LoE-Blackest Night:Explanations and Recriminations

The Lanterns of Equestria the Blackest Night- Explanations and Recriminations


The Leader of Red Lanterns flew in through an open door and hovered in place above the central tub. The jagged crimson glow of her aura giving the impression of a burning fire. RL Rainbow Dash’s eyes sparkled like the popping embers of a fire. The atmosphere in the room became thick with a feeling of menace and malice. The cyan pegasus floated down to the ground in front of her friends, her fiery aura fading as her hind legs touched ground. She stayed in her lantern form, a burning Red Lantern Symbol of rage energy floating in front of her heart.

“Dashie, what the heck is the issue? I know the ring makes you an Angry Mc Mad Mad, but raging at Applejack like that was…”

“What?  That’s nothing compared to what the Black Lanterns were trying to do to me when I was looking for my ‘friend’ to back me up…and she wasn’t there!” blood plasma dripped from the corners of her mouth as she scowled.  

Rarity gestured to Aloe, Vera, and Lotus to come in close to her. “I think you all need to leave the room, it is about to become quite ugly and I cannot be sure of what is about to happen,” she whispered to them. The three spa ponies complied and quickly cleared the central soak room.

“Rainbow Dash, how can you say such things!” the normally timid Fluttershy  broke in.”Can’t you see that Applejack is upset about what happened to Zecora? We only heard about it, but she was …”

“She was home feeling sorry for herself instead of helping us!” the Pegasus snapped, she flipped her wings out and back in quickly.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard, Rainbow Dash…” Rarity tried to interject. She was still sitting on the couch, surprisingly calm.

“It’s what I SAW, Rarity, or DIDN’T see, which was AJ with us beating these things back!” the red lantern landed in front of the still earth pony, her open wings, and her red glow gave the impression the cyan pegasus was a vengeance sprit of myth come to life. “Where were you, Applejack? What happened to you?”  

Twilight Sparkle flew in at that moment and gently landed next to the cyan pegasus. The yellow lantern’s  body seemed a bit tense. She had just caught what Rainbow Dash said, and it annoyed her. When she had gone to fetch the cyan Pegasus, she had taken time to explain what the situation was, and what condition Applejack was in. Rainbow Dash had said she understood, but her statement in the last few seconds indicated otherwise! Twilight let fear wrap around her for effect; her face was enough to send lesser beings running. The Red Lantern didn’t even blink. “Rainbow Dash! We TALKED about this!”

“No! You talked, Twilight—AT me!” Dash answered. The red lantern’s gaze turned to the orange earth pony.

“WHERE WERE YOU?!” the burning rage in Rainbow Dash’s heart demanded. “WE NEEDED YOU!”

It was Pinkie who spoke next, “Dashie, you need to stop with the CA-RA-ZY!”

“Rainbow Dash,” the soft voice of Fluttershy followed, “please, calm down…”

“What about all those big attacks we’ve been getting in the last few days, AJ was nowhere! She wouldn’t even see us!” RL Rainbow Dash spat.

“A few skirmishes and a few sightings here and there in the last few days hardly qualify as a ‘big attacks,’ Rainbow.” Twilight’s ears were flat and she was frowning .  “You said you knew what to do, Rainbow; this does not really inspire any confidence in your sanity.”

”If Applejack was not ready to see us…”

“Those were just the beginning ,Twilight! Sweet Apple Acres and the last few days were just openers. My gut tells me they’ll be back, soon and HARD! We don’t have time for sap! We should be looking for them and hitting them…NOW!” The rage lantern’s wings flared open to emphasize her urgency. “And AJ should be hitting them with me!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy raised her voice a little. Her violet ring began to glow softly. “We know you care about Applejack, and that you are worried about the danger we could be in.” The yellow pegasus’ mouth quivered a little ”But you really need to calm down. Please?”

“Dashie, what’s the deal? It’s like this whole mess is an insult to you!” Pinkie Pie interjected.

Rainbow Dash began to show her teeth in frustration. She turned to face the violet ring wielder first.  “Yeah...like that’s going to happen, Fluttershy! I’m not going to calm down when it comes to something trying to kill me and my friends! Pinkie, first off…”

“ENOUGH! Knock it off!” a voice screamed behind them all. The walls rang with the sound of the voice issuing the command. All eyes fell onto the source of the command, their friend Applejack.

