2)5,431 words
Chapter eight: Avarice takes the stage3,936 words
Chapter nine: Hope shines bright4,954 words

Chapter two: Arrivals

The day was much like any other in the quaint little town of Ponyville. The sun was shining, birds were singing, flowers were blooming. On days like these, Golden Delicious, or Del as his friends called him, found himself working on the farm, bucking at trees and collecting apples. It was what his mother did, and her mother, and her mother, and so one. His father was different, he wasn't as "experienced" as the rest of his mother's family. But Del rather enjoyed days like these, days when he had something to do, days when he was preoccupied, and on days he wasn't he could be found resting on a hill in the shade of a lone tree.

Del carried the basket of apples and, making sure that none of them were bruised, dumped them into the cart filled with apples. He dumped the other basket into the cart and looked back at his work. Every tree, as far as the eye could see, had been harvested of the fruits that they once had. Satisfied, Del tipped his hat and walked over to the front of the cart. He grabbed the two boards and strapped himself to the cart, he lowered his head and kicked back his hooves as he pulled the cart with all his might.

Del instantly regretted bringing the cart closer to the trees instead of leaving it back at the trail. Because of his decision he now had to pull the heavy cart through the resisting mud, which pushed back against his cart and took away his hooves friction. But even so, Del kept pushing, fighting his way through the thick brown mess. His hoof made contact with the dirt of the trail and with something he could actually grab onto, he pulled himself and the cart onto the trail. He let out a sigh of relief before making his way down the trail.

The morning dew which clung to the grass tips glistened in the sun's gaze. Del took in all of natures wonders as he passed by her works of art. The smells, the sights, the calm winds whistling tune, the hard, yet comfortable, dirt and rock beneath his hooves he felt with each step he took. Maybe today he would visit his friend, Cotton Candy, this fine day and spend the day baking treats.

Del froze, correcting that thought of baking with Candy to keeping her far away from any kitchen instrument as painful memories of her last creations haunted his mind. Del shook away those thoughts and continued walking along the trail. Perhaps instead of Cotton Candy he would visit his other friend Prism Bolt. That idea was short lived as he remembered the Prism was busy today. Del racked his brain, thinking of ways to spend the day. Perhaps he would work on the east side of the field today, or at least give his mom a hoof with it anyways. Or maybe-

*SMACK!*

Whatever idea that was about to present itself was short lived as Del directed his attention to the loud noise that had come beside him. He looked to his left (and down a bit) and his expression softened into a grin. Beside him, face first into the dirt, was a Pegasus mare with light orange fur, a blue mane with a pink and purple stripe in her mane, and she had a shooting star as her cutie mark.

"Ooooooooowwwwwww." The mare groaned, her right wing twitched.

"Wonderful day we're having aren't we?" Del said, trying to make small talk as he unstrapped the saddle attached to the cart.

"Shut up." The Pegasus said hotly, her angrily tone slightly muffled by the ground.

Del chuckled a bit, undoing the final strap. He approached the mare and lifted her up, showing off the red on the bridge of her nose. "Wanna tell me what happened?" Del asked.

The Pegasus turned her head away from Del and huffed, making a pouty face.

"Star." Del pressed. "What happened?"

The Pegasus' right wing twitched once more, she let out a sigh. "Wing cramp."

"I'm sorry what was that?" Del asked, motioning his ear closer to the Pegasus.

The Pegasus whipped her head around and said so that she could be correctly heard,"I got a wing cramp okay!"

The Pegasus' angry tone didn't even make Del flinch, as he stood firm and continued to keep that grin of his. "Cramp huh?" Del rubbed his chin. "Have ya tried walking it off?"

The Pegasus gave Del a flat look, "I'm going to assume that your joking."

Del rolled his eyes. "Here, this ought'a help." Del said grabbing the Pegasus' right wing. "Where is it cramped?" He asked.

