Forever Wolfpony

by WhateverTheHeck

From Claw to Sword

“Where are we going?!” Fullmoon wailed out as he was forcefully dragged around town by Scootaloo. His back hooves stumbled and tripped over every other pebble on the ground, the colt struggling to keep his balance.

“To the Crusaders Clubhouse, of course!” Scootaloo replied excitedly, galloping through the streets of Ponyville. “We have to get you a cutie mark now that you’re cured!” The pegasus leapt over and under, and dodged and weaved around anything that dared to stand in her way as she sped through town. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle chased after the two fruitlessly. Barely, they reached them...a couple of minutes after the pegasi arrived at the clubhouse. By the time they climbed the stairs to the entryway, they fell onto the ground with exhaustion.

“You… you could’ve waited for us!” Sweetie Belle squeaked out.

“Or… or walked with us!” Apple Bloom added, standing up and dusting herself off. Fullmoon wasn’t much better off compared to them, leaning on the wall right next to the pink door. He gasped for air as he stared up at the sky, before falling onto his back. If he was breathing any deeper, he’d inhale the sun that stood in the center of the light blue.

“What’s his deal? He used to be able to run miles without breaking a sweat!” Scootaloo whined. She was promptly smacked in the back of the head by a pure white hoof, a yelp quickly following.

“He ain’t a wolfpony anymore, remember?!” Apple Bloom stated, glaring daggers at the tearful pegasus before hoisting Fullmoon back onto his hooves.

“That’s gonna take a while to get used to,” Fullmoon whispered, wiping the sweat off of his brow before strolling into the clubhouse. The others soon followed with Scootaloo taking the lead as she stood up at the podium.

“Alright! Operation Get Fullmoon a Cutie Mark is a go!” she proudly announced, raising her hoof up in the air.

“Where would we even start with something like that?” Fullmoon questioned, placing his hoof just under his chin.

“Well, what do ya like ta’ do fer fun?” Apple Bloom replied, her and Sweetie Belle staring at him with expectant eyes. He let out a small ‘hmm’ as he dug into his brain. Awkward silence filled the room for the next couple of seconds. Finally he broke the silence with a shrug.

“I dunno,” he uttered simply.

“W-what?!” the three fillies cried in unison, Scootaloo’s wings unfurling with complete shock.

“So you do nothing for fun?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked as she flipped backwards onto her flanks.

“Ah mean… Ah guess it makes sense,” Apple Bloom butted in. “He told us ‘imself, didn’t he?” Scootaloo clacked her hoof on the wooden podium.

“He did!” the orange pegasus bellowed. “Back in Twilight’s castle. He said he didn’t know what to do once he was cured. Well, here we are!”

“It’s true…” he whimpered out.

“Nothin’ wrong with that!” Apple Bloom patted him gently on the head before standing next to Scootaloo. “We’re gonna help ya out! We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders! We’ve never had an unhappy customer!” she gloated.

“Yeah!” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “At the very least, we’ll set you on the right track towards your cutie mark!” She joined the other two at the podium. They grinned at the colt expectantly.

“All three of you have helped me so much already,” Fullmoon whispered, his ears flopping down. “Sticking with me through everything that happened, including a few nights ago when I changed. That’s more than enough.”

“Of course not!” Scootaloo answered, leaping over the podium and landing right in front of him. “We would never leave you for any reason! You’re still our friend, and friends stick together!” Fullmoon sniffled, a small grin spreading across his face as he smeared a small tear across his cheek.

“Thanks, guys,” he said with a smile, pulling all three of them into a quick hug. His previously somber expression was replaced with one of determination. “Where should we start, then?!” he asked excitedly.

“Well, there are plenty of options!” Scootaloo announced, kicking the wall behind her gently with her hind leg. A long and wide roll of slightly torn paper unfolded from the ceiling and tumbled to the ground. Drawn on it were many different pictures in a cascade of colors, most of the options being crossed out, but still visible.

“We’ve tried many, many things to get our cutie marks,” Sweetie Belle commented, her eyes widening at the amount of content within the parchment. “Way more than I thought!”

“A-and these are all opportunities for my cutie mark?” Fullmoon groaned, staggering backwards slightly.

“And much, much more!” Apple Bloom replied, pushing him towards the list. “The possibilities are endless! You could become a famous sculptor, or an amazin’ martial artist!”

“Or a monster hunter!” Scootaloo butted in. Her clubmates gave her odd looks, Fullmoon’s face contorting with fright. “What’re you looking at me like that for? I didn’t mean you!” He let out a heavy hearted breath he didn’t even know he was holding. “You’re not a wolf anymore ya know!”

“Point is, there’s absolutely no chance of us not finding you a cutie mark! It is our talent, after all.” Sweetie Belle boasted proudly, a prideful smile crossing her face. “We’ll have your cutie mark very soon! We promise.”

“I’ll hold you guys to that.” Fullmoon smirked, gliding his hoof under each picture nice and slow. “So many options… how could I choose?!”

“Easy! Eenie Meenie Miney Moe!” Scootaloo suggested, swaying her front hooves in rhythm with the words.

“Uh… okay?” Fullmoon muttered, tapping his hooves on the roll of paper in rhythm to the nursery rhyme, allowing the tune to play in his head. Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe, catch a manticore by the toe… After a couple of moments, he jabbed his right forehoof into a small grey-colored picture of two swords striking each other.