Everypony froze where they were, their eyes looking around and wide in surprise looking for the source of the thunderous command. There was an unnerving silent calm as the arguing friends turned at once to look at the pony who had just bellowed.

The farm pony had gotten up on all of her hooves and walked into the center of the circle of her friends.

“Dash is right, ok! Ah wasn’t there!” the earth pony turned her head to look at all of her friends. All of her friends had a shocked expression on their faces, even RL Rainbow Dash. “That’s the truth! Ah wasn’t, and Dash here was countin’ on me to be there cause Ah said ah would! Honestly, she’s got a bit of a right to be upset!” Applejack got up and circled around to face the red lantern.

The Elements of Harmony all were silent for a moment. Rainbow Dash was the first to break the silence.

“What Ah wasn’t doin was feelin sorry for mah self. NO! Ya wanna know where Ah’ve been? Mournin’ OUR friend, RD! And Ah was…reflectin’ ya might say, on how Ah failed her, on how WE all failed her.” She looked around at her friends and then stamped the floor with her hoof. ”Yeah it ate me up…honestly it still is. It’s almost killed me.” Applejack’s eyes narrowed.
“Look I know that Zecora became one of those things, AJ…”

“Did you SEE her, RD?” Applejack turned her eyes to the rest of her friends. “Did any of ya SEE her hoof ta hoof, face ta face?”

All of them save Rainbow Dash looked down, shaking their heads. The red lantern was stone faced, a slight glow of red showing in her eyes. “No I didn’t, but that doesn’t make a difference…”

[=RAGE=] Rarity’s ring said as Rarity was listening to Applejack.

Applejack exploded. It was the first real rage any of her friends had seen from her since all the lantern business had started. “It’s a Tartarus of a lotta difference hearin’ from somepony else about your friend bein’ an undead monster that wants ya dead, an bein’ the pony to find it out up close and personal like when she tries ta kill ya! It’s a sight different, RD! YOU WEREN’T THERE! When y’all and Mac went about fightin those things, she was gone.” All of her friends, including Rainbow Dash, nodded. ”Ah was the only one ta SEE her an’ to talk to her! Ah’m the one who had ta tell y’all.”

“Applejack,” RL Rainbow Dash started quietly, gritting her teeth.”Wow. Um look I know that it was lousy…”

“No, Rainbow! You didn’t SEE her! You don’t know what it was like! You didn’t TALK to her. Ah did! Her white stripes were all gray, her eyes cold and dark. Her voice…!” Applejack shivered for a moment. “She was GONE, and we hadn’t even looked in on her! Then that feeling in mah heart..the guilt and the sorrow of what we had NOT done!” There were tears of rage in the earth pony’s eyes now. “ Yeah, that got me! Ah went home and knocked mah self around about…failing her.”

Applejack moved closer to the red lantern. She wiped the tears away from her eyes. “So if’n that ain’t bad enough, Ah come out ta find that you’re outraged because Ah wasn’t around to help you an yer ‘red gang’!  What about you, Dash, huh? Ah may have gone in the root cellar over Zecora, but what about you? You act like you don’t even care, and you took mah absence from grief as cowardice and shirkin’! Got news fer you. Ah wasn’t scared about leavin’ home. Ah was scared about lousin up!” The farmer’s eyes were narrow and her lips were curled into a sneer, “So, that’s where Ah was! Where the heck were you?”

RL Rainbow Dash’s aura flared. “Where was I? I was keeping those things off of everypony, including your family, AJ! I was fighting with the others to keep ponies safe, a job that would have been easier with you helping… “ The red lantern paused and took a breath. “I needed you, and you were gone and you wouldn’t or couldn’t fight.“

“Ah see,” Applejack said without emotion. “So, Ah’m a coward, hidin’ while mah friends an’ family fight mah battles.”

“Whoa there, Applejack, I NEVER said you were a coward! I may have been disappointed and frustrated about you, and complained about not having you with me…yes, I did yell about it, but I’d never say that about you! Where the hay did you get that idea?”

“Ah got that from some of your lanterns, RD. Raindrops told me when she came out to the farm with some rain clouds!” Applejack sat back on her haunches and sat up to her full height. ”Seems they are also tellin’ folks in town, but y’all couldn’t even tell Mac to his face about his sister, let alone tell me ta mine!”
Rainbow Dash began to growl like an angry diamond dog. Her forehooves curled in and flexed in rage. Her eyes burned with anger. The ring on her leg began to spark and shine.  The pegasus began to rise off the ground. The air became saturated with the rage of the red lanterns.

