When a mysterious ring finds it's way into the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor is introduced to a universe far beyond anything he could have imagined. As he works to master new skills and powers, he stumbles upon a threat that could spell doom for him, his home and family, and thousands of other beings across the galaxy... unless he can stop it.
One of the disadvantages of living in a castle made mostly out of crystal was that you knew when the sun rose. Specifically, when dozens of crystals beamed the sun directly into your face, making sleeping in impossible. Since he was the nice, dutiful husband, Shining Armor had allowed Cadence to take the side facing away from the window, giving him the full brunt of Celestia’s Sun as it rose over the Crystal Empire.
Shining Armor squinted as he looked outside. By the amount of sunlight currently blinding him, and by the fact that Cadence was still asleep, he guessed it was around 7:30 in the morning. Celestia must have listened to me; the sun’s up five minutes later than usual, he thought as he yawned and sat up, his movement stirring Cadence from her sleep.
“Do you always have to move so much when you get up?” she asked, her voice muffled by her pillow. Shining blinked a few times and looked over to his wife.
“It’s 7:30; I have every right to move around as much as I want.”
“No you don’t.” Cadence shifted around, trying to find a more comfortable spot to sleep. Sighing, Shining poked her between the wings, a spot that Princess Celestia had said she was very ticklish. Cadence gave a yelp and flared her wings, knocking the sheets away from the rest of her body. “Shining!”
“Sorry, my hoof slipped.” Shining gave her a playful smirk. “Besides, didn’t you want to get in touch with one of the local contractors and see if we could build a stadium?”
“I don’t want to.” Cadence grabbed a nearby sheet and pulled it over her head. “You go do it. It’s more of your thing, anyway.”
“I would if I was in charge here. Come on Cadence, get up.”
“I’m not feeling so good. Go put on one of my dresses and say you’re standing in for me today.” Now she’s just making excuses. Shining leaned in again and poked Cadence once more, receiving a pillow to the face for his troubles.
“Come on, Cadence. Get up.” Cadence groaned and pushed herself up, glaring at Shining Armor.
“I hate you, you know that?”
“No you don’t.” Shining gave her a quick kiss, and Cadence could not help but smile. She gave Shining a poke on the nose and climbed out of bed, fluffing her wings and yawning before stepping into the nearby bathroom.
“Oh, Twilight sent me a letter the other day.” Cadence called from the bathroom.
“Really?” Shining perked up at this; given the Crystal Empire’s location, letters from non-government officials were hard to come by, even from somepony like Twilight. It seemed that ever since he took his position as captain of Equestria’s Royal Guards, the two of them had been drifting farther and farther apart. I really need to go down and visit sometime. “What did she say?”
“She’s doing fine. Princess Celestia wanted her to do some research on some old mystic items she found in the Canterlot archives.”
“That’s interesting.” he chuckled to himself. “I’d like a copy of whatever paper she ends up writing”
“I’d like to see a copy of that too.” Cadence stepped out of the bathroom, her mane and tail combed and orderly. she gave Shining a smile, but that smile shifted to a frown when she noticed his concern. “Shining, is something wrong?”
“Cadence?”
“Yes?”
“Earlier you said you weren’t feeling too good.” he stepped closer to her. “You were joking, right?” Cadence laughed and gave Shining a poke.
“Of course I’m joking. You know you don’t have to be so protective of me, right?”
“Cadence, we’re married; part of my job is to be protective of you.” Cadence rolled her eyes and made her way to the door.
“Honestly, Shining, sometimes you just overreact to some things. You sound exactly like one of my caretakers when I was a little girl; they were always worried I’d end up getting myself hurt or something.”
“And...?” Cadence shuffled around for a moment.
“Okay, so I broke each of my legs a few times, but Diana always ended up worse!”
“Cadence,” Shining Armor walked over to her, placing a hoof on her back. “I don’t want to seem like I’m overreacting, it’s just that you’re my wife, and I’d hate to see you get hurt or worse because of something I could have prevented.” there was a pause before Cadence smiled.
“You’re scared.” she said. Shining blinked as he registered what Cadence had just said.
“... What?”
“Come on, Shining. You’re scared, aren’t you?”
“I’m not scared.” Cadence flicked Shining with her tail and exited the room.
“Sure you aren’t.”
“And... now you’re teasing me. That’s really befitting your station, Princess.” This earned him another swat, this one a bit more forceful.
“You said you wouldn’t call me that!” she cried. Shining merely shrugged.
“You call me scared, I call you Princess. I think it’s a fair trade.” Cadence’s mouth flapped open for a moment, before she gave a dissatisfied huff.
“Ruin all my fun, why don’t you?” she grumbled.
“Love you too, sweetie.” Shining gave Cadence a kiss on the cheek, and despite her attempts at pretending to be angry she could not help but smile.
“Why can’t I stay mad at you?” she asked.
“I guess I’m just that kind of pony.” he chuckled. “Now are you sure there’s nothing wrong with you?”
“Yes Shining; there is nothing wrong with me. Anything else you would like to know?”
“Not really.” Cadence gave him a playful swat with her tail.
“Come, we’ve wasted enough time here; the others will start getting nervous.” Shining nodded and followed Cadence as she made her way further into the Crystal Palace. As they walked along, they spotted dozens of ponies getting started with their daily tasks, most of them giving Shining and Cadence a nod or small greeting as they passed.
“You know,” Cadence said. “I think we should do something nice for the staff here.”
“Like what?” Shining asked.
“I don’t know. Something to show how much we appreciate all their hard work.”
“Well... Didn’t Twilight have that one friend who really liked making ponies happy, Pinkie Pie?” Cadence smiled and nodded.
“That might just be it. I’ll send a letter and see if she’d be willing to come up.”
“Oh, I have no doubt she’d be interested...” Shining stopped walking for a second. out of the corner of his eye he saw two ponies talking. It was just innocent conversation between two friends, but the subject matter was not one that Shining Armor was incredibly fond of.
They were talking about changelings. Specifically, what it would be like to meet a changeling.
They spoke of how cool it would be to meet a changeling face-to-face. Shining Armor knew better; they never had to stand against hordes of chitinous beasts, never had one rummaging around in their minds, impersonate someone they loved... Sometimes he thought he could still see Chrysalis standing over him, hundreds of her minions leering down at him, her laughter-
“Shining? Shining?” Shining was snapped from his lull and turned to Cadence, the pink alicorn looking at him in worry. “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no. Just... Just didn’t get enough sleep, that’s all.” Cadence raised an eyebrow at this. “I’ll explain later. Somewhere private.”
“... Fine.” Cadence continued on, while Shining looked back to where the ponies he had overheard were standing.
Maybe... Maybe I am scared...
..................
Abin Sur was sure of three things: he was injured, his ring was almost out of power, and the ship he had commandeered was going down.
He grimaced as he pulled himself up from the floor, pushing away a collection of debris from the ship’s controls. A nearby panel overloaded and exploded, spraying sparks into his face, but he ignored that as he brought up his ring.
“Status report.” he said, ducking as something behind him broke loose.
“Structural integrity is at 43.5% and dropping.” the ring responded. “Power levels at 23% and holding. Recharging is needed if you are to make it to Oa.” Abin Sur looked around at the dying ship.
“I don’t think I’m going to survive that long.” he turned back to the ring. “Can you send a message?”
“Due to low power levels, contact may see some interference.”
“Do it.” Someone needs to know.
“Transmitting...” there was a pause before the ring spoke again. “Contact made.”
“Put me through.” There was another explosion from behind. As Abin Sur ducked to avoid more shrapnel, he winced as something blunt jammed into the wound in his stomach. He pushed the pain out of his mind as the ring made contact.
“This is Green Lantern of Sector 1417 responding.” a voice said through Abin Sur’s ring.
“Sinestro? Good, it’s you.” Abin Sur propped himself up as best he could. “Listen. The ship I’m currently on is going down, so I can’t talk long.” there was a burst of static before the second voice responded.
“... repeat-” static.
“I don’t have that time. Listen, it’s the Manhunters; they’ve-” an explosion forced Abin Sur away from the ring. “The Manhunters; they have started launching attacks into this sector.”
“Repeat-” static. “Manhunters-” more static. “not in Sector 2814.”
“I know that, but they are here now. Ring, transmit all the data I have collected on the Manhunters.”
“Transmitting...” there was a pause. “Data transmitted.”
“I’ve sent you all of the information I have on the Manhunters.” Abin Sur continued, winching again as his injury flared up. “See to it that it reaches the Guardians.” more static before there was a response.
“Will-” static. “- Abin Sur.”
“Transmission terminated.” the ring chirped. Abin Sur struggled over to the ship’s command chair, pulling the controls close to his body. “Structural integrity at 38.7% and dropping.”
“Do we have a point of impact?” if anything, Abin Sur hoped that the ship would not be on a collision course with a planet. Then, he would be able to abandon the ship and call for help, if he did not succumb to his injuries first.