The Pegasus pointed right at the muscle connecting her wing to her body, which looked out of place. Del, grabbed the muscle which was taught and slowly applied pressure to it. The Pegasus stifled a moan, her eyes shut tight and her upper jaw bitting down on her lower lip, waiting for the discomfort to end. Eventually the pain subdued and wing was no longer stuck in one place. The Pegasus flapped her right wing, stretching it out and jiggling it so the cramp would not return.

"There," Del said, removing his hooves from her wing. "All better. You're lucky that you were flyin' so low, any higher and you might've broken somethin'."

"Yeah, yeah." The Pegasus said. "I will make sure not to have another cramp. Geez you sound like my mom."

Del chuckled. "I wish, maybe then you'd listen ta me once in a while."

"Uh huh, that's nice Del but I got to get moving." The Pegasus said, spreading her wings. "Later." She said as she took flight.

"Nice ta see you too Star." Del mumbled as he strapped himself back to the cart, and continued along the trail.

Once more he welcomed in all of natures wonders. The magnificent sights, the wonderful feel of the dirt road, the rustling leaves in the wind, the stench of ozone...wait.

The smell hit Del like a dead fish, more like five hundred dead fish actually. Del gagged at the smell, its strong sent stung his nostrils like pointy shards. He lifted his bandanna over his muzzle, blocking out the majority of he stench.

*Grrrrrrrrrrrrr*

A paw, a large one, made of wood stomped onto the dirt trail out from the tree line beside Del. Followed by the paw was another, and then a head, also made of twigs, sticks, and logs, that bore resemblance to a wolf. Only it was twice as big, its eyes were completely sickly green, a dark green smoke fumed from its opened mouth, and did I forget to mention it was entirely made of wood?

The wolf-like creature was a Tmberwolf, clumps of wood and rocks bound together by the spirit of a once dead wolf. In the very center of its body was the soul, slowly burning away inside the body, giving off a disgusting smell which was pouring out of its mouth.

Del didn't seem startled or fazed in the slightest. In fact he seemed just as cool as he always had. The Timberwolves continued its low growl, scrapping his claw against the ground.

"I don't suppose you want to friends?" Del asked half smiling.

"GGGRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!"

The Timberwolf's mouth opened all the way as it responded with a vicious roar.

"Would've been a terrible relationship anyways." Del muttered as he unstrapped himself from the cart.

The wolf charged, galloping at speeds faster than normal eyes could process. The wolf leaped at Del, his mouth unhinged and wide, ready to smash it down upon Del. But then it came to an instant stop, its jaws tried to move but they were held in place by Del's forehooves.

"You disrupt my work." Del stated as he heaved the wolf over his head and smashed it down onto the ground. "You threaten my farm." Del said as he lifted the wolf once more and slammed it back down. "And above all you pissed me off." He said as he heaved the wolf over his head and smashed it against the ground. Only this time the wolf shattered into twigs, rocks, and wood. Del stood and waited, until the pieces became engulfed in a sickly green aura and floated into a pile, which took shape into the wolf. It shook its body before growling at Del.

"Sit."

The wolf ceased its growling, tilting its head, showing off its perplexity, before growling again.

"Sit." Del commanded.

The wolf slightly flinched upon Del's commanding words, taking a step back.

"I said, sit." Once more Del spoke in that firm commanding tone of his.

The wolf continued its growl. Why should it listen to the prey? What gave him the right and authority to command it? He was but mere prey, he was weak and therefore was fated to be eaten. Yet the wolf found its rear slowly lowering towards the ground. How? How did this prey, this weakling, command a beast such as itself. What gave him the right?

Because he willed it.

The wolf sat on its haunches, its head hung low, knowing that it had been defeated. The wolf's eyes widened as the prey approached him, balancing something on his back. "Here ya go." Del said.