‘We NEVER betrayed our friend!’ Rage and Loyalty burned into Rainbow Dash’s mind.

“M-M-My lanterns…said that?” Rainbow Dash could barely contain herself. “Which!” Red fire burned in her eyes.  “Who? WHO?!” Blood plasma had started to drip from her mouth again.

“Raindrops said she didn’t know.”

Twilight decided to add what she knew, “Rainbow Dash, I have to say I have heard that from some of the other ponies in town, too.“ The yellow lantern looked at her friend, “They told me some of the Red Lanterns were saying it among themselves.”

“I’ve heard it too, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said, her mane and tail went straight for a moment. “I even almost got into an argument with a customer over it.”

“Um, I’ve heard it, too,” Fluttershy added meekly.

RL Rainbow Dash landed on her hind legs. Blood plasma dripping slowed, but the fire in her eyes had not diminished. “I…will…find out if this is true, Applejack. If it’s true, I’ll fix it from my end. I NEVER said that!” The cyan pegasus looked at her friend with a questioning glance as if searching, “But it means you’re going to have to fix it your end, too, Applejack.”

“Beg pardon?”

“First I gotta ask, AJ, are you going to stay? You can’t just go home when it gets tough.”

“Ah don’t give up when it gets rough, RD,” Applejack snapped. “Are you sayin’ Ah’m a quitter?”

“No,” Rainbow Dash paused, ”but I don’t know if you can be in this fight, that's the second part. You're going to have to prove to others,like the ponies who called you a coward AJ, make them choke on their words. Look Applejack it…it looks like it’s going to be a war with these things. I need you, but will you be there?”

Applejack did not know how to answer. ‘What does she want? Why is this so dang important to her?’

“Raindrops told me she heard that Twilight said this might be the first real war we’ve seen in forever.” Applejack looked at YL Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn’s ears were dropped and she had a worried look on her face. “Sounds like that’s true.”

“When did you get so chummy with Raindrops, Applejack?” the red lantern asked with a suspicious look in her eyes.

“She’s just the first one outside of the family to get a hold ah me, that’s all. She had some business to talk ta me about and she filled me in on some of this stuff.” The green lantern looked at her cyan friend and smiled slightly. ”She told me about how you were recruitin’, actively lookin’ for others to give a red ring to for this ‘war’ we’re all gonna fight.”

“Yeah I am, so what?” Rainbow Dash snapped. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Nothin per say, RD. But Ah also heard y’all apparently think that you also should be the ones punishin’ anyone y’all think are guilty. When did you become a judge?”

“We only go after ponies that deserve I,t AJ! Those who have cheated their way out of getting what they deserve!”

“Hum…” the farm pony rubbed her chin with a forehoof. “Raindrops told me she refused yer offer of a red ring because you an’ the red lanterns were outta control!”  

The pegasus red lantern waved her leg to brush aside the comment. ”Raindrops will come around, she will be a red lantern. With her rage, it will be awesome to see!” The red lantern seemed to purr like Rarity’s cat, Opal, with the thought of Raindrops as a red lantern.

Applejack sniffed and chuckled a little. “Ha! Not likely Dash! Not after that little show ya put on with Cloud Kicker.”

Rainbow Dash reared around to look at the farm pony. “Fah! Ok…Cloud Kicker got a bit freaked. I didn’t say she had to take the ring. I didn’t make her! She got nasty first, and I got a little nasty back. I didn’t even touch her.” The red lantern scrunched her face. “As for Raindrops…you don’t know Raindrops like I do, you don’t know the rage…”

The green lantern cut off the red with a laugh. The sound of laughter coming from the farm pony was a bit of a shock. Fluttershy jumped, Pinkie dropped back a little her eyes large in wonder. Twilight was confused. It even startled Rainbow Dash. Only Rarity seemed unfazed; nopony could see her smiling a little. One thing for certain, neither Applejack’s courage, nor her sense of humor had been weakened by the trauma she had been through.

“Yer too late!”

Everypony was puzzled, and their faces matched their confusion. Rarity looked at Applejack with the eyes of the indigo ring. She saw three colors.

