Ethan Woods is your average member of the Sinestro Corps. He hates Green Lanterns, he spreads fear throughout the universe, and he was sent into the Unknown Sectors to establish the fear-induced order of the Yellow Lanterns and ended up finding a planet full of friendship-loving ponies. ...Wait, I don't think that happened to anyone else...
As is normal at this point, cover art is by Cookie Encyclopedia, and wow, this is the best art she's made for me yet. Period.
We had all gathered on Qward. We were told that we would be expanding our sphere of influence throughout the universe. Not all that surprising, to be honest. The Green Lanterns had been gaining a lot of followers very recently, something we had to counter. We didn't have nearly as many followers as the our mortal enemies, so we rearranged the way we were stationed. The idea was to occupy Sectors that the Greens hadn't gotten to yet, thus enforcing our fear-sustained order on those areas before the Green Lanterns could feed them their lies about how 'evil' we were. There was to be a big announcement telling us which Sector we would focus on first, right in front of the Central Yellow Lantern Power Battery. I felt and looked really out of place here, not many Yellow Lanterns were human. I was nineteen years old, rather scrawny for my age, with brownish-gold hair that laid down real easily, but I could never get it to look the way I wanted. It would lay down in every possible way except the windblown I had tried to get for a while. Eventually, I just stopped caring. It had been eight years since I had gotten my ring. I was a lot bulkier back then, when I cared about getting into shape. Of course, having a ring that can conjure up anything you can imagine makes you care less about lifting weights. Working with an intergalactic police force was certainly a step up from the Lexcorp job I used to have on Earth. I As we were waiting on Sinestro to get up on the stage and start his speech, I started to examine the Central Yellow Lantern Power Battery. Just standing that close to our power source made me feel like I could take on Superman without breaking a sweat. I couldn't, of course, the idea was ludicrous, but that's the effect it has on you. It's energy was so enriching, that after I closed my eyes in relaxation to bask in it's golden light, I became so distracted that I didn't even notice when our leader, Sinestro, began his speech.
"WHAT?!" The crowd exclaimed in utter disbelief, which snapped me out of my stupor.
"You all heard me. We're entering the Unknown Sectors," Sinestro, told us. "Or, to be more specific, you are,"
This was completely out of left field. No one ever went in the Unknown Sectors; since the Green Lanterns never stationed themselves there, the whole area was a breeding ground and safe haven for criminals everywhere, not to mention the fact that they were almost completely uncharted.
"What if we get lost? How will we find our way back?" Someone about five feet off to my right asked.
"With this," Sinestro answered, holding up a small rectangular prism. I clearly wasn't the only one who had no idea what it was, as evidenced by the wave of confused murmuring that washed over the crowd, before Sinestro held up his hand to silence us.
"This is a Mother Box. Supplied to us by our newest ally, Darkseid. He sends his regrets that he cannot be here today. He is quelling a revolution on his homeworld. He will be assisting us in our occupation and exploration of the Unknown Sectors, in exchange for granting him dominion over half the planets we discover. Each of you tasked with exploring the Unknown Sectors will be granted one. Simply think of Qward, and a 'Boom Tube', basically a portal, will appear leading here. This will work with any other location in the known universe, and the Mother Box has a variety of other functions that will be explained to you by the Box itself," Seeing that we were confused, he spoke again. "They can commune with their owners," Sinestro explained all of this very quickly, and gave us a few seconds to process the information we had been given before speaking again. "Each of you will be called to speak with me about whether you will be charting the areas you go to, occupying the first planet you find, or both. Dismissed."
The wait was torture. Due to how many of us there were, the amount of time it would take to give us all our mission briefings was scheduled to take several weeks. I was given my instructions on day eight.
"Ethan Woods of Earth, please come to see Sinestro," An emotionless automated voice called over the P.A system. I let out a sigh of relief, and walked to the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor, where Sinestro's 'office' was. It wasn't like anything like what was found on earth, but it was an office in the fact that he did most of his work here, at least when he wasn't on the battlefield. It was very similar to Lex Luthor's office in design, with the window in the back overlooking the only city on this desolate planet, but with a holographic map of the known universe in the middle, along with two armchairs bordering said map. His work extended to pinpointing the locations of Green Lanterns, potential new recruits for the Corps, unoccupied planets, and the like. Just thought I should clarify that, although the idea of him doing paperwork in there brings a smile to my face. When the door opened, Sinestro wasted no time in beginning his talk.
"Come, sit," He said, gesturing to the chair opposite him. I gave a small bow to my master before obliging. "You will be exploring the Unknown Sectors in search of a planet with sentient inhabitants, then you will begin to spread fear, as always," I kept my mouth shut and simply nodded. "As you know, the Unknown Sectors are filled to the brim with those who act outside the law. Set an example of the Sinestro Corps by cracking down on crime, then when I get around to whatever planet you chose to cleanse, we will begin to enforce our order. Any questions?" He asked. I shook my head at his question. "Very well. Here is your Mother Box," He said, handing me a small, gray, rectangular box. "Don't lose this," He said with a stern edge to his voice. "If you do... Well, you know this is how you'll be getting out of the area you're traveling to," I nodded in recognition. "Good. Now go," He ordered, sounding very bored. I couldn't blame him, he was going to be talking to others like me for a while.