“Calculating...” There was a beep before the image of a star system appeared, the ring highlighting a small planet close to the local star. “Planet Celeste-3, local name ‘Equus’. Point of Impact is at the Center of the Crystal Empire, Equestria. Estimated loss of life at eleven hundred and thirty-five sentients. Estimated time until arrival in planet’s atmosphere: .022 local hours.”
“Can we maneuver out of the way?”
“Structural integrity cannot survive that level of maneuvers. Ring power is at 15%; insufficient to provide support.”
“Please tell we we at least have basic steering.”
“Manual steering is still viable, but very likely that ship will break up upon entering atmosphere.” Abin Sur looked out towards the small planet his ship was now approaching. The section he was headed for was shrouded in darkness, save for the pinpricks of light from towns and cities. He grimaced and pulled on the controls, trying to adjust the direction of the ship as best he could.
“I can accept that risk.” He gave the controls another tug as the ship hurled through the atmosphere, chunks breaking off and disintegrating into dust due to the friction. Warning lights flashed around his head, only to be silenced as the various systems collapsed due to damage.
“Structural integrity at 25% and dropping.” The ring said.
“Just keep it projected; do not remind me.” the ring produced a small screen, indicating that he was now at 20% structural integrity, and that the ring itself was at 12% power and dropping. Abin Sur said a silent curse and tugged at the controls once more, the ship plummeting through a layer of clouds towards the ground below.
Due to the location of the Crystal Empire and the trajectory of his ship, Abin Sur was set to crash somewhere in the Equestrian Tundra. In many ways, he was thankful; crashing here would see no sentients harmed, and provide a means with which to dispose of the ship if necessary. However, with his injuries and low power, his chance at surviving the crash were remote at best.
“Impact imminent; bailout suggested.” his ring said, but he knew that it was too late to do anything. Pulling at the controls once more, Abin Sur closed his eyes as the snow-covered ground raced towards him.
There was a brief flash of pain. And then nothing.
...............
The ship had landed on a section of solid ground. Most of it had been ground to scrap metal, bits and pieces strewn across a mile-wide area, but the ring and it’s power battery survived.
“Life readings... negative.” The ring said after a moment of silence. “Status Report: Green Lantern 2814 deceased. Transmitting information to Oa.” another pause. “Transmission complete. Sector scan 2814 for replacement sentient initiated.” the ring levitated off the ground, hovering for a second as it scanned the surrounding tundra. “Settlement spotted. Searching for replacement.” It’s destination set, the ring began to fly towards the Crystal Empire, a small aura of green amongst the snowy wastes.
As the ring searched, Shining Armor dreamed of lights...
To save on energy, the ring had waited until sunrise before resuming it’s search for a new bearer. While it could draw in small amounts of energy from sunlight, it would not be enough to traverse a planet the size of Celeste-3, let alone the other planets in Sector 2814.
Once it’s rest period was over, the ring resumed it’s flight towards the Crystal Empire, it’s small size and speed making it almost invisible to the untrained eye. Through the magical barrier surrounding the Empire and down into the surrounding fields it flew, scanning each and every being it found for the right properties.
The ring could sense some potential amongst the gathered sentients, but there were other factors; some did not have enough drive or imagination, others knew too much fear, and still other would have gladly placed their personal wellbeing before that of anyone else. Many Lanterns had seen their rings fail them because of these factors, and this ring was not going to lose a second wielder that easily.
The ring looped through the central plaza before picking something up. Among the sentients assembled, one stood out amongst them: a soldier of some kind, who had stood in the face of danger and came out unscathed. The ring changed course and headed towards this source, ducking and weaving through buildings and crowds in search of it’s potential new bearer.
The potential bearer was close. Zipping around a corner, the ring could feel the presence of the sentient slowly move away, oblivious to the ring’s presence. As it moved away, the ring realized that the sentient had not spotted it, and most likely would not if the ring did not alert the sentient to it’s presence.
Applying a little more energy, the ring sped up and set a course aimed directly at the back of the sentient’s head.
................
Shining Armor was interrupted in his walk by something hitting him in the back of the head. It was not a very large thing, but it was still enough to pitch him forward slightly and would most likely leave a nice mark on his head.
“Okay, who threw that?” he asked, turning around and searching for anypony that might be in hiding. “I’m serious! If you’re trying to be funny or something, let me tell you it’s not working.” When he got no response, he prepared to double back and search the area himself, but stopped when his hoof touched something.
Shining looked down and saw a small ring beneath his hoof. The ring was an emerald green, and it seemed to glow with some kind of energy as he lifted his hoof away. On the ring was a curious design, a circle with two parallel lines on it’s top and bottom. It was warm to the touch, most likely from some kind of inner heat source, and it was made of a material that Shining could not identify.
“Okay... This must be what hit me.” Shining scooped the ring up in one hoof, inspecting it for any source of identification. The only thing he saw was the circle and parallel lines. Shining turned around once more, still searching for anypony that the ring might belong to.
Maybe Cadence would know whose this is... Shrugging, Shining grasped the ring in his telekinesis and continued walking, ignoring that the ring was now glowing slightly brighter than before. Luckily, he did not have to search long, for he found Cadence speaking with one of the staff, the pink alicorn not noticing him as he approached.
“Cadence?” he said, causing her to look up. “Do you have a moment?”
“Of course.” Cadence turned to the staff member. “Thank you for your time. We’ll discuss this later.” the other pony nodded and excused herself from the room while Cadence smiled at Shining. “What is it?”
“Well, I was walking along and I found this ring.” he levitated the ring in front of her face. “Do you know anyone that it might belong to?” Cadence plucked the ring from Shining’s telekinetic aura, turning it over a few times in her own magic.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.” she looked up at Shining. “Where did you say you found this?”
“I was just walking along and stepped on it.” Cadence looked back to the ring. After a moment, she shrugged.
“Well, I don’t know what it is. I’ll just send it down to the staff Lost and Found box; maybe somepony will be looking for it.” Cadence’s magic aura shimmered for a moment before the ring disappeared. That problem seemingly solved, Cadence looked to Shining Armor. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”
“What were you talking about before I showed up?” Cadence’s smile dropped, but only slightly.
“That was going to be a surprise...”
“Oh... Should I come back later?”
“No, it’s fine... really, it is.” there was a pause, Shining shuffling his hooves a little.
“Are you going to tell me?” Cadence giggled and shook her head.
“Not yet; that’d spoil the surprise.”
“This isn’t going to be like when you dyed my uniform pink, is it?” Cadence’s giggle turned into a full on laugh, and Shining Armor’s ears drooped slightly.
“No, this is a good surprise. Now, I have a few more things to attend to, so I’ll leave you alone to think about the surprise.” Cadence winked and left the room, Shining watching her go before slumping to the ground.
“Mares... Why am I always at the mercy of mares?”
...............
The ring realized it’s mistake once it had been sent to this box. It had failed to inform the potential bearer of it’s true purpose, of why they had been chosen by the ring. It was the ring’s fault; Abin Sur had held the ring for a long time, and it had been an equally long time since the ring had recruited a new bearer.
It decided that it would try a more direct approach.
After determining that it was alone, the ring levitated out of the box and left the room, scanning the building for the chosen sentient. It turned left and flew down a corridor, stopping only to remain out of sight of those that it deemed unworthy.
The sentient was moving again, still at a slow pace. Something had affected the sentient’s psyche, and now it showed hints of doubt, apprehension... even small traces of fear. Had they grown any further the ring might have deviated from it’s course and searched for a more suitable bearer, but the ring could tell that this one was more than capable of overcoming that fear... it just required the proper training.
The ring looped down another hall, flying out an open window before rising up to the same level that the sentient was currently standing on. Another scan, and the ring was able to determine the facing of the target sentient, so that it could approach head-on. Building up energy once more, the ring re-entered the building and headed towards it’s intended bearer.
...............
“Shining Armor.” Shining stopped walking and looked around. Someone had called out to him, but upon his initial search he found no one. He would have kept walking, but when he faced forward he saw a familiar green ring flying straight towards him.
Instinct took over and Shining Armor threw up a magical barrier between himself and the approaching ring. The ring bounced off the barrier, spinning in the air before righting itself and approaching once more.
“Okay, this is freaky.” Shining put more energy into the barrier. “What’s doing this? Who controls you?” The ring did not respond, instead hovering just outside of Shining’s barrier. “What do you want from me?”
“You have been chosen.” the voice responded. This piqued Shining’s curiosity and he loosen control of the shield spell for a moment.
“Chosen? Chosen for what?” the ring did not answer. Instead, it glowed brighter before passing through Shining’s shield, diving down and flying towards his right foreleg. He raised his leg and prepared to run, but the ring angled up and slipped over his hoof.
