So long.
So… so long.
The crusaders waited and waited outside of Fullmoon’s room. Over the next couple of days, other than a few jitters and movements in his bed, he hadn’t woken up. Twilight was constantly examining both him and his recently-separated wolf side. The tests hadn’t reaped any fruit just yet.
It was day three of Fullmoon’s slumber, and worry filled the three young fillies. Sweetie Belle paced the halls, Scootaloo flittered her wings nervously, and Apple Bloom pressed her ear against the door, just in case she heard anything. Twilight was taking notes inside of Fullmoon’s room, with many different devices, designed by herself, hooked up to him. The trio were distraught and sleep-deprived, especially after the events of the last full moon. For the most part, ever since then it has been nothing but a long string of silence among them.
“When is he gonna wake up?!” Sweetie Belle squealed, breaking the long-lasting silence. Apple Bloom shushed her quietly as she leaned on the door. As usual, all she heard were soft but loud breaths coming from the colt sleeping soundly.
“Still nothin’...” she muttered, slumping onto the ground. She lay back against the door, staring up at the ceiling.
“Still?” Scootaloo said sadly, sighing out loud. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom followed with their own sighs.
“She better not be doin’ anythin’ bad with our friend in there!” Apple Bloom vocalized worriedly, banging the back of her head against the door hard, her pink bow bouncing slightly.
“I’m not,” Twilight suddenly spoke up, cracking the door open with her magic. “You three can come in, if you so wish.” The fillies jumped at the opportunity, flooding into the bedroom hastily.
There Fullmoon was, lying there on the bed on his back. Over his muzzle was a breathing mask, his chest rising and falling every couple of seconds. He slept so soundly, as if this was the first time he’s had proper sleep in years. He was at peace.
“Moon!” the three called, rushing over to his bedside. They each placed a hoof on their friend’s, closing their eyes and bowing their heads in sympathy. After a few moments, they pulled away.
“How is he, Twilight?” Scootaloo asked, staring at him.
“Better than he was a couple of days ago, that’s for sure,” Twilight replied, laying an ear to his chest. Thump. Thump. Thump, his heart went. She levitated a notepad and quill, scribbling down onto it. “When I first began taking care of him, I thought he wasn’t going to make it. The process could’ve easily scrambled his brain. If it did, there would be no way to bring him back.” Just the thought of it made the crusaders cringe, the fillies flinching backwards slightly.
“However, as luck would have it, he survived just fine. His body is in a sort of rejuvenation phase. Even after three years, or at least what he told me, he hasn’t gotten used to changing forms,” Twilight commented, continuing to write away at the paper.
“I don’t blame him. Did you hear the sounds his body made when he changed that night?” Sweetie Belle shivered. She cringed with every bone-breaking sound that replayed over and over in her head.
“I hypothesize that this comatose state was also caused by the spell itself. While reading up on its contents,” Twilight brought over a pile of papers with her magic, sticking it in front of the crusaders’ eyes, “I found that the spell could’ve potentially destroyed both the wolf and him entirely.”
“Wh-Wh-What?!” the three cried in unison, hopping upwards simultaneously. Twilight nodded somberly.
“Even now his body is under critical stress due to what has occured. The healing process has a possibility of failing. He might stay in a coma forever,” Twilight regretfully stated, bowing her head down. “I’ll do all I can to make sure he wakes up safe and sound.”
“Please!” the crusaders screeched. Twilight jumped backwards slightly from their worry.
“Please stop yelling,” Twilight said. The foals bowed their heads shamefully. She sighed. “Look, I’ll do everything that I can, but this is new even for me. Besides the tome that you four brought me, there’s no recorded evidence of this ever happening in the past.”
“Alright, Twi,” Apple Bloom replied sadly, her ears drooping downwards. “But ya better be lookin’ for something to wake him!”
“Yeah!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle affirmed, standing proudly next to the farmer filly.
“I’ll do my best, though I can’t make any promises,” Twilight swapped her attention to the tome, flipping through its pages hastily. Her eyes shifted towards the crusaders, then back to the book, then back to them once more. “Give me some more time with him. I’ll tell you if I notice anything.” They huffed, but accepted her command, trotting slowly out of the room into the hallway.
“Never gonna wake up!?” Sweetie Belle suddenly squealed, shock lining her face. “He’s our friend! What’re we gonna do without him!?”
“There’s gotta be a way to fix this, right?!” Scootaloo wondered, adjusting her attention to Apple Bloom. “You got a plan, right, Apple Bloom?!” The farmer filly just dropped her head regretfully, shaking it back and forth.
“All we can really do is wait,” she said, sighing. Scootaloo was taken aback, stumbling backwards.
“You don’t have a plan?! Not even a crazy one like when we were looking for our cutie marks?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, slapping her hooves on the farmer’s shoulders, shaking her rapidly. Apple Bloom threw her off, making her fall onto her back.
