Hope Rides Alone 1: How the World Fell Under Darkness.


                                            =Hope Rides Alone=


                                            >"Ring Capacity: 5 percent."

                                            "I know, I know..."

                                            >You clench your fists and pick up speed towards the planetoid that slowly inches closer, a blue streak across the cold of space.

                                            >It had been days since you last saw another life form. On your last interstellar voyage you had gotten a bit too close to a black hole that must have tossed you halfway across the galaxy, draining your ring in the process just to keep you alive.

                                            >You were now too far out of range for communications, and far too far out of range to call your power battery.

                                            "Nice going, Anonymous..."

                                            >"Ring Capacity: 2 percent." the little piece of jewelry on your finger says.

                                            >You take a deep breath as you enter into the planet's atmosphere.

                                            "All will be well."

                                            >Your personal shields flare as the friction of your descent turns you into a fireball streaking across the sky for a few minutes.

                                            >Once you enter into the atmosphere proper, the flames give way and you get a good look at the world you find yourself on.

                                            >Muted green fields and mountains stretch across the land, pockmarked with blue lakes resting under...pink clouds?

                                            >Well, you've seen weirder in the Corps.

                                            >"Ring Capacity: One percent."

                                            >No time to sightsee, it seems.

                                            >You increase your pace down to the surface, directing yourself near a small lake nearby a town.

                                            >"Ring Capacity: One percent."

                                            "Come on, come on..."

                                            >The lake gets closer and closer to you as the glow of your personal shields flickers.

                                            >"Ring Capacity: .5 percent."

                                            >You can make it. You can make it. There is always ho-

                                            >Your personal shields drop and with it goes your ability to fly. Your stomach lurches and flips end over end as you drop from the sky.

                                            "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

                                            >You hit the water with a harsh splash and sink down underneath.


                                            >Darkness surrounds you in the lake, a darkness so strong you couldn't see your own nose.

                                            >Until you looked up, that is.

                                            >Peeking through the murky surface of the water, you could see the sun shine through.

                                            >It filled your heart whenever you were on a planet and you looked to their sun. It was something that was different for each world, but still brought everyone in the universe together in having one.

                                            >Your direction assured, you swim to the light and surface, taking a deep breath of fresh air once you do.

                                            >"Ring Capacity: .1 percent. Shutting down all non-essential functions." your ring says.

                                            >"Non-essential functions" basically boiled down to the universal translator and that's it.

                                            >You sigh.

                                            "Ah well..."

                                            >Hopefully it could gather enough charge to get you home or send out a distress signal.

                                            >You swim to the shore as your clothes transform back to their original state before you put on your uniform, a side effect of the system shutdown.

                                            >As you haul yourself out of the water, your ears detect a sound.

                                            >It was far off, but it sounded like...someone walking, and they were grumbling to them self as they did.

                                            >An indigenous then, this was always an important part of first contact.

                                            >You fold your legs and sit yourself down on the ground, resting your hands and making sure to look as non-threatening as you possibly could.

                                            >If only your new guest were sticking to that.

                                            >He jumps out of the nearby bush shouting "HIYAAAH!" and brandishing what looks like a broken broom. He had pots, pans, cups, and plate tied to his body as makeshift armor. He was a little guy, reptilian in nature with purple scales and green spines.


                                            >"Halt! Who goes there!?" he shouts at you.

                                            >From the sound of his voice, he was quiet young.

                                            "Hello there, my little friend. My name is...Anonymous. What's yours?"

                                            >It was -technically- a code-name, but it would do.

                                            >He falters a bit. "You speak Draconian...?" his boyish wonder coming through.

                                            >You can't help but chuckle.

                                            "Sort of. You see, my ring translates what I say into any language it knows."

                                            >You hold up your ring hand for him to see.

                                            >His eyes sparkle at the thing but he shakes his head and goes back to his fighting stance. "Yeah, well who are you!? Why are you at my lake?"

                                            "Is this your lake? I'm sorry for trespassing, I crashed here after my ring ran out of power."

                                            >He huffs. "Yeah right, does that thing let you fly too?"

                                            "Yes."

                                            >The wonder comes back. "...Really?"

                                            >You nod.

                                            "Now, I am Anonymous and you are...?"

                                            >He hardens his face again. "Spike. My name's Spike."

                                            >You nod and smile.

                                            "Hi Spike."


                                            >You reach out and slowly lower the broom.

                                            "You can put that away, I mean you no harm."

                                            >"Oh yeah? Then what are you doing here?" he asks, eyes still hard but keeping the broom down.

                                            >You show your ring again.