As soon as the ring was secure, Shining was bathed in green light. Heat washed over his body, and the shield spell he had cast faded away into nothing. Green light blocked out any visual information, and it was strong enough that Shining had to close his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded.
When the light cleared, Shining looked down at himself and gasped. He was now clad in a glowing uniform, the design similar to that of the armor he wore as captain of the Royal Guards. Instead of purple and gold, the uniform was a mix of black and green, with a white patch over his flanks where his cutie mark would have been, along with a similar patch over his chest. Beneath the armor was a jumpsuit with similar coloration to the armor, and a pair of green shoes were now affixed to his rear legs. The ring around his right foreleg was glowing right along with the suit, but for whatever reason Shining was not affected by the light.
“Wha- What is this?” he managed after a moment of stunned silence.
“Shining Armor of Equus,” The ring said, pulling his leg in front of his face. “You have the ability to overcome great fear.
“Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.”
................
Later that day, Cadence waited outside the throne room of the Crystal Palace. All the official business of the Crystal Empire had been dealt with, and she had sent one of her personal staff to go find Shining. I suppose my surprise has waited long enough...
“Um, Princess?” Cadence turned around and saw the attendant walking towards her, a small note clutched in the Crystal Ponies’ mouth.
‘What is it? Where’s Shining Armor?” the attendant passed the note to her, and she opened it using her telekinesis. It looked like Shining’s writing, but there seemed to be something off about it. The fact that it appeared to glow green at the right angle did not help matters.
Cadence, I saw something land outside the barrier last night. Just went to go check out what it was. I should be back by tomorrow morning at the latest. Love you, Shining.
“Did he give you this?” Cadence asked.
“No, Your Highness. I looked at all the places Shining Armor frequented, and I found this sitting on the bed in your room.” the Crystal Pony pawed at the ground. “I did not read it. Has something happened to him?” Cadence looked back at the note.
“I... I don’t think so. You may go now.” the attendant bowed and left while Cadence turned back to the note. She read it through a few times before folding it and tucking it underneath one of her wings.
I shouldn’t worry about this... Shining’s never done anything too stupid before. She paused, taking a moment to caress the small bulge in her torso.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait a little longer to tell Daddy about you.” she said before turning and heading to her room.
Cadence had taken Shining flying once, the day he had proposed to her. It was one of the greatest experiences he had ever had, swooping down between clouds and soaring over Equestria. They had found a nice cliff overlooking the Manehattan valley just as the sun set, the myriad colors of the sky providing the perfect background for Shining’s proposal.
Being dragged through the air by some freaky ring was a different experience entirely.
“Put me down!” Shining cried, trying his best to reach the ring around his hoof.
“Unable to grant request, as it would lead to you falling several hundred feet to your death.”
“I said put me down, not drop me!” the ring did not respond, continuing on it’s course while Shining continued to struggle. “Where are you taking me?”
“Power Battery must be relocated. Explanations for new bearer shall be forthcoming.” Shining frowned, but ceased most of his struggling as the ring flew on. Since arguing with the ring was no longer an option, he took a moment to examine the uniform he was currently wearing. Had it just been the jumpsuit he would have been less freaked out, but that he was wearing a copy of his armor left him spooked. Had the ring somehow peaked into his mind and learned about his military service? He would have asked the ring, but his speed had dropped and he had begun to descend.
Scattered across the snow before him were the remains of a ship. Shining would have called it a spaceship, but he had no way of telling whether or not the thing had been capable of flying in space. The hull had been cigar shaped, but had been roughly snapped in half and shredded from impacting debris. Shining approached cautiously, searching for anything that might be a threat, while the ring only glowed brighter as he neared the ship.
Lying amongst the wreckage was a body, clad in a similar uniform as Shining Armor. His first instincts said ‘Diamond Dog’, but closer examination showed that the creature would have been taller and less heavily built had it been alive. Shining stepped a little closer while the ring continued glowing.
“Abin Sur of the planet Ungara, former wielder of this ring. The ship he commandeered was damaged in combat against hostile forces and crashed here. Abin Sur died shortly after.”
“So... this alien is why I’m out here?” Shining kneeled down next to the corpse while the ring responded.
“Negative. All rings search for suitable replacement once current wielder is deceased. Will of Shining Armor strong enough to be viable replacement.” Shining backed up, looking down at the ring.
“Wait, I never agreed to be a replacement to... whatever he was. Don’t I at least get a choice?” there was a pause before the ring answered.
“Preparing message now.” Shining tried to stop the ring, but it projected an image of the dead alien before him, and he took another step back to put some distance between him and the image.
“Hello. My name is Abin Sur,” the image said. “I am the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and if you have activated this message then I have fallen and my ring has selected a new bearer.” Shining opened his mouth to speak, but the image continued on.
“It is a great honor to serve as a Green Lantern. It is our task to guide and defend the universe from those that would seek to oppress or destroy it, to maintain peace and order between all races. Only those that posses indomitable will are chosen to become Green Lanterns, and you have proven yourself to be one of these beings.
“I ask you now to take up my ring and join the Green Lantern Corps. It may seem confusing at first, but be assured when I say that the rings rarely make wrong decisions about their bearers.” Shining tried to ask another question, but the image vanished and the ring dulled. He looked the the corpse of the alien, Abin Sur, before reaching out with his magic and pulling the body out of the wreckage. He found an empty patch of ground not too far away, and using more of his magic he dug through the snow and dirt before setting the body of Abin Sur to rest. it’s the least I can do for him, he thought.
“Requesting answer.” the ring said. Shining was drawn back to reality and looked at the ring. It was crazy, to think that some alien ring wanted him to go out and be... whatever it was a Green Lantern was supposed to be. How would he deal with the scope of the galaxy and, more importantly, there was the issue of informing Cadence. He had sworn to be with her no matter what; he could not just abandon her to go and be a “Green Lantern”. That would go back on everything he had promised her.
However, even as he tried to voice his answer, he found that he did not want to turn the offer down. The ring and Abin Sur never said he had to give up his personal life to become a Green Lantern, and his natural curiosity was getting the better of him. He could always talk with Cadence about what he was up to, and maybe he would be able to win her over.
But what if he got killed? Yes, he had already had that talk with Cadence when they first started dating, but that was when he was joining the Royal Guards, where his body would be more recoverable. What if he was killed by some giant alien monster? Cadence was a strong mare, and while him dying might not hurt her as much as it would a normal pony, being unable to recover one last trace of him would... he hoped.
Then again, he had always been drawn to dangerous situations, not because he enjoyed the adrenalin rush, but because he felt that he was capable of doing something. He looked back to where his cutie mark was, ignoring the fact that the jumpsuit he was wearing blocked it from view. His special talent was about defending ponies in need, and from what the message had said that was what Green Lanterns did on a regular basis. It was like joining the Royal Guards all over again; someone had presented an opportunity for Shining to defend others, now on a larger scale than the Guard ever offered him.
“Can I at least explain the situation to my wife first?” he asked.
“Explanation to significant others is allowed.” Shining looked around for a moment, then looked back to the ring.
“I... I accept.” he said. “Now can I go and-”
“Willpower accepted.” the ring chimed. “Summoning Power Battery.” several pieces of the ship shook for a moment before a glowing green object rose from the rubble. It was similar to the design printed on the ring, a sphere with two flat surfaces on top and bottom and two holes on either side, and like the ring it glowed a bright emerald green. The object floated over to where Shining was standing, coming to a rest at his hooves.
“This is your Power Battery. It is used to recharge your ring once it begins to run low on energy.”
“Thanks.” Shining picked the battery up in his telekinesis, turning it around a few times. “How... How does it work?” instead of giving him an immediate answer, the ring dragged his foreleg into one of the holes, green energy wrapping around his leg and the Power Battery.
“Recharge commencing. Recite oath.”
“Hey, let go!” Shining tried to pull his hoof away from the power battery, but the ring refused to yield.
“Incorrect oath. Recide proper oath or recharge shall remain incomplete.”
“I don’t even know what the oath is!” the ring said nothing as Shining continued. “How am I supposed to recite something if I don’t know what it is?” there was a pause before the Power Battery stopped glowing and Shining’s hoof was released.
“Please resume recharge and recite oath:
In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night
No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power... Green Lantern’s Light.” the ring did seem to glow a little brighter once it had finished speaking. He looked to the power battery before hesitantly placing his hoof inside, allowing the green light to wrap around his foreleg once more.
“Well, it’s worth a shot.” Shining cleared his throat before continuing.
“In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night,
No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil’s might, Beware my power... Green Lantern’s Light!” it did not sound right, and Shining felt that he put just a little too much emphasis in the last verse, but it would be sufficient. The power battery glowed brighter, almost to blinding levels, but Shining was not affected.
“Ring charged. Power Levels at 100%.”
“Okay. Can I go and explain to Cadence what’s-”
“Green Lantern 2814: You are to report to Oa immediately for training.”What?
