A Glimmer of Hope: The Beginning

by Mewrilah

Goodbyes Are Always Hard

Author's Note:

I had a lot of fun working on this, and although that there were rough spots, I wouldn't change the journey we took together. There wouldn't be a story for me to tell without you, the reader, to read it. So I seriously thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy.

“So you and Nick probably learned one of the most important friendship lessons without me,” Twilight teared up, both in pride as well as missing out on such an important moment. Her wolffriend was willing to give a former enemy a chance, and it worked. That he didn’t always resort to violence warmed her heart.

“Yes, but I still don’t like that you let him confront Sombra on his own,” Luna huffed. “Knowing Nick, he was probably discouraged after almost losing to Chrysalis, although no pony would think less of him when he had to work at a disadvantage. That she would use his first love to trick him into forming a herd with us and leech off our love. She’s lucky she’s dead, or else I might have to use Nightmare Moon on her,” she growled.

“Lulu,” Celestia gently berated her sister, although she understood the vexation. She was upset at the queen as well for taking advantage of ponies close to her, and could feel her anger growing as well.

“Not that I would actually revert back to Nightmare Moon. That was just the best hypothetical threat I could think of. Still, Nick has been gone for a week, somewhere in the Frozen North and we’re supposed to just wait for him? He could be held captive or worse.” No Luna. You are not going to give that a second thought.

She looked at all everyone in the room. “He was right here in Canterlot. I knew I felt his presence, but I was trusting him that he would be ok and had a good reason to not come back when he was so close to home.”

“Well if you must know princess, he is on his way home,” Discord announced, pointing to the balcony. On the horizon, Celestia’s day was being quickly blackened out by dark ominous clouds. Wildfires seemed to be popping up in the distance, turning the pitch black sky red and orange.

“Nick’s causing all that?” Twilight gasped in awe, one of the first to rush to the balcony rail. “Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He defeated Sombra but that was the final straw. He couldn’t handle all of that darkness and it overwhelmed him. This is what I was talking about getting ready for something big coming. I hope you all took my warning seriously,” Discord sighed.

Luna was furious again. “THIS IS WHY TWILIGHT AND I SHOULD’VE BEEN WITH NICK DURING ALL OF THIS!! WE COULD’VE-”

Celestia put a hoof into her sister’s mouth. She scowled. “Luna! Now is not the time to be angry. What happened happened, now we need to save Nick from the darkness, not blame Discord for being irresponsible.”

A guard flew to where they all were. “Your highnesses, our scouts have reported that Nick is on his way, and that he wants only all of you to meet him in the plains just outside Canterlot. Shall we assemble the Royal Army?”

Celestia shook her head. “No, make sure all my little ponies are safe. Send some troops to Ponyville and any cities in the immediate area. Help them find shelter in case the fighting breaks out, and make sure that the rest of the guard is prepared for the worst. Thank you for the report.”

“My pleasure, Princess. I’ll pass the message on to the other guards post haste,” he salutes and dives off the balcony, towards the barracks.

Celestia looked to the ponies assembled. Each had a concerned look on their face. She looked back at the approaching darkness. It was familiar, but not in a good way. “Make sure you all are ready for whatever happens,” she announced, before spreading her wings. “Luna and Twilight, would you mind helping me carry our earthbound friends to the fields. It would be safer than just using magic to teleport without fully knowing the situation.”

The other two alicorns nodded and allowed the flightless mares to hop on. The rest followed her off the balcony, flying towards the expansive fields that separated the Crystal Empire and Canterlot. Cadance was somewhat at ease when she still felt the Empire hadn’t fallen and that Flurry Heart was safe. Thorax could sense his friend somewhere on the field, but it was polluted by all the dark magic in the air.

They all landed, everypony looking around for signs of the wolf. Using his emotional senses, Thorax was able to point out the wolf’s silhouette against the smoke.

“He’s over there!”

Twilight and Luna wanted to rush over to him, but Discord halted their progress.

“Move. Out. Of. The. Way. Discord,” Luna growled. “I won’t warn you again.”

“I won’t warn you again princess, while that may look like our wolf, that is in fact not Nick,” Discord replied. “He’s corrupted by darkness, and only the Elements may have the chance to purify him. But I doubt he’s just going to let you blast him with your friendship beam just because you ask nicely.”

“That may be the only thing you got right about me Discord!” “Nick” boomed across the field. “Thinking I could handle all that darkness by myself? You should’ve known I was weak and couldn’t handle such a task. I didn’t ask for this! I just wanted to make love to my two mares!”

