A Glimmer of Hope: The Beginning

by Mewrilah

True Colors

Sparky and Moonbutt,

By the time you get this scroll, I’ll already have left the castle to search for the manticore. Well more like confront it. For the past week I’ve been tracking it down, and yesterday I was able to find it’s lair. I will go ahead and say I’m not going to make it to our lesson, as I’m not sure how this will end up. I do know that thanks to both of you, I am ready to face and defeat this menace. I also promise to retreat if things get out of control. I love both of you and will be there tomorrow for our lesson. Wish me luck.

With all my love,

Nick

Twilight had read Nick’s letter over and over again. While she knew this is what she and Luna had been preparing Nick for, she still couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Thankfully Luna had arrived before she could do anything drastic, like chasing after Nick.

“So he’s finally putting his training to use,” Luna replied after reading the note.

“Is that really all you can say?!” Twilight blurted out, her frantic self taking control. “Our wolf-friend is about to face a really dangerous creature, and you’re glad that he’s putting his training to use?!”

“Twilight…” Luna tried to break her marefriend’s train of thought, but was unsuccessful.

“What if he gets so badly injured that he can’t teleport out of there? He’ll be dead and we won’t even know where to look for him.”

“Twilight…”

“Here you are all calm, thinking that Nick’s going to be alright. But what if you’re wrong Luna? What if he’s not ready to face another creature of the Everfree? Do you even care about his wellbeing?”

“Twilight!” Luna had had enough. Of course she was worried about Nick, just the same as Twilight and knew she hadn’t meant what she said. So she could speak, Luna gently sealed Twilight’s muzzle with her magic.

“I am just as concerned as you are about Nick,” she continued, releasing her seal after seeing Twilight was going to hear her out. “However I trust Nick’s judgement. He would not have decided to face the manticore if he thought he didn’t stand a chance. Thinking that he’s going to die is also something you should be ashamed of. He obviously trusted us enough to not lose our composure when he sent you this letter.”

Twilight’s ears folded back. Luna was right. She always seemed to be. Nick knew both of them well enough to know what would have upset them. He was just telling them what he was doing, and that he wasn’t going to be there for his lesson. She started mentally beating herself. She had said hurtful things to Luna, all because she overreacted. She always did that. Whenever something that was in her interests was mentioned, she would always go overboard and ended causing a fuss that didn’t need to be made. As she was berating herself for the outburst, she was engulfed in warmth from her marefriend.

“I’m sorry Luna,” Twilight sobbed into the elder mare’s chest. “I didn’t mean to say that. I hate that I get carried away all the time and stress myself out when it’s not necessary. I’m sorry that I’m being a terrible marefriend.”

“You are not being a terrible marefriend,” Luna replied, stroking the younger alicorn’s mane. “I understand that this is how you display your affection for others. That you want to go above and beyond their expectations to impress them. I used to be that way as well, when I first became an alicorn. However it seemed that no matter what I did, Tia was always better. She didn’t even have to work as hard and still won the love and respect of our subjects. I think it was at that point that I started feeling contempt for everypony, when I became Nightmare Moon.”

There was a moment of silence between them, each reflecting on what had been spoken. After having some time to fully think everything over, Twilight and Luna found themselves gazing into each other’s eyes. Reaching the climax of the feelings each had, their lips touched, the embrace they shared never faltering.

---

As Nick followed the trail of scorched trees, his mind was dangerously wandering. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, he was thinking about Twilight and her reaction to his letter. At the time he sent it, which was too early for him to be thinking, it sounded like a good idea. Let his marefriends know that he was facing his next opponent, even using the pet names he had for them to put his message in a lighter context. Now that he was fully awake, he could only wonder if Luna had arrived quick enough to calm Twilight down.

They’ll be fine Nick. What you really should be worried about is how you are going to defeat this manticore.

Nick had some sort of plan in his head on dealing with the creature. From what he remembered in Greek mythology (something that continued to fascinate him) and what few texts he found in the castle library, he needed to watch out for the manticore’s tail, as it contained a deadly poison. If that wasn’t enough to worry about, the manticore itself was dangerous, having wings which meant it could evade easier and the body of a lion which in itself was self explanatory.

Pretty much dodge and weave until I can find an opening. That shouldn’t be too hard.

It didn’t take long for Nick to reach the eastern part of the forest. Judging by the sun’s position, it was still early in the day, around 8 or 9. Looking ahead, he saw nothing but black, the tree trunks gradually disappearing as they hid deeper in this area.

