As Applejack regained consciousness, she found herself in front of what appeared to be a giant lantern, with some sort of green energy swirling around inside of it.

"What in the hay is going on?! Where am Ah?!" She called out, however she didn't receive an answer but instead started floating towards the giant lantern. "Oh heck no! Ah am not going in there!" She shouted in fear as she tried to push away from the object, however due to the fact that she was floating that was pretty much impossible. Upon entering the lantern completely, a voice called out to her.

'Applejack of Equestria...'

"Who's there? Who in hay are you?!" She shouted. However the voice continued on as if it hadn't heard her.

'...You have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps.'

Suddenly, the green energy inside the lantern started to swirl around her body, and then everything went black...

Flames, wherever Rainbow Dash looked there was nothing but hellish crimson flames, thus the Pegasus came to only one logical conclusion:

"Why the flying buck am I in Tartarus!??" She screamed in rage. "I give my life to save my best friend and this is my reward?! What a load of horsesh-WOAH!" Before she could continue to rant, she found herself yanked downwards by a red chain that had clamped onto her forelegs.

"Alright, I don't care where I am! I am not letting myself get shackled by the likes of you!" She screamed in defiance as she fought against the grip of the chain, only for five more to shoot out of the flames and clamp onto hind legs as well as her wings.

As they pulled her down into the raging inferno, Rainbow Dash noticed that the chains as well as the raging flames seemed to be emitting from an odd symbol on the ground below, which the chains were pulling her towards.

"What part of NO don't you understand?! Let me go!" She screamed as she thrashed and struggled against the chains, but to no avail.

As she was pulled to the ground, she heard a voice call out to her.

'Rainbow Dash of Equestria...'

"Who are you!?" She screamed, still struggling against the chains that bound her. "I've done nothing wrong with my life and I went down sacrificing myself! What do you want from me?!"

Suddenly, the crimson flames began to swirl around her body, she screamed in agonizing pain as the flame's scorched and burned every part of her body. As this painful process continued, the voice spoke again.

'...you have great rage in your heart. You belong to the Red Lantern Corps.'

Those were the last words she heard before she blacked out from the pain...

As Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, she found herself floating through what appeared to be a yellow void of swirling clouds. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was, she remembered fighting those zombie ponies and then...that magic burst...and a yellow light...she had been chosen...for what?

'Twilight Sparkle...' A familiar voice called out from the void. The lavender Unicorn looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. But it seemed like it was coming from all directions at once.

"W-Who are you? Where am I?" She called in fear.

Suddenly, a dark form became visible through the clouds, revealing a silhouetted Alicorn in front of an odd symbol she'd never seen before.

'...You have the ability to instill great fear. Welcome to the Sinestro Corps.'

The moment it spoke those words, a pair of bright yellow wings unfurled before the silhouetted image, taking the form of a bird, a crow maybe. The bird shot towards Twilight, striking her in the chest and causing the unicorn mare to black out…

Nightmare Moon stood atop Town Hall as she watched her undead minions terrorize the town. The bloodcurdling and agonized screams of its civilians were music to her ears.

She then drew her gaze a to the castle on the mountainside, Canterlot, where her sister had relocated the empire at sometime after her banishment.

It would be the next city to fall in her conquest of Equestria.

Suddenly, three pillars of light shot out from different points outside of Ponyville, one yellow, one green, and one red.

Her eyes widened before she let out a deep growl, as the ring on her horn glowed she quickly summoned several of her Black Lanterns.

Find the sources of those lights and destroy them immediately!! She commanded.

Without missing a beat, the Black Lanterns immediately took off towards the lights. When they were gone Nightmare Moon looked up at the moon that had once been her prison, the shining Mare in the Moon symbol was still visible on its surface. 'I hope you have a good view from up there dear sister, for soon I shall destroy everything you hold dear in Equestria!'

However just then, as if to prove her wrong or to spite her, a white light shot through the sky, narrowly missing the moon before landing in the Everfree Forest. Her eyes widened in shock for a brief moment before she snarled and took off towards the forest. 'I have come too far to be stopped now! For me to become the absolute ruler of this land, all light must DIE!!'

As Spike crawled out of the bushes, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The pony that had helped raise him since he was a hatchling was currently the center of a massive yellow tornado.

As the zombie ponies backed away to avoid getting swept up, several yellow snakes suddenly shot out from the tornado and began attacking them. The snakes coiled around their prey and constricted, squeezing the undead life out them. Many were using their fangs to tear their victims apart, ripping their heads off or tearing off their limbs. Some pierced through their victims and ripped them apart from the inside out. The others that hadn't been caught were fighting off the yellow snakes, but the sudden appearance of the yellow light caught them off guard and left them barely able to counterattack.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle took this opportunity to quickly flee from the zombies that had surrounded them and hid in the bushes right next to Spike.

"Wow, I never knew Twilight was so powerful!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as she watched the battle go on.

"She isn't..." Spike said, getting a quizzical look from the two sisters. "I mean, don't get me wrong, she's a very talented Unicorn, but she's never pulled off stuff like this before! Not to mention the fact that her magic aura is lavender, not yellow." He explained before noticing that somepony was missing. "Wait, where's the pink one?"

Twilight was surprised and confused at the same time, one moment she was being thrashed by these creatures, then some weird light showed up and suddenly the situation was reversed! Not that she was complaining, any shift in her favor was welcome at this point. Now if she could just get this new magic under control…

“WEEEE!” Twilight’s eyes widened as a pink blur flew towards her but then hovered right in front of her. “Hi Twilight! This is so much fun!” Pinkie said as she went back into the tornado. A zombie pony flew by her but it was soon crushed by the force of the snake that grabbed it as were its allies.