Twilight and Luna blushed at the comment. Nick wouldn’t talk like that, but it had to be him. As they focused on him, they could only feel the dark energy of villains they faced in the past. His eyes glowed red, and the gem around his neck matched his eyes. As he moved closer to them, they could make out a maniacal grin.

“Hello girls, miss me?” he licked his lips, several feet away now. “I sure missed the both of you.”

“Snap out of it Nick!” Twilight pleaded to him. “This isn’t you! We can help you get rid of all that darkness and you’ll be back to your good old self. The Nick we loved!”

“That Nick was doomed ever since he arrived here!” he loathed. “He tried to be good, but it was getting him nowhere. Now he has all the power he could want! And why does being possessed by darkness have to be bad? That just means he can now have a say in it! Discord was born from the darkness, yet you allow him to roam free. It is possible for darkness and harmony to coincide!”

Celestia and Luna shook their heads. Their thousand years of rule had shown just the opposite. Before they even ascended, when chaos and darkness reigned, they felt the suffering, despair and pain. As much as it pained Luna to do so, she couldn’t let Nick continue on.

“That’s so typical of you Sombra!” Luna yelled back at the wolf. “My sister and I took away your power and now you’re trying to take away the wolf I love! I WON’T LET YOU!!”

“Nick” just let out a bellowing laugh. “That weak pathetic tyrant? He just sat by as I ripped off his horn and gave it to Nick. He destroyed it, and I was able to take control. But if you want to see Sombra, here you go.”

A clone of Nick broke off the main one, and began casting red magic. His horseshoes were the first to materialize, the shiny metal plating reflecting the light of the fire behind him. His body along with his cape and chestplate were the next things to materialize. Finally his head, the glowing green eyes and red pupils, crown and midnight black mane appeared.

“Hello everypony,” he winked at Luna and Celestia. “I’m back.”

The sisters sneered at the King of Tyranny while most everypony else was shocked at his return.

“But he’s not the only foe that’s dying to see you,” the wolf laughed, creating two more clones. Sombra stayed in the middle. To his left, the clone took the form of Chrysalis while the clone on the right transformed into Tirek at his strongest form.

“Hi Shining,” Chrysalis winked. “How’s this prissy, pink excuse of a wife been treating you?”

Tirek laughed maniacally. “I knew Nick had it in him! Oh how much fun I’m going to have exacting my revenge on all of you!”

“Well I’m glad I was right about this happening,” Discord casually said, whistling and snapping his fingers. Cerberus came bounding from the south while Thorax’s army appeared behind their leader. Chrysalis’ horn began to glow and shot up a beacon. Those loyal to her rushed to her side, thanks to the possessed Nick’s preemptive planning. “Now this will be exciting to watch!” the draconequus summoned a cloud and hopped on, rising above the battlefield.

“Discord!” Twilight yelled at him. “Just use your magic and make this all end! After all aren’t you the spirit of chaos, with powerful magic?!? Where anything you want can come true with a snap of your talons?”

Discord sighed. “Then that would be unfair Twilight. We wouldn’t want to join these baddies rand cheat, would we? Time to test the Magic of Friendship, right?!”

The purple alicorn rolled her eyes and turned back to Nick and the villains assembled.

“Since I’m in such a good mood, I’ll give you a few moments to prepare your best plan,” Nick stretched. “We’ll win anyway, after all, to defeat me you have to kill me.”

“YOU LIE!” Luna cried out. “WE CAN DEFEAT YOU AND STILL SAVE NICK!” She turned to her marefriend. “Do you have any ideas Twilight?”

“Well, thanks to Discord we’re more prepared than we originally would have been. Thorax, obviously you and the changelings will take Chrysalis. I’m so glad that it is easier to distinguish our changeling allies from Chrysalis’ army. Shining and Cadance do you want to face her or Sombra? They’ve both made your lives miserable.”

The couple looked to each other and nodded. “I’m gonna make that bitch pay for impersonating me!” Cadance vowed.

“Sombra took away my magic last time we faced off. I think it’s time I repaid the favor,” Shining cracked his hooves. Celestia and Luna stepped forward.

“We’ll assist you Shining Armor,” Luna spoke. “As much as I want to help Nick, I think only the Elements of Harmony will be able to save him.”

Twilight nodded, and looked to Starlight and Cerberus. “Can both of you handle Tirek?”

The pony and three headed dog looked to each other and nodded. Now that everypony had a role they reassembled and faced the villains again.

