felt between the orange light and the indigo was almost shattering.
“Sister?” Luna’s voice came up from behind the Sun Princess as she sat before the open vault. Celestia bit her tongue as she continued to stare at the seven power rings. The sound of hooves clattering on stone echoed off the walls as Luna landed behind her sister. She looked at the shelf holding the glass chest that held the rings of power and gasped.
“Tia! You procured an orange ring! Huzzah!”
“Yes,” Celestia said with a slight grunt. “I made it a condition of granting the duchy title. It took almost all my skill and the counseling of her friend Sweetie Belle with her blue ring to persuade the child to part with this one ring.” Celestia looked over her shoulder and uncharacteristically glared at Luna. “She agreed ONLY if I guaranteed that the ring was NEVER to be touched by anypony but myself as she said she trusted no one but me and me alone. It is to be held as a gift to the crown, sealing our agreement.”
“Amazing, Tia!”
“The amazing part is my lack of courage and nothing more, Luna.”
“Sister,” Luna said pensively,” you seem a bit terse today. Is there something wrong?”
“What’s wrong,” Celestia snapped, “is everything!”
She rose off her haunches and turned to face the Princess of the Moon, narrowed penetrating eyes boring into Luna, who gasped. Celestia’s mane seemed a bit brighter and did not seem to flow as smoothly as it normally did. The elder sister’s mouth ends were turned down in a frown.
“Our whole world is now threatened with this…plague of the undead and because of fear, Luna, I turned away the power to stop it.” Celestia stood large before her sister, her mane now was more like a halo.
“Tia, I think that…”
“And the damning thing is it was that I gave up a power that I wanted!” White teeth flashed from between Celestia’s lips. “Even if I was afraid of it!”
“Tia? What are you…”
“You of all ponies in the world would know what that’s like, wouldn’t you, Luna,” Celestia became suddenly louder. The ground beneath them seemed to hum with the sound of her voice. “I want it…I WANTED the orange ring, Luna. Only because of my fear of it did I say NO!”
Princess Luna’s head cocked to one side. “Fear? Please explain this to me.”
“Because I craved it, dear sister: I CRAVED it! Touching the orange power awakened things in me long dormant!” A slight smile came over Celestia’s face. “I also realized that whomever possessed the orange ring-the power would manifest itself in reflection of the desires of its wielder…and that frightened me, and now it is just one of the things about it that enrages me!”
“I don’t…”
“The child, Luna: Apple Bloom.” The beginnings of tears began to well up in the sun princess’s eyes. “I consigned her to live with that unending, insane, burning hunger.”
“Tia! Why would you do such a thing? ”
“Because only a child, or someone vastly disciplined yet full of avarice could be the only one to keep the power contained.” Celestia looked at Luna who now sat on the floor on a cushion made of yellow ring energy. Puzzlement was engraved on the moon princess’s face as she struggled to understand what her sister was saying. “And children can be the most selfish of us all, Luna.”
“I…I don’t understand.”
Celestia’s jaw clenched and she frowned as she spoke. “The orange power manifests through its wielder…its wielder determines the nature of how the power is used, and a child’s wants, its desires are simple, straight forward, and overt. A child wants food, toys, a nice home, status: all succinct, simple even brusque.” Celestia glared at Luna. “There is very little subtlety to a child’s avarice compared to an adult. Their imaginings, while fanciful, are moderated by their aspirations. Yes they can and are intense in their demands, very much on fire with their wants…but what they want…what they imagine they want is simple.”
Celestia’s horn glowed and the glass chest opened and the orange glowing band levitated into the air.
“Now compare that to an adult…somepony who wants to be a conqueror for example, to be a king like Sombra did so long ago, imagine what avarice would do with him wielding it!” Celestia then laughed in a way Luna had never heard before. “Can you imagine what Pinkie Pie would be like with this ring? Can you contemplate her appetite?”
Celestia suddenly cracked a grin that was a bit un-natural: excessively large and broad. Her eyes had become hard and cold as she stared into the eyes of her younger sister. Luna could sense now that fear seemed to be dripping off her older sister, like sweat off of a work pony fresh from the field…fear and something else!
“Now, give that power to one some would call a goddess, a cosmic being in her own right and what would you get? What would I become, Luna?”
“Tia…I think...”
“Can you imagine the ways avarice could be expressed from me, the way it would twist even my most honest, basic, selfless desires…what they could turn into? What I would want them to turn into? What I could become-WILLINGLY?” The princess suddenly frowned. “So to prevent that I let a child, A CHILD keep the ring!” She turned to stare at the floating copper ring glittering in the air.
“Sister, you are not full of avarice and you have the moral fiber to keep from becoming like what you describe.”
Celestia sniffed hard. “You have no Idea what the orange light was like…what it did to me.” The sun princess suddenly scowled. “And what does not help is the ENVY I feel. I resisted the first temptation, but…” She turned away from her sister and stared at the Orange Power ring, her eyes widening and a strange smile suddenly appeared over her face.
“I made a grave mistake procuring this ring!”
“Tia?” Luna stepped forward but stopped as her sister’s head snapped around
Celestia moved the glittering copper band with her magic and held it before her. A strange smile cracked across her muzzle like a suddenly sheared piece of marble. The sun princess then gazed at the ring with glittering eyes.
“So you have faith in me do you, Luna? Perhaps you are right and I made a mistake not taking the ring in the first place. Shall we see if your faith is well placed?”
