//------------------------------// // The Last Creature // Story: A Glimmer of Hope: The Beginning // by Mewrilah //------------------------------// Celestia decided to take over Luna’s duties that night after she and Twilight ran after Nick. It didn’t take much convincing of the ponies that Blueblood deserved his bad manecut, but that didn’t ease their minds about the fact that Nick had completely changed in a matter of seconds over a touchy subject. Honestly, the sun princess herself was a little shocked at Nick’s reaction. She knew something was up but decided to play it down for now. “Nick had a rough past,” she explained to her little ponies. “He lost a lot: his best friend, first love and his parents. However, when I found him, he never let on that he had experienced any of this pain. I’m sure my nephew belittling him was the spark that was needed on top of all the pressure of the press and announcing his relationship to Twilight and my sister. As long as he’s not provoked, which I wouldn’t expect any reasonable pony to do, this will be a one time occurrence.” The ponies seemed to accept that explanation and continued with the festivities. Celestia let out a sigh of relief and turned to look towards the Royal Gardens. Tomorrow morning, she needed to find out what exactly happened with Nick. For the first time in several years, Nick had slept in. He wasn’t sure why he was still drowsy: if it was the dancing of last night, the adrenaline of both announcing his relationship to the princesses along with trying to control a villain, or just the fact that he had two soft, warm mares sandwiching him tightly, to the point they were practically hugging each other. The wolf went with the last option, shifting slightly so he could return the hug to Twilight, whom he was currently facing. She still smelled amazing despite the fact of none of them showering after last night. Her lavender perfume hadn’t faded and her fur and mane were velvety. Her body heat was matched by Luna’s cool coat against his back. Speaking of the navy blue alicorn, she was nuzzling into the back of Nick’s neck and he could hear her inhaling his own scent. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of your earthy scent,” she spoke groggily, her eyes half lidded. “I’m glad you feel that way,” Nick chuckled, turning over to face her. He brought his muzzle close to her’s and deeply inhaled. “You smell like fresh rain,” he smiled, before bringing his lips to hers. There it was again, that shock of pleasure. His heart immediately started to beat faster, and instincts took over. He slowly let his tongue caress Luna’s lips, and not to be outdone, she reciprocated the action. Nick lifted up his paw and gently scratched his mare behind her ear, which earned a moan of satisfaction and an increase in her efforts to display her love. She placed her forehooves under his own and started caressing his back, feeling spots of stress and working her magic on them. “Gosh you two, get a room,” a now awake Twilight spoke in mock annoyance. Not to leave his purple mare left out, Nick gently ended the kiss with Luna and rubbed his nose against Twilight’s. “Technically this is her room,” he chuckled. “But I’m sure Luna won’t mind if I gave you some lovin.” “Not at all,” the lunar mare sighed. “I got my fix, for now.” With her green light, the wolf took a different approach to treating Twilight. He started with her ears, gently nibbling at the tips and moving down to the base, eliciting moans of pleasure from the alicorn. From the base of her ear, he traced her jawline with his tongue, licking with long, sensuous strokes. By the time he reached her lips, Twilight couldn’t take the teasing any longer. She threw her forehooves around his neck and smashed her lips against his, her tongue snaking out to thank him for his ministrations. “I love you,” Twilight whispered after ending the kiss, looking at Nick with bedroom eyes. “I love you too,” he smiled, looking at both mares. “I can’t even say how much you both mean to me.” “You don’t need to,” Luna smiled in return. “You tell us by your actions. So shall I order us some breakfast?” The chorus of rumbling stomachs answered that question. There was a knock at the door. “Hmm, either the staff were eavesdropping or they have impeccable timing. Come in.” The pony that stepped in was anything but part of the kitchen staff. “Oh. It’s you Tia,” Luna said, not really sure if she should be embarrassed by her current state or more curious about why her sister was there. “Hello everypony,” Celestia said in her normal cheery voice. “I take it you all slept well?” “Best I’ve had in awhile,” Nick yawned. “We were about to order some breakfast, did you want to join us Princess?” “I suppose,” the alabaster alicorn replied, for some reason pondering his offer with some effort. “There was something I needed to discuss with all of you anyway.” “I guess it’s about my behavior last night?” Nick gulped. When the alicorn simply nodded, Nick scratched the back of his head. “Ok, I’ve already explained to Luna and Twilight. There’s no need to not tell you. But can we at least order the food first? My behavior last night took a lot of my energy.” So with