“This is different, y’all!” Apple Bloom refuted, shaking off her slight dizziness. “This is our friend we’re talkin’ about! This is his life! If we mess it up, he might never come back! We can’t do anything but wait, it’s the safest option!” Sweetie Belle hopped back up to her hooves. Both her and Scootaloo were shocked by her sudden outburst, staggering backwards.
“So was going into the Everfree Forest and looking for that book. He could’ve died there too. He almost did, for Celestia’s sake!” Scootaloo scolded, stomping up to her and poking a hoof in her chest. “Those wolves were out for his blood! Yet we still took a chance to try and save him!”
“And we couldn’t! He had ta’ save ‘imself!” Apple Bloom argued, poking her right back.
“What about our own lives too!?” Sweetie Belle questioned, stepping into the argument. “We could have easily been mauled by Wolfmoon! We had the opportunity to trot away and we didn’t, because we cared for him! We risked our own lives to--”
“His life isn’t ours to risk!” Apple Bloom interrupted, slamming the floor with her hoof.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were taken aback by her sudden outburst. They gazed at each other with startled faces, before returning their attention to the ranting pony.
“Don’t y’all see that?! You’re talkin’ ‘bout a life that isn’t ours! His blood will be on our hooves if we do somethin’ and fail at it!” Tears slowly welled up within her eyes. “Ah can’t take losin’ someone so close ta’ us…” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at each other. Eventually, their own tears began to form, small whimpers escaping them. Quiet sobs came from Apple Bloom every now and then, which were silenced by a sudden hug from the other two fillies.
“You’re right,” Scootaloo weeped.
“Yeah. We’re sorry,” Sweetie Belle added, tightening her already strong grip around her neck. Apple Bloom’s expression slowly adjusted from a sad frown to a relieved smile, the filly returning the gesture.
“Thank y’all… thank y’all both,” she whispered. The embrace lasted for what felt like forever, their hearts beating as one. Eventually, they seperated. “Do y’all agree ta’ wait and see what happens?” They nodded, gingerly wiping away at their eyes. “Then it’s settled.”
“Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yeah!” they shouted in unison as they high hoofed.
The Running of the Leaves had come and gone. In the span of those few days, seven parties had been thrown at Sugar Cube Corner. Despite their other friends and family members attending, none of the crusaders went. They were too focused on the health and safety of their comatose friend. Regardless of their feelings on the matter, and desperately wanting to try something, they remained vigilant, waiting patiently.
The rather somber fillies journeyed across Ponyville. Light grey clouds littered the skies. With every step the crusaders took, dried up autumn leaves crunched under their tiny hooves. The streets were rather barren, other than the occasional earth pony tending to the flora or a pegasus zooming through the sky. Every now and then an acquaintance of the group waved at them, which was met with a sorrowful wave back.
They reached the town square after a bit more quiet walking. Brushing off some of the dry leaves covering up one of the big benches, they plopped themselves down on it. No pony let out a peep as they stared off in different directions. The sadness and gloom surrounding the area intensified with each second. A weight in their chest formed, getting heavier and heavier as their minds wondered.
“Graah! I can’t take this anymore!” Scootaloo finally piped up, flinging herself off the bench and onto her hooves. “We’ve been doing absolutely nothing about him for six days! How much longer do we have to wait?!” Sweetie Belle hopped off her seat, placing a hoof on Scootaloo’s mouth, shushing her.
“I’m sure it won’t be long now, Scootaloo,” the marshmallow filly calmly replied, retracting her hoof. “Twilight wouldn’t leave us hanging on purpose. There must be some reason.” Apple Bloom nodded in response.
“Then why don’t we find out?” Apple Bloom suggested, pointing at the towering castle in the distance. “It isn’t too far away! Come on!” She broke into a sprint, leaving them in the dust.
“Wait up!” Sweetie Belle called, galloping behind her. Scootaloo followed close behind, their hooves searing with pain as they finally caught up with Apple Bloom. It wasn’t long before they finally reached the castle.
“You could have… given us a warning...” Scootaloo gasped, kneeling down as she caught her breath.
“Quit yer whinin’. Let’s just go inside,” Apple Bloom replied, trotting into the giant entry way. The other two went in right after.
The throne room of the castle looked like it hadn’t been touched in days. Dust bunnies crowded within corners, fighting for space. The centerpiece of the room, the Cutie Map, was the only thing in the room that seemed completely clean, reflecting everything off its shiny surface. With every step the crusaders took they almost slipped on a piece of paper.
“Clearly somepony doesn’t know how to properly fix up their castle,” Sweetie Belle commented, illuminating her horn and levitating some of the papers away. In front of her now lay a path, the sheets acting as a border for it. She travelled along it, with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo following. They entered through one of the four doorways, nearly losing themselves in the labyrinth once again.