Nick laughed. “Well try your best everypony! The future of Equestria and your wolffriend’s life is at stake!” He gave the order and all the villains charged ahead. Twilight and her friends went after Nick, the other assigned ponies clashed with their respective villain.

Cerberus charged Tirek while Starlight provided cover. Thanks to all the darkness Nick absorbed, each villain was at their full strength, even if they were sharing the dark magic by being a clone. The centaur threw the mythical dog to the side just in time to intercept Starlight’s magic. They struggled back and forth for control, with Tirek grunting and placing all his power into it and knocked the mare back several yards.

Cadance and Thorax weren’t faring any better. The armies fighting amongst themselves, the two tried their best to overpower the Queen. She created her own clone and was able to take each opponent one on one. Thorax chose more physical attacks, swooping and swerving, trying his best to weaken his mother. Cadance stuck with her magic, only a few of her blasts actually making direct contact but not enough to seriously injure the queen.

The Royal Sisters and Shining Armor figured their combined force would easily put down the king so they could assist the others, but because he was the first clone to divide, he was able to take more power. His experience of losing to the sisters before only pushed him further to make sure history wasn’t repeated. His magic was enough to match theirs and overpower them.

“Nick! Please stop all this!” Twilight called out to her wolffriend, who didn’t move, just laughing aloud. She was trying to reason with him, but also buying time for her friends to get ready. “It’s not too late, we can still fix this!” She started tearing up, “Don’t force me to destroy you.”

Nick let out another burst of laughter, which surprised Twilight and her friends. “You seriously think that your Friendship magic is going to defeat me? Come now Sparky, you’re smarter than that. How about you just make it easier for yourself and be my little wife? Convince Luna as well, would hate to break up the herd right? I’d make sure you’re well taken care of.”

This definitely wasn’t the wolf she fell in love with. However she could still feel good in him, despite all the darkness that surrounded him. She and her friends just needed to help uncover it under all that darkness.

“No Nick, I cannot allow you to do that,” she wiped her tears, her friends huddling close around her. “Thanks to Starlight I’ve seen what Equestria would look like if darkness were to reign. As long as I live and breathe, I will make sure that never happens.” She paused. “Even if that means stopping you.”

Nick looked at her with curiosity. “Very well,” he stretched. “Give me your best shot!” He started charging at the mares.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight looked to her friends who nodded, and they all began to channel their Elements. They levitated off the ground, surrounded by the swirling colors of their coats. Since she already gave her warning to Nick, there wasn’t a need for another speech. Guiding their magic, she shot it at the running wolf. The blast struck hard, creating a crater where it impacted. But there was no sign of the wolf.

Her heart sank, until she heard laughter from behind them.

“You should see your faces!” Nick chuckled as he floated on his back. “Oh just one blast of our magic should do the trick! Please, I’ve been in Equestria long before Celestia or Luna were even born! I know what the Tree of Harmony is capable of, what your magic can do. You can’t just go Friendship! and all your problems are solved, not with me at least. I’m in a different league from any of the villains you faced. I even posed as your wolffriend’s brother to try and trick him and it worked, with a little mind control!”

Twilight gritted her teeth. She knew that this couldn’t be Nick. So this was some ancient darkness, something that gave rise to all these villains. “So who are you then?!”

“You’ve heard my name before, but probably not in its original form. I am Phobetor! God of Nightmares!” he announced, lightning filling the skies. “And if you thought Nightmare Moon was bad, then wait until you see what I have in store for you. Any fear has my name in it for a reason.”

He blasted a beam of darkness at them, which the mares were partly protected by the friendship magic surrounding them, however they could feel themselves being pushed back, something that didn’t even happen when they faced off against Tirek. They fired back at him and were able to get some leeway, but they were slowly being pushed back.

“What’s happening Twi!?” Applejack asked startled.

“His magic is too strong! This is nothing like Tirek’s magic when he blasted us with all the alicorn magic! Stay close girls, we’re going to have to flank him!”

Phobetor let out a laugh and began chasing them through the skies. Streaks of black and rainbow magic illuminated the battles below. Luna, Celestia and Shining were trying to create a plan to sneak up on Sombra.

“How did we not know that there was an actual god amongst us and that he was the source of all this evil?” Celestia asked her sister as they flew towards the mad king. “Could he have been the one to have tried to create Nightmare Moon?”

Luna considered it but shook her head. “No I refuse to be linked to that-that despicable thing. I am at fault for the creation of the Nightmare. And now he has taken Nick. I will not stop until Nick is free and that god is destroyed! I don’t care what it takes!”