[=WILL=]
[=HOPE=]
[= AVARICE=]

‘Avarice?’ Rarity thought. ‘Why avarice?’

“You don’t know Raindrops as well as ya think ya do, Dash! “ The apple farmer stopped laughing and had a slightly mean expression with a smile. “She’s never gonna be one of yer red lanterns, if she’s a GREEN one!”
The statement took a moment to sink into everypony.

Rainbow Dash growled, “What did you DO, Applejack?!”

The keeper of the Book of Oa grinned wide, showing all of her teeth. “Oh…Ah honored her request. She came to the farm seekin’ me out to ask me to give her a ring. She wanted to be a Green Lantern, not a Red one! “
The red lantern let out a howl of frustration.  

“At first Ah didn’t want ta do it! Then she tells me about how you an’ yer reds have everypony around actin like they’re walkin’ on crates of eggs. You reds are as twitchy as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockin’ chairs.”

“Bah! “ RL Rainbow Dash growled a little. Her posture was bowed a little, like she was thinking about springing on the earth pony. Yet another great candidate for her corps had been taken from her, Fluttershy being the first violet lantern was somewhat easy to take, but Raindrops had such potential! “Doing that doesn’t mean you can really fully use that ring, AJ! I don’t even know if you can still be a lantern! Ok, you made a ring for Raindrops, so what! Can you still use it? Will you stay when it gets tough?” Rainbow Dash leaned down to look at AJ in the eye.

Applejack frowned, “Enough of the horseshoe games! What do ya want, Dash! What do Ah gotta do?”

‘She abandoned US!’ something red with horns dug into the back of Rainbow Dash’s mind! ‘She is WEAK! She left US when we needed her!’
‘She is loyal, she is our friend. Let her prove that loyalty and strength!’ something tugged at the heart of the Red Lantern. ’Let her prove she will not leave us!’

“Just prove to me you’re going to be there when it gets rough.” The pegasus’ eyes narrowed.” Prove you’ve got what it takes, AJ.” Rainbow Dash smiled grimly. ”Personally”

“Fine,” Applejack snapped. Her green eyes locked with the red lantern; green fire was burning in them now, and she didn’t shrink from the glare of her friend. “Where an’ when, RD.”

‘Now proves nothing!’ red fire growled."She is weak. She needs to be strong."

RL Rainbow Dash looked at her friend with eyes only a rage lantern could. The anger and fire in Applejack were gone! To a red lantern it was a sad thing to see.

Rarity saw what the red lantern had seen as well, the rage that had burned in Applejack just moments ago was gone. But Rarity could see what Dash could not. The earth pony’s burning rage had been replaced. Something else grew in her now.

[=WILL=] the indigo ring whispered in Rarity’s mind.

‘Show her we are not weak,let her become strong!’ the heart of Rainbow Dash  whispered.

‘I have to know…’ something in her pleaded.  Rainbow Dash felt a little heavy in her chest.

“Tell you what, AJ, I’ll be ‘nice’…ok, Fluttershy?” The gentle queen of the Violet light nodded.”When you say you’re ready, come find me.”

“Fine.” Applejack got up.”If this is what it takes…Ah’m in.”

RL Rainbow Dash smiled a little. Applejack continued to lock eyes with the red lantern.

“Applejack! NO!” Twilight’s ring blazed a bit with her interjection. She floated forward to get between her two arguing friends. “Rainbow Dash, why are you…”

“Let it be, Twilight.” Applejack cut off the fear lantern. “Mah hide, mah choice, mah say!”

“Applejack, you can’t be seriously thinking of FIGHTING Rainbow Dash? No! You’re friends. You shouldn’t do that,” Fluttershy squeaked. A violet aura appeared around her as her ring began to glow.

The green lantern did not shift her eyes away from the red lantern.”Stay outta it, Fluttershy, this is between me an Dash!”

“Well now, that’s the AJ I know. About time the cowgirl showed up!” The red lantern almost seemed to purr again.

Twilight Sparkle let her aura fade and floated back to behind the farm mare, shaking her head as she landed.  She looked at Fluttershy, who let her own aura fade as well. The two friends looked at Pinkie for the moment. The party pony seemed a bit sad, like she seemed to know what was coming and that there was little the three of them could do about this. Applejack was acting like her old self now, once she got an idea in her head, it was very hard to change her mind away from it.