“Wait, I never got a chance to explain-!” Before Shining could finish speaking, he was launched into the air again, racing away from the ground at increasing speeds. He tried to find some way to stop his ascent, but the ring was unresponsive and continued to pull him higher into the atmosphere.
Soon clouds began to vanish, and the rush of air past Shining’s ears faded into nothing. Shining looked down and saw that he was now surrounded by a green aura, but what drew his attention was that the could now see the entirety of Equus, the planet shrinking as he continued on his course.
“... how...” was all he could manage. The ring did not respond, continuing to take him higher and higher before turning him away from the planet below towards a point just right of the moon.
“Preparing for hyperspace travel. Adjusting for visual spectrum.” At this point Shining decided to remain quiet, trusting that the ring would not get him killed. There was another pause before he was propelled forward, light twisting around him as he flew through space. The course the ring had set brought him close to dozens of stars and planets, planets that nopony had ever seen before. Combined with the speeds at which he was flying, Shining was exposed to a veritable kaleidoscope of colors and images, thousands of them dancing across his vision as he flew. He tried and failed to keep himself composed, his jaw hanging open as he flew on.
I... Nopony’s going to believe me if I tell them about this. he thought, ... How am I going to tell ponies about this? He set that thought aside when he noticed that he was slowing down. Ahead was another planet, this one also glowing green like the suit and ring. As he neared, it seemed that the planet also bore a similar symbol to the one on his ring, but he passed it off as the ring’s aura playing tricks on his eyes. Shining flew into the planet’s atmosphere, and now he could make out dozens of buildings through the green. When he flew closer, he could see shapes flying between the buildings, some that looked like ponies and some that bore no resemblance to any other living thing Shining could think of.
“Reducing speed; switching to manual flight mode.” Shining was pulled away from observing his surrounding rather abruptly when he began to fall faster than before. Remembering what Cadence told him about flying, Shining let out as much tension in his legs to prevent them from snapping when he landed, praying that the ring would slow him down enough that he would not die upon impact.
Shining hit the ground with enough force to drive the air from his lungs. His legs buckled and he tumbled forward, bouncing along the ground before slamming into a wall. Shining groaned and rolled onto his back, staring up at the sky as others passed him by.
“Well, that was interesting,” he heard a voice say. Shining turned his head and saw two creatures standing over him. One looked like a giant featherless bird with a fin on it’s head, while the other was a very large, red-furred minotaur. “I don’t believe I have ever seen a ring react to a new bearer in such a way.”
... Maybe accepting the ring wasn’t such a good idea.
“Uh...” Shining took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking again. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Not particularly.” The bird-alien said. “It could mean that the ring has not yet adjusted to your mental input. Keep it on for a day or two and it should adjust.” Hopefully it won’t take too long; I still have no idea how to explain this to Cadence. Shining nodded before rolling over onto his stomach and standing up, turning to face the two others.
“So... who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Tomar-Re,” the bird-alien said. “I am the Green Lantern of Xudar and keeper of the Book of Oa.”
“My name’s Shining Armor of, uh... Equus.” he raised an eyebrow. “Unless it’s called something else. Is it?”
“If there is one, I don’t know of it. I have other duties to attend to, but I would like to speak to you later. Ke’haan will take you to the training grounds.” Tomar-Re’s ring glowed brightly and the alien flew away, leaving Shining alone with the minotaur named Ke’haan.
“Is it possible to do the training some other time?” Shining asked. “I didn’t get the chance to explain things to my wife before I... left.”
“Training shouldn’t take long, and I’m sure your wife would understand. Come, follow me.” Ke’haan began to walk away, and Shining paused for a brief moment before trotting to catch up with the alien. I’m not going to get out of this, am I? “Equus... That’s in Sector 2814, isn’t it?”
“That’s what the ring told me.” Shining looked down to the green band wrapped around his foreleg. “I’ve never seen a... Green Lantern, so I have no idea what’s going on. Is there something I should know?”
“Abin Sur was well liked amongst the Lanterns. His passing shall be mourned.” Shining frowned, his ears flattening against his head.
“Guess I’ve got a lot to live up to...”
“If you see it that way. All we ask is that you carry out your duties as a Lantern to your utmost ability.” ... I think I could do that. Shining took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Even when surrounded by dozens of aliens and other beings, he was still a member of the royal Guard, and he composed himself as such. “So, how did you come upon the ring, Shining Armor?”
“It hit me in the back of the head and then dragged me through the snow.” Ke’haan suppressed a small bark of laughter.
“The rings can be a bit blunt when they recruit new members. Give it some time to adjust, and everything will be fine. I also suspect that a bit of training will help you control your ring better.”
“... Fair enough. Are you in charge of that?” another laugh.
“I do train some new recruits, but I am currently off duty and your sector is just out of my jurisdiction. No, Lantern Kilowog will be handling your initial training.”
“... Who’s Kilowog?” Ke’haan said nothing, instead stopping and ushering Shining towards a large group of Lanterns. He did see one or two ponies standing in the group, but the majority of the Lanterns were alien in some way or another; some looked like large bipedal apes, others looked like some variation on a lizard or insect, and Shining thought he saw a squirrel sitting on the shoulder of one of the aliens. And standing before them was a massive pig-creature, small jets of steam billowing out of its nose with each breath. Shining also noted that his uniform contained the same circle and line image that he had seen before. Maybe it’s something with rank...
“Kilowog!” Ke’haan called, catching the pig-creature’s attention. “Got a late arrival here.”
“Do we now?” Kilowog asked, his lips curling into a devious smile. “Since he seems so content on arriving late, why doesn’t he come up here and explain himself to me?” Singled out by the drill instructor... Joy. Shining steeled himself for what was to come and walked forward, the other Lanterns-in-training parting as he moved. Once he was in front of the crowd, he stood at attention and looked Kilowog in the eye.
“I have nothing to explain, sir.” Shining said.
“Sure you do, poozer.” Kilowog snorted before he started yelling again, this time directed at the group. “Don’t expect me to take your sucking up that easily! When I’m finished with you, you will actually be halfway decent Lanterns, but until I say otherwise you pathetic wastes of air are nothing but slaves to me! Do you understand?”
“Yes sir.” the group chimed. Shining furrowed his brow slightly before sizing up Kilowog; aside from being a giant pig-thing he did not seem to be all that different than a normal drill sergeant. He was loud, but Shining had yet to see any real force that he could apply to get the recruits to do anything. Unfortunately for Shining, his ring detected something else in his mind, and a construct resembling a hoof-boxing glove materialized and socked Kilowog in the back of the head. Every single being standing in the courtyard looked at Shining, some of the other recruits fidgeting around nervously.
“I don’t think you should have done that...” the squirrel began before Kilowog cut it off.
“No, it’s fine.” he said, grinning. “I was looking for volunteers anyway.”
...................
... yeah, I probably set myself up for this. Stupid ring. Shining thought after being encased in a large green sphere.
“Now,” the pig-alien said, “You can use the ring to create anything you can imagine, within the limits of the ring’s power supply. The strength of your constructs directly correlates to the strength of your will. You freak out or doubt yourself, you’re dead... with how terrible you all are, I’d expect this sooner than later.”
“Kind of obvious, isn’t it?” Shining said from inside his bubble. “The thing about freaking out? I’m sure most of us could figure-”
“I didn’t ask for your answer, cadet!” Kilowog barked. Shining rolled his eyes and looked towards his ring. Kilowog mentioned something about imagination... Shining focused, trying to think of some way to get out of the bubble and back with the recruits. The ring flickered before a small knife construct appeared, and with a flick of his hoof Shining sliced a hole in the bubble and leapt to the ground.
“Guess your will wasn’t strong enough if I could get out.” he said once he landed. He tried not to sound too smug, but one-upping a drill sergeant was always a welcome experience.
“If I really wanted to keep you in there, you wouldn’t have been able to get out.” Kilowog responded, walking over to a box and pulling out a yellow disk. “If you’re so confident in your skills, then catch!” with that, Kilowog hurled the disk towards Shining’s head. Instincts kicked in and Shining dove towards the ground, but not before sending up a net construct to catch the disk. The disk impacted with the construct, and despite slowing down slightly it broke through the net and shattered against a wall. Shining blinked a few times as his construct dissolved, his mind trying and failing to find an explanation.
“... What.” was all he could say.
“New lesson,” Kilowog said, turning to the group. “Overconfidence will get you killed faster than doubt. I would let it slide on account that he tried to dodge, but he still wasted valuable ring energy trying to block the disk.”
“But why did it break through?” Shining asked, still somewhat dazed from the experience. This drew a few murmurs from the other recruits.
“Doesn’t he know about the yellow handicap?”one of the Lanterns asked.
“He’s an Equestrian; they don’t even have space travel yet.” another replied. Shining ignored the second comment, eyeing the fragments of the yellow disk.