But not all were finished as one zombie tried to fire off a blast from it’s ring. On reflex, Twilight created a shield to block it but at the same time the creature she created vanished into thin air. "What the..."

'You must focus, Twilight.' A voice called out to her.

'That voice...who are you?'Twilight thought while trying to keep her magic under control.

'It's me, Twilight. Princess Celestia.'

'PRINCESS?!' Twilight shrieked, the vortex around her pulsated and expanded. 'What happened? Where are you?!'

'There will be time for questions later! Right now you must take control of this new power, otherwise you will cause harm to those around you...'

'Cause harm? What do you me-' Her eyes widened when she saw the winds of her tornado were getting stronger, to the point where she could see Spike, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle getting swept up by the wind. "Oh no!" She cried out in fear as the yellow tornado suddenly stopped, dropping everything it had swept up.

"Aww, and I was having fun!" Pinkie Pie pouted before she noticed that the yellow light had died down, revealing Twilight in a brand new attire. Which got an impressed "WOW!" from Pinkie.

Twilight was garbed in a strange clothing that she had never seen before. The upper half of her body had yellow armor, with long pointed shoulder pads. Her forelegs and hind legs had yellow boots that came up to her knees and hocks, and had silver metal studs on the sides of them. Connected to the upper half was a long, shimmering, yellow cloth that flowed down and covered the lower part of her body. A black, almost cloth-like material covered the exposed parts between the chest and the boots. At the center of her upper armor was an insignia, much like the one that was etched onto the ring on her left hoof.

"I say..." Rarity muttered, dazzled by the Unicorn’s new attire.

"Holy guacamole!" Spike exclaimed.

"Wow! That is so cool!" Sweetie Belle squeed.

"What...what is this...?" Twilight asked dumbfounded as she looked over her new outfit.

However not all of the zombie ponies had been taken out so easily, and several of them slowly stood up and quickly shot several dark beams at the group. Remembering some of the spells her brother taught her, Twilight quickly put up a shield around herself and her friends and deflected the the beams. "Okay, I got a cool ring and a new outfit, now what?!"

'Focus Twilight!' Celestia called out, her voice echoing through her mind. 'You must use your ring to create an attack construct!'

"An attack what's-it?!" Twilight called out as her shields were relentlessly assaulted with dark beams.

'Something like those snakes you created before! Just think of something, anything, and your ring shall make it appear! But remember, the constructs must be something that will inspire fear, for that is what fuels your ring!'

"So it's like another form of magic that draws it’s power from emotions! Ok, I think I understand!" She said before closing her eyes and focusing on the energy in her body. When using normal magic she would usually channel her energy into her horn, however in this case she instead focused on channeling her energy into the ring.

"Twilight, while your new ring and armor are both lovely, could you possibly think of a way to get us out of this situation?!" Rarity called out as she held her little sister close. She then noticed a small crack appearing on her shield as another beam hit it. "Preferably now?!" She called out as she started to panic.

While keeping her shields up, the ring automatically and almost immediately created a large Cockatrice that was about half the size of a full-grown Dragon. It immediately snarled as it charged toward the remaining zombie ponies who continued to fire at it despite it's intimidating size.

Sadly the numerous blasts barely fazed it as it snarled menacingly. The Cockatrice lunged forward, grabbing one of the zombies with it's sharp teeth and ruthlessly ripped it apart, sending limbs smashing against trees and splashing the area with its black, gooey blood. The construct beast then turned its attention to the others, lashing out with its scaly, dragon tail and whipping it back and forth as it smacked several other zombies away, either sending them flying into the air or into trees where a cacophony of breaking tree limbs and zombie bones echoed out.

"Yikes! That's brutal." Spike said as the shields disappeared. He quickly ran over to Rarity who was currently checking her sister for any injuries.

"Sweetie Belle are you alright?!" She asked as she looked her over, making sure not a hair on her head was out of place.

"I'm fine sis! Geez, there was a shield around us, remember?" Sweetie Belle complained as she pushed her sisters hooves out of her mane.

"Hey girls, I think we should get back to the farm until Twilight finishes off the rest the zombies." He said as he turned to see Twilight's Cockatrice, having grown bored with its current chewtoy, had turned its attention to the other zombies that were firing at it and was making quick work of them by shooting energy beams out of it's eyes.

"Oh come on! Can't we watch? This fight is awesome!" Pinkie Pie asked, now wearing a cheerleader outfit for some strange reason. "Go Twilight, go Twilight go! Go Twilight, go Twilight g-EEK!" Pinkie began to chant, only to get cut off by another beam that narrowly missed her head.

Everyone turned to see six of the zombie ponies advancing on them, having apparently remember that they had more than one target. However as the group slowly backed away, the ground started to rumble before a completely yellow Tatzelwurm burst out of the ground. Twilight had apparently learned that she could create more than one construct and sent another to guard her friends.

The Tatzelwurm roared before diving at the six zombies, causing them to scatter and start firing black energy beams at it.

Spike smirked at this, the zombies were too distracted fighting the worm to even notice them! "Now's our chance! Let's get going while they're-" Spike stopped when he noticed that Pinkie Pie was missing yet again, not only that but Rarity and Sweetie Belle were staring at something with their mouths agape. Following their vision, he saw that Pinkie was now riding the Tatzelwurm!

"WAHOO! I am the Kwisatz Haderach-Give-A-Dog-A-Bone!" She screamed in joy as the Tatzelwurm simply ignored her and snapped at the zombies as they flew around it, constantly blasting it and trying to avoid it's massive jaws.

"I...why's she-? I don't..." Spike stuttered in disbelief, desperately trying to figure the current situation out, only for Rarity to grab him with her aura and drag him off the battlefield.

"It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it!" She called out as she ran towards the barn with her sister.