Applejack walked up to the pegasus. She spit into her hoof and thrust out towards her friend. Rainbow Dash repeated the gesture, bumping hooves  and sealing the agreement. Rarity turned a little queasy from the ritual.

“Ah’m a gonna tell you one thing, RD,” Applejack said as she lowered her hoof. “Ah may have let mah guilt eat me up, but Ah ain’t the one outta control from a big head an’ a big mouth! ‘Bout time you get taken down a peg or two!”

“What did you say!” The glow around Rainbow Dash began to brighten a little.

Applejack suddenly thrust herself forward and got right into her friend’s face. “Somepony needs to take the prance outta yer posterior featherhead, an Ah’m the pony to do it!”

“Any time, farm girl” The red lantern smirked.

Applejack turned around. “Come on, Twilight, let’s go. Ah got something important to show ya.” Applejack looked over her shoulder at the leader of the red lanterns.“That is if yer not too upset with me bein’ late to the party.”

Twilight’s eyes were wide. This was not what she had wanted to happen when she explained things to Rainbow Dash. She honestly had thought that telling Dash some of the conflict in AJ would help calm her. Twilight had never expected the pegasus to be so mean. She also had not expected Applejack to become so hard and inflexible.

The farm pony did not wait for an answer. She stormed out the door into the street. She gave the spa ponies hiding behind the counter by the entrance an “I apologize” before leaving the spa. The spa mares had been waiting for the lanterns to conclude their ‘conversation’ before returning to work. Twilight could feel their fear as she passed by them while trying to catch up to Applejack.

“Um…huh? Wait! Applejack!” she yelled as she lifted into the air and flew after her friend.

Fluttershy stamped her hoof. “Rainbow Dash!” the violet ring wielder started tersely. “What has happened to you? I understand why you got so upset with me over Scootaloo, but Applejack did no harm!” tears welled up in her eyes. ‘Love hurts’ she said to herself. ”Why are you doing this?”

Rainbow Dash sniffed and looked away. She didn’t dare look at Fluttershy, not now.

Fluttershy and Pinkie left. Fluttershy using her ring to carry Pinkie and to try to catch up to Twilight and Applejack.

Dash and Rarity were alone.  RL Rainbow Dash seemed very satisfied with herself. Rarity’s eyes narrowed. She had been upset with her friend’s actions in the last couple of days, but with what had just happened, the pegasus had sunk to a new low.

“Why did you do that, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity said as she rose from her couch.

The pegasus smirked. “AJ’s like me Rarity. Nothing gets both of us focused like a good competition. It’s good for her. Besides, she’s got to prove she can hang.”

“To you? My, we presume much, don’t we!” Rarity said with a bit of acid in her tone.

“To me, and to herself.”

Rarity walked to face the red lantern directly. “I agree with you there. You both are ruffians who love to, how you say ‘mix it up’,  and a contest between the two of you always brings out the best in both of you— but it also brings out the worst! Let me ask you something. Are you ready for the consequences of what you have done today? Are you ready for the day Applejack comes back to face you? It will be the Iron Pony contest and the Running of the Leaves all over again, only this time, Rainbow Dash, it will not end so neatly.”

“Psh…whatever! I’ll deal with that when it comes up. Don’t worry.” Dash looked out the door Applejack had used to leave the spa. “We need Applejack back, Rarity.” She looked at the red ring on her leg.

“You are so sure you’re doing the right thing, aren’t you? Don’t you think it’s a little harsh?”

The pegasus’ eyes narrowed. A small amount of blood plasma dripped from her mouth. “I’m doing what I have to! Anypony who wants to go home and cry about their losses and doesn’t help, hurts us…we can’t rely on them, so they’re out! AJ  should get angry and do something about it…not weep and hide. You have to support your friends, even when it hurts. This isn’t a game or a flying meet, these Black Lanterns play for keeps, Rarity! AJ’s getting a chance to prove herself.”

“So pure in purpose, aren’t we! Alright, if you are so clear of purpose, why give Applejack any break? If grief is such a distraction, and what she did such a disappointment, why indulge somepony found wanting?

RL Rainbow Dash looked out the door again and mumbled something to herself, “I need her back.”

Rarity just caught the whisper. ‘Ah ha! I thought that this wasn’t just about Applejack; there is something deeper at work here,’ she thought. ‘Let’s see if I’m right.’