"Yes, sir," I said with no emotion in my voice, but on the inside I was screaming for mercy. Sinestro had only had a stern tone once during the conversation, and for but a fleeting moment, but it was enough to make me terrified until I did as he asked and left the room. I exited the building as soon as possible, and headed strait for my ship. The thing wasn't much of a looker, just a yellow egg with all the components of an average spacecraft on the inside. But hey, it gets the job done fine. Substance over style. I climbed into the cockpit of my flying golden easter egg, clipped the Mother Box to my belt, and took off from the familiar planet of Qward, heading straight for uncharted, deep space.
Still no planets I can occupy. Every last one of them I've come across already have a Sinestro Corpsman there, spreading fear, as you do. I guess it makes sense, considering they were sent into the Unknown Sectors way before me, but after 216 planets that are all but useless to you (except when it comes to refueling your ship), it starts to get a little irritating. After all this time, I had run out of the food rations I stored in my ship. That wasn't a problem, however, as my Mother Box was able to fill my body with essential nutrients without even needing to come into contact with me. Presence knows how. That being said, my taste buds were so inactive at this point, I felt like I might lose me sense of taste altogether if I didn't find some real food. What's worse, the further I traveled into the Sectors, the less frequent I spotted anything other than the never-ending blackness of outer space. So when I eventually spotted a planet with nothing in sight around it other than a sun and moon that had a striking resemblance to that of Earth's, I just assumed that someone else had gotten to it before I did. A shame, too, I could tell even from outside the atmosphere that this one of the most lush planets I'd ever see in my life.
"Siri, you know what to do," I said with a bored tone of voice to my Mother Box, who I had nicknamed Siri, for obvious reasons. I sunk back into my seat, closed my eyes, and rubbed my forehead, as I was starting to get a headache from how long I had been out here with nothing to show for it. The novelty of traveling into unknown space had worn off around day six. Now I just wanted to go home. Or find an unoccupied planet. Or get attacked by a Green Lantern, or literally freaking anything to get rid of the boredom.
"Of course, Ethan," She said in her robotic voice, but one that still had a noticeable bit of emotion in it. I was glad to at least have her along for the trip, she made for surprisingly good conversation, despite being basically a robot. After a brief moment, she gave me the results of her scan. "There are no traces of any member of the Sinestro Corps on this planet," My reaction was my eyes snapping open at the news, but not changing my position.
"Check again," I ordered. Siri did, and gave the same response.
"Any sentient life-forms?" I asked with hope that could put a Blue Lantern to shame.
"Yes, many of them," Came Siri's voice. However, before I could even yell out in joy, she told me something else.
"There also appears to be an unusually high level of magic down on the surface," At this point, however, I had tuned her out and was soaring towards the planet, wondering if it looked better on the surface. What, you don't think I can appreciate nature's beauty just because I'm a harbinger of fear? That's rather narrow-minded of you. Us Sinestro Corpsman are just like you, in some areas. We have hopes, dreams, passions, and, ironically enough, fears. The main difference we just have some really cool accessories, and believe that the only path to order is fear. But I digress, I slowed down significantly upon reaching the atmosphere, so as to not destroy myself in a fiery inferno. After I was completely within the atmosphere, I witnessed a sea of fluffy white clouds, which I promptly darted through to see the ground. I then went to get a good view of where I had touched down. My mouth hung open in awe as I emerged from the bottom of the thick cloud I had flown through, there was green and blue. So much green and blue. Normally, I despised those two colors, but seeing them here, in a place full of natural beauty, I couldn't bring myself to feel anything except wonder. Still, I had a job to do, as Siri reminded me moments later, and I had to find a place to sleep for the night. It was 12:56 Qwardian time, so my eyelids were beginning to droop. I looked around and saw a gigantic forbidding forest that seemed to go on for miles, with trees blocking out the sun, and Siri telling me there were hundreds of unidentified creatures roaming around in there. In other words, it was perfect for what I was here to do. I had entered the atmosphere on the side of the planet facing the moon, making it dark enough so that I didn't have to activate the ship's cloaking device, but there was still the issue of navigating the thing through the dense forest. I flew overhead for a while until I found a clearing big enough to hold my spacecraft. I then exited the spacecraft with my ring, power battery, and Siri with me, and wandered into the forest, looking for someplace more concealed for me to spend the night. As I walked aimlessly through the forest, Siri eventually spoke up out of nowhere startling me.
"Ethan, I am detecting screams of distress approximately five miles to your left." She said, a bit of worry in her voice.
"So? What do I care? I'm here to spread fear, remember?" I said tiredly as I continued to walk in the same direction. Siri was silent for five seconds before she spoke up again.
"I have detected blood being drawn, and lots of it. Whoever is getting attacked is about to die, and you can stop it. But you won't," Siri said, scolding me. I stopped in my tracks.