“... Why?” there was no immediate response. Shining looked around, noting how many of the other recruits were looking at him as if he had just set himself on fire. Realizing he was not about to get any answers soon, Shining asked again. “Why yellow? I mean, you have this really powerful device that lets you fly in space and make things with your mind, and it doesn’t work on yellow? Wouldn’t someone just paint a crossbow or sword yellow and then go on a killing spree?” the other recruits looked to him, and then to each other, trying to find some meaningful answer. “Don’t tell me no one ever thought about this.”
“Just get back here and shut up about yellow, poozer.”
..................
Shining was not sure how long they had been training. Kilowog had eventually moved on from singling him out, but that still did not make the training sessions any easier. Mentally he chided himself for not pushing on like a good soldier, even if he was on a different planet surrounded by aliens... now that he thought of it, the aliens were not all that bad.
Although, not everything was adjusting properly. Shining was not sure what, but something about the entire situation just seemed off; his rushed recruitment, the yellow weakness, all of it did not seem right. Kilowog singling him out was to be expected, but the other parts...
“I can’t help but notice that you seem troubled.” Shining looked up and saw Tomar-Re standing over him.
“When you got recruited, did you ever notice how things around here are... weird?” Shining asked.
“Not particularly, no. Would you be more specific?”
“Well... It kind of feels like I was pushed into this position unnaturally fast. When I joined the Royal Guard back home, I was at least given some time to prepare, but now?” Shining shrugged. “Am I just overreacting, or am I right?”
“I believe you might be overreacting. I remember Abin Sur telling me of a few sectors that were attacked by Manhunters; their Green Lanterns were brought in much in the same way as you were, rushed and without much time to prepare.”
“So... these ‘Manhunters’ are why I got brought out here so quickly?” Tomar-Re gave a small laugh.
“The universe does not revolve around the Manhunters any more than it revolves around me or you. I’m sure that, in due time, you’ll figure out what’s bothering you, but for now all I can say is remain focused and bring yourself to a level where you can deal with whatever threats await. You have potential, Shining Armor, and I’d hate to see you waste it worry over little details.” Shining thought for a moment; on one hoof he could not just give up on his training, but on the other hoof there were still plenty of questions he wanted answers to... then again, maybe if he gained a bit of recognition, he might be able to have those questions answered.
Just like triage, Shining. Just like triage...
“Do you think you can help me?” Shining asked.
“If I have time, and once your training is complete. If you ever need advice, come and find me.” With that, Tomar-Re turned and left, taking off to some other part of Oa while Shining prepared himself for the next round of training.
....................
Training continued on for some time after that. Maybe it had only been a few hours, maybe it had been a few days. Either way, Shining was sure he knew a lot more about what exactly he was supposed to do with the ring than he had when it had first pulled him out into the snow. Instead of feeling nervous, he felt almost... excited. Like when he first enlisted in the Royal Guards, or when he proposed to Cadence.
“Well, somehow you all managed to get through this.” Kilowog said as the cadets stood before a massive version of the lanterns. “Good for you. Hopefully you don’t all get yourselves killed right off the bat.” Shining let out a small chuckle; Kilowog had talked at length about the numerous ways they could get killed serving in the Green Lantern Corps (the bit about crashing into asteroids due to careless flying was amusing). But the lectures and the drills would end, for now, and Shining could get back home.
He just had to take the oath once more.
Once a certain signal had been received, Shining and the other cadets touched their rings to their lanterns. He could feel large amounts of energy flowing into his ring, some of it washing over him and down the length of his jumpsuit. As power continued to flow into his ring, he and the other cadets began to recite the oath.
“In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night, No evil shall escape my sight,
Let those who worship evil’s might, Beware my power... Green Lantern’s Light!” As they finished, a green flash enveloped the cadets. When it cleared, Shining saw that the originally blank white circles adorning the uniforms now bore the symbol he had seen the others wearing: the same circle set between two parallel lines. Shining looked down at himself and smiled.
Great. Now I can finally figure out what’s bothering me... wait, how am I going to tell Cadence that I’m some kind of space cop?
... I’m dead.
....................
He had watched the training session below, and he was unimpressed. While he did have some respect for Kilowog, the drill sergeant could get rather sloppy with his work at times. And this new batch of recruits did not seem like much; idealists, beat cops, he had seen them all. Accept the ring and think they can change the universe... I almost pity them.
What had caught his attention, for whatever reason, was the white unicorn with a blue mane. From what information he could gather, this was the pony replacing Abin Sur as Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and first impressions were not looking too good. The recruit was unsure of himself, too reserved to be a proper Green Lantern. He had watched the new arrival, analysing every single flaw he could find from appearances alone. Perhaps I could make the effort to properly train him... He seems simple enough; it should not be all that difficult.
“Lantern Sinestro.” his ring chimed, pulling him back to reality.
“What is it?”
“The Guardians would like to speak to you, in regards to the information that Abin Sur gave you.”
“Of course...” Sinestro turned away, but stopped for a moment. “Ring, before I meet with the Guardians, I want you to find all the information you can on Abin Sur’s replacement.”
After the initiation ceremony, Shining had been allowed to return home. He would have stuck around a little longer, but he wanted to explain everything to Cadence as soon as possible, and thus he left Oa and flew back to Equus as fast as he could. As he landed outside of the Crystal Empire, his vision was surrounded in green once more, and when it cleared he found his uniform gone and the lantern sitting next to his hoof. The ring itself was still on his foreleg, and he made a note of finding some way to conceal the ring until he could explain himself further.
Although, the Lantern might be a bit more difficult...
“Most Lanterns store their power batteries in a pocket dimension, in order for them to be on hand.”
“Thanks for telling me that.” Shining said, grasping the battery in his telekinesis and walking towards the city. “Do you have any idea what I should tell my wife?”
“This ring is incapable of initiating romantic relationships with any being, and thus is unable to assist in such conversation.”
“... Yeah, that’s not surprising at all.” Shining sighed and continued on, making a note to ask one of the more experienced Lanterns on how to get the ring to shut up. For now, he kept the rest of his thoughts to a minimum, keeping the battery close to his side in order to shield it as best as he could from any curious ponies. It was not that he did not like the idea of being a hero, he just wanted to ease ponies into the idea.
As he walked, more and more ponies began to appear in his field of vision. Those that saw him gave him a friendly nod or wave, but did not notice the glowing green band wrapped around his foreleg, or if they did they did not draw attention to it. Inside he was panicking that somepony might notice the Power Battery, but as he approached the palace his fears began to dissipate.
“Oh, Prince Shining Armor!” the guard at the entrance of the palace said as Shining approached. “Princess Cadence was wondering when you would be back.”
“Oh, well, here I am... I wasn’t gone too long, was I?” Note to self; find out if the galaxy has a standard unit of time.
“She said if you weren’t back in three days to send somepony out to make sure you were okay.” Three DAYS?! the guard was about to continue before Shining rushed passed him, not even bothering to hide the Power Battery. As he hurried through the palace, numerous scenarios ran through his head, many of them bad; Cadence was not really known for her temper, but ever since the Changeling Invasion she had become rather protective of Shining, almost to obsessive levels.
“This ring may assist you by locating the pony you are seeking.” the ring chimed.
“Can’t you just say that in my brain or something?” Shining hissed as he hurried up a flight of stairs.
“This ring lacks such abilities at present, but should be able to acquire them at a later date-”
“Whatever, just find Cadence.” there was a pause before a green map appeared in front of Shining, his position marked by a small arrow.
“The pony identified as Mi Amore Cadenza is located 12.4 meters north of your current position. Target is stationary.”so she’s in the Throne Room... that’s good. Shining quickened his pace, dismissing the map as he approached the Throne Room. The guards standing in front realized that he was in a hurry, and so opened the door as quickly as possible so Shining’s pace was not stalled.
“Shining?” Shining stopped and looked up, seeing cadence talking with one of her attendants. “Is something wrong?”
“Uh... no?” Shining took a few breaths to calm himself. “I just got back from... well, I just got back, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t panicking or anything.”
“Why would I be panicking?”
“Um... Well, I was gone for a few days and all, and you know-”
“Oh Shining, you don’t have to worry about that.” Shining blinked. Did Cadence already know about the ring and the Green Lanterns? “I got your message the other day saying that you were going out to check that thing that crashed into the tundra, and several guards confirmed that you were seen heading in that direction.”
“... Really?”
“Oh yes.” Cadence cocked her head to one side. “Although I don’t see why you didn’t ask some ponies to help you. It could be dangerous out there.”
“Oh, heh.” Shining massaged the back of his head, trying to appear as innocent as possible. “Guess it... just slipped my mind, a little.”
“I see.” Cadence turned to her attendant and whispered something, the other pony nodding and leaving the couple alone. “So, Shining-”
“Cadence, I-” they stopped, each one giving a small blush. “Sorry, you first.”