It’s not too late to turn back, you know. A voice whispered in his ear.

“Wh- who said that?” Nick turned around looking for the source of that voice.

You mean you don’t even recognize your own conscious? the voice mockingly replied. I’m hurt Nick. Why we’ve been through EVERYTHING together.

“I’ve never had my conscious speak to me before,” the wolf replied, playing along to see if he could get more information from his “conscious”.

This is the first time you’ve actually listened, Nick my boy. WE have a lot to talk about, especially now that you got us stuck here. You didn’t even ask me if I was ok with it.

“Well you are MY conscious. You would have been the one to make the final decision in staying. Isn’t that what a conscious is supposed to do?”

I’m so lucky to have a smart wolf to help. Well I would love to chat more, but I have an important meeting to attend. Ta- ta!

“You’re my conscious, how could you have-” Nick trailed off and face-pawed. “This place is getting to me,” he muttered and proceeded deeper into the forest.

Nick immediately noticed something was off after walking a few yards into the dark. Trying to brace himself for the stench of blood, he found that he didn’t need to. He inhaled deeply, putting his nose to use. He detected pine and dirt, but no blood at all.

Was it all my imagination yesterday? No it couldn’t have. You don’t imagine the smell of blood that strong. If I didn’t imagine it, then why can’t I smell it now? I’m sure the manticore didn’t just randomly decide that its territory needed some cleaning up.

Nick continued walking, the lack of light still keeping him on edge. Something was up, that he knew for sure. First his “conscious” had oddly decided to talk to him, now he wasn’t sure if he smelled blood yesterday. He thought that it was bad the timberwolves had cornered him, but at least he knew they were following him. He didn’t know where to even look for the manticore, just that this was the general area of where it could be found.

“What are you doing Nick?” he sighed to himself, taking in his surroundings for the 5th time. “You got all overzealous last night just because of those reports you read about the disappearing guards and their families. Are you even prepared to face the manticore?”

“Face me for what?” a voice called out from behind him.

Nick spun around to see his target just feet away from him. The manticore was bigger than he imagined, nearly twice his size. Slowly, Nick backed away, before tripping over an exposed root. Some hero he was, he didn’t even stand his ground.

“What are you doing in my territory?” the manticore growled, walking towards Nick.

“Stay back you monster!” Nick yelled, quickly getting back up. “I didn’t come all the way out here to become your next snack.”

“Well then you shouldn’t have come here in the first place!” the manticore roared, lunging at Nick.

Without even thinking, Nick used his illumination spell to quickly create a blinding light so he could get out of there.His plan worked as the manticore reeled back, caught off guard by the instant change in brightness. With his distraction successful Nick took off, looking for a clearing so he would have more room to maneuver. The forest seemed never ending, and in fact the farther he went, the thicker the vegetation became.

Just as he was about to give up hope of finding a clearing, he saw a faint light peeking through the tree trunks. Rushing towards the light he found a glade, which had a rocky cave protruding, most likely the manticore’s den. Seeing as he had momentarily lost his foe, Nick quickly scouted his surroundings. There were bones piled near the mouth of the cave, but still no blood scent. While there were no trees in the vicinity, there was still very limited light. In fact looking up he could see the forest forming a canopy that let what looked like moonlight through the branches.

Nick didn’t have much time to ponder the paradox as the manticore burst through the tree line.

“I see you found my den,” the manticore snarled, slowly closing the gap between itself and Nick. “Your bones are going into that pile!”

This time instead of lunging at Nick, the beast thrust its scorpion tail at him. Nick, watching the tail the whole time was able to sidestep it, but didn’t counter. Not yet, he still needed to see the extent of the manticore’s abilities.

“You’re gonna have to be faster than that you brute,” Nick taunted, eyeing the tail once again. “I’m not like most of your prey. If you want to eat me, you need to work a lot harder.”

Again, the manticore thrust its tail at Nick, in which he teleported to the top of the cave entrance.

Let’s see how well those wings work. Thank you Starlight for teaching me that levitation spell.

“Aww, is the poor manticore getting tired of playing with his food?”

“Why don’t you come down here and fight me, you coward?!” his opponent bantered back. “If you didn’t keep your distance, I’d have killed you by now.”

“Is that so? Well if that’s the case, you better get faster if you wanna catch me. Here’s some incentive for you.”

As he finished talking, Nick quickly charging up a fireball, not strong enough to do any real damage, but to where it would sting his opponent a bit. He launched it at the manticore, who tried blocking it with a paw. When it connected with its fur, the manticore vigorously shaking its paw in pain at the burning sensation.