"If I help them out, will you shut up about it?" I grumbled, barely audible.
"Yes, of course," She said. I groaned and flew two feet off the ground, heading where she told me to go. I created a cone of yellow energy in front of me, plowing through any tree, bush, or...was that a wolf made of wood?...or any Eldritch Abominations stupid enough to get in my way. When I got to my destination, I set down on the grassy forest floor, and guess what I found? Come on, guess. Give up? I saw a small yellow pony with a red bow on it's head, a equally petite orange pegasus with a magenta mane, and a white unicorn of equal stature to the other two...That had a deep cut in it's back right leg from the attack of a freaking Manticore. Sure, why not? I've seen weirder in my intergalactic travels.
Still not entirely on board with the idea of saving someone's life, I fired up my yellow ring and pointed it at the beast slowly advancing the three ponies.
"I'll say this once. Go away," I said with an edge to my voice. The Manticore, however, was clearly overconfident in it's abilities, and charged straight at me, snarling. I responded by creating a small land mine in the direction it was running. The poor thing never stood a chance. The moment he got within twenty feet of me and the ponies I was standing in front of, the explosive detonated, causing the me and the three fillies (I guess that's what they're called) to be showered in the blood of the creature for one and a half seconds. I turned around to check on them.
"Are you all right?" I asked with a sarcastically while pretending not to notice the white unicorn that was still injured. I wasn't expecting a response, but I got one anyway.
"What do you think!?" The orange one snapped at me, taking me aback for a moment. "Sweetie Belle is hurt! Now are you going to stand there, or help her!?"
"Scootaloo!" The one with the bow exclaimed, scolding her friend. She had a noticeable southern drawl to her voice. "That...Whatever-it-is just saved our lives! You could be a little nicer!"
"He's pretending to not notice that she's hurt, Apple Bloom! He's being disrespectful to our friend when she needs help!"
I took this moment to power up my ring to mend Sweetie Belle's (What kind of name is that?) wounds. After the yellow light had diminished, the orange one spoke up again.
"You helped her? Um, sorry for yelling at you like-" She began before I cut her off.
"I don't care," I said harshly. "Get out of my sight, and never let me see you here again. Go tell your friends that this forest belongs to me now," After I said that, they, understandably, were terrified. They all held onto each other, shaking uncontrollably. As I turned around to walk away, however, 'Apple Bloom', I think was her name, spoke up, her stuttering voice barely audible.
"S-sir? We don't k-know how to get out of the forest," She said shakily, still holding onto her friends for dear life. I groaned inwardly, but I knew Siri would never let me hear the end of it if I left them alone in a forest like this.
"Get over here," I commanded. They did what I said so quickly they left a cloud of dust in their wake. I engulfed all of us with a bubble, and rose very quickly over the treetops. I rose so quickly, in fact, that Sweetie was holding onto my leg when we stopped rising. I glared down at her and she gave a sheepish smile before letting go of my leg.
"Do you see your home from here?" I asked quickly. I wanted to get this over with. They each looked around for a while before Scootaloo pointed to a relatively small settlement.
"That's where we live! Ponyville!" She said with a bit of pride in her voice. Ponyville. Who came up with that? Not only was it stupid, it sounded like it had been thought up in twenty seconds. I decided to hold off my questions until after I had gotten rid of these nuisances. I rocketed off towards where the pegasus had pointed, and when we landed about a mile and a half away from the town, I got rid of the bubble around us.
"There's your home. Now go away, leave me alone, and tell everyone else to do the same. Also, take a bath, you still have Manticore blood on you," I said, then launched off the ground before they could say another word to me. I then headed back into the forest to find a cave or something to take shelter in.
"How did it feel to save a life?" Siri inquired curiously. I thought about it for a moment before answering.
"It was alright, but they were very annoying. Especially their high-pitched voices," I muttered.
"So, do you think you will do it some more?" Siri asked.
"I already save lives by enforcing order via inspiring fear," I said automatically, though my answer sounded more emotionless than a Manhunter.
"You seem unsure of that," Siri said.
"I'm very sure of that," I said, although in truth I had had my doubts before. But when I saw everyone kept in line by what we did on the countless planets we had occupied, (Before the Green Lanterns seized control of them from us, that is) I decided it was for the best.
"If you say so," Siri said knowingly. I sighed, I could tell we weren't done talking about this. "I've detected an unoccupied small cave not far from here. I can ward off any creatures that might be brave enough to attack you with that power battery and ring close by," She informed me.
"Did you know about that before you told me to go save those girls?" I asked, though I thought I already knew the answer.
"Maybe. Maybe not," Siri said with a smug voice, and if she had a face I'd imagine she'd be smirking right now. "The cave is just west of here, in the middle of a cliff face,"
When I got to said cliff, I put all the grass and dirt I had picked up along the way in one place, so I wouldn't have to sleep on the cold stone floor. Before I got on top of my makeshift bed, I held my power battery in one hand, put my ring up against it, and said the Sinestro Corps oath.
