//------------------------------// // The Tomes of Taxus // Story: Forever Wolfpony // by WhateverTheHeck //------------------------------// The warm air soon grew chiller as the sun set behind the trees of the Everfree Forest. The orange sky turned to a darker shade of blue, emphasizing the time spent in the dangerous woodlands. The light and innocent chirping of birds was replaced with eerie hoots of owls. Their low-toned orchestra filled the town. Other than their noises, there was nothing but dead silence. The serene stillness was interrupted by the gasps and pants of the trio of fillies. The Cutie Mark Crusaders rushed out of the woods and into the plains that sprawled out in front of them. Sweetie Belle was the first to collapse, desperately choking for air. “Free...d-dom…” she managed to say, placing a white hoof on her chest. Fullmoon soon followed behind them, trotting at a gentle pace. In his saddlebag bounced the book they recently procured. He didn’t seem to be tired at all, taking in the fresh air with a deep breath. “You… gotta be kidding...” Scootaloo sputtered, falling on the ground and onto her belly. “You aren’t… tired at all?” She planted her face on the ground, sighing as she relaxed. “Well, you were the ones who sprinted all the way here,” Fullmoon replied. He proceeded to stare at the darkened sapphire sky for a few moments, before flipping his hood over his head. Luna’s luminescent moon already replaced Celestia’s bright sun as it began to rise over the horizon. “We need to get to Twilight’s Castle. I can read a little Latin, but I can’t read much.” He walked gingerly over to the trio of fillies, poking their sides as if they were corpses.  “Giv... Give us a minute okay?” Apple Bloom puffed, her ears drooping in exhaustion. Fullmoon huffed, but obliged nonetheless as he found a nice tree to sit under. The book suddenly began to emit a faint glow in his saddlebag. A hint of curiosity slowly swelled up within him. He stared off in different directions, struggling to take his mind off of it. Finally, he bit the bullet, hastily gripping the cover as he held it in front of him. “After all of this time…” he thought aloud. “All of that torment; all of the pain; it has led to this.” His grasp on the book tightened slightly. He flipped the covering open, once more going through the index. Strangely, the index was in completely legible Ponish, however the rest of the book was in Latin. This fact nagged him for a bit, but eventually subsided as he ran his hooves down the rough pages, reading each and every word of the contents. The tome had way more than just spells. In its contents was an apparent history of the wolfponies, however just like the rest of the book, it was in Latin. Also contained within was the anatomy of a wolfpony, and the different ways to drive off or kill the creature. His curiosity peaked as he switched to the spell section of the book. All these different incantations and rituals used by wolfponies and other races of old made him anxious.  What if we do the wrong spell? He shuddered at the thought, shutting the book slowly as he held it to his chest. He gazed up at the dusk sky, spotting the moon rising above the landscape. Despite how beautiful he may have thought it was, the white sphere in the sky still tortured him. All because of what he was. He continued to ruminate, lying back against the tree. He slowly drifted off, his eyes clasping shut as his sight dissipated into a void of blackness. “Moon? Moooon? Moon!” Sweetie Belle called, shaking the exhausted colt. He slowly snapped out of his sleep-induced trance, staring at her. He groaned groggily, opening his baggy eyes. Standing in front of him was the filly in question, along with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “Did you doze off?” Scootaloo asked, staring down at the book in his hooves. “I can see why. You were reading.” She faked a gag, before Apple Bloom elbowed her lightly in the chest. “Shut it, Scoots,” Apple Bloom scolded. The orange filly rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah… I-I guess I did doze off.” He stood up, looking up at the sky. It had gone from a deep blue to a pure black with white stars dotting it here and there. “How long was I out?” “An hour, maybe. We fell asleep too. If it wasn’t fer Sweetie Belle waking up, Ah dunno if we would’ve woken up fer a while,”  Apple Bloom said. “Keep yer hood on. Don’t want a wolf runnin’ ‘round, now do we?” Fullmoon nodded, swiftly