The wolf looked down, his confusion increased. At his feet was a pile of at least twenty red apples. The wolf looked up at Del as he hung the basket back onto the cart. He looked to the wolf and smiled underneath his bandanna. "Ya looked mighty hungry, so I thought I'd share. I've got more than enough." Del stated as he strapped himself back to his cart. "Enjoy." He waved goodbye as he passed by the wolf.

The Timberwolf looked back down at the pile of apples, picking one up by holding it between two of his claws. As it took a bite from the apple, it promised that it would never forget what had happened here this day.

The Castle of Friendship. Place of Harmony, and home to the Sparkle's. Inside its walls, the son of Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry sat in the chair which belonged to his mother. As he sat, he read a book in his hooves which contained knowledge on certain spells. This son was named Night Light jr, a unicorn colt who was much like his mother. A thirst for knowledge. Night Light, whenever he had the spare time, would spend his time reading or sometimes writing.

He was so immersed in his book he didn't noticed the door to the room opening and closing. Along with the pony who had just entered.

"What'cha doing?"

It wasn't until whomever entered the room was right next to him and spoke that Night Light became aware of the pony's presence. He jumped back in surprise, dropping the book and glaring at the chuckling pony next to him.

"What the hay dad?" He glared.

"Sorry kiddo." Flash Sentry apologized. "You really are just like your mother, ya know that? So immersed in a book that the entire world dissolves around you."

"Yeah, well I'd like to get back to that world thank you very much." Night Light said, grabbing the book and continued reading from where he had left off. He paused midway through, noticing that Flash was still next to him. "Uh...no offense dad but...why are you still here?"

"Hmm? Oh right, well..." Flash rubbed the back of his head rather awkwardly. "I've done some thinking and I've realized that...well... you and I haven't really spent much time together as of late."

Night Light thought about what his dad said and after marking his page he put down his book. "You know...you're right, we haven't spent as much time together as father and son as we should've."

Flash's mood seemed to brighten up a bit. "So you want to go do something?"

Night Light shrugged, "sure, I don't see why not." He said as he hopped off from the chair. "Say...what do father's and son's do anyways?"

"We'll do whatever you want to do." Flash answered.

"Whatever I want?" Night Light cringed at the thought, knowing that his dad might've not been so keen on the thing he normally did. "How about...frisbee?" Night Light suggested, a white plastic frisbee appearing with a magical poof and floating next to him.

"Frisbee?" Flash asked.

Night Light nodded.

"Well alright, lets go play frisbee kiddo." Flash said as he walked towards the door.

"Here dad, catch!" Night Light hollowed as he chucked the frisbee.

Flash didn't have enough time to prevent the frisbee from colliding with his chest and, thanks to its speed being increased by Night Light's magic, it sent Flash through the wall, leaving a hole which matched his figure. Night Light gasped and his eyes went wide as he ran up to his dad.

"Oh my gosh dad, are you okay?!" Night Light shouted, his head popped through the hole in wall.

"Maybe...we should...do something...less...physical." Flash wheezed.

Prism Bolt, son of Rainbow Dash and Soarin, sat comfortably in the chair made out of a cloud. Beside him was a crib, also made from a cloud, in which his little brother slept. He looked to his bother and then back down to his hooves, where a letter, with lines indicating that it had been folded, laid in them. He sighed, using every fiber of his being to fight back his tears.

*knock, knock*

"Prism, can I come in?" A voice from the other side of the cloud door came.

"Nothing's stopping you." He said grimly.

The door knob turned and a mare Pegasus entered. She had dark purple fur, blue eyes, and a white mane and tail. This Pegasus was known as Whirlwind, Prism's ex, the moment she stepped in an aura of awkwardness entered the room as well.

"Hey..." Whirlwind cringed, her greeting sounded terrible. "How ya doing?"

Prism looked up to her, his eyes narrowed. "How do you think?"

Whirlwind's eyes landed on the paper, slowly she approached Prism, pulling up a chair next to him. "May I?" She asked, pointing to the letter.