The Indigo Herd leader peered into the Rainbow Dash’s heart with her ring, probing for an answer. She was not surprised by what she found; in fact she expected to find what she found. It explained everything.
[=Rage=]
[=FEAR=]
AH...now everything made sense.

The white unicorn summoned her uniform and staff. Indigo light swirled around her. Rarity rose to stand on her hind legs, holding her staff out. The light faded and she was dressed as the head of the Indigo Herd. She had a wry smile as she looked at Rainbow Dash. She had to be careful here, as her friend could explode in fury, but the truth was just too delicious, and the irony too funny to Rarity, and the actions of her friend too sad. Rainbow Dash frowned.  What was her friend doing?

“Running your mouth in an attempt to banish fear… that’s not wise, Rainbow Dash.” She giggled a little.

The leader of Red Lanterns roared, the red aura of rage arcing and crackling around her. Red fire burned in her eyes. “Are you saying I’M afraid, Rarity?!?” RL Rainbow Dash hissed.

The symbol of the Indigo Herd blazed forth in front of Rarity. She was ready to throw back anything the red lantern chose to lash out with.

“Yes, I AM.”

Rarity started to glow with the shimmering Indigo aura, matching her friend’s glow of rage with her glow of compassion. Sometimes it is compassionate to be hard on somepony. They need it that way sometimes, and this appeared to be one of those times.
“What happened to Applejack scared you! It terrified you because it meant that if Applejack broke, YOU could break, too! So, in fear of weakness you did what you always do, talk yourself up and talk others down! Just like the Cloudsdale Young Flyers Competition, remember?”

Rainbow Dash was starting to seethe with wrath. The prongs were again in the back of her mind prodding her to lash out. The only reason Rarity was not attacked at this moment was because of their friendship. “I’m not afraid! “ The cyan pegasus bared her teeth, her ears laid back in rage as she glared at the unicorn. “I saved YOU that day, remember! You almost got yourself and the Wonderbolts trying to save you killed because you were so full of yourself! You’d be dead if it weren’t for me!”

A red glow began to surround RL Rainbow Dash. Loyalty to her friend held back Rage.

Rarity frowned. “Yes, that is true, all of it. But now you’re the one who is ‘full of yourself’ to use your phrase.”

“You’re WRONG, Rarity!” The glow increased.

“Am I? AM I!” The Indigo Herd symbol shined brighter than ever. “I know what you feel, Rainbow Dash, I KNOW!  You are afraid! Your fear of breaking, of doubt, has run away so much it has made you basically accuse a friend of abandoning you to keep you from admitting to yourself that it could have been you! You COULD have failed!”

“Stop it, Rarity!” Rainbow Dash was breathing heavy, her red aura now seeming to grow with each passing second. “Stop it or I’ll...”

“Or you’ll what? Attack me?” Rarity’s aura increased in its intensity, almost daring the red lantern to strike. “That won’t make it go away; that won’t make anything I’ve said untrue! Castigating Applejack didn’t make it go away, neither will raging at me.”

The red lantern’s glow blazed brighter; more blood dripped from her eyes and mouth, burning holes into the floor when it landed.

“Rarity...I…am...going…to…”

“Loyalty works both ways, Rainbow Dash. You of all ponies know that! It means your friends standing by you when you are down and you standing by your friends when they are down! Applejack was down, where were you?”

The red glow dimmed a bit at those words. ‘She would not see us! We were defending her flanks!’ rage and loyalty both screamed with fire in the heart of the pegasus. “MMMy…llloyalty…isss…nnott…”

“Has your fear made you forget that? Has my friend truly fallen? Has the Red light banished the Element of Loyalty?” Rarity seemed tall now, glowing like the full moon. Her eyes were a blazing indigo fire; the tears in her eyes were like sparks. The Indigo Herd leader’s gaze was piercing. Rainbow Dash felt that gaze look into her very soul. She was torn about what to do.

”We lost Zecora! Have we lost you, too?”

For a moment nothing happened. The two Corps leaders stood facing one another, RL Rainbow Dash burned like a wild red sun, her rage threatening to scorch the unicorn to ash. IH Rarity was a blazing indigo star, her light beaming out and penetrated all the dark places around them, including the red lantern’s soul. The two lights seemed locked in a kind of dance.