flipping the hood of his cloak over his head. He gripped the book with his wing, slipping it into his saddlebag. “We’re burning time, let’s go before Princess Twilight falls asleep!” Scootaloo exclaimed, turning tail and running towards the quiet town of Ponyville. The other three foals dashed behind. The streets of the small town were barren; not a single soul in sight, as expected at this time of night. Everypony in their identical-looking houses slept, some more quietly than others, through the night. The only sound that populated the area was the flowing water within the fountain at town square. The quadrio trotted swiftly through the twisting and turning path. Despite wearing his cloak, Fullmoon dashed through the shadows close by, ducking under any place devoid of moonlight. “Wish we could go faster…” he muttered, running under a slightly wilted tree. “We’re going as fast as we can, Moon. We’re also trying to stay close together just in case anything happens,” Sweetie Belle replied. Fullmoon sighed, slowly walking out of the shade. Nothing happened as he did. After another sigh, he followed the Crusaders as they trotted ahead. It felt like forever as they journeyed on. Ache and pains throbbed in their tired hooves. For a while it felt like they were going in complete circles. Finally, however, they arrived at their destination: Twilight’s Castle. The palace looked like it was almost entirely made of crystals. It shined underneath the luminescent moonlight. The building stood tall above them, Fullmoon staggering backwards just by looking at its sheer size.  “Would it be polite to go in here at this hour?” Fullmoon asked, picking himself back up from the ground. They stepped up the stairway up to the front door. “I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t mind,” Scootaloo answered. “We always go to her for help, why would tonight be any different?” She trotted into the castle nonchalantly. The other two fillies shrugged before following suit. Fullmoon hesitated, but quickly accompanied his friends. The interior of the castle was even more impressive. Judging by the outside of the castle, it seemed that the inside of it would be smaller base wise, however it averted expectations heavily. In the main room stood six tall thrones, each of the Mane 6’s cutie marks on the respective chairs. At the center sat a large table; the Cutie Map. Four emerald colored doors were sculpted in the back, leading to expansive hallways.  Fullmoon gawked at the sheer size of the castle. “Wow… I’ve never been here before.” He stared up at the tree root chandelier dangling high above the circular table. Blue, yellow, and green lights hung from strings wrapped around the roots, illuminating the room. “Impressive, huh? That’s what we all thought too when this first appeared,” Scootaloo commented, fluttering her wings. “W-Well… which way are we supposed to go?” Fullmoon asked, staring at each of the diverting paths. Just thinking about how big the castle was gave him a massive headache. “This way!” Apple Bloom shouted, pointing at the left-most hallway. “No, this way!” Sweetie Belle refuted, pointing at the right-most hallway. “You’re both wrong!” Scootaloo butted in. “It’s this way!” She pointed at the left-center hallway. “Yer wrong!” “No you’re wrong!” “I’m right!” “No, I am!” On and on did the three argue, leaving Fullmoon to his own devices. He decided to leave them behind for now, trotting into the only doorway they hadn’t chosen: the right-center path. He slowly traveled through the hallway. Doors upon doors upon doors lined the walls as he walked past. He checked every one. Bathroom, study room, bathroom, science lab, bathroom… Why does somepony need this many bathrooms? Fullmoon thought, continuing to explore every room in the castle. As he passed by one particular door though, he heard a faint snoring. His ears twitched at the sound, his hooves slowly stepping back to the entrance in question. He opened the door with a light creak, peeking his head inside. The room was dark. Very dark. A pink and purple dresser with a large mirror stood in the back of the room. In its reflection was a queen-sized bed, along with two bedside tables with two storage cabinets in each of them. A golden candelabra stood proudly on each of them, their wicks unlit. In the blankets of the bed was a small lump, slowly moving up and down in rhythm. Snores came from the lump along with a soft breathing noise. “Whatcha doin’?” Apple Bloom asked, causing Fullmoon to fall backwards right on top of her in fright. He yelped, rolling off of her. She giggled profusely. “D-Don’t do that!” he yelled softly, looking at the room he was peeking in. “I was looking for Twilight while you three were arguing about which way to go!” He smirked. “All three of you were wrong, by the way,” he said snarkily, before being punched in the foreleg. He whimpered, rubbing the punched spot. “Shush, you,” Apple Bloom replied. “Where are the other two anyway?” he questioned, looking for them for a moment. “They’re probably still arguin’ over which way to go.” “No, we’re not! We’re right here!