Prism glanced down at the letter then back to Whirlwind. He sighed defeatedly as he handed her the letter. She took it and glanced at who it had been sent from. Her eyes widened when she saw, she looked to Prism in disbelief. "You auditioned for the Wonderbolt?!" She shouted.

"Shhhh!" Prism hissed, covering Whirlwind's mouth. Eyeing the sleeping colt who stirred in his sleep.

Whirlwind knocked away Prism'a hoof before continuing. "I thought you said you weren't going to try out for becoming a Wonderbolt? Didn't you say that you wanted to do something different than your mom and dad?"

"I know what I said." Prism grunted. "I just...I was bored okay." Prism crossed his hooves, turning his back towards her. "Besides, it doesn't matter anymore."

Whirlwind gave Prism a look of confusion before her face turned into an expression of realization. She looked back to the letter and realized it was a letter of acceptance. But one of rejection.

-Prism Bolt;
Hey kid, how's it going? Hopefully good I guess. Me on the other hoof, let me just tell you, cadets nowadays are just pathetic. Their nothing at all like the ones back then. Hay, even Thunderlane was better than these clowns.
Well, I guess there's no point in slowly breaking the ice. I didn't want to do this kid, I really didn't but... I'm sorry you have no idea how hard this is. Rainbow Dash was by far the best flyer and the best friend I could ever ask for, and Soarin, that goofball, who would've thought those two would've been a match in heaven. They were both excellent flyers, and when they had you, well, everybody thought that you had been destined for greatness.
But sadly this isn't the case. It is with great pain and sorrow that I must reject you from the Wonderbolts training. I'm sorry Prism, I fought tooth and nail to change their minds but it was no use. You're just...you're just not good enough.
I'm sorry Prism, I truly am.
Your Aunt Spitfire

Whirlwind's hooves slowly lowered, unable to bear the weight of their own gravity.

"Not good enough." Prism grounded his teeth upon saying those words. "It's always the same three words. 'Not good enough'. You're not good enough to be a great flyer. You're not good enough to be Rainbow Dash and Soarin's son. You're not good enough to be a Wonderbolt."

"Stop it!" Whirlwind demanded. "You can't beat yourself up like that Prism. You are good enough for anything."

"But I wasn't good enough for you."

Those words sunk deep into Whirlwind, her gaze fell to floor, unable to look Prism in the eyes. "That...that isn't what I meant and you know it."

"Sure." Prism huffed. "Is there a reason why you came here or did you just come here to see me grovel?"

"I came back to check on you." Whirlwind stated. "You haven't been seen for two days. Your friends are worried." She said. "And why would I want to see you grovel?"

"My life has been nothing but miserable ever since you left." Prism said. "Just one bad thing after the next."

"But it doesn't have to be." Whirlwind said offering Prism her hoof. "The 'Star Gaze Festival' is going to start at midnight. Everypony is going to be there, you should go too."

Prism looked at Whirlwind's hoof before giving her his answer. "Get out." He growled.

Whirlwind didn't budge. "I'm not leaving without you."

"I said get out." Prism growled, this time just a bit louder.

"No." Whirlwind said.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Prism's rage flared.

Then his eyes widened, the chair Whirlwind had been sitting in was now empty. His gaze looked to the floor where Whirlwind was now laying. Her hoof covering the red mark on her cheek, her left eye tightly closed, while her right had a tear forming in the corner of her eye. Prism looked to his hoof, which had a slight sting in it. He looked back to Whirlwind, eyes filled with disbelief and regret.

"What did I do?"

The sun had begun its descent, its yellow shining glow disappearing behind the horizon. While completely parallel to it was the moon, rising on the other side. While this was happening, all of Ponyville was gathering at the edge of a cliff, carrying baskets and blankets with them. A pink blanket was draped over the grass by the green pony-dragon hybrid Turquoise. He neatly smoothed out the blankets edges before setting the basket in his mouth down. He sat down in the middle of the blanket, opening up the basket's lid, he pulled out multiple containers and plates.