“Ssstop it! …Leave…it…ALONE…Rarity!”

‘BURN!’ the rage in her demanded. ‘NO!’ Loyalty commanded.

“You have to know she can make it back!” IH Rarity struck the ground with her staff to emphasize the point.” You need to know for your own faith in yourself that ‘your great rival’ can return from such a personal blow! This isn’t just about Applejack’s confidence, it’s about yours as well!” IH Rarity was scowling now, her voice was like Princess Luna’s when she used her royal voice, and it had an unearthly quality in it, almost like another, greater being was speaking through Rarity. ”You have placed your own fears and doubts on Applejack!“

“NONONO!”

RL Rainbow Dash glared at the unicorn. Her rage urging her on to attack, to lash out at the cause of her  frustration and pain. ‘We ARE doing this FOR our friend!’ Rage screamed.  Loyalty demanded her to stay her hoof. She was still for a moment, trembling.

‘Was…that…true?’ RL Rainbow Dash asked herself.

Then the red light dimmed, then faded out. RL Rainbow Dash fell to the ground on to her flanks. She was staring down at the ground. Her ears drooped and her wings folded down to the ground.

“…you’re right, Rarity,” she whispered.

IH Rarity lowered her aura and her staff. The bright indigo light faded away, and her countenance became soft again as she let the indigo light return to her staff and her ring. Gently she got onto the floor next to the cyan pegasus.

RL Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Rarity,” she began slowly, “I have to be strong, for the others. I HAVE to be! Things are going to get rough—Twilight says so! Applejack knows so. You may not believe me, but it’s not about my ego. I…can’t just break; I can’t just give into that…fear. It’s dangerous for me even to talk to you about it. If I do…I can’t let that happen. If I start to doubt….”

She paused and thought for a second she felt a momentary twinge in her chest. ‘was that my heart?’ she asked herself. She felt a slight pain.

”I’ll die, Rarity! I mean it literally! I will die! If other lanterns…doubt, they just lose their power, like AJ. We red lanterns…we die if that happens!” She looked Rarity in the eyes.

“AJ needs me to push her, she needs me to be ‘the jerk’ to make her better. It gives her something to knock down. I’m …you may not understand it. I respect AJ more than I respect most pegasi; she’s one of my best friends and ‘my greatest rival’ according to you! Think about that, an earth pony my greatest rival! I…need…AJ! She makes me focus, helps me face things, keeps me clear headed. I need to be better and AJ pushes me to be better.”  

The red glow returned again. Rage began to grow again in the cyan pegasus. Her heart no longer was weak, her pain was gone as new rage flooded into her. The red aura returned, fire appeared in her eyes again, and blood plasma dripped again from her mouth. She wept bloody tears of sorrow and rage. Rarity pulled back a little, preparing to defend herself just in case.

“I HATE to lose! HATE IT!” she growled like a dragon.”The Black Lanterns made me lose twice that night; Zecora and Applejack! AJ is wrong, I DO care about Zecora, but I can’t do anything for her now but one thing: avenge her! I WILL avenge her!” The red glow became brighter. The rage that filled Rainbow Dash was different now! It felt clearer, pure, and righteous! Rage and Loyalty both burned in unison in her heart now. “I want to get AJ back! I want her with me!  I‘ll flip that loss into a win! When I’ve done that, for her and Zecora, I WILL make the Black Lanterns PAY!”  RL Rainbow Dash’s teeth pulled back into a smile of rage.

‘Strange way of getting your friend back,’ Rarity thought. But Rainbow Dash FELT sincere.

“I know,” Rarity nuzzled her friend’s neck. The red lantern’s body was stiff like a poised snake, waiting for the moment to strike, quivering in readiness. “I know.” The unicorn thought for a moment.”Forgive me, if it is possible for a red lantern to do so without risking death; forgive me for pushing you like that my dear. But you needed clarity, peace of mind.” The white unicorn looked at her friend with the eyes the indigo ring gave her.” It seems that red lanterns do their best when all they are about is rage, vengeance and justice, and pure purpose. Rage is like fire. I just don’t want that fire to turn in on you and burn yourself.”

The red lantern looked at her, ‘where she going with this?’ she thought.

“Please don’t hate yourself,” IH Rarity added.

Rainbow Dash straightened up. “Um, Rarity, I don’t hate myself,” RL Rainbow Dash answered quietly.

