=Hope Rides Alone 4: Your Eyes Shine Just Like Mine.=

-In Canterlot-
>You're Discord and all is wrong with the world.
>And that makes it oh so right.
>You walk through the city streets, these frightened ponies watching you pass, leading your art around.
>Two animated stone statues walked behind you on their leashes, their faces frozen in expressions of shock just as you left them.
>The citizens of the city watched in either continued fear or tired acceptance at the fate of those statues.
>You didn't get the looks, it was only fair that you repay the kindness bestowed upon you, after all.
>You continue your jaunty Sun-Monday walk. You grew tired of only having seven days, so you made a new one.
>The streets you pass have been gratified in their new state. Not that you minded, it added a bit of color to this drab city.
>They stretched on for seemingly miles, repeating the same lines.
>"WE HAVE CONTROL. WE KEEP YOU SAFE."
>It had been put there by your hounds, a collection on ponies you drummed up to go around and make sure that you were causing as much chaos as you could.
>They were the ones who told you which building would look best as cheese or which family could stand to be split up for a decade or two.
>It made you so proud.
>As luck would have it, you come up on now in the middle of the road.
"Hellooooo there~ my little friend. How's chaos?"
>She kicks the ground. "The dragon on the mountain got thrown out and he'll be going over the land for a while now."
>You cup her chin.
"Awwww...are you sad that it wasn't you who did it? Fear not, mon frère, we all have our moment in the spotlight. Unless you're me and you just -live- there."
>You leave her behind and continue your walk.
>A dragon? You wouldn't have thought she'd do it, that was so grand.
>Yes, all was wrong with the world.
>And that made it oh so right. 

-Dragon Mountain-
>Your hand finds purchase on the jagged rock underneath as you climb the mountain before you.
>Not the easiest task when you had a heavy weight on your back.
>You grunt.
"Spike, are you wearing your armor in there?"
>The little dragon pokes his head out of the backpack. "No? You made me leave it, remember?"
>You grunt and keep climbing. Spike would have to cut down on the pie.
>"Hey...Anonymous?"
"Yeah Spike?" you ask while grabbing onto another ledge.
>"What if we fall?"
>...
>That had occurred to you, yes. But, like all things-
"I hope we don't."
>You can almost hear Spike roll his eyes. "That's your answer to everything."
"Sometimes it's the only answer you need."
>You continue up the mountain as you had been for the past hour.
>Spike and you had been eating a lunch of caught fish when you saw a dragon the size of a town block rocket out of a nearby mountain.
>While you may not be as disciplined and trained as your green counterparts, you had some wits about you, and in situations like these you found it paid to head closer to where things were happening.
>And so you packed little Spike into your bag and began scaling the mountain, all in the hopes that it would help your mission in some way.
>"...Are you sure about this, Anonymous?" Spike asks.
>You cant your head and climb onto another ledge.
"Not entirely, Spike. But we have to try, it's the right thing to do."
>Even you would admit that the chances that this wasn't just a risk were small. But then again, they always were with you."

>You haul yourself up one last ridge and crawl a few paces on your hands and knees, panting.
>Spike crawls out of the backpack and heads in front of you. "Are you okay, Anonymous?"
>You gasp for air.
"Yeah!...just...give me a few seconds...to catch my breath."
>You take a deep breath and picture a perfectly still lake of water, just like your mentor Brother Walker had taught you, and rise to your feet.
"Alright, let's go."
>You lead Spike away from the sheer cliff edge and along the mountaintop.
>Along a flat side of the peak, you lay eyes on a hole large enough for a house to be moved through.
>"That's it!" Spike cries.
>You look down at him.
"What?"
>"Dragons make their homes on the tops of mountains in caves where they can hide all their treasure!  Twilight told me! Whatever scared off the dragon is in there!"
"You're sure?"
>Spike nods his head, you smile down at him.
"Good enough for me, let's go."
>Spike and you run towards the cave opening, but pause at a peculiar sight along the way.
>A collection of animals, some large, some small, hiding behind a rock near the entrance.
>Spike skids to a halt. "Angel?"
>A bunny rabbit among the pack turns to look at Spike, but stays rooted in place.
"Who's Angel, Spike?"
>"He was the pet of one of my friends...does that mean that Flu-
>"Who's snooping around my cave!?" someone inside shouts.
>Echoed hoofsteps meet your ears as whomever this person is walks to meet you.
>She steps into the light, yellow coat as de-saturated as all the rest, and brow furrowed, she first scowls at the animals and then at you both.
>"Was it you!?"

>The animals behind the rock cower at the wrath of the yellow pony while Spike jumps behind your legs.
>"Fluttershy!?" Spike shouts.
>She stamps towards you both. "Who are you!? Did you come to try and steal my cave?"
>You hold your hands up.
"Hey now, we didn't come to steal anything, we just came because we saw that dragon fly away."
>"Hmph!" she says. "He couldn't take a little bit of staring, the big baby flew off and left this cave to me, so that makes it mine!"
>She jumps forward and scrapes her hoof. "Get out of here! Nopony comes here -period-!"
>You keep your arms raised.
"Why?"
>"Because -I- said so?"
"And your word is law?"
>"It is now." she grumbles. "Everypony else, all my friends, they just walked all over me, never listened to me or what I had to say!"
>Spike winces at her words, you just watch.
>"Well...no more! From now on, everpony's going to have to deal with me and if they don't like it...well then they'll end up the same as that dragon!"
>You look down at your hand.
"Ring?"
>"Readings anomalous from previous specimens, Lantern Anonymous. Exterior force detected."
>"What's that mean?" Spike asks you.
"It means someone did this to her."