"Something smells good."

Turquoise set down a third plate before turning to the source of the voice. "I would hope so," he grinned. "Otherwise I just wasted an hour in the kitchen for nothing."

The pink unicorn mare smiled at him. Her name was Annie, adopted daughter of Fluttershy, and Turquoise's marefriend. While Annie's pupils were blue, they also had a glossy mist on them. See, Annie here has an eye disease which prevents her from seeing detail. All she can see are blotches of color, but she manages. Annie gave Turquoise a smile as she laid next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. There was a silence between the two, not an awkward silence, but a comforting one as the two enjoyed the other's company.

"*Ahem*"

Both Turquoise and Annie where yanked away from their comforting silence as they both turned to see an Alicorn-batpony hybrid mare standing in front of them. The Alicorn's name was Nidra, daughter of Luna and Super Nova. Her bat-like wings were fully extended, her piercing yellow eyes drove her gaze into the couple's heart.

"Would you guys mind if I spend the festival with you?" She asked, folding her wings.

Annie gave Nidra a warm smile. "Of course Nidra, what are friends for?"

Nidra gave the two a grateful look as she walked onto the blanket and laid on the other side of Turquoise. She caught a glance of Annie as she rested her head on Turquoise's shoulder, silently wishing that she was in Annie's place.

"Wheeeeeeee!" An energetic mare squealed, jumping into the air as an explosion of confetti went off behind her. Startling the three on the blanket.

"Oh its you Candy." Turquoise exhaled in relief. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Hi Candy." Annie waved at the pony known as Cotton Candy, or Candy as her friends called her, daughter of Pokey Pierce and Pinkie Pie.

"Candy please sit down." Starburst grimaced, as she sat on the blanket, "you're making a scene."

"Star, its Candy. When on earth has she ever gone anywhere and not caused a scene." A new pony arrived, a pony-dragon hybrid known as Clarity.

"She's got you there Star." The Alicorn-draconequus hybrid known as Illusion added.

Del chuckled a bit as everyone took their seat on the blanket. A few minutes passed and Del felt something tap his foreleg. He looked down to see that it was cousin Api Apple, daughter of Apple Bloom and Pipsqueak.

"Hey cousin, have ya seen Nighty anywhere?" She asked.

Del thought for a moment before responding. "Can't say I have Cuz. Is he missing or somethin'?"

Starburst facehoofed. "That idiot. Hold on, I'll be right back." She said, extending her wings and taking flight.

While the whole town was gathered at the edge of the cliff, Night Light found himself at the tip of a mountain not to far from the cliff where the town was. At the edge he had set up a portable telescope, which he peered into to get a look at the stars beginning to become visible. The more he saw, the more he wrote down in his small journal. While star gazing he noticed something out of the ordinary. He looked back and forth between the sketch of the star's in his journal and the actual star's themselves. There was a star missing, the fifth star which belonged in the warrior constellation was no longer there.

Night Light found this curious and decided to investigate further. When he looked back into the telescope the star had reappeared, but something was moving. It was faint, and barely visible, but it could still be seen, a small black object which entered the atmosphere and disappeared over the horizon. Night Light removed his gaze from the telescope and looked back at the constellations, this time the star had disappeared once again. Night Light looked back through the telescope and directed its gaze at where the star should've been. He then saw seven colored objects appear. One green, one yellow, one blue, one red, one violet, one orange, and one purple.

Night Light then figured out what had happened. The star hadn't vanished, but its visibility vanished because a portal appeared in front of it. Night Light looked back at the stars, his eyes glued on the seven colored objects which fell to the planet, leaving a trail matching their color behind them.

They fell until they're direction changed. Night Light's eyes widened as he realized they were heading straight for him. Before he could act, the seven objects were upon him, floating in front of him. Night Light held his hoof over his head, covering himself from the blinding light they were emitting. After his eyes adjusted, he got a good look at the objects.

