“Here you go, girls!” Twilight Sparkle waved a hoof as she showed her favorite trio of fillies into the library of her new castle. “Though I still don’t know why you want to learn about Wereponies of all things.”
“They’re called ‘Equiwolves,’ Twilight! Everyone knows that,” Sweetie Belle said with a scoff as she and her friends walked through the large decorative doors into the spacious library.
“Who told you that?” asked Twilight, an eyebrow raised.
Applebloom answered the question. “Zecora, of course! She knows everything about all the monsters in the Everfree Forest!”
“There are Wereponies in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked, but the Crusaders had already taken off to search the bookshelves for monster lore.
After a few seconds of chaotic rifling through her beloved books, three fillies’ heads poked around a shelf, and Scootaloo voiced a question. “Uh, Twilight? Where are your books on Equiwolves?”
Twilight smiled before opening her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, Spike kicked open the doors to the library, a stack of letters and a newspaper in his claws, and answered the question for her.
“Try Amazing Animals and Where They Live by Pith Helmet. It’s three bookcases from the back wall, top shelf.”
“Thanks, Spike!” the fillies sang in unison, then ducked back around the shelf to find the book they wanted.
Twilight turned away from the sight to smile at her faithful assistant. “Sounds like you’ve been working hard to get to know the new library.”
Spike smiled and blushed as he shifted the load he was carrying to one arm so he could buff his claws against his chest. “Heh heh, yeah, well. I figured that now you’re not just a librarian anymore, I could take some of the work off of your hooves and help out a little more than I did before. After all, you’ve got more important things to worry about now!”
Twilight humbled him a bit by rubbing his head with a hoof. “Thanks for the concern, Spike, but I can still make time to manage my own personal library. Is that the Sunday paper?”
“It sure is! And don’t you worry about all this other stuff. I can handle it for you!” Spike said with wide, hopeful eyes.
Twilight cast a suspicious glance at the mail in the young dragon’s arms and thought she saw the ribbon of a Royal Seal poking out of the stack.
“That’s okay, Spike. I’ll take care of it myself. Thanks for offering, though. Why don’t you go help the girls with their research?” Twilight suggested as she floated the paper and the mail away from her over-eager assistant with her magic. “It sounds like they still haven’t found Amazing Animals and Where They Live.”
Spike looked over his shoulder in the direction of the Crusaders, and hoped that whatever they were up to wasn't as bad as it sounded. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Do you want anything else? Tea? Daffodil sandwiches?”
Twilight smiled wider at him and held up her newspaper. “I’ll be okay, Spike. I’ve got my crossword. You go have fun with the girls.”
With a final salute, Spike turned and jogged down the aisles toward the commotion in the back of the library. Twilight giggled a bit, then took her copy of this morning’s Ponyville Express over to a reading table and opened it up to the puzzles and games section.
“Let’s see... one across, ‘Brown-nosing.’ Nine letters. Hmm… maybe, ‘pandering’?”
Twilight thought about that for a moment, then inked it in with a grin.
“Ah found it!” Apple Bloom declared in excitement. Two other fillies and a small dragon zoomed to her side to look at the page she had open in Amazing Animals and Where They Live, as she began to read out loud:
“'The Werepony, Equinewolf, Equiwolf, or as it is sometimes known collo… colloq…’”
“Colloquially!” Sweetie Belle chimed in helpfully.
“Do y’ever not do that?” asked Applebloom, with a little scowl at the interruption. Sweetie Belle returned the look with a sullen frown.
“...Anyway,” Scootaloo spoke upafter an awkward pause. “What else does it say?”
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle glanced at each other before Applebloom cleared her throat and picked up where she left off:
“‘...Colloqua’lly as “Echowolf,” is a lu-peen-’”
“Lu-pine!”
Applebloom shot the equine dictionary another warning look, and Sweetie Belle gave her a little apologetic smile. Applebloom continued:
“‘...Lu-pine magical... car-ni-vore which inhabits the deepest magical forests of Equestria, most not-a-bly the infamous Everfree. Its name is derived from the ancient Equestrian superstition that all Wereponies are in fact normal ponies that have gone through a magical or puh-seudo-’” –Sweetie Belle winced– “'magical transformation and lost all memories of their past selves.’”
“Whoa!” Scootaloo exclaimed, causing Applebloom to look up. “Equiwolves are ponies? How cool is that!”
“Do you think Zecora could take us to meet one?” Sweetie Belle asked with a wide-eyed grin. Spike was quickly becoming concerned with this line of thought.