The Princess of the Sun pushed her right hoof through the floating ring and began to grin as orange ring energy began to flow over her body like a rolling wave coming into shore. Celestia then stared at her sister with eyes blazing with the Light of Avarice.
[=Celestia Helios Ephemera of Equestria: You want it all! =]
“YESSSS!” Celestia hissed. “Why was I so scared to give into this?”
“Tia!”
“Quiet, ‘dear sister’, let me revel in mine the way you reveled in yours!”
Orange and black clothing appeared over the Sun Princess as she turned back to the open vault door. Celestia purred audibly as she used her magic to levitate the crystal chest that held the other power rings out and brought them to her chest.
“I’ll have to thank Twilight for replacing the ring you took!” Celestia began to stroke the chest with one of her front hooves. “The set is now complete and all of them are MINE!”
“NO!” Luna gasped. A yellow ring aura suddenly appeared and began to glow as her corps uniform appeared over her body. Orange Lantern Princess Celestia glared at the Moon Princess and pulled the chest of rings close to herself.
“Sister, you are stronger than that ring! You need…”
The vault building suddenly began to tremble with the force of the Orange Lantern’s sudden laugh. “I NEED to do what? I wanted the power to do something, and now I HAVE IT!” Celestia’s face quickly twisted into a frown,” You want me to say no to what I want, to NOT give into this emotion, to go back to being WEAK? Ha! So much for faith eh, ‘dear sister’!”
“Do not give in to…”
“You’re one to talk, Luna!” Celestia levitated into the air using the orange power ring. “Especially after what you did!”
“Me?”
“Yes THOU!” the avarice wielder sneered. “You violated our agreement, Luna, to use the peasants’ vernacular: ‘you broke our deal’!” Celestia bared her teeth,” and that infuriated me!”
“Sister, I did…”
“What you did was what you agreed, WE AGREED we would not do! You were the one who said we should NOT claim a ring, NOT use the power, NOT give into our fear or feed the fear of the other lands. We agreed for the sake of appearances to not lay claim to ANY ring to prevent more complications!”
“Tia…” Luna stammered. Celestia cut her off, her voice growing stronger as she continued.
“And the first thing you did when fear and anger overcame you was what you promised and made me promise NOT to do!”
Luna began to glow like a yellow star as she drifted closer. She reached out to feel the fears of her older sister, probing the depths of her soul for a terror that might shock the Sun Princess off of her train of thought.
“I did what was necessary, Celestia!”
“Necessary for whom, Luna? Yourself? Was that pride of yours so wounded by the black lantern oath that you had to take up the yellow ring? Was it necessary to terrify the Griffon Ambassador any more than he already was by using it when you came to council? Was it necessary to try rings in secret without telling your ‘dear sister? ” Crimson light now began to glow from inside the chest, drawing the gaze of Celestia down. “You didn’t even think to let me know of your change of disposition.”
Celestia cocked her head to one side as her mouth contorted into a half grin and half scowl.
“I’ve just had a strange thought and since you have tacitly said it IS alright, you have to wonder ‘dear sister’ what would happen if you tried to wield TWO rings at once? Are you not curious? I am!”
‘Avarice has made her mad,’ thought Luna as she felt the secret terrors that crawled within the heart of her sister. As she comprehended the strongest of the threads of fear that wound within her sister, Luna felt ice stab at her heart for what she now knew was that indeed at the core of her sister. Celestia was terrified of…
…becoming what was now!
“Sister, you were right! I did not understand the power of orange! Please-take the ring off.”
“NO!” Celestia snapped. “I’m not giving up anything ever again, even deference. You’ve angered me, Luna, and I am jealous of what you did and all I could do was smile and bury it because no ring had chosen me, but now, one has!”
The red ring floated from the chest, its light began to brighten as it floated before Princess Celestia.
“Tia, please be careful of the red ring! It can…” Celestia waved her ring bearing hoof at her sister.
“Such a pretty crimson isn’t it? The orange ring is right,” she snarled as she plunged her ring bearing leg into the glowing crimson band. “I WANT THEM ALL!”
“NO!” Luna screamed.
Flames of red shot up into the alicorn as the voice of the red power ring echoed off the stones of the vault.
[= Celestia Helios Ephemera of Equestria: You have great rage in your heart! You belong to the Red Lantern Corps =]
*
Equestria, the forest outside Ponyville.
“Oh…my,” Fluttershy gasped from within a bubble of violet ring energy. The thumping of changelings jumping up and down and chewing at the shield made it almost impossible to hear the changeling speaking. A sparkling light appeared over her ring and expanded, becoming the image of Cheerilee.
“Hurry up and break the shield before any help gets here,” a captain of Chrysalis’s hive shouted.
“What if this lantern fights back,” a labored voice said from the pile of changelings on top of the shield. The captain chuckled.
“This one doesn’t fight, but her friends DO so GET IN THERE before…”
“Before WHAT?”
The voice sounded behind the captain. He turned around and saw ten pegasus enveloped in violet magic shimmering waves. The violet energy seemed to melt the advancing interlopers into new forms revealing large warrior changelings of a strange color and shape advancing on the raiders, dressed in a strange form of full changeling battle armor.
“Before we kick your carapace,” the rescue party leader growled as he raised a blade studded fore boot up. “TOO LATE!”
Hissing and growling drowned out the image of Cheerilee talking to Fluttershy as she tucked her head down between her front hooves. In her mind and her heart she could feel the banging and thumping of the fight on the shield. Fluttershy felt the weight of the changelings suddenly lift from the bubble.