This strategy proved to be in vain however, the Tatzelwurm immediately opened it's mouth and three long tongues shot out, ensnaring three of the six zombies and dragging them into it's gaping maw. There was a loud *CRUNCH* as the worm closed it's mouth, crushing the zombies inside.

The remaining zombies however quickly changed their strategy, they circled around the worm's neck while it was distracted and quickly formed a special type of spiked collar around it with their rings. The large creature quickly thrashed around trying to throw them off, but with one quick movement the spikes on the collar extended inward, cutting into the creature's throat, causing it to screech in pain before vanishing completely.

Noticing that the creature she had been riding was now gone and she had nothing to stand on, Pinkie held up a small sign that said "Eeep!" before falling towards the ground screaming.

"Oh no, PINKIE!!" Rarity screamed upon seeing her friend falling to her doom. What's worse, the zombies were now chasing after her as she fell!

However just as they got close enough to strike, twin yellow helix beams twisted and turned, and angled around Pinkie, blasting two of them to bits. Twilight ran towards the falling pink mare, jumping up and, using the rings power, created a yellow scythe. She then swiped the curved blade in a long arc, slicing through the remaining one's body. She then had her Cockatrace catch Pinkie before she hit the ground. "Whew! That was close! Are you okay!"

"Twilight!" The lavender mare turned to see Spike and Rarity (with Sweetie Belle on her back) rushing towards her, warily avoiding the zombie corpses.

'You have done well, Twilight.' Celestia's voice called out.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia." She said as Pinkie slid to the ground and her Cockatrice construct vanished. "But please tell me, what's going on? Where are you?" She asked, directing her attention to the ring itself.

"Um Twilight darling, why are you talking to your ring?" Rarity asked as she approached her.

"Oh! Um, well...you see..." Twilight stuttered, trying to find a way to explain without it sounding awkward and weird.

"Well duh! That's because Princess Celestia is in the Ring!" Pinkie interjected, pointing to said ring.

Everyone just stared at Pinkie like she had just grown a second head...out of her cutie mark, it was Sweetie Belle who broke the silence. "Pinkie, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever-"

'Actually, the one named Pinkie is right, I am indeed Princess Celestia.

Spike, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle all went slack-jawed. "W-W-WHAAAAAAT?!"

'As much as I would love to explain, I believe you may want to relocate somewhere else before those monsters reform themselves.'

"Reform? Wait, you mean these things can put themselves back together?!" Twilight asked in a freaked out tone before looking around the battlefield, she could see one or two of the disemboweled zombies slowly crawling towards parts of their bodies as their wounds slowly healed. Wasting no time, the group quickly ran off into the woods, hoping that the zombies would be too busy putting themselves together to notice which way they fled and thus couldn't follow...

The land around the clock Ponyville tower (and a good part of the Clocktower itself) was scorched black as streams of hot red energy and torrents of flames erupted from the pillar of crimson energy, blasting apart or outright obliterating any zombie pony it into contact with. The arriving zombies were forced to back away from the powerful energy burst before them, lest they too be incinerated by its power.

Then suddenly, the energy spike began to calm down, the pillar slowly began to turn into a cyclone of red flames that slowly died down before vanishing completely. Leaving behind the Pegasus that they had intended to corrupt, however there was something very different about her.

The attire she wore was as blood red like the ring she wore around her right hoof. At first glance there was nothing special about it other than the symbol that was on it. The outfit soon started to transform as the ring looked through her memories for an appropriate form for her uniform and decided on one from a comic she read as a filly. Crimson steel armor spread across her body, covering her chest, forelegs and hind legs, and upon her shoulders. Spikes grew from the shoulder pads, along with armor covering her legs, sprouting blades that curved at the end. Her suit became bulkier than it normally would be, with black chainmail mesh covering the unarmored areas, and the spikes seemed to glow in an eerie red light.

Rainbow Dash was still unconscious as the zombies, after getting over the initial shock of the transformation, began to stalk towards her. Sensing the danger, her ring shined and activated the armor, the suit then seemed to move on it’s own as Rainbow’s body slowly trudged forward before turning into a full blown sprint and slashed a zombie in half with her wing blade before ramming into another, impaling it on her shoulder spikes. The armor driven body then released a burst of red light, sending the body flying into the horde. The others, after seeing their fellow Black Lanterns cut down, took to the sky and tried to jumped her but the suit reacted and made the shoulder spikes extend and impale them before throwing them into separate buildings.

Rainbow Dash slowly regained her senses, upon looking around she realized that she used to be practically surrounded by zombie ponies! Then it all came back to her: The attack on Ponyville, Nightmare Moon, her telling her friend to leave her and warn Cloudsdale...that Red Light...

Her eyes widened as she looked at her left hoof, and then at the rest of her body. "W-what the-ARGH!" She was snapped out of her stupefied state as a blast of dark energy hit her in the side, throwing her to the ground. She looked up to see the rest of the zombie ponies slowly advancing on her, charging up their own rings.

'Seriously?!' She thought to herself as she struggled to get up, narrowly avoiding several other beams that were fired her. 'After going through all that "you have been chosen" nonsense, all I get is a fancy ring a new outfit?!' She snarled anger before she was hit by another blast.

She hissed in pain as she got up, ready to tear into the one that hit her. But then suddenly, she felt another burst of energy flow through her body! However this one was different, though still painful like the last time she also felt an unbelievable rush of adrenaline, it was as if she had the power of a burning inferno coursing through her very veins! Her eyes shined red as her wings and armor shined in the fiery crimson light! Rainbow Dash let out a powerful roar, causing the very air to quake from the power that radiated through it.

That fateful day, the Pegasus once known as Rainbow Dash had become a wild creature bent on the absolute destruction of the zombie ponies. She glared right at the Black Lanterns and for once the zombie ponies tried to run, yes RUN, from one of their targets!