their orders placed, and room made on the bed for Celestia to sit, Nick began to explain how he came to be possessed by Sombra. How by fighting the darkness, he was actually linked to it and was told all this information a few weeks before the Gala, when Sombra had taken control of him when he was talking to Discord. He further talked about how Discord and him had been training for him to resist the possession, and last night was a demonstration of the results. It was apparently Sombra who had sent him to the hospital, which was news to all of the mares in the room. He quickly explained himself, saying he didn’t know it at the time and was too tired to remember last night when he was explaining things to Twilight and Luna. “Well, I am glad that you were able to fend him off last night. It would have been hard to explain that the new consort to Twilight and Luna killed my nephew because he was possessed by Sombra,” Celestia finally spoke after thinking about what she had just been told. “It’s for that reason that I can’t waste anymore time training,” Nick replied. “He is just going to grow stronger, so the sooner I can confront him, the better. While all of you go to the Crystal Empire, I’ll take care of the hydra and Tirek.” “At least let me send some of the Royal Guard with you,” Luna pleaded. Nick shook his head. “Nopony needs to risk themselves for me. If anything, I’ll ask Discord. He’s expendable.” Hmmph. I heard that, wolf. “Well, so far the only way to get rid of you is with the Elements, meaning nothing else can hurt you,” Nick defended his statement. “Besides you’ve faced Tirek before. The Royal Guard didn’t stand a chance against him.” The draconequus appeared, sitting on a stool and sipping a tea cup out of a cup of tea. “I suppose you’re right. Besides, as much as I want to spend time with Fluttershy, there’s no way I’m gonna be stuck with a crying brat.” All three mares glared at the creature, who simply continued to drink his solid beverage. Breakfast was brought in at that moment, and full stomachs seemed to change the mood of the group, after all, there was no changing Discord. After breakfast and for the following two weeks, the herd prepared for their own adventures and just spent as much time together as they could, knowing full well, once they separated, they may not see each other until Nick was finished. “Hope you have a fun trip,” Nick smiled as he hugged each mare farewell. “Please be careful,” Twilight held him tightly. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you while we were gone.” “I’ve had the best combat teachers anypony could ask for,” Nick hugged her back reassuringly. “But I promise, I won’t get hurt … too much.” Twilight slugged him for that remark. He turned to Luna, who had a small present floating next to her. She opened it to reveal a necklace, a combination of her and Twilight’s cutiemarks, and floated it on him. “Just in case, this necklace has a protection spell on it. All you need to do is think of us and it will activate,” she explained, holding him just as firmly as Twilight had. “Thank you girls,” Nick smiled at both of them. “I’ll make you proud.” “You already have,” they both replied. With a final goodbye, they boarded the train, and waved as it pulled out of the depot. Nick turned to his draconequus companion who was impatiently tapping his hoof. “Are you done yet? I’d like to get this all over with.” “Ready when you are,” Nick replied but held up a paw when he saw Discord trying to teleport them. “We’re gonna do this the old fashioned way, no teleportation. Besides, we can’t teleport to Tartarus, there’s a spell preventing that remember? A spell you can’t even break.” Discord just rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Not wanting to waste anymore time, Nick led the way to the swamps. Stopping right at the tree line, Nick couldn’t help but feel a sense of fondness for the Everfree, the one place in this world that was similar to Earth, where nature was in control. As they walked through the forest, Nick tried to make some small talk. “So you said you were ‘born’ out of the darkness, does that mean it’s female? If so who was your father? Are Sombra, Tirek and Chrysalis your siblings?” “No,” Discord sighed. “I just appeared. No parents, siblings or friends until I met Fluttershy. Shouldn’t you be focusing more on defeating the hydra than asking personal questions?” “Doesn’t hurt to know a little more about my travelling companion, especially when I’m trusting my life with him.” “Just because I was taught the ‘magic of friendship’ doesn’t mean I wanna be friends with everypony I meet. Especially one that is going to die soon.” “Fair enough,” Nick sighed, deciding there was no point in continuing the conversation. They continued walking in silence. Nick had been living with the princesses for so long, that he was surprised by how much the forest had changed. It was still dark, but the wildlife seemed to be less, deadly. Sure there were snakes and spiders, but it wasn’t like he had to worry about the timberwolves or manticore anymore. With the death of the hydra, there wouldn’t be many threats in here for the ponies. It was all sobering and a bit sad. He