She raised her head up and saw the changelings had stopped fighting, separated into two groups, one the changelings of Queen Chrysalis and the other the changelings who called her queen. Both groups were suddenly backing away from her. Chrysalis’s changelings growling and snapping as they backed away, pointing their weapons in Fluttershy’s direction. The changelings loyal to her were silent and still and appeared to be bowing.
“Are you alright, Fluttershy,” the voice of Cheerilee came from above. Fluttershy looked up and saw the school teacher floating over her head, flanked by two love wielders.
“Um-yes. I’m alright,” the Star Sapphire Queen answered.
The rings of the teacher and her compatriots brightened for an instant and hedges of huge spines appeared around both groups of changelings, fencing them in. Fluttershy dropped her bubble shield and lifted into the air, placing herself between the changelings loyal to her and her Star Sapphires.
“Please, don’t hurt any of them, especially these changelings, they were only trying to protect me!”
“Fluttershy, what are you doing with ANY changelings?” Cheerilee levitated over the quiet changelings prostrating inside the spine fence.
“Well…” Fluttershy said quietly. “They made me their hive queen. I promised I would protect them and…they swore to obey and protect me.” She looked down on them with a half frown. A couple of the changelings loyal to her peeked up then suddenly moved to shove their muzzles into the ground.
“We crave forgiveness from your highness and her vizier, Lady Cheerilee,” one of the bowing changelings said. “We understand coming arrayed for battle was provocative, but we did so to help to protect our queen, Fluttershy, and the sacred lantern of living light from Queen Chrysalis.”
Cheerilee half closed her eyes as she looked at Fluttershy. The teacher’s mouth was a half frown as she stared at the pegasus. Fluttershy smiled nervously.
“We need to keep all of these locked down for now, Fluttershy, and we need to return to the castle at once. One of these changelings of yours appeared and Princess Cadence and I had to go into a defensive posture. It’s all so madding and confusing!”
“ I know,” said Fluttershy, whose face fell, and her eyes, open wide and reflecting sadness, turned to look at the huddled changelings who had come to her aid. The other Star Sapphires whot had come with Cheerilee had to keep growing the construct wall around Chrysalis’s changelings as they struggled to try and break out of their confinement. They were beginning to calm down now, their voices had become quieter.
Fluttershy’s ears pricked up suddenly. The pegasus body became rigid as a violet aura appeared over her body. The light was not a gentile even glow but a scintillating jagged field that audibly crackled and popped as Fluttershy suddenly opened her wings. Her eyes burned with an even brighter light than the glow around her body, their fire burned like twin suns in the sky.
“Fluttershy,” Star Sapphire Flitter called with a slight trembling voice. She turned away from the corps founder to face the teacher…
…and saw Cheerilee slowly floating upward, a silent blazing star just like the Star Sapphire Queen.
The two mares, stone faced and silent then suddenly streaked away, disappearing in a burst of violet light.
“What in Celestia’s name is happening?” Star Sapphire Flitter asked.
*
Equestria, Ponyville, Crystal Palace of the Star Sapphires.
Queen Chrysalis summoned a shield spell around herself just as a violet beam of ring energy struck. The bubble deformed, stretching like rubber as the blinding violet energy burned at the barrier. Chrysalis had to draw more power from herself to keep the shield intact, drawing on her internal reserves of power to keep Cadence’s attack from getting inside. The changeling queen sweated and groaned as she pushed more magic into the shield.
‘Clever Cadence, very clever!’
“You have more stamina than Shining Armor did my dear, I’ll give you that,” the Changeling Queen called out as a blast of energy from the princess’s ring struck her protective shield spell.
The fatigue that was welling up in her body made Chrysalis growl in frustration; Cadence had been quite smart with her attacks. The alicorn had forced her to keep using a shield spell to protect herself from the ring blasts and in doing so caused her to cut off feeding off the violet energy. She had even made the ring energy bend and curl around to try and strike the queen in the back if possible, or use a wide, wavelike attack, forcing the changeling matriarch to completely envelop herself in the protection spell.
‘Water everywhere and not a drop to drink.’
Chrysalis moved backwards to get some distance between herself and the princess. She hoped to drop the shield long enough to pull in love energy that tantalizingly surrounded her but was aggravatingly inaccessible. Chrysalis moved laterally and dropped her shield briefly, absorbing love quickly like a floundering swimmer gasping for air.
Cadence did not give her more than an eye blink of time when she summoned a barbed chain web down on her. Chrysalis let a magic bolt fly before raising the shield again. It struck dead center, knocking Cadence out of the air. She landed hard on the ground, a cloud of dirt billowing up to cover her; but, instead of seeing her lying on the ground when the dust cleared, Chrysalis saw the Star Sapphire Princess standing on her hooves, glaring at her with eyes blazing with violet ring energy, a kind of helmet appeared over the alicorn’s head for a heartbeat, looking a bit like a dragon’s head.
Queen Chrysalis swallowed hard and dropped her shield to absorb as much love as she could. Her horn began glowing like the sun itself when she felt the arcs of violet energy cut her. These wounds were a two edged sword to the changeling queen for the violet energy invigorated her while it caused grievous wounds. She would regenerate quickly but the pain diverted attention from fighting Cadence, whose skill with the Star Sapphire ring had taken the Changeling Queen by surprise.