“COME BACK HERE! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME YOU COWARDS!” The enraged Pegasus shouted.

Rainbow Dash took off into the air, leaving behind a smoldering crater from where she took off. She tackled one zombie to the ground, eyes burning red as she glared down upon it. The zombie pony tried to fight back, thrashing and biting at its captor, but Rainbow slammed her right hoof onto its chest, pinning it down. Rainbow drew her head back and retched what appeared to be her blood all over it. The acidic life liquid hissed as it poured over the creature, burning away its decayed flesh, causing the zombie pony to wreathe in pain as its body started to melt into a puddle of bubbling red essence.

Rainbow wiped her mouth with her hoof, clearing the trace amounts napalm blood from the corners. The newly inducted Red Lantern left the dying creature and pursued its friends who started firing back at her. Rainbow Dash didn’t bother to dodge the incoming dark energy, one blast managed to hit her wing, but instead of going through it like it did last time the blast ricocheted off and hit another zombie instead. The same zombie was preparing to fire another blast, Rainbow picked up speed, becoming a blazing red streak in the sky, whizzing by the zombie. For a moment, it didn’t look like anything happened, Rainbow Dash hovered in the air behind the creature, acting as if she hadn’t done anything to it.

When the creature turned to face its prey the zombie’s midsection glowed red, its two halves separating. Rainbow Dash wasn’t a fool, much to the thinking of some of the other ponies in town, she learned from the injury she received from earlier and had changed her wings. No longer were they flesh and bone, blue feathered appendages. They were now red steel wings, shimmering in the light of her blood red aura. The individual quills were sharper than any blade, and with every little adjustment, they let out a sound of a sword being unsheathed, her pride and joy as a Pegasus was now her weapon against these undead legions.

She then looked around and saw several zombie ponies start to congregate together to take her down. The mare just glared at the zombies, her eyes glowing red as she barreled towards them. Rainbow Dash breathed out a torrent of the molten blood she used earlier at some of the horde, taking out several of the zombies in one blast, but there were more still.

Rainbow gritted her teeth as she concentrated, wanting a weapon to personally cut their heads off. As if reading her thoughts, her ring shined with crimson light, particles of the same light started to form before Rainbow, changing into a red battle axe. She blinked in surprise, taking a moment to wonder how this weapon appeared.

'Buck it!' She thought as she took hold of the weapon and began hacking away at the creatures.

Two zombies flew at her from behind, but Rainbow swung the battle axe in a wide arc, slicing through them with ease. Another one charged at her from the left, but she saw this one too. Rainbow Dash, in a bit of cruel irony, thrust her left hoof through the zombies chest, causing it to hiss in pain, she then brought the creature close to her face and smirked. “Ever hear of heartburn?!” She screamed before a blast of red energy shot through the zombies chest from Rainbow's ring. She then threw the undead corpse at a group of zombies that were flying towards her, and bellowed out another napalm blood blast.

More zombies charged at her, but each one fell to her construct axe or napalm breath, slicing and hacking, lopping off heads, legs, and torsos, making the sky rain down with severed body parts and black goo.

“That’ll teach you… to never mess with me.” She gasped as she took a brief rest. She hated these undead monsters, and yet for some reason, a cruel smile curled on her lips, as if she were seemingly taking a sick pleasure in massacring their undead legions.

What she didn’t notice however were the slashes and hits that the zombie ponies had scored as the wounds left behind were healing relatively easy except the scar on her face.

She then looked in the distance and saw a yellow pillar of light. Great. More freaks for me to kill. She smirked before taking off towards the light...

Apple Bloom, Babs Seed, Big Mac and Fluttershy all stared at the site before them in wonder, shock, and confusion. Before them, the meteor that fell from the sky had enveloped Applejack in some sort of green bubble. The zombie ponies however, seemed deathly afraid of it, as one of them could be seen backing away from the light...

"W-W-What's going on? What's happening to Applejack?" The shy mare asked. However the Apple siblings seemed just as confused as she was...

Just then, the light died down and the bubble vanished, in its place was their sister, cousin, and friend, Applejack. However she was now dressed in an attire they'd never seen before. The uniform resembled that of a Royal Guard, but was green in color, with deep grooves that would pulse with emerald light. Most of the grooves led to the chestplate, which had a glowing lantern insignia emblazoned onto it. Her hind and forelegs had bracers and greaves of the same color, also sporting the pulsing green lines. The black mesh like material covered the gaps in AJ’s armor, leading up to her neck. The area around her eyes was covered with a visor, if anyone were to look at her, they’d only see bright white where her eyes would be, adding to the intensity of her heroic image.

‘Whoa...this...this is amazing! Ah feel so...so empowered! Is this what Unicorns feel like when they use magic?’ The apple farmer thought to herself as she looked over her new armor.

One of the zombies finally broke out of it’s stupor and fired a blast of magic, hoping to take her down while she was distracted. However Applejack reacted by reflex and raised her hoofs to guard herself, and suddenly the bubble reappeared around her, deflecting the blast. The apple farmer took a look at her ring and then the ring that many of the zombies that surrounded her, she quickly put two and two together and thrust her ring hoof forwards. Almost instantly a green blast of energy shot out of the ring and hit the zombie that tried to shot her dead in it’s face, knocking it back and tearing a good amount of it’s face off.

“Oh, it’s on now!” Applejack smirked as she dashed forward and slammed her hoof into another zombie, her hoof going right through it’s chest. The rest of them quickly attempted to strike while her back was turned, only for her to turn around and slam the zombie she just punched into them before releasing another blast of energy, and sending them flying back into the woods. “Yeehaw! Ah don’t know where this thing came from, but it’s a life-saver!”