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shouted in unison. They trotted up to the farmer filly and wolf colt, miffed looks on their faces. “Way to leave us behind, you two!” Sweetie Belle scolded. Fullmoon’s cheeks flushed a bright pink, while Apple Bloom sneered at the marshmallow pony. “I found Twilight though, I-I think,” he said, cracking the door slightly more agape. Each of their heads poked through the hole, spying across the room. Carefully they moved in, tip-hoofing their way to the edge of the bed. A lavender-coated mare lay on the bed, sleeping soundly under the plain purple blankets. Her mane was a deep purple, with stripes of light purple and dark pink splitting the middle of it. She breathed softly, turning over in her bed. The mattress creaked as she did. Slowly but surely, the four made their way to the side of her bed. “Yup, that’s Twilight alright,” Apple Bloom confirmed, poking the princess’ cheek with her hoof. “Hey, Twilight, wake up,” she whispered. Scootaloo stepped back slightly. “Hey, Twilight, we need you for something,” Sweetie Belle murmured, shaking her slightly. The orange filly took a deep breath. “E-Excuse me, miss, could you wake up please?” Fullmoon muttered. “Hey Twilight! Wake up!” Scootaloo suddenly shouted, startling the poor ponies. Twilight shot up out of bed, flying up into the air with her large wings. She slammed her head on the ceiling with a loud BONK, falling back down onto the mattress. The princess bounced slightly as she gathered herself. She sat up, staring at the four foals. Fullmoon hid behind the Crusaders, afraid of the princess’ wrath. “Wh-Wh-Why did you do that?!” Twilight chastised. She stared tiredly at the Crusaders. “There better be a good explanation for this!” “T-There is!” Scootaloo said, before pushing Apple Bloom in front of her. “You tell her!” “Me?! Why does it have ta’ be me!?” Apple Bloom sputtered, shoving Sweetie Belle in front of her. “You tell her.” Sweetie Belle gulped, before taking a deep breath. “Our friend Fullmoon took us out on an adventure into the Everfree for this book about wolfponies so he can cure himself but the book is in this odd language that we can’t translate so we were wondering if you could help us so that he can be normal!” Sweetie Belle spouted, fainting backwards as she gasped heavily. “...what?” Twilight rubbed her eyes, before locking her stare onto the colt standing behind the fillies. “Who might you be, little one?” Fullmoon’s eyes shrunk, the colt stepping backwards slightly. “This is Fullmoon! Fullmoon, Princess Twilight!” Scootaloo introduced, moving him to the front of the mare. He kneeled down shakily. “I-It’s an honor...Y-Your Majesty…” he stuttered, swallowing the lump in his throat as he stared up at Twilight. “Oh, there’s no need for formalities!” she responded, pressing a hoof against his chin, making him rise. “What did you say you needed me for?” Her horn lit up, and each of the wicks on the candelabras lit aflame with a soft fire, breathing life into the bedroom. “Well, w-we found this in the Everfree Forest. I need it to cure me of this… curse that I have. It’s in Latin that I cannot understand, and we thought you could help?” he asked softly, backing away from the princess, intimidated. “But I just said that!” Sweetie Belle shouted, rising up from the ground. “Oh, of course! What kind of book is it?” Twilight asked, sitting down on her mattress, pen and paper enveloped in her magic. Fullmoon reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the tome in question. Twilight’s mouth opened wide, her magic wearing off. The notepad and writing utensil fell to the ground as she gawked at the cover of the tome. “This. It’s a spellbook,” he stated. She suddenly took the book with her purplish-pink magic, checking it from every angle. “T-This is…” Twilight began, speechless. “T-This is one of Taxus’ Tomes!” she spouted, rising from the bed proudly. She beamed, a bright toothy smile plastered all over her face. “Taxus?” Apple Bloom said confusedly. Twilight nodded quickly, grabbing one of the candelabras with her magic and trotting out the door.  “Follow me, you four,” Twilight said with her face beaming, walking out into the hallway. They followed eagerly. “What is Taxus?” Scootaloo questioned, strolling next to the princess. Twilight shook her head. “You mean who is Taxus,” she corrected, excitedly giggling to herself. “He was an amazing author of so many spellbooks hundreds of years ago! Said to even be one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria!” She giddily tapped her hooves. “Of course, that’s all superstition, but still exciting!” “What happened to him?” Fullmoon asked. “Time got to him, like to everypony else. Nopony knows where he is buried, but it was said that he hid a few ancient spellbooks across Equestria. I never expected anypony, no less foals like you four, to find one! This is so exciting!” Twilight shrieked happily, fluttering her wings. “Ya seem… really ecstatic about this, Twi’. What’s so special about it?” Apple Bloom wondered, before Twilight stopped in her tracks. “What’s so special about it?!” Twilight gasped in shock. “Apple Bloom, this is one of the rarest spellbooks out there! All about wolfponies! So much research must be stocked in this one book! Imagine all of the discoveries Taxus made about it! Anatomy, spells, history, everything!” Apple Bloom simply nodded as Twilight began walking again. “So could it cure me?” Fullmoon asked. “Oh, I bet it could! Taxus was very--” Once more, Twilight stopped mid-walk. “Wait… cure you?” Fullmoon nervously nodded, sweat dripping down his face. “You’re a wolfpony?!” “A-A nice one, we swear!” Apple Bloom stood in front of him, with the other two fillies backing her up. “He hasn’t hurt anypony intentionally! He’s stayed up night and day, suffering so much just to try and cure himself!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded. “You really want to help him, don’t you?” Twilight questioned, before sighing. “Alright, I’ll help you,” she paused, “despite my best judgement. Come on.” She quickly stampeded down the hallway and to a ginormous door. It had the same pattern as all of the other doors, however a huge metal door knocker hung at the center of the door. “What’s in here?” Scootaloo asked. “My library of course!” Twilight announced, slamming the door open with her potent magic. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books stood tall and proud in the cavernous room. A sign with a letter written in calligraphy hung over each large section of bookcases, separating them in alphabetical order. Many desks lined the central corridor of the library, each with its own table lamp. Twilight smiled brightly, trotting up a staircase with a red carpet. “Wow! I’ve never seen so many… books!” Fullmoon smiled, following the alicorn. “Thanks! It’s no comparison to the Crystal Empire’s library, but it’s definitely massive!” Twilight gloated, trotting through each tight corridor of bookshelves. “R… S… T! Here it is!” She levitated another tome from in between two other books. “Over here.” She pointed to one of the bigger desks, sitting down one of the table stools. The foals followed suit. “What’s that?” Sweetie Belle pondered, laying her head on the wooden table. “Looks old.” “Taxus wrote a guide to his tomes if one was to ever find one of them. Lucky us, you did!” Twilight flipped open the book, right to one of its middle pages. “Including a full translation guide! That book you found isn’t just written in Latin. It’s written in a mix of old Ponish and Latin!” She squealed giddily like a schoolgirl. “This is so exciting! Fullmoon, would you please hoof me the book?” Fullmoon complied, about to slide it across the table, before Apple Bloom stopped him. “Before we do,” Apple Bloom began, “can ya explain what happened back in the Everfree Forest?” “What do you mean, Apple Bloom?” Twilight responded. “Well… we kinda ran into a large pack o’ wolves when Moon tried ta’ grab the book. He cast a spell from it and all of a sudden their eyes glowed a bright green. It only lasted a second, but it was odd! They ran away after that, and he collapsed,” she explained. Fullmoon whimpered. “Wait, he cast a spell? How? He doesn’t even have a horn,” Twilight questioned, grabbing a notepad and