The ground shook as the huge blast of magical force flew at the Princess of Love; the air seemed to almost boil away. The green energy struck Princess Cadence just as she summoned a large shield of her own. The blast shattered the air when it struck the violet bubble as a shockwave rolled out, shattering violet crystal into flying razor shards. Queen Chrysalis crouched down and raised her protective shield as the blasting airwave reached her. There was a distinct rise in temperature as the wave passed by and when the blast had passed, the queen dropped the shield. At once she could feel the energy of the violet battery like a cool breeze on a hot day, the love energy bringing life giving nourishment .
Chrysalis tittered softly as love energy warmed her body. The immense power of the battery, the love radiating from it was so potent she felt even more powerful than she had facing Celestia, and it had taken days of being with Shining Armor to have the power she now possessed from just being near the violet lantern battery. She gloried in the feeling of the violet light…
…until she could feel a subtle prickling fire suddenly beginning to eat at her from behind.
“Hello, Queenie,” a mare’s deep voice said behind her.
Chrysalis turned around to look into the glare of red light that was now shining down on her. The crimson beams of light burned wherever they touched her body, becoming an increasing searing torture even as the violet light caressed and tickled. The changeling queen looked into the blazing eyes of the Red Lantern with the rainbow mane and inside for an instant she felt her blood turn ice old.
Red Lantern Rainbow Dash roared, rage plasma streaming from her mouth at Chrysalis. The queen summoned the shield spell again just as the red fire reached her. The magical barrier began to fizz like soda water before the column of rage burned through the shield. Queen Chrysalis dropped to the ground to avoid the red plasma, the bubble of protective magic disappearing into shimmering mist.
Feeling a sudden rush of energy from the love flowing from the violet battery again, Chrysalis channeled all of the power she could into her horn and let an even more powerful bolt of magic force fly at the Red Lantern. Rainbow Dash’s ring aura flared for a moment as Chrysalis’s attack struck her dead center. She was enveloped in the river of green magical fire. RL Rainbow Dash flailed as the Queen’s attack pushed her backwards, driving her into the ground like a falling star.
Queen Chrysalis allowed herself to smirk in satisfaction seeing the hate lantern fall from her attack. “Ridiculous child! You think you can defeat me when I am this close to pure love? HA!”
Feeling a sudden surge of power flood into her, Chrysalis purred as she turned to face the alicorn of love again. Her head snapped back when she saw that Cadence was no longer alone.
Before the changeling queen stood an apparition made of the violet light of love. Chrysalis’s ears flattened as she craned her head upwards to see the huge thing that looked down on her, grinning with a pointed muzzle filled with long sword like teeth. The translucent creature towering over her stood on six legs that ended in talons that bore scythe like claws three times as long as Chrysalis was tall, digging deep trenches into the ground. The dragonlike creature glowed with a violet light and at the center of the monster floated Princess Cadence next to a pegasus and an earth pony. The three of them all glared at the queen with light-filled eyes and then the three of them in unison leaned forward, the creature they floated inside of leaning forward as well. The creature let out a growl and the ground quaked.
Queen Chrysalis fell to her knees from the shaking, a cloud of dirt rose around her from the fall and she coughed as she looked back up at the creature of violet light. Looking at the dragon made of violet love energy, the queen of changelings felt a unique dichotomy: she felt immensely powerful, more powerful than she ever had before in her life, yet looking at this creature she felt tiny and insignificant. She looked about to summon her guards to her only to find them unconscious at the six feet of the creature.
“Flea…” The three mares inside of it said at once.
Chrysalis gulped as she rose to her hooves, staring at the eyes of the mares at the heart of the creature. She directed the flow of energy now brimming in her body and pushed that energy through her horn, loosing an even bigger bolt of power at the violet monster. The air shimmered from the heat given off by the attack as a scorched smell filled her nose from the charred ground around her. Never had she loosed such an attack before, it felt like she could fell mountains with the blast. Green fire struck the energy creature, flames of green changeling magic bathing it in fire.
The creature snorted and the flames went out, like a weak candle in a gale wind. It then leaned down, its massive jaw filled with jutting spear like teeth captivated the queen changeling. The love she felt radiating from this monster was pure, intense, yet there was very little softness to the love she was feeling. For the first time since her mother, Chrysalis had an impulse to…
…worship another being.
Her mind raced trying to figure out a way to salvage the situation when another voice to her side startled her.
“What did you do?”
Turning her head she saw a blazing yellow band on the hoof of the unicorn who had helped thwart her Canterlot invasion. Chrysalis let out a slight hiss as she stared into the eyes of Yellow Lantern Twilight Sparkle. The mare kept her ring pointed at the queen while looking up at the dragon of energy that loomed over both of them.
Swirling dust, followed by a loud thump on the ground behind her, caused the changeling queen to look over her shoulder and see a huge earth stallion and an earth mare at the center of a dust cloud, both glowing with the aura of green ring energy. The mare pointed her ring at the queen while her companion stared at the violet monster, eyes and mouth open wide.
“Cheerilee! Fluttershy!” his deep voice boomed.
“Ya consarn’d love tick…what did ya do to em’,” the mare growled, her ring suddenly blazing like fire.
“I…” Chrysalis stuttered. The two green lanterns suddenly became brighter as she heard another voice from over and behind her.
[= Potentiality unlocked. Constructs enabled. =]
“The Dragon,” Pinkie Pie’s voice came from above. “So that’s why I only saw part of it in Fluttershy, the other parts were in Cheerilee and Princess Cadence!”
Rarity in the company of three of the Indigo Herd arrived. The Compassion Lantern’s ring hoof over her mouth as she looked on the giant creature that had the heart of three ponies. Tears appeared in her eyes as she reached out with her ring to try and touch the ponies inside.