However a familiar scream caught her attention, Applejack quickly turned to her family and friend to see five more zombies closing in on them. “Oh no ya don’t!” She shouted as she reached out, however to her surprise a long rope shot out of her ring before taking the form of a lasso that quickly ensnared the five. Not wasting any time she swung them into the air and fired another energy beam that sent them flying across the sky and back into the woods as well.

"And don't come back ya hear?!" Applejack shouted in triumph. She turned to see her friend, siblings and cousin running towards her.

"Wow sis! That was amazing! How'd you do that?!" Applebloom asked, bouncing around her sister while observing her new armor with Babs was doing the same.

"I'm so glad you're alright! I mean, I never expected anything like this to happen..." Fluttershy said while gesturing to her armor. "B-but still, I'm so glad you're okay..."

Big simply approached his little sister before giving her the biggest hug he could. "Ahm so glad you're ok..." He whispered as a lone tear trailed down his cheek.

"Well, I can't say I expected this..." Everypony froze and turned in the direction of the voice to see Mitta, Ruby, and Granny Smith emerge from the fog.

Applejack quickly aimed her ring at her friends and family before encasing them in a green bubble. "Y'all take cover at the bottom of the gorge alright? Once Ah’m finished here I'll join you!"

"But sis-"

"No "but's" Applebloom! Ah have to take care of this myself, and Ah can't risk y'all gettin caught in the crossfire!" She interrupted her little sister before giving them all an apologetic look. "Please be safe..." She said before sending the bubble down to the bottom of the gorge. After making sure they were safe she turned back the her three opponents.

"To think, you've obtained the same power our Queen wields..." Mitta continued as they approached.

"Power like hers?! What do you mean by that?! Ah ain't becoming anything like you freaks of nature!" She snapped before turning to her grandmother. "No offense Granny."

Granny simply gave her a small nod, though it was clear that was all she could do now...

"It doesn't matter!" Mitta shouted. "As it was the fate your grandmother, it is your fate to join our Queens Black Lantern army! Why don't you just accept that, lie down and die?!" Mitta snarled as she charged towards the farmer, intent on ending her life right there.

'There's that word again. "Black Lantern", what in tarnation is that?' She thought to herself before dodging to her left, only for her grandma to attack her from that angle. “Sorry Granny!” She called before a lasso appeared from her ring, the rope quickly wrapped around her before Ruby sliced through it with ebony energy blade, freeing the elder zombie pony. Mitta then took the opportunity to strike her from behind with another energy blast. Applejack screamed in pain as she was sent flying into a tree.

“Gah...real fair...one me, three of them...” She muttered as she got up to see Mitta and the other’s advancing on her.

"I’m sorry, we don’t give a fuck!" Mitta cackled before charging at her once more, Applejack dodged to the right and narrowly avoided a blast from Ruby. She quickly aimed her own ring at the two, only to get nailed in the side by a blast from Granny Smith, sending her spiraling towards the edge of the cliff, she groaned she got up, trying to concentrate.

"Now why don’t you give up like a good little pony, and serve under our Queen..."

"NEVER!!" She snapped, getting to her hooves. "Ah'll never join the likes of you! Do ya hear me?!" She screamed as her armor glowed brighter than before, Applejack charged at her opponents. All three of them proceeded to bum rush her at once, and every time she blocked one of their strikes the other two would attack the opening. It was only thanks to her armor that she managed to endure their attacks.

Then, as Applejack continued face off against the three, Mitta, much to her shock, started to sing!

You know, every world will have its end (have its end),
I'm here, to prove it all to you,
I am, who you don't think I am (think I am),
All wrapped up, in my evil plan,

Applejack unleashed a burst of emerald energy, pushing the three zombies back. Applejack then roared proudly as sprinted towards Mitta, her front hooves blazing with green light as they energized. The newly inducted Green Lantern jumped up, began raining down one powered punch after the other. Mitta gleefully blocked several of Applejack's strikes, either using a black energy barrier or gracefully dancing around her attacks, while Ruby echoed her voice and struck from behind with her own energized hoof. Applejack quickly created a shield around herself and pushed both zombies away, only for Granny Smith to mimic Mitta's line and strike from above. As the two clashed Ruby snuck up from behind.

We’ll black out the day (black out the day),
Savor night (savor night),
Spells beyond you,
As I watch you crawl,

Ruby sung as she fired another energy beam at her back. The dark ray struck the heroic mare in the back, the armor hissed from the direct hit, causing Applejack to scream in pain before Granny slugged her across the face and sent her flying to the ground, plowing through the ground before she had built up enough of a dirt mound to stop her from going any further. Mitta stood over Applejack with a triumphant grin.

Do you dare to fight (dare to fight),
Evil's might? (evil's might)
I'll be the last one standing,
In. a. flash. of. light!!

Mitta created a black construct claw and grabbed Applejack by the throat, hoisting her up while orange mare thrashed against its grip. The sadistic zombie mare grinned wickedly before taking her left hoof and slamming it into Applejack’s stomach, intent on ripping out her heart right then and there. Applejack winced in pain as she felt Mitta’s hoof dig into her, trying to pierce through her protective armor. However the apple farmer began to sing her own part as her ring built up a surge of Willpower, the build up released in a powerful shining shockwave that shattered Mitta’s construct, and subsequently blinded the three ponies.