had taken away most of what would be natural from this world. The darkness could not be completely controlled by the elements, only temporarily stopped. That’s why he was there, Equestria needed a being that was used to the chaos of nature to bring about order and peace. That’s why he had to die, to erase the final piece of disorder once he defeated the pawns of darkness. What would happen to Discord? He was technically part of the darkness, would he have to be eliminated as well? Or would his reformation be his salvation? “Any tips for handling the hydra?” Nick decided to break the silence again, not wanting to dwell too much on this revelation. “I already know about its ability to regrow it’s heads.” “Do I look like a creature that uses brute force to get my way?” Discord replied back to the wolf. “I do have one piece of advice, however. Despite its size, the hydra is actually not too brilliant. If you plan your attacks ahead of time, it won’t be able to catch you and you’ll be able to land a blow without worrying about the heads.” “Is it immune to magic?” “How would I know that? I have better things to do than wrestle with beasts. Besides, I’d just make it vanish like I normally do to things that annoy me.” “Fine, I get your point. Besides, we’re here.” As colorful as Equestria could be, the abode of the hydra had a dull and frankly ugly scheme. The few scattered trees were the only green in a sea of brown. Plus there was a horrendous stench, either from the decaying vegetation or the hydra’s breath. Speaking of which, for such a large creature, it sure was good at hiding. He found a rather long stick and stuck it down into one of the bogs, his magic carefully easing it in a vertical fashion, in case he got lucky and picked the hole with the hydra in it. He had reached the end of the stick and it appeared as though there was still a ways to go till it reached the bottom. “Well, I guess it’s time to play some battleship,” Nick grumbled, lifting up a decent sized rock and tossing it into a hole. After a ‘sploosh’ and a few seconds of waiting, he tossed another, and proceeded with each hole till he had tried all possible locations. “Maybe there’s another swamp that has a hydra?” Discord just flipped another page of his Chaos Today magazine, ignoring the wolf. Seeing as he was getting nowhere, he decided to get more “paws on” in his search. Sighing, Nick took a deep breath and dove into the biggest hole. Despite the cloudiness on the surface, the water wasn’t too murky to see where he was going as he dove deeper. He wasn’t too surprised to find what appeared to be a complex cave system. Great. Where do I begin? On the train to the Crystal Empire, Luna and Twilight had shared a booth in the vip car, along with Celestia and the other Elements. Twilight was rereading a Tale of Two Ponies, seeing why it was one of Nick’s favorite reads. Luna on the other hand was rummaging through her saddlebags, smiling as she fished out a necklace, bearing Twilight’s cutie mark. “Here you go Twilight,” she smiled, handing the gift to the younger alicorn. “Oh, it’s finished!” Twilight chirped with delight. “I’m guessing the enchanting was a success?” “It was. After we both cast our protection spells on Nick’s, I had the head enchanter work on this as well as my own regalia so that we can keep track of our wolfriend.” “I hope he’s alright,” Twilight looked nervously out the window. They were a few miles out from Ponyville and teleporting from a fast moving object was not advised, meaning Nick truly was on his own. “He has a charm with two alicorn’s protection spells and although I wouldn’t admit it to the spirit himself, Discord,” the lunar princess sighed, also looking out the window. “Also, Nick’s resourceful. He has and will be able to handle himself. I’m sure the last thing he would want us to do is worry over him when such a marvelous event has occurred.” “I know,” Twilight replied, the thought of seeing her niece bringing a smile to her face. “I wish Nick could’ve come see Shining and Cadence’s foal, but he has a duty to perform.” She paused, trying to decide if she should bring up something she had been thinking about since Nick met her family. “You know, speaking of foals, I’ve been thinking about us.” “Whatever do you mean?” Luna asked earnestly. She had an idea of what Twilight was suggesting but wanted to hear the words from her mouth. “Well when all of this is over, I’d like for us to get married and when we’re ready, have foals of our own.” Luna smiled at the sentiment. In her youth, she never imagined herself getting betrothed, let alone before her sister or with another princess, but much had changed since then. She played the scene out in her head, Celestia walking her and Twilight down the aisle to a proud and slightly nervous Nick. Cadance would officiate since she was the princess of love. After the ceremony there would be celebration, a party that would last throughout the night. Then in a royal guard drawn carriage, they would be whisked away to some romantic place to start their honeymoon. She blushed a little at the thought of the herd’s honeymoon and all the antics that could ensue. It certainly would be an interesting