“Over here!” Apple Bloom called, running to Fullmoon’s room entrance. The other two tailed behind, standing in line in front of the door. “So uh… who’s gonna go first?” She was met with a resounding forward push into the door from her friends. She rolled her eyes as she reached for the knob.
“Waugh!” Twilight yelped suddenly. Her shout was followed with a loud thump from inside the bedroom.
“Twilight!” the crusaders cried in unison, barging into the door as it flew open with their sheer force. They fell onto the ground, forming a dogpile. After a couple of pained coughs, they stood up and examined the situation.
Twilight was there, lying flat on her back. Her sleepy eyes stared up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to clear their blurry sight. An open notepad along with a dull pencil lay on her belly, and a wooden stool rolled gently in a circle near her.
“Twilight?” Scootaloo questioned, freeing herself from the pile.
“Hmm?” Twilight groggily answered, blinking slowly, one eye after the other. “Oh, hey girls.”
“What happened? We heard a loud thump and we found you here,” Sweetie Belle asked, standing up gingerly, as did Apple Bloom.
“I must’ve dozed off while watching over your friend,” Twilight replied, a sigh escaping her. “Sadly no other updates on him. He’s been the same ever since the last time you showed up. I’m afraid he may not ever wake up.” Pain suddenly coursed through the crusaders’ chests as Twilight stopped talking, making their faces contort.
“But he has to wake up!” Scootaloo whined, grappling onto Twilight’s foreleg with her hooves.
“Yeah! He’s been wantin’ ta’ cure himself fer’ years! He can’t die now!” Apple Bloom added, clinging onto Twilight’s other foreleg.
“Don’t you have a spell or something that can wake him up!? Maybe something in that creepy tome!?” Sweetie Belle begged, standing firm in front of Twilight. Her bright green eyes began to fill with tears, staring up at the alicorn. After what felt like forever, Twilight let out a heavy breath as she struggled to get the two foals off of her.
“I’ve already gone through everything. It doesn’t seem like anything I have can help this type of coma,” Twilight begrudgingly said, bowing her head down.
A sudden stir from the bed spooked the four ponies, their attention quickly shifting to the distraction. Fullmoon was there, frantically moving and breathing rapidly. His hooves gripped the blanket tightly, his teeth clenched just as much.
“Moon!” Sweetie Belle cried, rushing over to his side, with the others following suit. “What’s going on with him?!”
“I don’t know!” Twilight responded, shuffling through the pages of notes. “There’s nothing in here that talks about this!” The colt continued to flail and spasm.
“G-Get away from me!” he shrieked, letting his forelegs fling about. One of them barely grazed Apple Bloom’s muzzle, making her stumble backwards.
“He must be having a nightmare!” Scootaloo spouted.
“How do we wake him up?!” Sweetie Belle asked desperately.
“Maybe we can, uh…” Twilight mumbled. It all suddenly came to a stop as Fullmoon suddenly awoke, shooting up into the air.
“Stay a-away!” he shouted, his eyelids opening wide as he breathed heavily. He continued to let out short breaths as he looked in all directions confusingly. The four girls stared at him, shocked. “Uh… what’s everypony staring at me for?”
“Moon!” All three crusaders cheered, jumping on the bed and locking him in an intense bear hug. He let out a small choke as they grappled onto him, struggling to loosen their grip.
“Girls… can’t… breathe…” he whispered, his face turning slightly purple. They giggled awkwardly, splitting away from the hug. He gasped for air as he fell backwards in the bed.
“Yer okay!” Apple Bloom clapped her forehooves together happily, a bright smile spread across her face.
“Uh… yeah, of course I am? Why wouldn’t I be?” he wondered, sitting back up. He shuffled to the edge of the bed, his back legs hanging off the side.
“Well, you’ve been asleep for over a week! We were kind of worried!” Sweetie Belle replied, giggling to herself.
“Over a week!?” Fullmoon gasped, his eyes widening. “Why!?”
“Don’t you remember what happened?” Scootaloo asked, hopping up onto the bed and sitting next to him.
“Um…” Fullmoon drifted off, searching through his mind. “It’s all really hazy so… no, I don’t,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Maybe this’ll help,” Twilight chimed in, stepping towards the door. “Follow me.” She gently opened the exit and walked out.
“Come on, Moon,” Apple Bloom said, following Twilight out.
“I’m coming…” Fullmoon whispered, hopping off the bed. He was greeted with very weak legs, nearly stumbling down to the floor. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo rushed to his aid, the colt putting a foreleg around each of them.
“We gotcha, don’t worry.” Sweetie Belle smiled weakly, the three foals trotting out of the room.
“What…” Fullmoon began, sighing weakly. “What are we gonna see?”