“If you don’t pursue me, then you’ll get more of that,” Nick chuckled, launching another projectile at his foe, who learning from its first mistake decided to dodge. The manticore seemed to take the bait, as it unfurled its wings and charged at Nick.

Perfect. Time to practice my aerial combat.

With that Nick took off from his spot, closing the gap between himself and the manticore.

“Oh now you finally face me you-”

Nick’s paw came into contact with his opponent’s jaw, slightly staggering the beast. Nick narrowly dodged the manticore’s flailing as it recovered.

“You’re going to pay for that wolf.”

Once again the manticore charged at Nick, thrusting its tail at him while slashing its claws. Nick was not able to dodge the onslaught entirely, but took the claws over the tail. The force of impact from the manticore’s claws sent Nick crashing down into the dirt. Just as the manticore was about to slam its tail down on him, Nick teleported away. He appeared right behind the beast, engulfed his paw on fire and made several slashes at the tail. Nick smiled as he heard the manticore moan in pain and watched as the tail fell off, landing with a thud beside him.

“My tail, my tail!” the manticore roared, turning around to face Nick, a look of hatred in its eyes. While Nick was still celebrating the fact that he took out the monster’s main weapon, the manticore swung its paw at Nick, with such a force that Nick was sent flying back into a tree. The impact was hard, causing Nick to almost black out. He could feel some bone breakage, but that feeling was short lived as his body went to work on repairing. When the wolf’s form fell limp at the base of the tree, the manticore smiled, still breathing heavily from the fight.

“I must say wolf, you were a worthy opponent,” it spoke, finally able to catch its breath. “I have never faced such a powerful, annoying foe like yourself. Even though you took off my tail, that is the price to pay for getting such a nice meal. I promised to that yellow pony that I wouldn’t eat any more of her kind after helping me. Unfortunately for you, you’re not a pony.”

The manticore drew closer, licking its lips at the thought of actually eating well for once. It stood over Nick, grinning. What it didn’t notice was that the gem around Nick’s neck had changed from green to red, mostly thanks to Nick hiding it. Just as the beast was about to take a bite, Nick’s eyes flew open, a red light filling his pupils. The manticore had no time to react as a wave of magic exploded from Nick, sending the creature flying and hitting the top of its cave. The impact broke a few bones, and there was blood coming out of its mouth.

“What the-” was all the manticore was able to say before Nick started a flurry of jabs. He didn’t go for the kill. Not when he could torture his “victim” for a few more minutes. An insane amount of magic was flowing through him, making even the more lighter punches send the manticore flying a few feet. Also the smell of blood had spurred this frenzy, and the more that he drew from his target, the stronger the feeling grew. When Nick could smell that the manticore was close to death, the onslaught stopped. He wanted to hear his prey’s last words.

“Wh- what … are, *cough*… you?” it gasped, blood dripping out of its mouth.

By now Nick was standing over his defeated opponent, grinning at the fact that all the hatred in its eyes had been converted into fear. He leaned in close to the manticore’s ear and whispered.

“The Warrior of Hope.”

With that, Nick plunged his jaws at the manticore’s throat, making sure he had a firm grip and snapped it, ending the creature’s life. Nick took a step back from the creature, his rage slowly diminishing. As he finally returned back to his normal self, he was aghast at the scene that lay before him. The manticore lay in a heap, its neck flopped unnaturally, blood spurting and pooling beneath it. He saw his claws had dug deep into its skin, blood oozing out of the wounds as well. To make matters worse, he found the scent that he smelled yesterday, and not only was it just as strong as before, he could taste it in his mouth. The metallic taste caused pain as he tried to spit it out, only to his dismay that wolves couldn’t spit.

Nick stood there, still stunned by the carnage he had wrought. He didn’t have to look at it much longer as the manticore’s body was wrapped in a bright light which condensed into an orb. The orb then flew over to Nick, squeezing into his gem. His gem gave a little flicker of green light and returned to normal. Nick surveyed the scene once again, the only signs of his battle being the pools of blood where the manticore lay along with a suspicious pristine white bone. He walked closer to it and picked. Looking down at his paws, the pure white tainted a crimson red. Deciding that the bone was of significant importance, he placed it inside his satchel before surveying his surroundings again.

“What have I done?”