pen. “He chanted some sort of odd sentence. I think it went something like…” Sweetie Belle drifted off in her speech, racking her thoughts. “Qui habet. Regere Sanguine Lupum? Like that?” Scootaloo blurted out. Just like last time, Moon’s scleras turned from a white color to a bright green. He stared at Scootaloo dizzily, standing from the stool and trotting to the orange filly. Afterwards… he just stood there. Inanimate and almost lifeless, aside from the occasional breath he took. “Moon… are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked worriedly, sitting up and waving a hoof in front of his face. No response. Apple Bloom rose from her seat, pacing over to him. “Moon, snap out of it!” the apple farmer shouted, slapping his cheek. While the spot began to blemish a dark red, he did not respond. “Apple Bloom, why did you do that?!” Sweetie Belle scolded, her voice reaching ranges higher than thought possible. Twilight was scribbling down notes furiously. “Interesting… no response, green eyes, the ability to cast a spell without a horn…” Twilight suddenly piped up, trotting to them. “It’s a mind control spell!” “What?” the Crusaders said in unison, dumbfounded.  “Yep!” They yelped slightly as a bright green glow peeked through the book’s pages. Twilight shuffled through to the page. Just like before, the words in the book glowed before dimming down. “Interesting, very interesting!” “Well, how do we get him back to normal?” Apple Bloom asked. “Roll over, Moon!” Scootaloo commanded. He nodded ditzily, before rolling over just like a puppy. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo giggled. “Will you two cut that out?” Apple Bloom chastised, staring at them furiously. Their cheeks flushed a bright pink. “Sorry…” they both said, hanging their heads in shame. “Just say the spell again and it should fix itself. However it has to be chanted by the pony who originally enchanted him.” Twilight stared at Scootaloo. “Oh, right!” Scootaloo faced the spellbound pony, staring into his green eyes deeply. “Qui habet. Regere Sanguine Lupum.” “Mnnh… hmm?” Fullmoon groaned, his eyes fading back to their normal white color. “What?” “Oh, thank Celestia,” Sweetie Belle huffed, letting out bated breath. “Thank her for what? What’s going on?” Fullmoon wondered, his eyes flopping downwards. “I sorta accidentally maybe cast a spell on you… u-unintentionally!” Scootaloo admitted, rubbing the back of her head. “What spell?” he asked, tilting his head sideways just a tad. “Nevermind that.” Scootaloo chuckled nervously. “So this book contains spells that anypony can cast! Neat!” “Fascinating. Taxus must’ve been a powerful unicorn to create something like this.” Twilight smiled brightly, enveloping the book in her magic. “I can’t imagine the amount of research that’s in this! Hours and days and months of testing!” She flapped up into the air swiftly, her wings swishing up and down at a fast pace, as if she was under a sugar high. The four foals stared up at her with looks of confusion and slight fright. She slowly lowered herself back to reality, her hooves clacking against the ground. Her lavender cheeks flushed a bright pink. “S-Sorry…” “Anyway… could you translate the book for us?” Fullmoon asked desperately. “I-I’ll pay if needed.” “Oh no no! There’s no need to pay! Research like this comes once in a lifetime! I’ll notify you four once I have it done! I’ll even cast the spell for you if needed!” Twilight excitedly replied, her face beaming as she flipped to each page. “I’d estimate it would take a few days; two if I rush it. In the meantime, you all should get some rest. I’ll let you sleep here tonight; it’s too late for fillies and colts to be out right now.” “Really?! Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” Fullmoon giddily squealed, bouncing in front of the princess as his wings fluttered. Twilight giggled at his sudden excitement. The Crusaders yawned. “Some sleep finally?” Scootaloo groggily said between yawns. “Where are we gonna sleep?” “I have a few guest rooms for occasions like this one. Just never thought an occasion like… well, housing a wolfpony would come around. You should find your rooms just after the main throne room,” Twilight explained, trotting off into the depths of the library. Her nose dipped into the book, the mare immediately losing herself in it. “So uh…” Fullmoon began, looking at the Crusaders. “How do we get out of here?” He stared up at the labyrinth of shelves and aisles.