“No, it’s okay, I don’t mind waiting.”
“No really; I’ve been gone for a few days, so you should go first.” a pause before Cadence giggled.
“Oh, if you insist.” Cadence smiled and walked towards Shining. “Shining, I wanted to tell you something yesterday.” And I’m really sorry that I wasn’t there to hear it... stupid ring.
“Err... Did something bad happen? Because if it did, I think I know something-”
“I’m pregnant.” Shining’s mind completely shorted out. He stared at Cadence for several minutes, trying to come up with some kind of coherent sentence and failing miserably. His telekinesis shorted out, dropping the Power Battery to the ground with a loud clang. Cadence did not seem to notice, instead raising an eyebrow in concern. “Shining?”
“I...” he stammered. “I... you... err... I... babies?”
“Yes Shining.” Cadence said, moving forward and giving Shining a hug. “We’re having a foal.”
“W-we are...” Shining’s mind was beginning to regain coherency, and he reached up to return Cadence’s hug. “Sweet Celestia, I’m going to be a father.”
“Yes, isn’t it exciting?”
“Yeah...” Shining pulled back a little. “Have you told anypony else?”
“Well, I was going to tell Twilight next time she came for a visit, and I’m sure your parents would love to know too... Maybe you and I could go to Canterlot next week and tell everypony then!”
“That’s a great idea.” As long as the ring doesn’t draw me away from that too. Cadence smiled again before speaking.
“So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?” Shining’s mind blanked again.
“Uh... Are you sure you want to talk about that now?”
“Why not?”
“Well, I mean, you just found out you’re pregnant-”
“Actually I’ve known for about a month; I just wanted to surprise you. And we’ll have lots of time to fuss over our child later. So, what is it?”
“Uh...” Shining began to think of many possible explanations. “You... you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Shining, I’ve had tea with an alien superhero, my best friend is a demigoddess and I foalsat your sister; I’m sure I can handle anything you throw at me.” Really?
“Okay then, because this is going to sound nuts.” Shining took a breath before speaking again. “I was drafted by an army of intergalactic space cops who want me to protect the universe.” there was a long pause, Cadence giving Shining a blank look. He chewed on his lip for a moment, unsure of how Cadence would react.
He was caught off guard when she burst out laughing.
“Sh-Shining!” she gasped between her laughter. “I knew you had a good sense of humor, but that is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!”
“But it’s true!”
“Oh yes, and my father’s King Sombra!” Cadence continued laughing, breaking away from Shining in order to keep herself steady.
“Cadence, that really happened; that green ring that I found the other day brought me to this planet with a bunch of aliens that were part of a ‘Green Lantern Corps’.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes. See?” Shining held out the ring to Cadence. “See? Here’s the ring.”
“Very nice. Does it fire lasers?”
“I...” Shining’s ears flattened against his head as Cadence doubled over in laughter. “You really don’t believe me, do you?”
“Nope!” Cadence said, calming down for a brief instant before starting to laugh again. “M-maybe you can show me some of your alien friends sometime!” Oh, I’m sure Kilowog would love to meet you.
“Right.” Shining waited for Cadence to calm down, a process that took several minutes.
“I-I’m sorry Shining,” Cadence said as she regained her breath. “I didn’t mean to laugh at you, but your story is rather ridiculous.”
“Says the mare that almost flooded a palace on accident.”
“Well... okay you have a point there.” she chuckled. “But that’s still more believable than alien space cops.” Shining frowned. He wanted Cadence to understand what he was dealing with, but apparently that would take some time. He considered activating the ring and showing Cadence a little of what it could do, but decided against it. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
“Well... Yeah, pretty much.” Stupid; I should have broken the subject more gently.
“Oh, okay.” Cadence smiled again. “I have a meeting with the physician right after lunch, perhaps you’d like to join me and see how the foal’s doing?”
“I... I’d like that.”
................
A few days passed. Shining had tried and failed to breach the topic of the ring to Cadence, who either laughed or was too caught up by other concerns to really listen to him. Shining almost considered giving up, but knew that was not an option; Cadence would have to find out sooner or later, and it would be better if he told her rather than having her be drawn into something dangerous, especially now with a foal on the way.
The foal was beginning to take up more of Shining’s thoughts. Would Shining’s position as a Green Lantern take away time from him or her? Would he get killed by some alien monster and never see his son or daughter grow up and have children of their own? Was the position of a Lantern inheritable? The ring did not provide any clear answers, adding to Shining’s worry and frustration.
He did not need worry in his life. He was supposed to be level headed, like a good soldier.
“Alert!” the ring chimed as Shining went about his morning routine. “Distress signal from Verdolian Cruiser TX-1138 detected.”
“Now?” Shining asked. The ring did not respond, so Shining pulled it off the shelf with his telekinesis. Once he slipped it on, he summoned the green and black uniform and made his way out to the balcony. “Okay, can you take me to this... cruiser?”
“Insufficient power; recharge is required.” Shining paused before using the ring to summon the Power Battery. He had kept it in his closet for the first two days, but he had managed to figure out the pocket dimension that the ring had mentioned. A small hole opened up in space and Shining pulled the Battery through, placing his hoof inside and allowing the ring to recharge.
“Ring Charged. Power Levels at 100%.” Shining Armor nodded before dismissing the power battery.
“Now can you take me to the cruiser?”
“Preparing for transit.” There was a pause before Shining was lifted into the air by the ring’s power, and he quickly allowed his mind to focus on the flying so that no accidents happened. Soon, the Crystal Empire and Equestria began to fade away, and Shining Armor found himself in space once again. As much as he was still hesitant about being a Green Lantern, he liked flying in space; there was something peaceful and majestic about it, the vast emptiness and multitude of twinkling lights keeping him captivated.
After a few minutes of flying, Shining saw something floating in the black. It was a large, boxy thing, not unlike the airships back home. On closer examination, the thing appeared to be made of thrown together bits of metal, with mountings for weapons dotting the hull at unusual points.
“Are spaceships always so... crude?” he asked.
“The Verdolians are currently engaged in civil war against the Gordanian and Thrax’kall Empires; standardized military craft are a rarity.”Improvised warships... Things must be pretty desperate.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Main Gordanian Empire is outside of Sector 2814 jurisdiction, but possible intervention in Verdolian space is an option.” Shining frowned, but decided to address that issue at a later point.
“Can you locate the distress signal?”
“Scanning...” there was a pause. “Distress Signal emanating from main cargo bay. Plotting course now.” Shining nodded as a map appeared before him. Again, his target was a small blinking light, and the ring had highlighted several pathways that he could take to reach the source. Shining glided along the side of the derelict, looking for a way in.
“There should be an... airlock, I think that’s what they’re called.” Really shouldn’t have given all those comic books to Spike; they might have been of some use.
“Hull breach detected. Breach is large enough for possible entrance.” Shining looked around and saw a large hole in the side of the ship, the metal having been melted by the attack. Still, it was large enough for him to pass through, and the light from the ring allowed him to see in the darkened hulk.
“Ring, can you identify what kind of weapon caused that?”
“Negative; residue energy samples do not point to any unique type of weaponry. More thorough analysis is required.” there was a pause, and Shining continued on through the spaceship towards the distress signal. The walls around him were scorched and pocketed with holes, hinting at some kind of struggle between the occupants of the ship and their attackers.
Shining continued down the hallway until he spotted a body. The creature resembled a larger than average ape, probably even larger than the Princesses. It was coated in white fur, and what remained of its face suggested tusks. In its hands was a tube-shaped device that Shining guessed was some kind of weapon, and several spent ammo casings floated nearby due to the lack of gravity.
“Verdolian male, deceased.” the ring chimed.
“Can you tell what killed it?”
“Scanning.” there was another pause. “Wounds indicate blast from Manhunter Energy Weapon, most likely combat stave.” Manhunters. Shining’s conversation with Tomar-Re came back to mind, and the alien had mentioned Manhunters there, but the way Tomar-Re had phrased the statement made it seem like that had happened a long time ago. Surely these weren’t the same Manhunters... were they?
They said the same thing about Nightmare Moon coming back. Shining thought before looking back to the dead Verdolian.
“Scanning... 8 cybernetic lifeforms with designation ‘Manhunter’ detected, 0 lifesigns.”Eight, and they’re already dead... or something. Do robots die? Doesn’t matter.
“Keep me informed if anything changes.” Shining proceeded further, checking corners and bulkhead in case the ring missed something The further he went in, the more bodies he found. Some were bigger than the first one he had found, but all bore the same wounds: one shot, directly to the head. Some did bear other injuries, but Shining was sure that the headshots were what killed them.
Shining continued walking until he reached a large room. It was almost the size of Canterlot’s throne room, and it was filled with crates, barrels, and dead bodies. Shining moved forward, pushing a few corpses out of the way as he neared the center of the room.