“Oh my,” IH Rarity said in a quivering voice.
Chrysalis, jaw open in amazement, began to beat her wings when a yellow dome crashed down over her. The flow of love from the creature ceased and a feeling like suffocation fell over the queen and she summoned some of her power to strike at the construct barrier. Her strike bounced off the material, spraying green magical sparks into the queen’s hooves.
“You’re not going anywhere,” YL Twilight growled.
“So; Twilight Sparkle,” Queen Chrysalis snapped. “What are you waiting for?”
“Huh?” Twilight said as two red glowing figures landed next to her. A low rumble came from the throat of RL Rainbow Dash, rage plasma bubbling up with the sound.
“Good hit, Queenie, but not good enough!” The pegasus’ muzzle split to become a rictus. “Let her out, Twilight!”
“Oh, I see! You’re going to let your rabid red dogs finish the job they started.”
“Excuse me?”
Red light brightened from Rainbow Dash as she hovered over the yellow dome. “Drop the dome, Twilight. I can burn her by just shining on her.”
The violet six legged dragon sat on the ground and raised its head to look at the blue and indigo lights dancing before it. Rarity shone like a star as she hovered in front of the creature, her head back and eyes closed. The symbols of the Indigo Herd and the Blue Lantern Corps shimmered in front of the unicorn.
“It’s alright…it’s alright…I understand you are protecting what you love…” Rarity said in a soothing tone. Pinkie Pie floated closer to the ground. She jumped up suddenly when there was a roar followed by a bright flash of red! Rainbow Dash breathed fire on the yellow dome, causing the fear lantern to summon a shield around herself.
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight screamed. She could feel the searing power of the rage plasma on her construct as she pushed to maintain the integrity of the dome over the Changeling Queen. Twilight strained, her lips pressed together in concentration. Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped as a glowing green lasso appeared around her and she was pulled away.
“What in Sam Hill do ya think yer doin’,” GL Applejack yelled. She turned the now wrapped up pegasus to face her. The earth mare’s face grimaced when she saw her friend, eyes glowing bright red, drooling rage plasma out of her mouth. Rainbow Dash thrashed, jumping and jinked in the air as she strained against the construct ropes.
“Let me go…let me go,” the rage lantern roared. Frothing fire flew out of the lantern’s mouth and started burning everything around. Applejack summoned small domes of her own to contain the new born fires. Dash’s aura brightened and the construct rope shredded, becoming falling sparks. Another, thicker rope flowed out of Applejack’s ring just as the old rope died and Rainbow Dash was again entangled just as she had become free.
“A…J…” Rainbow Dash growled.
“Settle down Sally! Pull back on the fire an’ Ah’ll let ya go.”
“Let her go,” Chrysalis shouted. “She seems to be the only one here honest about what they intend to do.” Chrysalis struck the dome with her hoof. “Come, Rage Lantern, kill me and the hive dies! That’s what you want isn’t it?”
“Chrys…a…lis,” Twilight shouted. Rainbow Dash’s growling became louder.
“Finish the xenocide you started! Come you rabid red dog-finish it!” The Queen’s horn began to glow.
YL Twilight Sparkle, her eyes now glowing with yellow fear energy, turned around to see Arcana coming forward. Rainbow Dash still struggled against the rope, rage plasma spuing out from her mouth. A giant Smarty Pants of yellow energy appeared and held out its hooves to block the red lantern. Chrysalis rubbed her chin with the back of her hoof and smiled. ‘If I can get this shield down,’ she thought
“Everypony just hold on a moment,” Twilight yelled. She turned and glared at the queen. “What in the world are you talking about?”
Chrysalis bared her fangs at the yellow lantern in a sinister smile. “You expect me to believe that you didn’t send your red lanterns to wipe out all changelings? At first I did not believe ponies could do such a thing, but when scores of my children started dying…”
“Dying?!” Applejack and Twilight cried out in unison.
“You started it!” Rainbow Dash roared.
The ropes holding her broke, but this time she did not rush forward. Applejack drifted to place herself between her friend and the Changeling Queen. Rarity and Pinkie Pie still floated in front of the giant violet dragon who had now laid down, cocking its head to one side listening to the unicorn and the earth pony. The three mares inside the creature still had glowing eyes but no longer wore the same expressions on their faces; Cheerilee seemed to be dismayed, Princess Cadence was biting her lower lip in consternation, Fluttershy appeared mostly worried.
Applejack floated at eye level to the Red Lantern Archon, staring into the orbs glowing with rage. She felt at ease knowing that Pinkie was close enough to keep her ring charge up in the presence of Rainbow Dash’s red ring. The pegasus didn’t seem to be losing any power herself however, which meant Pinkie was just far enough away to not affect the red power ring.
“What in tarnation is she talkin’ about,” she asked.
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight called out in a voice that was cold and stern. “What did you do?”
*
"Others woulda' tried ta take advantage, but you didn't. Ah only trust you with this princess, only you."
-Apple Bloom while surrendering an orange ring.
Equestria, Canterlot, the Royal Palace, Tower of the Royal Vaults.
“RRRRRRRRRR” Celestia growled. Rage plasma flowed from her mouth like a burning rain, pitting and scorching the ground wherever the drops fell. Scintillating red and orange light blended together, giving the marble bright rust like appearance. The sun princess now seemed to be dressed in clothes that shifted back and forth, one half was bearing the colors and symbols of the red lantern corps, the other the color of orange. Celestia’s eyes glowed with the shifting light as she stared at Luna.