They were lanterns, strangely shaped, but their structure resembled a lantern. The seven lanterns hovered in front of Night Light of a moment before something came out of their opening.

A ring was produced from each lantern, each matching the color it came from and each bearing a unique symbol. Before Night Light could understand what it meant, four of the rings took action.

Willpower detected

Rage detected

Fear detected

Love detected

The green, red, yellow, and violet ring shot off into the sky, a trail following behind them. The other three ring's paused before they retreated into the lanterns they had come from.

ERROR: Small traces of Avarice detected, will maintain hibernation until suitable bearer determined.

ERROR: Compassion clouded, will maintain hibernation until suitable bearer is ready.

ERROR: Small traces of Hope detected, will maintain hibernation until suitable bearer determined.

Night Light starred in confusion as the lanterns circled around his head, surrounding him. Before he could understand what was happening, each lantern shot a beam into his head. A green, yellow, blue, red, violet, orange, and purple beam of light entered his mind, causing his eyes to become completely white. His vision faded, replaced with a picture of a pony, his head covered by a black shadow. The pony raised its hoof, showing off the black ring it wore with the symbol of an upside down triangle that had five pillars shooting out from it.

The image faded and Night Light's vision returned. He looked around the entire area but the lanterns were no where to be seen, they had completely vanished, not a trace of their presence could be seen.

"What the hay was that?" Night Light asked, only to receive silence as his answer.

The frozen north, the harsh and cruel winds howled as they carried pieces of snow across the plane. Inside the cave, Sombra sat in a chair he had carved from stone.

"You look bored."

"What gave it away?" Sombra asked sarcastically, looking at the ring.

"You seem to not yet fully comprehend what is about to happen."

"Did it ever occur to you that I might not even have a clue as to what I'm supposed to do?" Sombra asked.

"Hmmmm, yes that is my fault I will admit. Very well, I'll explain what you're supposed to do step by-"

"Not so fast." Sombra interjected. "Before you explain this 'master plan of yours'. I want you to answer my questions first.

"..... Fine. What do you want to know?"

"What are you?" Was Sombra's first question.

"Did you lose a few brain cells when you died or something? I already told you what I am, I am a ring of death-"

"NO!" Sombra shouted, once again cutting the voice off. "You can't be the ring. The ring is sounds robotic, lifeless. You...you sound as though you're a living, breathing, creature."

"..... Well guess there's no point in hiding it now. I guess introductions are in order, my name used to be William Derek Hand, I guess it still is now but I prefer the name Black Hand. And unlike you, I'm alive."

"Explain." Sombra demanded.

"As you wish. As of right now you and I are the only Black Lanterns. There was a time when there used to be countless of us but now there's only two. You and I. Before I was imprisoned by the other corps I sent out a copy of my ring to a parallel universe. It found you and now you're a Black Lantern."

"Okay, that explains that I guess." Sombra said. "Next question, what is this ring made of?"

"Ah yes, the ring's makeup structure. Trust me, it's best if you don't know."

"Very well. Last question," Sombra paused bringing the ring directly to eye level. "What can this ring do?"

"I thought you'd never ask. But unfortunately to demonstrate your newfound power we need a corpse, and last I checked there isn't a Walmart in this universe."

"A corpse huh." Sombra rubbed his chin. "I think I know exactly where we can get one." Sombra grinned as he stood up from his chair and exited the cave.

Author's Note:

So yeah, the reason this chapter took so long is because I had to do a bit of research on both Kilala97's next generation and the Green Lantern series. So I think I've got a good grip on the understanding of both series (hopefully). Now then, I'm a bad writer. Well, I guess actually I'm not a bad writer I just have a tendency to rush things, and I don't like that. But I have a habit of doing it because I get so excited when I release a chapter, so hopefully I can change that.

That's all for now.

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