“Um princesses, can we focus now on the battle at hand?” Shining worried as he was galloping towards the king, throwing up a shield to block dark magic coming his way. “Do we even have a chance when Twily and her friends can’t even beat the main villain?”

“They’ll figure out a way Shining Armor,” Luna replied, looking to her marefriend and her friends. “They always do.”

Cadance and Thorax were fighting a losing battle against Chrysalis and her changelings. Most of Thorax’s army had been taken out, the queen taking prisoners for special processing. The two were now fighting her horde while she took some time to recover, dissolving her clone.

“Is Nick truly gone Thorax?” Cadance grunted, blasting off what seemed like endless waves of evil bug ponies. “I can’t even detect his love from that Phobetor god thing.”

“I can’t feel him either princess, but we can’t give up on Nick. He was there for me, and I’ll keep fighting for him until I breathe my last breath.”

Cadance felt a new surge of energy fill the reformed changeling and smiled. If her sister in-law had taught her anything, it’s that friends are worth fighting for and from her own experience, love was just as priceless. She was fighting for Twilight’s and Luna’s special somepony, and her friend. Not only that, she was fighting her her foal back home in the Crystal Empire. They couldn’t lose, not with those stakes.

“How are you doing Cerberus!?” Starlight called out as she took some time to recover. The dog grunted in frustration as he again tried to physically overpower Tirek. Starlight couldn’t get too close to the centaur or else he’d be able to drain her magic. She looked to the other battles taking place and was distraught. They didn’t seem to be gaining the upper hand, in fact they were slowly getting beat back. She turned to Twilight and her friends, the most powerful ponies in Equestria. Whatever this Phobetor thing was, he was keeping them on the defensive.

Starlight was brought back to the battle when she heard Cerberus howl in pain. Tirek had made a rather deep gash with his horns and flung the dog back towards her. She rushed over to render any magical aid she could. If only Nick were here, they’d probably have a better chance.

Discord frowned at the scene playing out before him. He’d figure even without Nick they’d be able to put up a fight, they did in all those other realities. It was here that the human was the one that betrayed them, consumed by their greed or lust for power. Maybe he needed to activate his emergency plan.

With a snap of his fingers he disappeared out of sight.

---

Inside “Nick’s” head.

Nick watched helplessly as the battle unfolded before him. Once he realized he had been tricked it was far too late, “Aiden” or now as he discovered, Phobetor, had complete control. He had tried to break free but nothing worked. And while he had complete control, the God of Nightmare’s decided to let him watch this very real one he created. He was a failure and Discord was probably already in the next alternate universe by now.

“You really thought I’d just give up on you Nick? That really hurts, you know. I really do like you.”

Nick turned around to see the draconequus, in the flesh. To make sure this wasn’t a trick he reached out and touched him. Discord just giggled.

“Of course it’s me silly! Stupid sexy Thorax!”

Nick smiled at the welcome sight of a friend. “B-but how!?! I thought that Phobetor had total control??”

“Well if I had accompanied you, he’d know you had a chance. So just like I’ve been doing for the past few days, I possessed you first! If I told you, then the god would’ve kicked me out! But that being said I only have a bit of time here before he finds out. Why are you just giving up? You’re marefriends need you. Everypony needs you.”

Nick was silent, the only sounds were the battle “outside”. “I. Failed.” he whispered after several minutes of silence. “Why would they need me? To make more of a mess? Why didn’t you tell me this would happen!?”

Discord clicked his tongue. “It’s not entirely your fault Nick. He tricked you, just like he did with the other heroes. I didn’t tell you because you he wouldn’t have gone as easy on you if you knew what he was up to. You’re still different than the others, they felt no remorse, they became Phobetor. So afraid of the nightmare he created they didn’t want to take responsibility. He’s only possessing your body, your spirit is still here, else we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“But I tried breaking free of his bonds, he’s just too strong with all the darkness I absorbed! My “light” isn’t enough to overcome it!”

“Then don’t use it,” Discord patiently replied.

“What!?”

“Don’t use the “light”. Just because it’s technically the opposite of the darkness doesn’t mean that’s the solution. Twilight and her friends have Friendship magic but that alone isn’t enough to defeat Phobetor, you can see how the battle is turning out yourself. You have both dark and light magic, no one else here does. Use it to your advantage.”

“How does that make any sense? I can only use one at a time. And if using light magic won’t work, how will dark magic help? We’ve seen him just absorb it.”

