A Green Lantern in Equestria, Part 7 (Onwards and Upwards)

>THOSE WERE YOUR FUCKING RIBS!

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

>And you are damn near positive that your ribcage was just collapsed by a high speed sonic projectile, possibly of Reach origin.

>You find it odd that it seems to be in the shape of a blue Pegasus pony with a rainbow mane.

>"Oww...not my head...," says the weapon.

>You find this odd.

>Most weapons don't talk.

>Then again, you were pretty sure the Reach made this thing.

>And if they liked making talking scarabs...why not talking ponies?

>Oh this bitch was going to be so many atoms in the next-

>[Goddamnit Anon! Are we really doing the shit again?!]

>Fuck you consince, I'm dying here!

>[Shut up, buttwipe, you are not dying, your ribs aren't even broken.  Hell, I bet the worst you have is some bruising, these ponies are practically made of marshmallow!  Quit your bitching and think for a minute.]

>B-but the Reach-

>[-are nowhere near here.  You're on Equestria remember?]

>...yeah...

>[And you were going to fly up and scan the barrier around the planet, right?]

>Y-yeah, that is right!

>[And the name of your escort was...?]

>Rainbow Dash.

>The gears in your head line up properly and you look at the rainbow maned cyan pegasus that is in the process of untangling herself from you.

>She finally opens her eyes and gets a nice, long, and rather confused look at you shortly before receiving a quick strike in the back of her head from a floating book.

>"OW!  Whaddya' do that for Twilight?!"

>"For not looking where you're flying!  You could've killed Anon!"

>"What, him?" she says, indicating you with a dismissive gesture, "He looks fine!"

>Rainbow Dash looks you over again, "I think..."

>Oh, Ho-ho...this bitch is dea-

>[FOR FUCKS SAKE ANON!]

>I'M NEVER ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING, AM I?!

>[NO!  YOU'RE NOT!  NOW WALK IT THE FUCK OFF LIKE A FUCKING MAN!]

I'm...okay...Twilight, just give me a minute...

>You groan as you stand and shoot the blue Pegasus a bitter look.

Rainbow Dash...I presume?

>She winces at the venom in your voice.

>"Y-yeah that's me!"

>She clears her throat as she regains her composure.

>"So what's the plan here, Twilight?  You want me to show your friend some fancy flying?  Or maybe we need to go fight a monster?!  A dragon or-"

>Twilight stuffs her hoof into Rainbow's mouth.

>"Dash, listen carefully.  You need to follow Anon into the upper atmosphere, let him analyze whatever he needs to analyze, and if he falls?  Catch him.  That's it."

>"That's it?"

>"That's it."

>The Rainbow one's disappointment is palpable.

>"Fine."

>Twilight smiles.

>"Good!  Alright Anon, good luck, I look forward to your findings."

>You give Twilight a small salute, and then turn to your Rainbow escort.

Come then, we have work to do.

 

SOMETIME LATER, IN THE SKIES ABOVE PONYVILLE

 

>OK, maybe you were quick to judge your blue, ballistic companion.

>When you got over the initial unpleasantness between the two of you, you spend the flight into the upper atmosphere swapping stories.

>You explain how your ring lets you and other Lanterns fly without wings, though your not sure she gets a lot of it.

>She, in turn,regales you with tales about her flight prowess, and skills as a weather-pony, along with her desire to

 

join an aerobatic team called, "The Wonderbolts".

>"...though I gotta tell you Anon, when I heard about where you come from?  Outer space?  It got me thinkin'."

About what?

>"About what it'd be like to fly up there, to actually fly into the night sky!  I wonder why no Pegasus has done it before?"

Probably because of this barrier that I'm going to scan.

>"Maybe...hey Anon, what's it like?"

What?

>"You know, flying in space?"

>Oh wow...

>You've never actually thought about this before.

>For you, flying was an act of utility, a means to an end, a method of transit.

>It wasn't always like that, it used to be much more exciting, but that was before...

>...no, stay on topic.

It's like...floating in the sea one moment, and maneuvering faster than you ever have in your entire life the next.

>She's in awe at your words.

>You can see her envisioning it in her eyes.

...We're here.

>"Oh wow...edge of the cloud-line."

>You stood (floated really) at the point where the wild blue yonder becomes black.

>You stare up into the void.

>Where there should be stars, an inky blackness greets you.

>You notice that your Life Support shield is up.

>"M-man...the air up here...kinda thin."

>Rainbow is panting and flapping her wings quite hard.

Hang on, this will only take a second.

>"Yeah...sure...just make it quick."

>You begin your scans but keep one eye on your Pegasus companion.

>Hopefully this goes without incident.

 

MEANWHILE, NOT FAR BELOW

 

>You are Fluttershy.

>Animal expert and caretaker.

>And you are exhausted.

>You've been flying for two days straight, making sure that the birds went south for the upcoming winter.

>You spent all day yesterday flying and setting up nests in warm, tropical places for your feathered friends.

>And now you're rushing home feed the rest of your animal friends.

>Or you would be, if you weren't on the verge of passing out.

>You're spent, you've been flying for hours and you needed a rest.

>But you couldn't rest!

>The animals at home were waiting to be fed!

>You had to soldier on!

>Oh look!  There was your friend, Rainbow Dash!

>And some Green...thing.

>You'd be scared, but your too wiped to even do that.

>Oh look!  Rainbow's waving at you and pointing you out to the green thing!

>You try to wave back, but you can't seem to find the strength.

>That's odd, Rainbow's getting farther and farther away from you for some reason.

>Oh well, no big deal, you'd figure out why that was after your nap.

 

UPPER ATMOSPHERE Music:  http://youtu.be/Exg-zf2nouQ

 

>You are Anon once more.

>And you are watching a yellow Pegasus, identified by Rainbow Dash as her friend "Fluttershy", fall out of the sky.

>This alarms you and your companion greatly.

>You break off what you are doing and speed to the rescue of the falling mare.

>One problem though.

Dash.

>"WHAT IS IT ANON?!  KIND OF BUSY HERE!"

I know, I've just run the numbers in my head.  At our present speed and her present velocity, we're not going to make it

 

too her in time.

>"THEN WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST WE DO?!"

>That's a good point.

>In any other circumstance, you'd send out a construct to catch her.

>Constructs move at the speed of light, rendering your present issue's moot.

>But there was a problem.

>Fluttershy was yellow.

>A color that did not mix well with your powers.

>You had heard rumors in the corps, however.

>That with sufficient willpower, the weakness could be overcome.

>There was no choice, you'd have to try.

>You extend your arm and send out a green glowing hand.

>It wraps itself around the falling Pegasus.

Stay together...stay together...stay together...stay together...stay together...

>It makes physical contact with her.

>The backlash is instantaneous, your fears strike you all at once.

>VALADEATHSYNONBANISHMENTCORPSFAILURE

>The hand shatters.

>And Rainbow Dash reacts.

>"NO!  NOT LIKE THIS! I CAN MAKE IT!  I *WILL* MAKE IT!"

>What you see next astounds you.

>A sonic cone forms around the cyan Pegasus.

>And with a luminescent sonic boom, she gains a speed heretofore unseen.

>She accelerates at nearly triple her previous velocity.

>And in one fell swoop, catches the falling Fluttershy.

>All the while, her rainbow shock wave covers the land.

>You are stunned.

>The willpower it took to perform that feat amazes you.

>You look at your ring and think of your failure.

>And then you look at the ever-expanding shock wave, and the Pegasus who has just landed and is resting her friend on the ground.

>And you begin to wonder.