“That may not always be true, remember that! Be mindful that you don’t do anything later on that will cause you to hate yourself; red lanterns destroy that which they hate.”

“Alright,” RL Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Oh, and please do us all a favor, darling?”

The bearer of rage got up off the floor. “What’s that?”

“Please make sure that blazing fire is used ONLY on those who really deserve it. Raindrops was right, you are a bit out of control, my dear. I’m not saying some don’t deserve your wrath, but the way you Red Lanterns lash out, you are trying to light a candle with a bonfire! Do try to keep your rage under control until you REALLY need to use it. When you have to, then by all means: Rage! Rage like you never raged before. Be the hurricane.”

The red lantern sat in thought for a moment then nodded her understanding. She then rose into the air and hovered.”I’ll try, Rarity…It’s…so hard control sometimes! Celestia help me, sometimes rage feels good, it feels…right!” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes.”I wonder…” she winced.

“Shush.” The unicorn put her hoof to her friend’s mouth. “Not a word more. I don’t want to endanger you any more than I have. I will not say anything about any of this unless you want me to or I need to, except to Applejack. She ought to know what’s really going on.”

“NO!” the pegasus cried. Her red aura returned. “You can’t tell her, at least not yet. You have to wait!”

Rarity looked confused, “But…she will think awfully of you, she should know…”

“No! See, I told you, you wouldn’t understand! You can’t say anything to anypony, even Twilight. If AJ learns at the wrong time it will hurt her and undo everything I’m trying to do for her. NO! Say nothing!”

Rarity looked confused, “But, it may cause…”

“NO!” Dash grabbed Rarity with her hooves and gently held her so that the two of them faced each other squarely. “Pinkie Promise me!”

Rarity could read her emotions fine, but the red lantern’s thinking was beyond her understanding. The unicorn sighed, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She looked back at Rainbow Dash, ”Ok?”  

The pegasus looked at her unicorn friend. “Ok. Thanks, Rarity.”

“You are welcome. Just remember this:  the rest of us are still your friends, too. We love and care about you and we will never willingly leave you or give up on you. I hope you remember that when it is time, Rainbow Dash.”

The rage lantern paused, “When will that be?”

“When Applejack comes looking for you will be one of those times. You were right, sweetie; she needed some help, and, by Celestia, you gave her focus and motivation, but the cost of it is going to be personally high. When that happens it is going to be ugly. Just promise me you won’t forget that you ARE friends, no matter how it turns out.”

Rainbow Dash smiled, “Don’t worry. I never did forget. You’re right though, it will get ugly, but I know that’s the way it has to be. AJ IS one tough pony. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to find who called her a coward, and take that insult out of their flank!" She looked at the unicorn "I just hope she’s ready soon, Rarity! My guts say they’re coming.” The Pegasus then looked around and got into the unicorn’s face close to whisper to her.” I’ll tell you something, Rarity; I’ll deny this too if it ever gets out but I’ll tell you…”

Rarity opened her eyes wide, her ears forward at attention. “Of course my dear, what?” she whispered back.

RL Rainbow Dash grinned, “It’ll be fun to see AJ try and kick my flank!“ The pegasus winked. ”But she’s going to have to work awful hard for it. Besides, I’d be offended if she didn’t bring her 'A' game. It would mean she’s not really trying, and that would be insulting.” With that, the Red lantern rose off the ground, glowing brightly as she levitated towards the door. In a second she flew out the door she had entered the spa through. One again the spa was a place of calm, the only indication the leader of the red lanterns had visited was the group of small holes that Rainbow Dash’s blood plasma had burned into the floor.

“I do believe that silly filly LIKES to fight”’ the unicorn said in exasperation.

Rarity reverted to her normal self; the tribal costume and staff disappeared.  She clicked her tongue as she shook her head while she returned to the spa couch. “Well done, Rarity, and scarcely any property damage this time,” she said to herself. “Now I must get ready for the little tasks Twilight has for me and those dreadful ponies in that horrid little cabal. Who the hay are they? What are they up to?” She manipulated a bell cord with her magic, calling the spa workers back. “Lotus, Aloe, Vera,” she called out loud, “please resume your labors my dears, I am going on an important outing.”

She looked up through the sky light and saw RL Rainbow Dash streak through the air.

“Ruffians!” she sighed.