night. Twilight noticed her marefriend redden and mirrored the sentiment. “Sorry,” she looked down. “I didn’t mean for it to come out that crude.” “No, no,” Luna shook her head. “I agree with you 100%. Settling down with you and Nick would be fantastic. I’m sure he’d agree as well.” They both chuckled at that and finished with a hug. Then they looked back towards the window. Please be safe. Nick resurfaced and shook his fur out, some clumps of debris matting it up. His search was fruitless. He could only go so far into a cave before having to go back for air. There was also a sense of hesitancy as he wasn’t sure what to do if he actually found his target. Nick let out a sigh, lying on the moist soil. Ever since he arrived in Equestria it had been non-stop stress, even when he seemed to be enjoying himself. His quest still lingered in the back of his mind, a constant weight that grew with each passing day. It felt like he was back in college, how quickly things piled up, despite his efforts to stay ahead. Maybe the hydra could live for one more day, especially now that he realized how weary he was. “Nick look out!” With not enough time to move, the wolf quickly threw up a force field, just in time to trap the hydra’s tail and stop its movement. The bestiary wasn’t kidding when it mentioned the size of the creature. It’s four heads were at least two stories high, each one filled with razor sharp teeth. Nick knew the creature had to be bigger as it appeared to be resting on the bed of the bog, which from his previous exploration estimated to be another 20 or so feet. He understood how it could hide, the caves were large enough to house it and clinging to its scales bits of decaying plant life, creating a natural camouflage. What he didn’t understand was how could something so massive sneak up on him, even when lost in thought? Now wasn’t the time to think about these things, it appeared he found his motivation again. He rolled backwards as he released the shield, causing the tail to slam into the soil with enough force to cause it to stick. While the beast was busy trying to free it’s tail, Nick flew up, launching a barrage of fire bolts at the heads. The force was strong enough to cause the monster to recoil, but didn’t appear to cause any serious damage. Unlike his fight with the manticore, every attack had his full force behind it. Guess it’s scales are resistant to fire. Rolling to dodge the hydra’s tail again, Nick levitated himself up to get a better view of the hydra. There didn’t seem to be any weak spots, its entire body covered in what appeared to be impenetrable scales. The heads lunged at him again, the wolf dodging to the side, trying to think of what to do next. Getting impatient, the hydra rose out of its hole, confirming Nick’s suspicions on its size. He looked at his claws. No way were they sharp enough to hurt the beast. He looked below him, seeing some fallen logs. If he could sharpen them, maybe it could pierce the hydra’s hide. He swooped down, avoiding the heads as he descended. Grabbing a medium sized log, he raced away to a “safe” spot. Using his claws, he quickly fashioned a crude spear from the log and turned back to face the hydra. The creature was fast for it size, just several feet from the wolf. Not wasting anymore time, Nick hurled the spear at the beast, aiming towards the center of its chest, hoping to hit its heart. Amazingly the spear stabbed the hydra, which let out a blood curdling shriek. Nick smirked as the creature dropped to one knee, thinking it was over. That is, until the hydra staggered back up and using one of its heads to rip the log out as if it were a splinter. The wound healed almost instantaneously, leaving an enraged beast that was again charging Nick. It’s scales may be resistant to magic, but I wonder if it’s flesh is weak to magic. If only I had a sturdier weapon, I could inflict a wound and hit it with fire. Wait that’s it! I can use a transmutation spell. Looking at a nearby rock, Nick concentrated on creating a sword. It was consumed in a flash of light, and had taken the form of a silver longsword. Right as he levitated it to his side, the hydra’s tail coiled around him, lifting him up the ground. It’s grip around him was too strong to break. Luckily, he was able to hold the sword in his magic. This would be his chance to see if his magic could affect the beast’s flesh. If it didn’t then he didn’t know what he would do. The hydra laughed as it brought Nick closer to its heads, licking its lips at the thought of food. But which head would get to eat the wolf? As they bickered amongst themselves, this lead to an opening for the wolf. Slashing down as hard as he could, he severed one of the heads completely off. The sudden pain and surprise of Nick’s attack caused the hydra to release the wolf, who quickly charged up a fireball and slammed it into the exposed flesh. Nothing happened. The hydra was still alive and now focusing its attention on the wolf. So much for tha- Wait. The head didn’t grow back. Ok, new plan. Slice a head off and then use fire to stop the growth. It made attacking the hydra a lot easier now that he had a plan of attack. He evaded another lunge by the