My eyes, (my eyes) are filled with curiosity
You think, (you think) that you have power over me?
In this life (this life), there's no room for you and me
So, turn away or face this day with me!!
Face the day with me!
With me! (face the day with me)

Applejack continued to sing as she cocked back her right hoof and drove her hoof into Mitta’s face before her green aura started to shine. Suddenly, Applejack’s aura erupted, summoning what looked like four heads of a Hydra. The four heads roared and snarled as their white eyes locked onto the three Black Lanterns. Mitta quickly recovered and started singing again as she summoned a Dragon’s head that spewed out black flames at the apple farmer. Two of the Hydra heads fired their own attack of emerald energy from their mouths, cutting through the flames, while the remaining two of the other heads coiled around her, shielding her from the flames. Suddenly, Granny and Rose attacked her from both sides, singing their own verse while enveloping themselves in their black auras before slamming into the two Hydra heads, trying to break through the shield.

You know, every world will have its test (have its test),
Don't blame me...for what I have become.
You know, every world will come to end (come to end)
And I'll...I'll create your final rest

As Applejack fought to push the two zombie’s back, she heard her Granny sing a small verse as she began to pound away at the shield, causing several cracks to appear. Ruby proceeded to sing as well, slamming the barrier with spheres of dark power against her barrier from the other side weakening it further.

We’ll black out the day (black out the day),
Savor night (savor night),
Scream your dreams,
As you dare to fight, dare to fight!!

Mitta’s Dragon black dragon ceased its fire attack and launched itself at the Hydra heads, baring its dagger teeth as it snapped its jaws down on the first head, cleaving it from the rest of Applejack’s aura, and then, just as quickly, the black Dragon sliced through the second head before lunging at Applejack with it's fangs! The Dragon’s razor sharp teeth crashed down on her shield, causing AJ’s mind to recoil from the mental backlash, she lost focus and her shield shattered into pieces as if fragile glass. Before they could capitalize on the opportunity and strike her down, Applejack immediately flared out her emerald aura, shooting out three individual beams and caught them all like a spider in its web before she began to sing again.

My eyes (my eyes) are filled with curiosity
You think (you think) that you have power over me,
In this life (this life), there's no room for you and me,
So, turn away or face this day with me (face the day with me)!
With me (face the day with me)
With me (face the day with me)
With me...

Applejack raised her right hoof and in the same motion brought it down, quickly slamming all three zombies into the ground in their individual craters. Applejack wasn’t about to give up, with another burst of strength Applejack recreated the Hydra construct, this time with six heads instead of four. All six heads roared mightily into the air, causing the ground and air to rumble from the intensity. The six heads hissed and snarled as they gazed upon the three Black Lanterns, immediately charging at their respective targets, two for each zombie, and to hinder their focus even more, the heads themselves were singing! Repeating the last line she said.

Each Hydra head ruthlessly chomped at their targets, nearly tearing their limbs off as they smashed them into the ground, into the trees, and tore into their bodies. While they managed to heal the damage, they didn't have enough time to counterattack under the neverending melee.

I will save the day (save the day)
Vanquish night (Vanquish night)
Scream your dreams
As you dare to fight, dare to fight

Much to their shock, Applejack had not only taken over the song, but also summoned something else. Several constructs appeared, creating a virtual army of earth ponies, but wasn’t the most shocking part, no, what made these constructs special is that each and every one of the constructs looked like a member of the Apple Family, ponies like Braeburn, her Aunt and Uncle Orange, and several others appeared to stand by her as the Hydra vanished. Applejack took her place at the head of the group of construct ponies, glaring the three zombies down. The farm mare felt new confidence building within her, surrounded by her Apple kin as they smiled and nodded at her, showing that they were one and would fight by her side. The green power shined with greater power, emphasizing this newfound surge in power. Applejack then thrust her right hoof forward, issuing an unspoken command to chage for their targets. Ruby, Mitta, and Granny watched in shock as they all stampeded owards them, however only Applejack noticed the small smile Granny had on her face...

My eyes (my eyes) are filled with curiosity
You think (you think) that you have power over me
In this life (this life) there's no room for you and me
So, turn away or face this day with me (face the day with me)
With me...

With one final command all the constructs bum-rushed the zombies, striking them from every angle possible and not give them any room to recover, each one singing a part of her verse. Then suddenly, the constructs vanished, revealing Applejack with her ring glowing brighter than before, and then charging it up the entire time they were fighting. She thrust her hoof forward and a powerful blast of energy struck all three of them, the three zombies cried out in agony before the green light of Will sent them flying through the trees and into the air until they were nothing but a twinkle in the sky…

As the song finally ended, Applejack stared in the direction the three ponies were sent flying. After making sure they were truly gone, for now, she flew to the bottom of the gorge. Once on solid ground, she allowed herself to sink to her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks and her uniform vanished into her ring, she had won, but in doing so she was forced to beat down her own grandmother.

"Oh Granny...Ah’m sorry! Ah'm so, so sorry!" She continued to cry as Apple Bloom, Babs Seed, Big Mac and Fluttershy slowly emerged from the cave they had hidden in. Applejack looked at them all, and dashed towards them before engulfing them in a big hug. No words were exchanged, they had escaped alive, but at the cost of their own grandmother, truly a bittersweet victory.

Fluttershy could only watch in sorrow, she hadn't known Granny Smith that well, but she still felt their grief...

Suddenly, a loud explosion caught everyone's attention. They all looked towards Ponyville's skyline and saw a red streak shoot across the sky.

"What is that?!" Babs called out.

"Oh no! Not another one!!" Fluttershy yelped before hiding behind Big Mac, fearing that another one of the Black Lanterns were coming to finish them off.

Applejack stared at the red streak for a moment before wiping the tears from her eyes, whatever it was it didn't seem interested in attacking Ponyville. Rather it was headed towards a yellow pillar of light that was coming from the mountains...and her own ring seemed to be reacting to it as well.

"Alright guys, listen up. Ah don't know what's goin' on with this here ring, but the light seems to be calling to it." She explained before she slowly levitated off the ground and her uniform reappeared on her."Ah’m gonna go check it out..."