                                            "I'm a Blue Lantern, Spike. We're an order of people from all over the universe dedicated to spreading the word of hope."

                                            >"Hope in what?" he asks.

                                            "Anything. Everything. Hope that tomorrow will be better than today or even just hope that we will see old friends again soon."

                                            >Spike goes "Tch." and turns to walk away, the broom resting on his shoulder. "Yeah well you're wasting your time. There's no hope in Equestria anymore."

                                            >That makes your smile falter, little boys shouldn't believe that.

                                            "What did you say?"

                                            >"I said there's no hope here, it went away a long time ago." he calls back over his shoulder.

                                            >That...couldn't be allowed to pass.

                                            "How did this happen?"

                                            >Spike stops and looks back at you, his eyebrow arching. "You really -are- from far away if you don't know abou-"

                                            >He pauses as the sun in the sky seems to rotate on an axis and immediately change to the moon, drowning the forest in darkness.

                                            >Spike hisses and jumps. "Look, I'll tell you about what happened, but you have to follow me, it's not safe at night!"

                                            >He takes off into the woods and you have no choice but to follow.


                                            >Spike hurries you along through the forest and into a nearby cave. Inside sits a slowly going fire, a burlap sack used for what you assume is bedding, and some knickknacks laying around.

                                            "Is...this where you live, Spike?"

                                            >He looks out the cave entrance before slowly backing over to you. "Yeah, why?"

                                            "It's just that I saw a town on my way in, surely you could live there?"

                                            >The boy's face falls. "It wouldn't be the same..."

                                            >Looking at him, you could tell...he really was almost hopeless.

                                            >You sit down cross legged again on the cave floor.

                                            "Would you like to tell me what happened now, Spike? What you couldn't tell me out by the lake?"

                                            >Spike sighs and sits down. "Where do I even start...?"

                                            >"Do you know about Discord where you came from?"

                                            >You shake your head no.

                                            >Spike curls up a bit. "Yeah well...you're lucky. He's...he's the worst! He's an ancient spirit of disharmony and chaos. The Princesses turned him into a statue a long time ago but he got out a while back..."

                                            "And he made everything..."

                                            >You gesture outside to the sudden night where it's now raining chocolate.

                                            "Like this?"

                                            >Spike nods.

                                            "Did no one stand up and try to fight?"

                                            >He curls up a bit more. "Some did...my friends, but Discord did something to them and now they're...different."

                                            "Different how?"

                                            >"Different like they're not themselves anymore!" he exclaims, throwing his arms up into the air. "They're acting totally the opposite of how I knew them!"

                                            "And everything else...?"

                                            >Spike lets his arms fall to his side. "After they couldn't stop Discord, he took over and everything just...ended up like this."

                                            >You look out to the outdoors and the insanity it is.

                                            "So...everything is like this?"

                                            >Spike nods. "Yeah...nopony knows what to do, we can't stop it and every time we try, things change again."


                                            >You look down at your ring.

                                            >The duty of the Blue Lantern Corps was to spread hope to the hopeless, to make the universe a better one person at a time if you had to.

                                            >And never in your life have you seen a place so in need of hope as this Equestria.

                                            "Ring, what are the mathematical odds that I will be able to stop this "Discord" and free Equestria?"

                                            >"Zero point zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero- five percent, Lantern Anonymous."

                                            "Well that's that, then."

                                            >You rise up to your feet and star to walk out of the cave.

                                            >"Whoa, wait a second!" Spike shouts behind you.

                                            >You pause and look back.

                                            >"Where are you -going-?" he asks.

                                            "To do what I can to stop Discord."

                                            >"And you -really- think you'll be able to?"

                                            >You simply smile.

                                            "I hope so."

                                            >"But you heard what your ring said!"

                                            >You look down at it, you had heard the odds.

                                            "To me, that's as good as a hundred percent. Hope makes anything possible, Spike. Hope and hard work."

                                            >"But...you might get hurt." he says quietly.

                                            "I might not."

                                            >Spike stars at the ground for a long time. "What if...I come with you? How much will that help?"

                                            >You hold your hand up.

                                            "Ring?"

                                            >"Odds rise to zero point zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero- six percent, Lantern Anonymous."

                                            >You smile down at Spike.

                                            "Every little bit helps."

                                            >Spike's face hardens and he grabs his broom, marching over to you.

                                            >"I'm ready...I have to try."

                                            >You place a hand on his head and smile, you surprisingly get one back.

                                            "Then let's go find your friends."

                                            >You leave the cave entrance and walk down the beaten path, Spike behind you.

                                            >You -would- save this world, you -would- save these people.

                                            >All -will- be well.