---

Nick had sat in the tub for at least an hour, draining the water frequently so he didn’t have to be reminded of how much blood he spilled. He was still coming to terms that he had murdered another creature. Yes he had killed the timberwolves but in essence all he did was burn wood. Just now he had killed an actual animal, one that could talk. The creature’s words rang in his ears.

What are you?

The next thought that entered his mind was Luna and Twilight. How would they even react to his outburst? Should he even tell them about it? Are they, or any pony safe from his ‘rage’? Deciding that he had enough of the tub, he drained the water for the last time and dried himself off.

Get a hold of yourself Nick. This is what you agreed to do. This is why you were brought here. You’ll have tougher enemies to face, and it won’t do you any good if you all of a sudden have sympathy for them. You’re the Warrior of Hope, not the Diplomat of Hope. Twilight and Luna don’t need to know all the details, but you will have to tell them something or they will press for information. Right now you need to prepare for tonight’s repeat encounter, who knows what’ll happen then.

Able to accept the fact that he was a killer now, Nick now had the task of finding out exactly what power he had gained from the manticore. The most obvious ability he did not earn was flight, since he hadn’t grown wings since the encounter. He didn’t grow another tail, so no poison.

“I guess I’ll find out tonight,” Nick sighed, finding something to do to pass the time. He could always just meet up with Twilight and Luna, but then they may ask why he decided to show up and although he accepted the fact that he was now a killer, he wasn’t ready to face Twilight and Luna about it. He didn’t feel like practicing any more combat today, in fact tomorrow for their lesson, he’d probably ask Twilight if they could do something romantic, maybe a walk through the park or reading some more of their book.

“That’s it!” Nick smiled, finally finding what he could do. “I’ll just read some of the other books I got. According to Twilight, this Daring Doo series sounds a lot like Indiana Jones. A.K Yearling, heh, if only they knew.”

Pulling out the first book of the series, Nick plopped down on his bed and began reading.

---

Nick had gotten so caught up in his reading that he only stopped when the natural sunlight had started to fade. Stretching his legs, he hopped off the bed and headed towards his kitchen. He started pulling out ingredients, thinking that maybe it would be best to send his loves another scroll to let them know he succeeded. Knowing Twilight, she was probably worried sick about him, maybe even doubting he was ready to face another creature. Naturally he wasn’t offended as he knew that she just cared for him greatly, and that he would feel the same way if she told him she was going somewhere dangerous, even if she was going with her friends.

“Alright I’ll write them a quick letter,” he decided, putting his cooking aside and pulling some parchment out of his bag. “Let them know I was successful and am not hurt and that I will tell them more details tomorrow.”

Satisfied with his outline he set quill to parchment. After a few minutes of perfecting his message as to not be misinterpreted, Nick sent the letter off. He returned back to his cooking and just as he finished plating he got a reply scroll from Twilight. It was the expected reply: both her and Luna were worried about him, how they were glad to hear he was safe and successful and that he needed to promise extra cuddles the next night.

Nick smiled at that last part as he took a bite of his dinner. For being princesses, they sure were really cute. Each of their personalities reminded him of Sabrina, most likely why he fell in love with them in the first place. Sabrina could get pretty serious at times and was always a voice of reason whenever Nick doubted himself, just like Luna. Then there was also the Twilight side of Sabrina, just mentioning a topic she loved led to hours upon hours of discussing said topic, and she was very protective of him, especially when he tried a new activity, like archery.

Nick sent his reply letter, promising the cuddles along with some alone time with each of them, Twilight during the day, and Luna at night. Letting out a yawn, Nick decided to head off to bed early, since he knew he had another encounter with the manticore tonight. Even though he didn’t need it from washing all the manticore’s blood out of his fur, Nick took another bath both out of habit and that he just wanted to soak some more in the soothing warm water. With his body finally relaxed, Nick dried himself off, pulled back the sheets and instantly fell asleep.

---

Twilight had just received the response letter from Nick and was reading it to her marefriend, who couldn’t help but smile as Twilight mentioned the extra alone time for each of them.

“See I told you everything would turn out right,” Luna sighed, leaving her imagination to what Nick had in mind for her.

“Well so far everything is going alright,” Twilight replied, looking at her schedule. “I don’t know when Nick will have to face another creature, but we need to make time to tell Princess Celestia, my parents, Cadence and Shining Armor and the rest of my friends that we are all a herd. The Gala is just a month away.”

“How about a week from now?” Luna suggested. “Tia won’t be as busy then and I think she’s the only one that has constraints. You can invite your parents and friends to the castle and I can get things arranged for Cadence and Shining. We can have lunch and then make our announcement after.”