“Not if you find the right balance Nick. Trust me when I say you can do this! Live up to your title: Element of Hope! All those ponies out there believe you’re going to come back and save the day! Don’t let them down!”

Nick thought a while before nodding. Now wasn’t the time to feel sorry for himself. He was still there, so this fight wasn’t over.

“Alright then!” Discord stretched. “This is literally the last time I can help you out. How this story ends is up to you, Nick.” He turned to leave.

“Wait Discord!”

“I can’t-” he was cut off by the wolf hugging him. “W-what’s this for?”

“For giving me this second chance and being my friend,” he smiled. “I’m gonna miss you.”

Discord hugged the wolf back before shaking his head. “You haven’t died yet, so don’t start acting like this now. Jeesh getting something in my eye,” pulls out a teardrop the size of Nick. “Now go get that blasphemous god!” Walked towards an exit sign he created before pausing and turning back to the wolf. “Alex is proud of what you’ve become Nick.” He then left in a doorway of white light that closed behind him.

“Just another one of his random quips,” Nick chuckled to himself and turned back to the battle. It sure wasn’t looking good for his marefriends and everypony else.

Currently, “he” was dog fighting with Twilight and her friends, now that he was more focused on the fight he could actually feel the blasts of dark magic. Right now the Elements were on the defensive, firing blasts of magic to increase the distance.

If I could force my way into one of those blasts, that could end the battle right there! Nick exclaimed and focused on trying to take his body back. He could feel the darkness slipping back into him, cruel, evil thoughts filling his mind. It was working! Phobetor didn’t seem to notice him taking some control back, too focused on his current target.

Alright girls, fire your best shot! I may have only one shot at this!

Another blast from the god and they retaliated. Grinning, Nick put all his might into controlling his body for just a split second. After finally accepting all the darkness, that access was granted. Instead of rolling away to dodge it, he flew head on.

The initial blast was intense, throwing Nick back out of control and into his head. He actually felt … rejuvenated. He could see the amazement on Twilight’s face as well, in fact the entire battle seemed to have paused, everypony shock that the god had been fazed. Or so they thought.

“Ha! Hahahaha! As long as your precious Nick is still under my control, your magic is useless! Afterall he’s an Element as well,” Phobetor grinned and blasted Twilight and her friends out of the sky. The other villains took advantage of this upset and rounded up the battered ponies. With the Chrysalis’ army ensuring no escape, Phobetor joined the rest of the villains on the ground. Twilight and her friends were slowly getting up, everypony tending to their injuries while they awaited for the god to speak. Instead of annoyance though, Phobetor was laughing.

“I’ve got to admit it to you Twilight and Luna, you picked a strong one here. Didn’t think Nick had that in him, but it looks like he’s been put back into submission. That’s enough playing around, surrender or else you die!”

“I’d rather die than live in a world where you were in charge!” Twilight spat blood, weakly getting to her hooves. “Nick was able to take control once, he’ll be able to do it again!”

Twilight, no. That’s not your fate. You’re supposed to teach ponies about friendship, not die for me. Come on Nick! You’ve got to get out of here!

Luna joined her battered marefriend, extending her badly bruised wing over her. “And if you have to kill her you’re going through me! I will never give up on Nick!”

Luna too? No. This isn’t how it’s supposed to end. Dammit!

The god slapped Luna away, sending her flying a few feet before slamming into the ground. She let out a cry of pain, seeing stars, and not in a good way. She was still conscious though and slowly opened her eyes.

“LUNA!” Twilight tried to rush to her fallen marefriend but Phobetor grabbed her in his magic and raised her above his head. She struggled but his magic was too strong.

“Perhaps I need to make an example of the both of you,” the god leered at her. “Extinguishing an Element of Harmony and one of the Royal Sisters. Yes, that’s perfect!”

Nick’s fear was quickly turning into rage. He was sitting idly by while this demonic god was about to take away his marefriends. Discord’s words echoed Don’t use the light. A plan had formed.

Phobetor grinned as he watched the alicorn struggled in his grasp. Her death should put an end to any resistance from that pathetic human. He lifted his paw, full of dark energy. If he was able to snuff out the light, then no one in this world would dare oppose him. He brought a claw to her cheek, drawing it along her jawline.

“Such a shame you decided to oppose me Twilight. I can see what Nick saw in you, all that goodness and purity. It disgusts me. Hopefully you’re friends learn from your mistake.”

He brought his paw back, aimed at her heart and shot it forward. Twilight closed her eyes in what was to come but opened immediately when she heard him yell out.