“What d’we need Zecora for, anyhow?” Applebloom said. “We know our way around the Everfree. We can find one ourselves!”
Spike decided now was the time to speak up, but before he could say anything, Twilight rounded a bookcase and called out to them. “Hey, girls! Look what I found in today’s paper! I think you’ll find it interesting.”
“Twilight!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “Did you know that Equiwolves are ponies?”
Twilight stared at her blankly for a second before she remembered what the three had come here to study. “Oh, you mean Wereponies. No, that’s just a myth. It’s never been proven, and the only ponies who still believe it are backcountry old mares who like to tell stories to scare young foals. And the foals they scare, I guess.” Twilight considered that for a moment for a moment before shaking her head. “But enough about random monsters, take a look at this.”
Twilight dropped her morning paper on the floor in front of them, still open to the games and puzzles page, and the three girls looked down at it in mild curiosity. They searched the page for a while, but found nothing but some finished puzzles and a lot of boring news articles. “Uh, Twilight?” Applebloom asked with a raised brow. “What are we supposed to be looking at?”
Twilight’s face drooped a little in disappointment, and she pointed with a hoof. “Look at the article in the top right, with the picture of the flower.”
“Aurea Lillium?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously.
“That’s the one!” Twilight said, with the air of a magician waiting for the best moment to reveal a card trick, “Read the part under ‘Cutie Mark Conundrum’!”
The trio of fillies and Spike read silently for a minute, and seemingly at once their eyes lit up. “This colt sounds just like us!” exclaimed Scootaloo. “Maybe we should find him and tell him about the Crusaders!”
“Twilight?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously. “What kind of article is this?”
Twilight smiled, always happy to answer a question. “It’s an advice column. Ponies from all over write in to the author with their problems, and he or she prints advice in this column every Sunday. Read the answer to that letter.”
Sweetie Belle read it out loud:
“Dear Nearly-Desperate, I’m sorry to hear about the change in your son’s attitude. I remember well my own time as a blank-flank. I too spent years searching for my Cutie Mark, and nothing ever seemed to work. But looking back now, I’m grateful for those years, because I learned more about myself by searching for my special talent than I ever could just by finding it. But in the case of your son, I think the clock is ticking. As things are now, his condition won’t improve until he finally succeeds in his search. A helping hoof from somepony he trusts could be just what he needs to give him the boost of hope he needs to finally look at himself in a different way, hopefully the way he needs. I say go ahead and encourage him, and help him however you can. But you’re right to avoid guiding him too closely. It won’t work if he is simply told what he should be doing; he has to discover it for himself. But that doesn’t mean you can’t nudge him in the right direction when it’s needed. It’s needed now.’”
When Sweetie Belle had finished, she shared a wide-eyed look with Applebloom. Scootaloo wasn't as impressed. “That’s really cool, but it doesn’t help us much.”
Applebloom looked at her curiously. “What d’ya mean?”
“We already tried getting somepony to help us. All anyone keeps saying is ‘Be patient, it’ll happen on its own!’” Scootaloo answered, rolling her eyes and frowning.
“That’s the way it works,” Twilight cut in.
“See?” Scootaloo observed without looking up, waving a hoof in the direction of Twilight, who flinched as if Scootaloo had given her a rude gesture.
“Well, what about this Aurea pony?” Applebloom suggested.
“Huh?” Sweetie Belle asked, confused.
“It sounds to me like this pony understands the Crusader quest better than anyone else we’ve talked to. And her special talent is helping ponies with their problems! She’s perfect!”
“How do you know it’s a ‘she’?” Spike asked.
“Ah can just tell.”
“But we don’t know where to find her,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “I’ve never heard of anypony named ‘Aurea Lillium’ before. She could live in Fillydelphia for all we know!”
“Actually, the author probably lives somewhere here in Ponyville,” Twilight offered. “The column is only printed in the Ponyville Express, so it would be a hassle for the author to live too far away.” She closed her eyes as she continued, slipping into lecture mode. “But there’s an easy way to contact her; just send-” Her suggestion died in her mouth as she opened her eyes to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders hurriedly leaving her library.
“Hmph! How do you like that, huh?” Spike complained, folding his arms and looking up to Twilight for agreement.
Twilight recovered from her surprise at seeing her guests walk out on her just as she was offering advice. “That’s okay, Spike. I hope they do find this pony. Maybe they really can help.” With one last smile at her favorite dragon, who looked like somepony had just shot down his paper airplane, Twilight trotted out of the library.
She made a mental note to herself to ask Zecora about Wereponies the next time she saw her.