“What about Nick? Doesn’t he get a say in this?”

“Of course he will, besides he was the one who suggested announcing our herd, and we know everypony’s schedules better. We’ll just tell him tomorrow when we see him. As for tonight, you wouldn’t object to me keeping you company would you? I can be a substitute cuddle buddy.”

Twilight gave Luna a quick peck as her response along with saying, “Yeah, some cuddles sound lovely.”

---

While his marefriends were enjoying each other’s company, Nick was once again facing the manticore. For some reason, the dream manticore was bigger and even more ferocious than before. That being said, Nick was having a harder time landing any blows, mostly being on the defensive.

“Not so powerful in your dreams are you wolf?!” his opponent laughed, making another swing at Nick. “You may removed me from my body, but my spirit is unbreakable.”

I need to think of something quickly. If this keeps up I’m gonna wear myself out. What if he defeats me in my sleep? The Tree never mentioned that happening. It's not like it can be resurrected again, the manticore’s body turned into magic. Wait, what is that dripping off my paws?

Nick had no time to think about the mysterious liquid as the scorpion tail came within inches of his muzzle, snapping him back to this “fight”. Seeing an opening, Nick slashed at the manticore’s side, and expected there to be slight damage once again, as the manticore’s hide had grown thicker. However, when Nick pulled his paw back, he noticed that he had actually drawn blood. Whatever that liquid was, it had given him an advantage over his adversary. Seeing he now had a way to hurt his foe, Nick flung a barrage of magic at the manticore, not to hurt it, but to serve as a distraction. While the manticore was busy blocking his attack, Nick teleported behind him and swiped at the beast’s tail, repeating what he had done before. He didn’t have much time to damage it as it swung towards him, the stinger slightly penetrating into his side.

Nick backed away quickly, but could already feel some of the poison flowing through him. It seemed as the manticore was in the same dilemma, since it didn’t move in to finish him. Fighting through the agonizing pain, Nick took advantage of his opponent’s hesitation and charged at the manticore, igniting his paws and savagely swiping at the manticore.

With one final blow, the manticore let out a pain filled yowl, and started being engulfed by white light. The light again took the form of an orb, but instead of being absorbed by his gem, it spoke to Nick.

“You have done well, Warrior of Hope. It is thanks to this fight that I see your true purpose here in Equestria. You also know how to incorporate my poison into your fighting style, proving that you are well prepared to use it. I know that it is too late, but I want to apologize for my past actions. Those journals you read about the missing guards and their families were all true: I was the cause of their disappearance. I was younger then, which is not even an adequate excuse and fell victim to the rage that you displayed as you finished me off in the Everfree. Therefore I leave you with this warning. While you may think that you are doing the right thing by accepting your fate, know that you always have a choice. These dreams that are troubling you may very well reflect the future, but you can choose how you get there. Farewell, Warrior of Hope. May the light of Harmony guide you.”

The orb gently faded, leaving Nick in the dark once again. He reflected on what the manticore had said, how there was sincere regret and remorsefulness in its tone. Still Nick had done what he needed to do, and now had the manticore’s poison in his arsenal. Speaking of the poison, he noticed the liquid had stopped dripping, but when he thought about using it, the liquid resumed dripping.

“Well that’s a relief,” Nick sighed, “turning off” the poison. “At least I won’t poison everypony I touch, since I actually have to think about the poison to begin with.”

Still Nick couldn’t help but wonder why the manticore decided to support him after its defeat. Maybe it was because Nick had won its respect and thought by giving him some aid in his journey, it could make amends for the wrongs it committed. It had told him that he had a choice, that he could chose how his already decided fate could be turned to his favor. How he could do it was another question.

Author's Note:

HIya guys!

Sorry this is late in posting. The last two weeks were pretty hectic for me. But I guess that's to be expected with school. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter along with the new direction the story is taking. Thank you again for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Comments

[ShadedTz]

Yay!!!!

[ADFX-NightRaven414]

Epic!

[Hidemain]

Interesting so it was the same manticore as the one the books he was reading. That makes me feel a little better along with its capability to speak making fully sentient and aware of its actions. However there is the matter of nick should not have known that this manticore and the one he read about were the same. Still I like the out come and the carnage provided decent character growth. The "rage" in my opinion seemed a bit odd. I would have expected something like this to drive into a full blown animal incapable of speech. However, he retained control of his motor skills the point he could whisper to the manticore so it looks more like a multiple personality than altered state of mind.