“I dunno,” Scootaloo replied quickly, “you’ll have to ask Twilight.” Fullmoon lifted his legs from around the two fillies. He crawled up to Twilight’s side, a yawn escaping his mouth.
“What’re you…” he breathed lightly, “what’re you gonna show us?”
“You’ll see,” Twilight replied, keeping her gaze locked to the hallway. “How’re you feeling, Fullmoon?”
“Weak, tired, maybe a bit hungry, but other than that I can safely say I’m fine,” he said, yawning once more. “You said I was asleep for almost a week?”
“Over a week!” Sweetie Belle blurted out from behind him, before falling back to her friends.
“Right, over a week. Well, what did you do while I was asleep for that long?”
“Took notes, slept, took more notes.” Twilight yawned as well, clenching her eyes tightly for a moment to clear them. “Why do you ask?”
“Was just wondering,” he spoke quickly.
They travelled the castle in silence for the rest of the trip, well, Fullmoon and Twilight did. The fillies walking behind them bickered on and on to each other. But after a little bit more chatter, they finally arrived at their destination. A door, very similar to the ones that lined many of the walls, stood in front of them.
“In here.” Twilight beckoned, cracking the door open with her magic and trotting in. The foals followed her in, studying the room’s contents… or lack thereof.
The room was very barren. Little to no furniture was placed in the room; maybe a chair or two, but that was about it. Cobwebs and dust gathered in the corners, exemplifying the practical uselessness the space had. A large metal cage stood proudly in the center. A creature was inside of it, masked by the shadows of the poor lighting in the area.
“Why’d ya bring us in here?” Apple Bloom asked, nearly slamming her face into the wall.
“Look,” Twilight said, pointing at the cage. The shadowed figure shifted around slightly as they talked. Fullmoon’s curiosity got the better of him, the colt inching closer and closer to the cage.
“What’s in it?” he wondered, reaching a hoof between the bars. This caused a reaction from the figure. It stood up slowly, almost hitting the ceiling of the cage. It opened its eyes, their bright yellow color glowing in the shadows. It charged at Moon, resulting in him falling backwards onto his flank. As the towering form reached the end of the cage, it slammed into the bars. The dim light shined onto its physique, revealing itself to be Wolfmoon, as Scootaloo called it.
“What…?” Fullmoon whispered, confused. He rose to his hooves, staring eye to eye with the creature in front of him. “Is that… me?”
“Not anymore,” Scootaloo proudly stated, wrapping a foreleg around him. “Thanks to Twilight, you’re not a wolfpony anymore!”
“I-I’m… free?” His bewildered frown slowly formed into a bright smile. A sudden burst of energy flowed within him, his wings unfurling and flapping once, shooting him up into the air. “I’m free!” He gleefully laughed, zooming around the room wildly. “I’m free!” he repeated over and over. He finally landed, having exerted all of his energy. His smile only grew wider, the colt breathing heavily as he stared at the ground. “After all of these years…” Tears started to well up in his eyes, and in response, the crusaders wrapped him in a soft embrace.
“We’re so glad you’re happy, Moon,” Sweetie Belle stated, patting him on the back gently.
“Us too,” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo added, giggling to themselves. Fullmoon wiped the tears away from his eyes, splitting away from the hug as his smile was replaced with a blank expression. He turned around, facing the wolf he once was.
It was an odd feeling, gazing at himself, technically speaking. It was like looking in the reflection of a mirror. And he couldn’t take his eyes off of it; neither could the wolf. They stared into each other’s eyes for another minute, unmoving and inanimate, before Fullmoon finally broke the silence with a few head shakes.
“What are we gonna do with it?” he asked, stumbling backwards as the wolf wildly flailed at him, biting the metal bars and clawing the cage floor. It looked at him as if he was a snack.
“I… don’t really know yet,” Twilight responded, taking her own time to examine the wolf. “It’s too dangerous to keep here for too long. Although, maybe I could research it a bit more?” Twilight thought aloud, staring up at the ceiling.
“Celestia knows I don’t want to stay in here. Let’s go,” Fullmoon commanded, quickly trotting out of the barren room. The crusaders followed him out, Scootaloo looking back at the contained monster before Sweetie Belle pulled her out of there.
“So, what now?” Apple Bloom asked, looking at her friends.
“What now? We go on a quest to get Fullmoon a cutie mark!” Scootaloo exclaimed, patting him on the back. “Right, Fullmoon?”
“I dunno… Don’t you think I need some more rest? Not sure if I’m fit for going outside,” he remarked, stretching out his rather stiff wings.
“You’ll be fine, Moon. You’re already walking just fine!” Sweetie Belle mentioned, playfully punching him. He flinched slightly, rubbing the punched spot.
“Yeah, I guess--”
“Then let’s go!” Scootaloo interrupted, grabbing his hoof and rushing down the castle hallways.
“Scootaloo, wait!” the other crusaders called, charging after her.