>Spike turns from you to Fluttershy. "Someone...did this to her? How?"
"If he can make the sky diamonds, Spike, I'll bet Discord could do this."
>Diamond sky day was a weird day.
>"Who cares if someone did it! This is who you all have to deal with no, like to see you ignore me like this!"
>Silence falls as you nudge Spike forward a bit, the boy looks up at you frightened.
"She knows you better than me, try talking to her."
>Spike gulps and walks towards Fluttershy, fiddling with his claws.
>"Uhmm...Fluttershy, you gotta stop! You're scaring everyone!"
>"Good! Maybe then they'll get what's coming to them!"
>Spike's face falls. "You can't mean that..."
>Fluttershy turns her back on Spike. "Why wouldn't I?" 
>Spike looks back at you, the look on his face pleading for any advice.
>All you can do is give him a thumbs up.
>But Spike's eyes drift to the animals behind the rock and harden with purpose.
>"W-well...what about them?" he asks.
>"What -about- them?" Fluttershy answers.
>"Why would they come here if you were really this cruel person you say you are, Fluttershy? Wouldn't they stay away if that were true? I think it's because they know that there's a tiiiiiny little sliver of the -real- Fluttershy still inside. The Fluttershy who'd never say those hurtful things to people and would lend a hoof whenever anypony needed it. The Fluttershy who's my friend."
>That's it boy...
>Spike takes a deep breath and runs at Fluttershy. "Come on, everyone!"
>Fluttershy reels and looks about to fly away before Spike wraps his arms around her chest in a hug. To the surprise of her, it seems.
>That act serves as the go signal for all the rest of the animals to run up and join him, wrapping Fluttershy in a cocoon of warm embraces that leaves only her face revealed.
"I can help you beat him, Fluttershy. But you have to let me."
>"I-I-I...uhh..."
>Spike just turns to you. "Do it, Anonymous! While we have her in a hug!"
>Good enough for you.
>You raise your ring and bathe the area in a blue glow.

>The cobalt glow from your ring extends and bathes over Fluttershy and the animals.
>To anyone looking, it just looks like you're shining a strange blue light on her, but you were mentaly linked to your ring.
>You could feel a sort of...otherness that was blocking Fluttershy from her normal thoughts and putting something else in their place, something that she couldn't break on her own.
>But the one thing it couldn't do was stop her baser desires.  Desires for friendship, kindness, and for things to get better.
>A desire for hope.
>You feed this desire on her and amplify it through your ring, pushing against the mental barrier set in place by Discord.
>"Hope detected."
>The barrier shatters and the real Fluttershy's thoughts pour forth like a flood as you recede the light.
>All is silent in front of the cave as the moment sets in, but only for a moment.
>After that moment, a wail that starts low pitched but steadily rises emanates from the hug pile, punctuated by occasional sobbing.
>"I'm...ssssooo-o-oo-o-o sorryy-yyyyy..." you hear as the pile shifts and shudders and tightens.
"Is everything alright, Spike?"
>Spike separates and nods. "That sounds like the Fluttershy I know."
>You smile, that was good.
>Fluttershy's face-hole was a little higher than Spike's level, so you kneel down to it.
"Are you feeling better?"
>She sniffs and hitches. "I-I feel so terrible for all the things that I did...but I'm glad I feel like myself again."
>You reach out and pet her with your ring hand, she doesn't flinch. 
"That's good...can I ask you a kindness?"
>She perks up at you.
"I want to help everyone here like Spike helped you, can you go out from here and try and help everyone you can in your own special way while we do it in ours? Every little bit helcan you go out from here and try and help everyone you can in your own special way while we do it in ours? Every little bit helps."
>Fluttershy nods slowly. "If it can make up for the awful things I did here...then yes, I will."
>You smile.
"Good, thank you very much. Spike, let's let her and her friends reconnect."
>Spike runs over to his bag but waves to Fluttershy before jumping in, she waves back with a small smile.
>The climb back down the mountain was easier.

-Back in Canterlot, the next day-
>You skipped walkies this morning in favor of a small fly over the city to take in the sights.
>The Lord of Chaos surveys his domain and you liked what you saw. Some ponies ran from carnivorous food, others had their sense of direction totally discombobulated, and the wave of Synesthesia seems to have spread as well.
>Beyond the city walls was the daily parade of ponies just trying to leave that always seemed to stop at Ghastly Gorge.
>You telescoped your eye and saw them each wink out of existence once they met a blind turn, ready to be deposited back in the city the next day to consider starting all over again.
>Oh come on now, don't give you that look, you weren't a total monster.
>Besides, less ponies around would mean less chaos to have.
>"Discord!"
>A mare with magenta fur and a beanie hat putters over to you, spiraled eyes wide in shock.
"Hello there Screwball! What do you need, my dear?"
>"It's bad news!"
"What? Why bad?"
>"The mountain from Dragon Mountain is back in his cave! The yellow one left yesterday!"
>WHAT?
"But how!?"
>"Screwball asked the rocks, they said there was a monkey with a magic blue ring that changed the yellow one back!"
>That wouldn't do at all, you had plans for that dragon once it got to the Gryphon lands.
>Grumbling, you pinch your snout.
"Look, it's morning and I can almost hear the Hound, go tell her what you told me and then tell her to fix it."
>She was the one who told you about it in the first place, she'd be raring to fix this orderly mess.
>Screwball wordlessly salutes and putters off while you continue you flight.
>That news very nearly destroyed your mood and ruined your day!
>But the sonic boom and rainbow trail that shot out of the city to go fix the problem made it a little bit better.