The smell of burning stone filled the room with a stench that Luna was sure would have made her sick if she hadn’t been so charged with adrenaline. Her ring responded to her fear as she pushed through the terror that now filled her heart. Her aura began to glow brightly as she called on the full power of her yellow ring,
“I don’t want to fight you Tia!”
“Ironic…” the sun princess said with a halting guttural tone.
The chest of rings still floated beside her, the glittering colors growing brighter as if to answer the two power rings Celestia now wore. The edges of the elder sister’s mouth turned up in a frightening smile.
“Fear…so powerful…fear,” she said with a hint of amusement. “But…it has a weakness…doesn’t it Luna.”
‘She’s gone mad,’ Luna thought. Controlling one ring was hard enough, Luna herself knew well how hard any one ring was to handle, but two at once, the moon princess’s mind reeled at the thought of it. Luna swallowed hard when she saw what her sister had.
The blue power ring flew out of the chest to float in front of Celestia. The princess sniffed at the ring while a maddening grin punctuated with blood streaked teeth appeared.
“Blue…makes yellow…weak…” Celestia said as she plunged her bare front hoof through the blue band. “MY BLUE!”
Sheets of blue fire appeared around her and the sun princess threw her head back and uttered a strange cry filled with anguish. Tears of water and blood flowed from the princess’s eyes as she shuddered. Arcs of blue ring energy flowed about her, mixing with the red and orange energy. Celestia then fell to her knees and coughed. The rage plasma that flowed out of her mouth and melted the marble floor suddenly stopped. She then closed her eyes and began to shake her head sharply, snapping her now flaring mane.
[=Red and Orange power ring influences detected. Infusing sentient with counter agents. =]
Celestia shuddered as rivers of blue light flowed into her body. She could feel her heart suddenly stop its violent pumping, and then it quivered. The alicorn’s eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed to the ground, arcs of red and orange light lashing out at the blue light that was engulfing her.
“TIA!”
[=Critical energy drain due to blue power ring=] the yellow ring buzzed.
“I KNOW,” Luna snapped.
Luna jumped forward to see if she could take her sister to the alchemist for the phoenix potion. A metallic odor filled her nostrils as she came to her sister. Her yellow power ring was screaming warnings of power loss but she continued on, using the yellow energy to shield herself from the lashes of orange and red energy. As Luna was about to try and lift her sister up and away, the sun princess suddenly sat upright, eyes open and filled with blue light. She held out the leg on which the two rings rode.
[= Rage compromised. =] The red ring said, with a hint of disappointment.
[=Avarice satiated. =] the orange ring hissed in a tone of disgust.
The two rings dimmed and simply slid off the leg of Celestia like a too-large shoe to clatter on the scorched floor. Luna, jaw open and ears standing as tall as they could, surrounded the rings in a yellow bubble before she slid backwards away from her sister.
[= What do you hope for? =], the blazing ring asked.
“I…I…” the alicorn responded in a husky voice. “I hope…”
[= What do you hope for? =], the cyan light asked again.
The sun princess whispered. “I hope…I would make my mother proud.”
[= Sincerity detected. =] the blue ring chirped.
A blossom of light appeared before Celestia, a lotus of scintillating blue light. Petals opened slowly, peeling back on themselves revealing a cloud made of motes of light that coalesced together. Slowly the cloud became more defined, become the head of a pony, tall and thin, with a straight mane and a long graceful horn. Behind the head swirled a spiral of light, giving the impression of being a halo. On the flower in front of the pony, a butterfly and an ant moved about.
Luna’s gasp echoed off the walls and she moved closer to the image. She had moved to the entrance of the vault tower, trying to put enough space between herself and the blue ring to alleviate the power drain. She silently floated forward, silencing the protests of her ring.
Celestia stared at the image, clear tears flowing from her eyes. “M-Mother,” she squeaked.
The image smiled. Celestia slowly rose to stand on all of her hooves. She took small steps to get closer to the vision.
“You already have made me proud child. You have done more than you know, but there is still much to do.”
Celestia swallowed as tears ran down her cheeks.
“You can do this,” the image said. Both Alicorns jerked back suddenly when the image spoke. More tears flowed from Celestia as she reached out to it. “I know you can.”
“Do what,” the sun princess asked in soft almost childlike voice.
“What you need to do,” it answered.
“Tia, are you doing this?”
“N-No, Luna…it’s not me.” Celestia cast a quick glance at the blue ring. “I swear it’s not me.”
The sun princess lowered her head while tilting her muzzle upward, looking at the image of her mother from slightly below. There was a presence she felt in the image; a warmth she had not felt in millennia.
“You have so much faith in others, Celestia,” the image said. “It is time to embrace the faith others have in you.”
“I…” Celestia choked.
“It is not hubris to have faith in yourself. You have come so far, child, but you have further to go.”
*
Equestria, Ponyville, Crystal Palace of the Star Sapphires.
“What I did? How about what they did?”
Red Lantern Rainbow Dash glared at the changeling queen. “Tell them, queenie, tell everypony where you and your hive went after we kicked your sorry flanks out of Equestria!”
Chrysalis silently sneered at the pegasus as she sat so that she was at her tallest. She raised her muzzle so that she gave the slightest hint of looking down on Rainbow Dash who uttered an animalistic growl as rage plasma seeped from her mouth. RL Arcana landed on the ground to the right of her corps leader’s hovering spot, ring glowing as she too drooled rage fire. The unicorn snapped her teeth at the changeling queen who seemed to be unfazed by the gesture and shrugged.