"Eenope! Sis, you just finished fighting and we don't know if that there light is friend or foe." Big Mac argued.

"You might be right, but they could also be more survivors that escaped Ponyville, and Ah can't just leave them to those things!" Applejack snapped before taking off into the air. "All of you stay hidden until Ah get back, Ah promise if there's more of them Ah'll bring them here and we will escape together!"

And with that she took off towards Ponyville...

Rainbow Dash flew across the sky at speeds even she thought she couldn't reach before, occasionally one or two of the zombies would attempt to attack her or drag her down, however they either ended up getting cut down or blasted apart.

She continued her path of destruction on her way towards the yellow light in the distance. However, something caught her eye, a small group of foals lead by a full grown mare were running towards the outskirts of the city not too far from Whitetail Wood, unfortunately several of the zombies were closing in on them.

Without a second thought, Rainbow darted towards the group.

As the zombies closed in on their prey, a young Pegasus filly tripped over her hooves."Ahhh, fresh meat!" The lead zombie hissed as it descended upon her, the young filly closed her eyes in fear...

...only for Rainbow Dash to land in front of it and slam her ring hoof into it's mouth. "You wanna know what death tastes like?!" She screamed before blasting the zombie through it's mouth, obliterating its head along with the rest of it's body.

"W-wow..." The filly stuttered, awestruck by the display of such raw power.

"Scootaloo!" A voice called out, the Pegasus filly turned to see her teacher, Miss Cheerilee dashing towards her while the rest of the foals hid behind the trees. Without missing a beat she quickly got up and ran back towards her, but not before shouting a quick “Thank you!” to the Pegasus.

Rainbow Dash gave the filly, making sure the small group had escaped into the forest before turning her attention back to the horde of zombies. "Alright, who's first?!"

The moment she arrived in Ponyville, Applejack followed behind the red streak. Sadly it was much faster than she had anticipated and had already gotten half way across town by the time she arrived. However on the plus side, it seemed to not be on the side of the zombies as anytime there were a few black streaks closing in on it they would immediately be shot down into the city below, indicating that they were it's enemy as well.

As she followed though, it seemed to focus just on the yellow light instead headed towards another one of Ponyville's outskirts, specifically the one leading towards Whitetail Wood.

She was about to head towards the light herself before several zombies started pursuing her. "Dang it!" She cursed before quickly diving into the streets of Ponyville in hopes of avoiding them through the alleyways. While a few of them crashed into the houses, the remaining three easily evaded them and maneuvered around the sharp turns.

"I gotta shake him off somehow..." She muttered to herself before darting into the open streets, she saw a familiar building up ahead and immediately flew towards it with the zombies following right behind her.

Applejack quickly crashed through the door before creating what looked like a giant ax and immediately sliced through every single support beam in the building. By the time the zombies got inside the building had already started collapsing, with a burst of energy Applejack darted outside before they could follow. A couple of seconds later the building collapsed completely, and Sugar Cube Corner was no more.

"Ahm so sorry Pinkie..." She muttered in a sad tone...

"Forget about Pinkie, worry about ME!" A new voice screamed from above, Applejack dodged just in time to avoid another zombie crashing onto her from above. Sending the two of them careening through several buildings before hitting the ground and creating a seven foot wide crater, sending a dust cloud bellowing up into the air.

When the dust cleared, Applejack got a good look at her would-be assailant...and her eyes widened in horror. "MR. CAKE?!"

Indeed, before her stood one of the (former) owners of Sugarcube Corner, now dressed in Black Lantern attire like the rest of the zombies, his once orange coat now a dull light brown.

"You've made quite a mess here." He growled, gesturing to the now-destroyed Sugarcube Corner. "Don't worry though, I'll accept your apology and payment with your life!" He snapped as the three Black Lanterns from before burst out of the rubble. "GET HER!"

But before the three could charge for Applejack, five beams of magic hit them in the side, sending the hurtling into a nearby house. Applejack looked to her left to see at least seven Royal Guards-three Unicorns, two Pegasi, and two Earth Ponies-headed her way with a small group of civilians behind them.

Carrot Cake snarled in anger, his eyes darting between Applejack and the Guards knowing he wouldn't win this fight, he quickly retreated into the skies. "This isn't over!" He called out as he flew off.

"Boy am Ah happy to see you guy's!" She said as she rushed towards them the Guard who she assumed was the leader, a Pegasus stallion with a deep yellow coat and blue mane.

The Guards were a bit skeptical of her at first, due to her wielding the same power as those creatures, but quickly remembered that she had been fighting against them and eased up.

"Who are you?" The lead Guard asked. "And why do you wield the power of these monsters despite obviously not being one of them?"

Applejack looked at her ring, then back at the Guard. "It's a long story..."

"One that we don't have time for!" One of the Guards interrupted, an Earth pony to be exact. "Commander Sentry, we have to meet up with Squad B at the train station immediately and get these civilians out of here!"

Applejack looked at the group of civilians that the Guards were protecting, she recognized a good amount of them, having seen them around town numerous times, three of which stood out: A mint green unicorn mare with a lighter colored mane and a harp cutie mark, she was a regular customer and spent a lot of time with that Earth pony. Next to her was a pale Earth pony mare with a brown mane and a heart and baby bottle cutie mark, behind her was her son, a young blank-flank brown colt with a deep orange mane and wearing a propeller beanie on his head. She couldn't remember his name, but she had seen him hanging out with Rarity's sister.

"Don't y'all worry, Ah'll keep ya covered!" Applejack declared, leaving no room for an argument.

The Guards looked at each other before nodding. The lead Guard turned to the rest of the group. "Alright everypony, let's move!" And with that the group their way towards the train station, with Applejack and the Unicorn Guards blasting away every and any zombie that got too close.