“NOO!”

She looked at her assailant and his paw was stuck midair, shaking. However it wasn’t just Phobetor she was looking at. The side that was connected to the paw had a familiar brown eye and smiled at her. He then frowned in an effort to bring the paw slowly down. It was almost like a match of hoof wrestling, the paw inching closer to her but then pulling away. She could feel the magic holding her also losing its strength. She still couldn’t break free though.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!!!” Nick yelled. As he did, a mix of red and green magic began to split the wolf. “I WILL NO LONGER LET YOU CONTROL ME!!”

With that he split into two, a blast of magic shooting out. It knocked down all the villains and rejuvenated the ponies. Twilight was also released and landed on her hooves, Luna trotted up to her and hugged her. They both looked to the two wolves, the wolf on their left glowing green and the one on the right red.

“H-how did you break free!?!” Phobetor asked in disbelief. “I had total control!!”

“That’s what you thought, and that’s why I was able to break free,” Nick smirked, looking to his marefriends. “You shouldn’t have threatened them you fiend. You just gave me more reason to fight back, and now I’m not stopping until you’re dead. Twilight, Luna reassemble everypony to knock back the other villains, I’ll take care of this one.”

Both nodded and joined the now second winded ponies. Applejack and Fluttershy would join Cerberus and Starlight against Tirek, Twilight and Pinkie Pie would join Luna, Celestia and Shining against Sombra, and Rainbow Dash and Rarity would help Cadance and Thorax take down Chrysalis.

Phobetor and Nick circled, both waiting for the other to make the first move.

“I should actually be glad that you broke free, Nick,” he snickered. “Now this fight is more even, though the darkness will win in the end! Your light can’t hurt me!”

“That’s because I was still in you,” Nick replied. “And I don’t need to just use one type of magic.” He started to glow red. “I’m human, we get a choice on what we become!”

The god yelled out and shot a beam of magic at Nick, who stood his ground. He felt it hit him, but it didn’t cause any pain. In fact he didn’t notice much other than the “feeling” of impact, perhaps because it was cycling between the two, not really hurting him. He grinned that he was now untouchable by him.

“So what do we do now? Continue blasting each other till one gives in?” Phobetor growled in frustration.

“No,” Nick changed back to normal. “I. Kill. You.” He blasted the god with the Friendship magic he absorbed and watched as Phobetor stagger back, in grueling pain as Nick felt it as well and dropped to a kneel as well. This was how it had to end.

The clones also seemed to suffer as well, leaving gaps in their defenses. The ponies took advantage of that, going on the offensive. Even in pairs, the Elements were able to use lighter friendship attacks.

Fluttershy was able to coordinate attacks better with Cerberus. He and Applejack focused on taking out the centaur’s legs while she and Starlight drew his magic away. With a concerted applebuck and swipe at Tirek’s front legs, they felled him. Quickly using their magic, Fluttershy and Applejack zapped the red centaur, who turned into a ball of black magic and was reabsorbed back into Phobetor.

The god and Nick were in mid combat before they felt the effects of the downed clone, a sharp pain filling them from all the bruising the clone had suffered. Knowing they wanted to help him, Nick waved them off.

“Go help the others! I’m fine!” he lied.

Nodding, they joined the larger battle of the changelings, Nick’s regenerative blast affecting Thorax’s weakened changelings as well. With now Fluttershy and Applejack to help Rarity and Rainbow Dash, their Friendship magic grew with strength. They were able to blast off waves of changelings, allowing the remaining reformed ones to take care of the rest. They focused their attentions to Chrysalis herself.

“Fools!” she cried out, horn glowing as she charged up a spell. “As long as one changeling remains, my legacy will live on!”

“Then we’ll just have to make sure there are none left!” Cadance growled and ignited her own horn. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack also took formation and combining the two magics blasted Chrysalis and all her changelings into black magic that was also absorbed into Phobetor.

Sombra growled. This wasn’t supposed to be happening! Phobetor had told him once Nick was subdued that there would be no more Elements, no more light. They’d rule without any worry about being kicked out of power. He needed to save his magic again, so that at least he could come back once the wolf was dead.

“Not so fast Sombra!” Twilight called out, everypony now surrounding him. “We’re not going to make the same mistake by letting you hide your magic again.”

They all blasted him with their combined magic making sure he was converted back into dark energy and reabsorbed into Phobetor. Both he and Nick recoiled once again, this time knocking them both of their paws. It affected Phobetor more than Nick as the wolf wasn’t dependent on the darkness. He was able to recover quicker, everypony rushing over to him.