“Guess this is where they made their last stand...” he mused to himself before turning to the source of the distress signal. It was a small box, no larger than a brick, and one end was flickering with light.
“Message detected. Translating.” there was a pause before the message began to play, a gruff voice meeting Shining’s ears.
“Ambushed. Red Men came and attacked Jorgon and others.” the voice said, and Shining could hear the sound of fighting in the background. “Jorgon tried fighting back, but Red Men too strong.” Shining frowned. He had no idea how Verdolians normally talked, but given his encounters with the other Green Lanterns he expected them to sound more... sophisticated.
“Is this message corrupted or something?” Shining asked.
“Verdolian speech is difficult to translate properly into most languages, especially Equish. The most accurate translation would be what you called ‘third-pony’.” Shining nodded and continued to listen to what he assumed were Jorgon’s last moments.
“Jorgon has destroyed spare plans; Gordanians not find them if they come. Red Men will be here soon.” there was a crash, followed by more fighting before the transmission cut out. Shining stood in silence for a few moments, his eyes darting from the corpses that surrounded him.
“Ring, can you send a copy of this transmission back to Oa?”
“Processing...” there was another pause. “Transmission complete.”
“Good. Now I’ve got to find something to do with this-”
“Alert!” the ring cried before bringing up an exterior view of the ship. At first Shining saw nothing, but then he saw several glowing dots moving towards the derelict. “27 cybernetic lifeforms with designation ‘Manhunter’ detected moving towards this position.”
... Why do I have a feeling that they were waiting for me?
Shining Armor had to think quickly. If these Manhunters could take out an entire ship and come out more or less unscathed, he would either have to be incredibly careful or get out of there as fast as he could. He took a moment to examine the room around him, trying to see if there was some kind of vantage point he had missed. Too open; they’ll surround me in no time.
“Ring, pull up schematics for the ship, and highlight any choke points I can use.”
“Processing.” the image of the ship’s exterior became transparent as several hallways and bulkheads were highlighted. “Cover is heaviest in these areas, but be advised: Manhunters are capable of limited tactical analysis and will compromise any defenses you might arrange.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just have to be creative.” Shining muttered, and started off down one hallway, searching for the aforementioned vantage points while keeping his eye on the map showing the Manhunters’ advance. He did not get far before the entire ship seemed to lurch to one side from an impact. Running out of time; I need to hurry. Shining picked up the pace and flew down the halls, searching for the perfect location from which to defend.
However, in his rush he lost track of where he was going. One wrong turn later, and Shining found himself in a hallway looking at what he assumed was a Manhunter. The thing was a tall biped, its body red save for its face, which was a light shade of blue. Its eyes were cold and unemotive, which Shining would have passed off as brainwashing if robots could be brainwashed. The Manhunter had not spotted him yet, which gave him a little time to map out a potential combat scenario.
Okay, there’s one. I might be able to destroy it and move on before it can spot me... How, though? Shining aimed his ring at the Manhunter, trying to think of just how to attack his opponent before a javelin construct formed next to his head. I guess that will work. Shining reared back and hurled the green javelin towards the Manhunter, catching its attention before the construct stabbed through its shoulder and slammed it into a wall. Shining’s spirits fell when he saw that the damage was mostly superficial, and the machine was back up and turning towards him as his construct dissolved.
“Hostile detected. Designation: Green Lantern.” the Manhunter droned, raising its own weapon and aiming it at Shining. “No man escapes the Manhunters.” With that the Manhunter fired its weapon, a bright ball of energy flying down the hall towards Shining. Shining lept back and raised his hoof, his ring forming a bubble around him just in time to stop the Manhunter’s attack. Still, when the ball of energy exploded Shining was knocked back, visible cracks threatening to destroy his construct.
“Ring Power at 95% and holding.”
“Wonderful.” Shining deadpanned, using a little more power to repair and expand the shield construct before moving forward to try and limit the Manhunter’s room to maneuver. The Manhunter fired again, and while more cracks did form Shining did not allow himself to be pushed back. As the Manhunter prepared to fire again, Shining dismissed his shield construct and fired a beam of energy at the machine, green light slicing through its torso and splitting it in two. The Manhunter stopped firing at Shining, instead focusing on trying to regain balance for a later attack.
“Ring Power at 93%. Alert! Four cybernetic lifeforms with designation ‘Manhunter’ detected moving towards this position. 22 others have surrounded the wreck.”
“I can’t fight twenty six of these things by myself.” Shining mused. “Ring, can you show me the quickest way out of this place that takes me as far from the Manhunters as possible.”
“Processing.... Pathway is highlighted.” a line that ran more or less straight down appeared on the screen before Shining. “Alert! Manhunters closing in on position. Estimate time of arrival: 5.02 seconds.”
“No time to waste then.” Shining aimed his ring downward and fired another blast of energy, blowing a hole in the floor that he could leap through. Above him, he could hear the sounds of the Manhunters, the robots searching the room for any sign of his presence. Shining continued on his way downward, only checking to make sure he was not being followed.
His hopes of a quick escape dwindled as he saw the Manhunters flying after him, weapons aimed for his head. Shining twisted around and put up another shield as the Manhunters fired, energy exploding against his construct. Each hit caused the shield to flicker slightly, but Shining did his best to reinforce the construct before it was damaged severely. He fired a few short bursts back, mostly to just keep his opponents pinned down, but his main goal was getting through the hull and away from the Manhunters. Another deck down, and Shining flew off down another hall in an attempt to lose his pursuers, to no avail.
As Shining rounded another corner, an idea came to mind. Backing up, he raised his ring and began to slice through the ceiling. He had almost completed his task when the Manhunters rounded the corner, once again readying their weapons to shoot him. Shining finished cutting and pulled the section downward, crushing three of the Manhunters and damaging the fourth. As the last one tried to recover, Shining advanced and fired another blast from his ring, blowing the Manhunter’s head off and sending it spinning away. He would have taken pride in defeating the machines, but he reminded himself to remain focused on escaping and getting away from the other Manhunters. He searched around for a hull breach or an airlock, anything that he could use to get outside. Finding none, Shining turned and fired one more blast, creating a hole in the hull for him to fly through.
Doing so proved to be a very bad idea. Once he was outside, Shining saw that he was cornered by almost twelve Manhunters, all of them noticing him and adjusting their aim. Shining backed up and raised another shield, pouring in more energy as the Manhunters fired on his position. Stupid, Shining; you need to stay calm and think of a better plan to get away from these things. The blasts from the Manhunter’s weapons tore through the bulkhead around Shining, and he watched as once again small cracks began to form in his shield.
Shining was about to move to a more defendable position when one of the Manhunters was bisected vertically by a construct Shining did not make. This caught the attention of several of the other Manhunters, but they had little time to react properly before they were destroyed as well. Shining reinforced his barrier before looking, and he saw a second Green Lantern descending to face the machines. It was an alien of some kind, another biped like the Manhunters but less heavily built. Its skin was dark red, its hair black, and although it was hard for Shining to see from this far away the alien looked rather annoyed. Still, any help right now is welcomed.
The Manhunters redirected their attacks on the newcomer, who raised his own shield and sat passively as energy beams impacted the shield to no avail. After a minute, the other Green Lantern whipped his left arm around, a green mace of energy smashing the Manhunters to scrap. The remaining Manhunters attempted a retreat, but the Green Lantern quickly reformed the mace into a weapon Shining could not identify, a rapid stream of energy bolts seeking out the robots and destroying them with ease.
“Manhunter lifesigns: 0.” Shining’s ring chimed.
“I know you’re hiding in there,” the other Green Lantern called. “You should know that hiding only undermines your already tentative position as a Green Lantern. Come out; you have already wasted enough of my time.”
Shining frowned, but did not say anything before exiting the wreckage. “I had the situation under control.” he said.
“Equestria’s definition of control must be a very loose one.” the other Green Lantern replied, eyes narrowing. “Your constructs were poor to the point of being worthless, you lacked imagination when counterattacking, and you only briefly used the terrain to your advantage. Had you been a halfway competent Green Lantern you would have been able to fight off those Manhunters with relative ease and I would not have had to expend any energy to assist you.”
“Thank you for that... critique.”
The other Lantern scoffed at this. “Do not presume that I am just here to dispense ‘critiques’. At this rate, I’m beginning to wonder if training you is not already a lost cause.” he began to fly away from the wreck, Shining following behind.
“Well, I’ve already been trained-” he began before the other Lantern cut him off.
“Poorly.”
“Whatever. Look, whoever you are, can you just give me a rundown on everything you said I screwed up on, how to fix it, and then can you leave?” the other Lantern seemed rather insulted by what Shining had said, turning to face him while also strengthening the aura surrounding him.