“Animals,” she said in a cold, aloof tone.
“Did you hear that?” Rainbow Dash spat. “After what she did to all of us, why are you protecting her?”
“Ah don’t disagree with Dash, Twilight,” Applejack glared at the trapped changeling queen. “Miss Two face there deserves a bushel of hurt for all she’s done.”
“See, A.J.’s with me on this.” The farm mare shook her head.
“Hold on there, Rainbow! Givin’ her a good lickin’ is fine, but killin’, that’s a whole different bucket of oats.”
Rainbow Dash suddenly disappeared in a flash of red light then reappeared, holding one of the changelings who had fallen asleep at the feet of the dragon of violet light. Being held next to the red lantern awakened the creature, who now squirmed, trying to get away from the burning red light. Rainbow Dash’s grip, using her ring, was unwavering.
“Tell them,” she growled,” tell them what you’re up to.”
“AH!” the changeling cried. Dash dropped it on the ground where it rolled about like it was putting out a fire on its back. When it stopped it locked its eyes with the red lantern. A red glow appeared in the changeling’s eyes as it shuddered. Rainbow smiled as her ring suddenly brightened.
“What the hay are you doin’,” Applejack asked.
“Asking a question,” Dash answered with a smile. She then glared at the captive changeling again. “Well?”
“We…we were to take the lantern of love and then…take Equestria…” the changeling in Rainbow Dash’s ring grip cried. Chrysalis visibly winced.
“You see,” Rainbow Dash spat “They plan to take the ultimate source of love ever and do what? Leave and keep to themselves with all the love they could ever want? No. Make friends with us? No. Make peace with us? No. Help against the Black Lanterns maybe? No!” Crimson fire flared from the ring of rage as Dash pointed it at the shaking changeling, “They planned on coming after us!” Red light suddenly appeared in Rainbow Dash’s eyes. The red lantern then pointed her nose at the creature held in her ring grip and grimaced, like she had just smelled something foul.
“You did something else,” the rage lantern hissed. “Where are the ones you replaced?”
“They…they are at the hive…waiting to be fed upon.” It cried.
“Feed; NOT freed?”
“Y-yes.”
Rainbow Dash was on top of the changeling in a flash. Red fire erupted from the creature as it let out a high keening scream. That was suddenly cut short with a gurgling sound. A foul smelling smoke suddenly flowed out from the body of the changeling, causing many of the ponies to cover their noses. There was a collective gasp as everypony saw the small changeling turned into ash.
Queen Chrysalis pushed her muzzle against the yellow shield, tears flowing from her eyes as she beat against the dome. Twilight felt the cold waves of fear that filled the queen’s heart as she watched the immolation of her hive warrior. Queen Chrysalis suddenly jerked her head back when she looked into the eyes of RL Arcana, rage plasma dripping from the unicorn’s mouth as she glared at the queen. The changeling queen bared her teeth back at the rage lantern, then turned her stare at the pegasus. RL Rainbow Dash struck at the dome shield with a burning hoof, growling battered at the fear construct.
“Rainbow!” Twilight yelled. “What are you doing?”
Rainbow’s ring let out a burst of particles that formed into the shapes of other red lanterns. She looked at the images and roared like a dragon as she spoke with broken words.
“Here…NOW!”
The images of the other red lanterns brightened, then disappeared. The leader of the Red Lanterns then summoned a number of wicked curved sword constructs. Aura and eyes glowing with rage light, construct sabers arrayed around her to look like extensions of her wings, Rainbow Dash approached the trapped changeling queen, an archangel of vengeance bringing judgment.
Another dome of yellow energy studded with spikes suddenly appeared over the first, layering Queen Chrysalis in a more substantial container. Yellow Lantern Twilight Sparkle, her own aura ablaze, rose up into the air. Barbed guard shield constructs mirrored Rainbow Dash’s swords, giving Twilight the appearance of having wings as well.
The changeling queen looked on; sweat dripping off of her, helpless. She had reached out with her magic into the ground, feeling if the fear wielder’s creation had left the ground beneath her hooves uncontained. Chrysalis swallowed hard when her magic touched the icy cold energy of the yellow construct. She let her magic flow, looking for any gap that she could use to escape but found she was completely contained. Cut off from the love of the dragon and trapped in a bubble made of pure fear, she knew that escape could only come by her wits.
“I surrender, Twilight Sparkle,” the changeling queen said flatly as she fell to her knees.
“Let…her…out…Twilight,” RL Rainbow Dash growled.
“Not until you calm down and explain what is going on, Rainbow!”
Twilight quickly rolled her eyes to see if Rarity and Pinkie were still engaged with the love dragon and saw that both were still occupied with the creature. She then glanced quickly at Applejack and made a slight nod. The farm mare, out of sight of Rainbow Dash, nodded and began to drift backwards silently.
‘Why doesn’t she see how dangerous that minx in the bubble really is,’ Rainbow asked in her mind. At that moment a familiar prong feeling touched the back of her mind.
“Here boss,” a stallion’s voice spoke from behind. Score’s voice was followed by the murmuring of other voices. Dash looked over her shoulder to see the arrival of some of her lanterns. The light of their auras gave the sky a slight purple tint. RL Arcana rose into the air and hovered next to her corps leader as broad smile suddenly appeared over Rainbow Dash’s muzzle.