“I-I’m fine,” he panted, getting back up. “It’s just because he’s connected to me. I’m going to try and subdue him but I may need you to blast me with your magic.”

“WHAT?!?!” they all exclaimed.

“Are you out of your mind Nick?!?” Luna looked him in the eye. “How could you say that after everything we’ve done so far?!”

“Well currently he holds all the dark magic I absorbed and more,” Nick hugged her, this would probably be the last time. “I was able to absorb the Elements’ blast and break free. Now I’ll need their power if we truly want to destroy him.”

“B-but I don’t want to hurt you Nick,” Twilight joined the hug, tears streaming down her eyes.

He stroked her mane. “Hey, hey,” he tilted her head up, wiping away the tears. “Neither one of you could ever hurt me. Me not doing this would be hurting you. This is what I was sent here for, why I met the both of you, why I had to go out on my own for this exact moment. If you don’t give me the magic you and your friends possess, he could overpower me again, and we may not get a second chance. You both have to be strong for me ok?”

They looked at him and each other and then nodded. He kissed both of them goodbye, although they didn’t know it.

“You better come back to us!” Luna cried out as he stepped towards the god.

He acted like he couldn’t hear her. This was already hard enough without making another promise he would break.

The god looked up to him as he staggered off the ground. “Of all the heroes that the Tree brought against me, you’ve been my most worthy foe Nick. You should feel honored.”

“I am, because I know that I’ll be the last one to face you,” Nick grimaced at him.

“Is that so? You’re willing to leave all this behind? To lose everything once again?” his eyes began to flicker. Nick was having none of that and grabbed him by the throat, raising him above his head.

“If it means they won’t have to, then yes.” He threw the villain up into the air and flew directly towards him, slashing at him in the gut. He felt it as well but ignored the pain. He then blasted him higher in the air with his light magic but lost some altitude as well. The god recovered and sped towards the defenseless wolf, making contact and driving him into the ground. Both started bleeding, their regenerative magic failing from taking too much damage at once.

They emerged from opposite sides of the crater, both looking horrendous. Fur matted with blood, grimacing at the pain they inflicted on each other. It seemed to be a bloody draw.

“So what do you propose Nick!? We continue fighting forever?”

“No. Twilight. Now!”

Her friends looked to her just to make sure she was ok with this. She let out her previously held breath from watching them fight and nodded. They started to float into the air, their magic activating. As they did so, Nick, with all the strength he could muster charged at the god. The beam hit him as he reached Phobetor and that’s all he needed. He could continue absorbing their magic now that he had a connection.

He grabbed the god and jumped up straight into the air, not wanting the blast to affect anypony else except him and Phobetor. He felt strength fill him, the god’s struggling growing weaker and weaker.

“Fool! You’ll kill us both with the amount of magic you’re absorbing!” Phobetor cried out.

“Exactly,” Nick calmly replied.

“Twilight darling? Why can’t we stop using our magic?” Rarity worried, looking at how much they were blasting Nick.

Twilight had noticed it too. “I’m not sure why Rarity. It’s almost like Nick is just absorbing it purposely. The weird part is, I’m not feeling any drain on my own magic. What is he up to?”

Nick began to feel warm, realizing he probably now had crossed the safety threshold. He continued ascending, the ponies on the ground growing tinier and tinier. It soon became unbearably hot, he could hear his gem strain against all the magic it was holding.

“Goodbye girls,” he closed his eyes. He heard the gem shatter and Phobetor howl in pain. He felt his darkness return to him and that was it. From the ground everypony watched as a ball of light encompassed both wolves and then exploded out into a ring. The dark clouds that were brought by Phobetor dissipated, clearing the way for lighter, cloudy skies.

Twilight and Luna scanned them for any signs of the wolf and saw a dark speck plummeting down. They both raced up to it and confirmed it was their wolffriend, badly battered, his necklace surviving the explosion but the gem only had fragments left at best. They both caught him and gently carried him to the ground. He was still alive, by the weakened breaths he took, but he was still unconscious.

“No. No no no no!” Luna stamped her hoof. “This isn’t supposed to be happening!”

“Luna wait, let me try to heal him,” Twilight lit up her horn and focused her magic, only to receive a rather nasty shock. “What in Tartarus?!”

Nick also felt the pain, stirring out of his unconsciousness. He slowly opened his eyes to see everypony around him. “W-what happened? Is-is he gone?”

Discord popped into view. “Yes he is Nick. You did it! I knew you could. Everything went splendidly!”