Luckily the station wasn't too far, as they approached it Applejack saw that there were several more Royal Guards positioned around the station as well as the train itself.

"This is Squad A returning from our mission! Here's the remaining civilians we could find!" Commander Sentry stated as they entered the station. The Pegasus Guards nodded before allowing his group access, however they seemed hesitant to let Applejack in. "At ease, she's an ally." Sentry stated. The Guards lowered their wings and allowed her access.

Once inside she saw several ponies rushing to get into the train, she noticed an Earth Pony fighting the crowd going in, as if she was looking for something, it was then the mint green unicorn from before happily approached her and embraced her in a hug, while she couldn't make out what they were saying, it was clear the Earth Pony was still looking for someone and was hesitant to get on the train, but some unheard words from the Unicorn convinced her to get inside.

"Last train to Manehatten! All aboard!" The conductor called out as several Royal Guards quickly boarded the train, Pegasus Guards flew around the sides and roof of the train while the Unicorns stayed close to the open windows, and the Earth Ponies guarded the entrances and exits of the coaches.

As Commander Sentry was about to get on board, he noticed that their newest ally was about to leave. " Aren't you coming? We could use your help on our way to Manehatten."

Applejack turned to face the Commander. "Ah came to make sure any survivors were found and kept safe. Ah have to get back to meh own family before they start to worry."

Commander Sentry gave her a worried look, “How far away are they? Maybe I could send another Squad-"

"No." Applejack cut him off. "It would take too much time. Besides, these ponies need your help more than Ah do."

Commander Sentry nodded in understanding as the train began to depart. Another horde of zombies attempted to attack the train as it left the station, but the Pegasi and Unicorns held them off. Applejack quickly flew overhead while creating a green orb between her hooves, when the orb was about the size of her head she hurled it above the train, the orb then exploded in the air, releasing multiple small green meteors to come crashing down on the zombies while completely avoiding the train. As the train entered the tunnel leading to Manehatten, Applejack fired a second beam at the tunnels entrance right after the last coach got through. The entrance collapsed, preventing any zombies from following through the tunnel.

"Whew! Now that that's taken care of-" She was cut off when a loud *BOOM* echoed across Ponyville and a familiar red streak shot through the sky. However Applejack's eyes widened as the streak flew right over her, and got a good glimpse at who exactly was in the streak.

"RAINBOW DASH!?" She quickly took off after her long-time friend and rival as she headed for the mountains...

A good distance away from the barn, Twilight and her friends were taking a much needed rest, with Spike, Sweetie Belle and Pinkie Pie constantly geeking out over her new powers.

"That was incredible! You were amazing!" Spike exclaimed.

"I'll say, the way you summoned those awesome creatures was so cool!" Sweetie Belle said.

“Can you make cake with that ring?!” Pinkie asked as she bounced around her

"Yeah well I...ehehe..." Twilight blushed, not used to getting so much praise from anyone other than Celestia.

Speaking of whom, her mentor had become silent ever since the battle had ended. "Um, Princess? Are you still in there?" She asked her ring.

'Not truly Twilight, while I am able to contact you, I am not exactly inside the ring.'

This got everyone's attention, if the Princess wasn't inside the ring then where...?

'I promise you, I will answer any and all questions you may have once we reach our destination.' She stated calmly. 'But now we must hurry, that last fight drained a lot of the rings energy...'

"Wait, this thing runs out of power?” Twilight gasped as she noticed her outfit losing it's glow.

"Oh no, we need several triple-A batteries STAT!" Pinkie shouted. "Quick, somepony find me a pink bunny with a big drum! Those always the last the longest!"

"Now what do we do?!" Spike shouted in fear. "We're sitting ducks and if those things attack now, we're all dead....or undead...whatever those zombies did to the Guards!"

"Um guy's, what's that?" Sweetie Belle interrupted, pointing back towards Ponyville. Everyone looked to see what exactly she was pointing at, only to see a large red streak heading straight towards them!

"Oh no! Not another one!" Rarity screamed as her sister hid behind her, while Spike stepped in front of her protectively.

"Don't worry everypony, I've got this!" Twilight proclaimed while stepping forward. She immediately concentrated her energy on her ring, creating a large spider construct. Quickly the spider shot a yellow web at the approaching target, only for it to burst through the web and slam itself into the spider, completely shattering it into pieces.

"Okay, that could have gone better..." Twilight muttered.

Suddenly, another voice spoke up. " YOU! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN YOU'D BE BEHIND ALL THIS!"

The group looked up to see a the red light around the figure die down, revealing a familiar rainbow-maned Pegasus above them, and she did not look happy. "This is all your fault, you've been working for Nightmare Moon this whole time!" She screamed at Twilight before shifting her attention to the other four behind her. "And now you wanna lure more ponies to their doom!" She snarled as red, acidic saliva dripped from her mouth.

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise when she realized that this Pegasus wasn't on the side of the zombies, but instead the thought that she was! "No wait! You don't understand!" She stuttered as she backed away.

"SHUT UP!! YOU'D BETTER BE READY TO GET WHAT'S COMING TO YOU! DON'T TRY TO ESCAPE CUZ YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!!!" She screamed in rage before charging at her with a bloodthirsty look on her face…

Author's Notes:

Another chapter done thanks to VampDash & Michael_Ravencroft! There were also a few references in this chapter, think you can spot them all?

Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to VampDash and Michael_Ravencroft for the detailed descriptions of RD, AJ, and Twilight's Lantern Uniforms!

For those of you who couldn't tell, Rainbow Dash's armor is based off of the Shredder from the 2003 TMNT series, and Twilight's armor is based on the Dark Magician from Yu-Gi-Oh!