A Green Lantern in Equestria, Part 5 (Welcome to Town)

>You are Anon Ymous of Rann, Green Lantern of Sector 2828.

>You have just stepped out of the shower, buck naked, in search of a towel.

>And when you opened the door you came face to face with a purple unicorn.

>You decided that the proper response to this occurrence was to scream loudly in horror.

>The mare concurred and responded with a scream of her own as she desperately attempted to cover her eyes with her hooves.

>You scramble desperately to cover yourself, and your trained instinct drives you to your ring.

>You trip and fall on a wet spot as you rush to the sink to grab the emerald trinket.

>You and the unicorn are still screaming.

>You manage to grab the ring, and with great haste, you slip it on and are instantly clothed in your uniform.

>The unicorn is still screaming.

>You have since stopped screaming and have begun repeatedly shouting "IT'S OKAY!  IT'S OKAY!"

>The unicorn has stopped screaming as well.

>She tentatively lifts a hoof to verify that you are clothed, and once she does she relaxes and clears her throat.

>"Well!  That was...interesting...

>You reply indignantly.

I'll say...

>An awkward silence permeates the hallway, punctuated only by Granny Smith's snores (she seriously slept through that?  Impressive...)

>The unicorn is the first to break the silence.

>"Umm...I-I guess I'd better start this.  My name is Twilight Sparkle..."

 

SOME TIME LATER

 

>Despite the horrific nature of your introduction (is it just your imagination or is she making cursory glances at your crotch?) you and Twilight manage to hit it off and have a nice long discussion about your origin and your predicament, both how it came to be and what to do now.

>"It seems the only thing we can do is go to the Princess.  If there's anypony in the world who can help with this 'gravametric barrier' thing it's her."

Very well then, but I still want to fly up and take a scan.  Any info I can garner can only serve to help.

>"Agreed, but I don't think you should go alone, I mean, look what happened last time!  There's a friend of mine and AJ's who'll be more than willing help us."

>Twilight must be referring to one of the Pegasus ponies that Applebloom had told you about.

>In your conversations with the child, she talked about the different races among the ponies, about how her and her family were "earth ponies" and about the winged pegasi who managed the weather and the unicorns who wielded "magic".

Alright then, where can I find her.

>"Slow down there buster, we can't bother her today.  She's pulling a double shift on cloud patrol.  We'll talk to her tomorrow."

>"In the mean time, I want to know more about your home planet and this Green Lantern Corps thing!  I've never heard of anything like this!  An intergalactic police force with representatives from every corner of the universe?!  Can you imagine it?!  Well, of course YOU can imagine it, you're one of them, but seriously!  In the entire history Equestria..."

>Excitable, this one.

>But she was knowledgeable, and she was willing to help you.

>Right now, that was all you needed.

>"Hey, Hey Anon?  Are you listening?"

W-Wha? Oh yes, I'm here, what is it?

>"I was saying that you can spend tonight on my couch in the library."

Why, yes, thank you Ms. Sparkle.

>"Please, call me Twilight."

>You had wondered about that.

>Since it seemed you'd be trapped on this world for a little bit, you wondered what you'd do for sleeping accommodations.

>Applejack put you up in her barn last night, but that was probably because she beat you into unconsciousness.

>It was nice that Twilight would offer you a place for the evening.

>(Why did her eyes keep glancing downward?  What has this unicorn so distracted?)

>Besides, a library affords you the chance to do some research.

>Twilight mentioned that she had star charts, even if you can't leave, you can at least find WHERE exactly you are.

>Which brings up an interesting point.

>You assume that you are somewhere in Sector 2828 still, but all your attempts to communicate with Oa have resulted in static.

>Is the barrier blocking your communications as well?

>That doesn't make sense, the ring comm system operates on a sub-space spectrum ether frequency.

>Gravametrics wouldn't have any effect on it.

>There is very little in the universe that even CAN block the signal.

>It would take a similar power source of considerable magnitude to interfere with your comms.

>But there was nothing like that on Equestria...was there?

 

MEANWHILE, DEEP UNDERGROUND

 

>You are an acolyte of love.

>Despite a rather...large...recent setback, your plans are moving forward.

>If you cannot charge the crystals of one large source...than you would charge them of many small sources.

>These foolish ponies were eager to let you in, love was as critical to them as it was to you.

>Maybe not in the same capacity, but it was still mattered.

>Enough that it emanated from them daily.

>And those scraps...while small on their own...they added up...

>And soon your power would reach it's apex and you would strike back in revenge for your previous failures!

>But what's this?

>Something new has entered the town...

>Something whose heart bears the tell-tale signs of being broken.

>It is an old wound...a jagged scar on his soul...

>A bleeding gash, waiting to be drained of that pure, raw, power called...

>...Love.

 

ANON'S PERSPECTIVE, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF PONYVILLE

 

>You were nervous about this.

>You were heading back to Twilight's house.

>And to do that, you had to head through the town.

>The town named Ponyville.

>This would be your first direct encounter with a fully populated settlement on this world.

>You REALLY hoped you would not cause a panic.

 

...

 

>So far, so good...ish...

>You may not be causing a panic, but you are attracting a LOT of stares and a fair number of reactions.

>You see a mare shiver as if she's about to scream about the horrors that the sight of you has inflicted upon her mind, but she is quickly silenced by her two friends.

>You see a mint green unicorn stop dead in her tracks, dropping her bag of groceries in the process, and just....stare at you.

>You swear you see her eye twitch.

>You see a brown colt and a grey wall-eyed pegasus cease their previous conversation and look at you with mild shock.

>They proceed to quickly excuse themselves and run off together.

>This does not bode well for future relations with this planet.

>"Just smile  Walk.  Look forward, and smile."

>Twilight can FEEL the awkwardness of this situation.

>The journey comes to a blessed end at a large tree that has been made into a house.

>No, you did not mean a tree-house, it is, in fact, a house-tree.

>"Well!  Glad that's over, come on inside and we'll get you settled in.  Spike!  We have a guest!"

>You look up at the tree that you now know serves as the town library, and you also look back on the town and it's residents whose eyes still drill into you.

>You think of what you may have done to this world by simply being here, what presence of mind you may have shattered for them.

>The knowledge of life beyond the stars is not something a society can swallow and expect to wake up fine and dandy the next morning.

>The culture shock alone could wipe out this millennia-old civilization, the chaos brought forth would be paid in millions lives.

>If Green Lanterns were supposed to preserve life and order in this universe...you were doing a horrible job at it.

>"Anon!  Are you coming or not?!"

Be there in a minute!

>No point obsessing now, you had research to do.