“Of course, it would be a backwater Equestrian that takes up Abin Sur’s ring.” he growled. “I am Sinestro of Sector 1417, greatest of the Green Lanterns. I have served in the Corps longer than you have been alive, and have defeated foes that would most likely kill you in an instant. I deserve more than your crude dismissal, but as your primitive mind can barely fathom the potential you possess I doubt I will ever achieve that.” Shining frowned; this “Sinestro” did seem too boastful for Shining’s taste, but after seeing him take down so many Manhunters on his own there might have been some backing to those boasts.
Still, doesn’t explain why he’s here...
“So, you showed up and told me everything that I did wrong.” Shining said. “Now what?”
“I was instructed to train you further, so that your skills as a Green Lantern are properly honed.” Sinestro sighed. “Although I don’t see why they chose you, of all beings... It doesn’t matter. Recharge your ring and then we’ll begin, unless you’d rather surrender your ring and give it to someone more qualified.” Shining’s ears flattened against his head.
“Look, I never asked to be chosen for this.” he snapped, maneuvering so that he was in front of Sinestro. “And believe me, I’d love to just give this up and pretend like it never happened.”
“So why don’t you?” Sinestro asked.
“Because I was trained never to give up if innocent lives were on the line, and if the universe wants me to move to a larger scale then so be it. Go ahead, insult me and call me incompetent all you want, but don’t think that’s going to get me to back down.” there was a pause as Sinestro and Shining stared each other down. Shining hoped it would at least get the other Green Lantern off his back, although the alien did not seem impressed.
“I have heard similar speeches from dozens of Lanterns in the past,” He said finally. “Most of them died because they decided to play hero and ignored key factors in various crises.” Shining opened his mouth to speak, but Sinestro waved him off before brushing past. “We’ve wasted enough time as it is. I presume your power battery is still on Equus?”
“... Yes.” Shining said finally, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“Then that’s where we’ll start. Go and recharge your battery.” Shining’s ears flattened against his head again, but he said nothing before plotting a course back to Equus and heading off, Sinestro following close behind. Neither of them said anything during the flight, although they did exchange a few glances as they neared the planet.
Shining’s thoughts were focused primarily on the other Green Lantern. Unlike Kilowog, who was much like any other drill sergeant Shining had encountered in his life, Sinestro’s approach was colder, more analytical, like an officer more focused on form than results. And what was that about me playing hero? Is there really much difference between being a Green Lantern and a hero? It was probably some rhetoric Sinestro used to keep himself focused, and maybe there was some truth behind it that he just hadn’t told Shining yet. No need to worry too much about rhetoric... Shining was so lost in his thoughts that he was almost caught off guard as they reached Equus, the planet a welcome sight after his fight with the Manhunters.
“Once your ring has been recharged, we’ll find an isolated spot where you can train undisturbed.” Sinestro said as they entered the atmosphere.
“Can’t we just head back to Oa?” Shining asked. “They have training facilities-”
“Which cannot adequately represent the variations of atmospheres you may be operating in, and are most likely occupied by fresh recruits that need even more training than you do.” Sinestro produced a map, scanning through various locations. “There appears to be a desert in the southern part of this continuent.” He highlighted the region before continuing. “We’ll use that region. I shall scout it out first, and once you have recharged your ring-”
“Alert!” Shining’s ring chimed, drawing his attention away from Sinestro. “Disturbance detected near settlement ‘Vanhoover’. Producing scan.” The ring projected the image of a bridge, and from what he could see it appeared that the structure had been damaged by a landslide. He could see a few ponies trying to get away before the structure collapsed, but the scan was too grainy to decipher anything else.
“I think we should deal with this first before focusing on training.” he said, dismissing the image and taking off towards Vanhoover. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sinestro flying after him, the alien pulling alongside him.
“I suppose it would help to test your skills,” he said, casting a glance at Shining. “Perhaps this might get you to start thinking properly.” What’s that supposed to mean? Shining thought, saying nothing to avoid receiving a lecture from the other Lantern. Instead he focused on the flight to Vanhoover, running through several possible plans for dealing with the bridge. Rescuing the trapped ponies would have to take priority, and maybe he would be able to save the bridge from collapsing.
Thanks to the power of the rings, they were able to reach their destination before the situation got any worse. Now that he had a better picture of the problem, Shining was able to construct a more concrete plan. Several ponies were dangerously close to sliding over the edge of the bridge, and any available Pegasi were distracted with pulling others free. To make matters worse, one of the bridge’s supports had all but snapped, and appeared ready to give way at a moment’s notice.
“You’re hesitating,” he heard Sinestro say from behind him. “Are you hoping that they’ll be able to save themselves?”
“I’m trying to put a plan together.” Shining snapped, not bothering to look around at Sinestro. “I probably only have enough time to get a handful of ponies to safety before the supports give out. The others I’ll probably have to catch-”
“And this is why you keep failing,” Sinestro moved in front of Shining and raised his ring. “Allow me to reeducate you.” Sinestro’s ring flashed with light as dozens of constructs formed around him and the bridge. Discs formed underneath ponies who were about to fall and carried them to safety, support beams formed to prevent the bridge from collapsing, and constructs in the form of earth moving equipment began to clear away debris and repair damage. The landslide that had caused the damage in the first place was removed, with several chunks of rock being repurposed to replace those that had been lost or damaged beyond repair. Within two minutes, everypony was clear and the bridge repaired, all signs of damage swept away. Satisfied, Sinestro dismissed the constructs and turned to Shining.
“You are still operating under the illusion that you are limited by such things as time.” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “A Green Lantern’s only limit is the strength of their will and the extent of your imagination. By merely consigning yourself to what you can immediately address, you have crippled your effectiveness as a Lantern and endangered dozens of lives.” his eyes narrowed. “You are still thinking as a soldier or a hero. I will teach you to think like a Green Lantern. Recharge your ring, and we shall begin.” With that Sinestro turned and left, flying off to the southeast and out of sight.
................
Shining had stayed in place for some time after Sinestro left, looking down at the bridge. It seemed so obvious now what he could have done, how he could have saved everypony just as the other Lantern did. Was his mind really as limited as Sinestro said it was? Am I just hurting myself and others by sticking with this?
It was not something to be taken lightly. What good was a protector if they could not even do their job properly? Sinestro had saved dozens of lives with ease, lives that might have been lost if Shining had just gone ahead with his original plan. What would happen if Shining faced a similar situation without any other Lanterns to back him up?
But now Shining was presented with a chance to fix that. Sinestro might appear unsupportive, and Shining would not have been surprised if the alien hated him, but he was still offering to train Shining. Would he give up on that opportunity just because things were not going his way in the short-term?
... No. I have a chance to get stronger and fix whatever mistakes I made. I said I wouldn’t back down if lives were on the line, and by Celestia I’m not going to give up just because my technique needs work. His confidence renewed, Shining increased his speed as he neared the Empire, adjusting his angle so that he would not draw too much attention. Once he landed on the balcony outside his room, he summoned his Power Battery and recharged the ring, the light temporarily cutting him off from the rest of the world.
Once it dissipated, he looked up and made eye contact with a very surprised looking Cadence.
“Shining...” she started, her eyes darting from him to the Power Battery.
“... I tried explaining it to you earlier,” he said, ears drooping slightly. “Are you convinced now?”
“Well, uh...” there was a long pause before Cadence brought a hoof to her head. “I feel like such an idiot right now.”
“Cadence, you don’t have to-”
“No Shining,” she waved him off. “I mean, I did say that I would listen to whatever you had to say, and then I laughed at you... Dear Celestia, I’m really sorry for doing that.”
“It’s okay, Cadence.” Shining set the Power Battery aside and crossed over to Cadence, placing a foreleg around her. “I admit, I kind of screwed up the first time I told you, but you don’t have to beat yourself up over it.”
“Yes I do. I said I’d listen, then I just laughed in your face like it was some bad joke...” Cadence shook her head. “No, I screwed up then. You’re right, maybe I am being a bit hard on myself... must be the hormones from the baby.” Shining decided not to voice his agreement on that, less he upset Cadence. “So... you really were recruited by space cops?”
“They call themselves the Green Lanterns, but yeah,” Shining let go of Cadence and made his way back to the balcony. “One of them is actually waiting for me down south, and I probably shouldn’t keep him waiting.”
“Right, sure.” Cadence nodded, following after Shining. “Can we talk about this when you come back?”
“Of course,” Shining gave Cadence a quick peck. “Like I’d try to leave my wife out of something as important as this. I’ll tell you everything once I get back, I promise.”
“Okay.” there was a pause before Cadence spoke again “Shining?”
“Yes?”
“Be careful, okay?” her smile was quickly replaced by a small glare. “And if you die, I will get permission from my aunts to march into Tartarus and kill you.”
“Uh... Not sure how that would work but I’ll be careful, okay?” he gave Cadence a wide smile before taking off, readjusting his trajectory and heading south to face Sinestro.
Whatever he has planned, it can’t be worse than getting Cadence angry at me.