Twilight and Luna looked at the draconequus before looking down to Nick. “You knew this was going to happen?”

Nick nodded, which hurt like Tartarus. “I knew from the moment I met with the Tree of Harmony. I couldn’t have told you because then none of this would’ve happened.”

Luna shook her head. “No! There had to be another way. We could’ve extracted all the darkness from you and destroyed it that way. You are not evil!”

Nick lightly smiled but sighed, bringing a paw to her tear moistened cheek. “No Luna. Any other way would have led to Phobetor winning. Humans, we can be evil, but we can also be good, ultimately we have to make a choice. I could’ve chosen to find another way, but you saw what happened before I ‘broke’ free. That’s when I decided I had to save you all, with a bit of help from Discord.”

“W-well if magic can’t save you, then we need to get you to the hospital!” Twilight touched his paw and lit up her horn. He moved his paw though, placing it on her withers.

“Twilight, there’s nothing that can be done. I can already feel my body shutting down. Let’s just please make these last moments enjoyable.” He looked to both of them. “I’m sorry I wasn’t honest about all of this or that I just left on my own. I figured I could avoid all of this but it only ended up hurting you more. I tried to avoid getting into a relationship and-”

They both put a hoof to his muzzle. Although they didn’t want to admit it, he was right. Looking at his battle torn body signaled he couldn’t make it in time. They might as well make his passing more comfortable. They laid down with their wolf, gently leaning against him for comfort. “If there’s one thing I wouldn’t change about all of this Nick, it was getting to meet you,” Twilight gave him a bittersweet smile.

Luna nodded. “Our time together has been nothing but enjoyable.”

He smiled. Thorax came up this his dying friend, tears in his eyes as well. His usually colorful carapace replaced by darkened hues. Twilight and Luna made room for the changeling.

Instead of talking, he just hugged the wounded wolf. They were closely connected that words were not needed. Nick used his paw to rub his friend’s back. Discord, although thinking he was ready for this, couldn’t even look at Nick, Fluttershy trying her best to console her friend.

“I’m sorry I brought this fate upon you Nick,” Celestia kneeled down next to Twilight and Luna.

The wolf smiled and shook his head. “If I had to, I’d do it all over again Princess.” He looked to his mares. “I love you Twilight and Luna.” He closed his eyes for the last time.

The mares held the now dead wolf in their hooves, letting out loud sobs and curses. While they did so, they barely noticed Nick’s body becoming lighter. Through tear blurred eyes, they watched as his body began to be wrapped in light, lifting away from them and forming a bright green orb. It hovered for a few seconds before slowly drifting away towards the Everfree Forest.

Wiping away the tears and helped up by their friends, they all follow the light into the forest. As they walked, Twilight and her friends noticed how, different, the forest had become. The plant life continued to grow without restraint, but it felt less, dangerous. They then realized that Nick had taken care of most of the major threats in the forest: Timberwolves, Manticore, and even the Hydra.

The light led them to the castle ruins and down into the gorge that housed the Tree of Harmony.
They all gathered around as the orb floated above them, then it was absorbed by the Tree itself. Light radiated through it and flowed down to its roots. The ground started to shake and the ponies felt themselves being lifted upward. The walls of the chasm seemed to be moving down and looking up the sky grew closer and closer.

Nopony knew what was happening, but eventually the Tree stopped once they were back at “ground” level, the gorge separating the Castle of the Two Sisters and the rest of the Everfree Forest no longer. Everypony looked around, astonished at what happened. The Tree glowed once more and another ball of light began to form, this time taking the shape of a wolf.

Twilight and Luna waited on baited breath. Maybe like their own ascension, Nick would undergo one of his own. The shape began to take more defined form standing firm and looking straight ahead. In a flash of blinding light they heard a soft thud. Quickly opening their eyes they didn’t see any sign of their wolffriend, that is until a glimmer of sunlight caught their attention.

A crystal statue, similar to that of Twilight’s castle and the Tree of Harmony itself was erected. It was fairly large in comparison to the Tree, almost the size of a small house. Nick was posing, appearing in mid stride and observing his surroundings. They stepped closer to him and found writing on the platform he stood.

Nick, Element of Hope and Savior of Equestria.

Luna and Twilight fell into each others hooves. Their loving wolf was really gone.

Comments

[Efadd]

Noooooooooooo! Why????????? Welp, there are 3 more chapters. Time to see what happens!

[XzareAce]

that was a really good ending... who says a good ending has to be a happy one?