“You should never have come here, your highness,” the Red Lantern Archon said as plasma seeped from her mouth.
Wide eyed, Twilight yelled. “Everypony just stop!”
“Yer not doin’ this, Rainbow.” Applejack placed herself between Twilight and the Changeling Queen and the Red Lantern leader. “Stop, just stop.”
Rainbow Dash floated, staring into the eyes of Applejack, the ends of her mouth curled up in anger. The two locked gazes silently for what seemed like eons before she spoke in a husky voice. “Please move my friends out of the way.” She then turned to look at her Red Lanterns as she added in a sharp tone:
“My friends are not to be harmed!”
“Awe no, that ain’t happenin’,” Applejack shouted. The green glow around the farm mare became suddenly brighter. “If’n yer gonna do this, get yer own hooves dirty.”
RL Rainbow Dash was still for a moment, staring into the blazing eyes of the farm mare. She licked her lips and spoke in an even tone.
“I don’t want to fight you, AJ, but I won’t stop. She’s deadly and I’m going to end the threat of her once and for all. Move out of the way!”
“Nah. Ah ain’t steppin’ aside an’ let you continue ta be as crazy as a Betsy bug. If’n yer gonna go for it-ya gotta go through me an’ Twilight first.”
Applejack gritted her teeth as she lifted higher into the air, becoming even height with Rainbow Dash. She stared into eyes of the Red Lantern leader. The pegasus looked over her shoulders at the gathering rage wielders. She turned back and glared at the farm mare.
“Ah hate her too, Rainbow,” the green lantern leader spit just before she continued. “Ah don’t trust her farther than Ah can throw my barn without a ring, but killin’? If that’s what ya been doin’, it’s too far!”
“I don’t have to fight you, A.J. …”
“Ah beg ta differ, Rainbow, we have a previous arrangement, remember? You said that when it was time ta come find you ta prove somthin’ to others about if I will stay or go. Ah’m stayin’. Ah ain’t gonna just stand aside an’ let you be as mad as a march hare!” The farm mare turned and sneered at the trapped changeling queen before looking at Twilight and grimacing. “Ah ain’t lettin’ mah friend go down that road. You back off!”
Rainbow Dash could feel prongs again in the back of her mind. The sound of her rage energy infused blood flow filled her ears. The fire of wrath grew in her heart as she stared at the trapped changeling queen then looked to see Pinkie and Rarity with the violet dragon creature.
“Applejack…” Twilight’s voice cracked in concern. “Red can affect green like blue affects yellow.”
“Ah know, but what else can we do?”
‘The green lanterns are weak,’ Atrocitus’ voice said in her mind as a red veil fell over her eyes. ‘They will not do what must be done! The guilty must be punished for their crimes! The blood of the innocent cry out for it! Justice demands it!’
A giant baseball bat of boiling red energy suddenly appeared and swung out and down. Its arc carried it away the farm mare and the unicorn, heading at the changeling queen. There was a sudden earth shattering clanging, like giant bells hitting each other as everyone looked and saw a giant green monkey wrench holding the bat in its open jaws. The two constructs moved about, locked together with each pushing or pulling on the other, surging back and forth. Rainbow Dash drooled rage plasma as Applejack, teeth gritted, sweated.
“Y-you sure you want to do t-this,” Rainbow Dash asked in a halting voice.
“You seem ta’ want to.”
The bat disappeared into crimson smoke. Applejack let the wrench dissolve, the green sparks flying back into her ring. Rainbow suddenly brightened, becoming a red star, flames of crimson fire arcing over and around her. The pupils of her eyes were gone and her voice became deeper and loud.
“Ok then, cowgirl, LET’S DANCE!”
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Being TRAUMATIZED is something different from just being sad about something.
That's what it does. It's Avarice. Greed.
Oh boy.
No, you turned away the Orange Madness.
Which is normal!
Of course you wanted it, it's AVARICE.
Tia, calm down.
I don't want to...
Celestia, calm down...
Depends on the ring, either a hero, or a monster.
What do you mean?
DON'T DO IT!
Oh shit.
Oh dear...
She has a point.
Oh shit.
Celestia does tend to fear becoming a tyrannical monster. Also, what SHE was now.
Oh horseapples.
Double horseapples.
Ten pegasI.
Question mark not comma.
I can imagine this. And it is hilarious.
Hell if I know.
In any other situation, that comment might not have been so innocent.
Yep.
She's pissed.
Oh crap.
Welp. You're boned.
Yep.
Thank you Best pony.
Chrysalis, shut up...
Yes, piss her off, great move.
Be that as it may, you're the one trying to commit xenocide. I know your Rage pushes you towards violence but be better than it!
I suppose so, yes.
Yep. Hopefully she'll recover.
Of course! I forgot about that.
Phew.
Daaww.
Lauren Fausticorn?
Aye.
Agreed. However there's a difference between getting revenge and mass murder.
I'm with her.
She's got a point.
Cruel or not she does care for her hive.
I can't help but feel that this is appropriate.
She's right. Also, spAt.
She knows.
A BASEball bat oF boiling red energy. Also, nice catch AJ.
*sigh*
Not meaning to be impatient but when can we expect an update to this story? I mean, I know that this is based off of writings off of DeviantArt but I just can't wait for the next chapter!!
6479815
Believe it or not in about 5 days or so. Sorry I have been absent but duty calls and as the only breadwinner in my family stress has been great...
....and my job has been INSANE!!!!! (I started a new 'position'). I'm kinda tired of all the last minute 'emergencies' that pop up there!