hydra, waiting for the opportune moment. Two of the remaining heads flanked him, forcing the wolf to attack the remaining one face on. Narrowly ducking underneath the beast’s chin, Nick made a solid stroke through the neck as he zoomed past, turning up and then hurtling back down to cauterize the wound. The two heads tried to protect the exposed neck, but Nick launched several projectiles at their eyes, momentarily blinding the monster. With the severed neck unguarded, the wolf launched a firebomb that further staggered the beast, sealing the head and knocking back the other two. So far so good. Only two more. As Nick prepared his next attack, he noticed something odd about the hydra. The two heads appeared to be, thinking, as if they were now trying to plan a counterattack. He needed to proceed with caution, although, he had the advantage of being smaller and more nimble than the hydra. This would be perfect practice for teleporting in battle. I can psych it out by charging and then teleport behind it to chop off another head. Releasing his breath, Nick gathered up speed, the hydra taking the bait and charging once more. As he got closer, Nick closed his eyes and focused on the area behind the hydra, watching the beast continue charging away from him. With the distinct pop, he quickly opened his eyes to see the spell had worked. His momentum was carried on as well, bringing him closer to the hydra’s back. The hydra turned around in time right as the blade sliced through one of the remaining heads, a barrage of fireballs added after. Nick was now left with the remaining head, which once severed would leave the body exposed to be completely destroyed. The wolf landed on the ground, the fatigue of levitating for so long wearing on him. He still had enough energy to finish the fight, but he needed to use it wisely. Determined to end this, Nick started off sprinting towards his foe, saving his levitation for an emergency. The hydra swung its tail at the wolf, most likely trying to protect its remaining head. Nick used this to advantage, jumping onto the limb and climbing up the hydra’s back, its scales perfect for his claws to grip onto. The hydra tried shaking him off, both the head and tail flailing to try and knock Nick off. Luckily for him, neither the head nor the tail could reach this far back. The wolf clung tighter, crawling up towards the neck. When the hydra stopped flailing, he knew something was up. Nick felt the hydra start to tilt, trying to crush him with its back. Or was it bluffing, trying to get him to leave his safe zone for it to attack. He decided to take his chances, hoping he had enough energy keep him afloat to deal the finishing blow. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw the tail quickly closing in on his location. Swiftly avoiding the appendage, he charged head on towards the neck, sword out in front . Once he had impaled the side, he ignited the blade and in a single motion, lopped off the remaining head. As he finished off the hydra, Nick felt a surge of energy flow through him. Landing feet away from what was left of the hydra, he took his sword and flung arcs of fire that cut through the body. He threw the sword into the body, which upon impact burst into flame. The flames were soon replaced with light. Just like with the manticore, Nick absorbed the ball of light, feeling stronger but still fatigued. He stared at where the hydra’s body laid. He’d done it. He actually exterminated the last major threat in the Everfree. For some reason, though, he didn’t seem relieved or glad. This just meant that now he had to face the actual leaders of darkness. Discord’s clapping brought the wolf back to reality. “Bravo, bravo! Fantastic performance, Nick my boy,” the spirit cheered, donning a jersey that said “Number one hero” with Nick’s face below the words. “If anypony told me that babysitting you would be so entertaining, I would’ve never complained. Now we head to the major leagues.” “Yeah, we’ll head for Tartarus tomorrow,” Nick stated plainly, heading back to the castle. The sun was setting, and even if he wanted to leave now, it would probably be best to leave with a full day ahead of them. “I’ve got another fight tonight and I want to be as rested as I can. With how hard this one was, I’ll need all my energy.” Today was just getting better and better for Twilight and Luna. They had arrived a few hours ago in the Crystal Empire, were met by a very tired Shining Armor, found out that the baby was a powerful baby alicorn, and now were trying to stop an eternal winter from swallowing the entire empire whole. I sure hope Nick is having a better time with the hydra. Luna thought as she blasted another another wave of snowy clouds. I haven’t sensed the use of our amulet, either meaning he’s fine or didn’t get a chance to use it. No. Nick’s alright. What I need to worry about is if Twilight can find the spell to fix all this mess. Unknown to anypony there, this was merely a trial run for Sombra. To see how powerful he had become. The way Celestia and Luna struggled to keep his endless winter at bay, Nick had given him his strength back. When that wolf fulfills his destiny, all of Equestria shall fall.