“Swordplay!” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exclaimed happily, though Apple Bloom didn’t reciprocate their enthusiasm, only reacting with a severe cringe and a groan.

“You can get a cutie mark in swordplay?” Fullmoon inquired, trotting off of the parchment.

“We dunno!” Scootaloo bluntly stated. “But it could be your talent! You never know until you try it!”

“Girls, don’t ya remember the last time we tried swordplay?” Apple Bloom interjected, staring at the two with a look of concern and fright. “Scootaloo had ta’ get four stitches on her wing ‘cause Sweetie Belle picked too long of a blade!”

“Still got the scar!” the orange filly boasted, stretching out her wing to display her aged wound; a small but severe looking bald spot on the bottom of her wing, the skin having been completely damaged beyond repair.

“That ain’t somethin’ ta’ be proud of!” Apple Bloom whined. “The point is, what if Fullmoon hurts himself or hurts one of us?”

“It’ll be fine, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle asserted, pulling Fullmoon close to her side with one leg. “We’ll be staying a safe distance away when we aren’t participating, if that makes you feel any better.”

“Well… okay… but don’t come cryin’ ta’ me if you get hurt!” Apple Bloom trembled.

“Then it’s settled! We’re starting off with swordplay!” Scootaloo announced, hopping over to the group and putting her hoof in the middle of them. Sweetie Belle gladly joined in, and Apple Bloom hesitantly put hers down too. Their eyes slowly drifted over to meet Fullmoon’s, expecting the same.

“W-what?” he questioned.

“Aren’t you gonna join us?” Sweetie Belle asked, stifling a small giggle.

“O-Oh, right!” he stammered, placing his hoof on top of Sweetie Belle’s. A couple of moments later, all four of them raised their hooves in the air and proudly bellowed, “Go, Crusaders!”

---

The light pitter-patter of hooves echoed between the towering bookshelves of Twilight’s library. The princess herself slowly trotted through the aisles and stairways of the cavernous room. The Taxus Tome floated gingerly in front of her in her magic, illuminated by a light lavender aura coming from her horn. Her eyes scanned through the book, over and over. Every now and again she’d use her magic to turn the page.

Ever since the incident involving Fullmoon and his other self, she had gotten little to no sleep, nor had she eaten much. Nothing else was more important than researching the fascinating phenomenon. She had no time to lose in figuring out all of the secrets of the book.

She scurried over to a wooden desk lit up only by a small table lamp just in the corner of it. Piled on it were heaps upon heaps of paper, and scribbled all over each sheet were notes, notes, and more notes from just that one book. Twilight smiled as she levitated another paper onto a smaller stack next to the other towering piles.

“Many more to go,” Twilight muttered with a tired huff, pulling out a chair next to a large table and sitting on it. She let her magic dissipate, the book gently landing on the table.

Something odd caught her eye as she leaned her head closer to one of the pages in the volume. Stained very faintly on the page seemed to be other words, just below the ones that were written in plain black ink. She hummed softly before she came up with an idea.

Her horn charged up again quickly, before shining a luminescent purple light onto the tome. The letters she spotted lit up brightly.

“Invisible ink? ...Taxus was a genius!” Twilight squealed excitedly, quickly flipping through all the pages. All of them had some sort of writing, all in invisible ink. “There’s so much more to write down!” With that utterance she got to work, frantically scribbling down more notes to add onto the pile.

---

Located in the far corner of Ponyville was a quaint little shack surrounded by a moat of water littered with lily pads and soaked leaves. Small lamps with fireflies in them hung from somewhat rusted chains, their light dimmed by the sun hanging high in the sky. A creaky wooden stairway led to the entrance of the house. Small but deep cut marks patterned the door, which had a diagonal opening forcefully cut into it near the top as a window. The porch was very dusty, looking as if it hadn’t been used in years. On the walls of both sides of the doorway hung open display cabinets full of many swords, new and rusty.

“How long has this place been here?” Fullmoon questioned, trotting alongside his friends to a small building in front of them.

“We dunno! Looks pretty old though! And the guy who lives here also looks pretty old!” Scootaloo commented, snickering to herself.

“Yeah! Bet the old coot’s been ‘round longer than Granny Smith!” Apple Bloom added, joining in on the laughter. Their fun time was immediately interrupted by a light bap on the head with a wooden stick. The two whimpered in pain.

“I heard that! Old coots have feelings too, ya know,” a shrill ancient voice spoke. The quadrio turned around to face the source.

Staring down at the four with his teal eyes was the wielder of the stick: an old, dark red stallion. Wrinkles decorated his face and body, looking as if he just stepped out of an hour-long bath. His mane, colored a faded purple, extended all the way down to his neck, barely hanging off of it. His tail was extremely short in comparison. However, his most defining feature was his lack of a right wing, replaced only by a tiny stub where the wing would be. His left wing was the exact opposite, left completely untouched and healthy.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo yelped, leaping behind the other two foals in fright.

“Hi, Mr. Cumulus!” Sweetie Belle waved, bowing her head for a moment.

“Greetings, youngin’,” he replied, patting her head gently. “Sharpen ye sword skills any since I last saw y’all?”

“Not… really, sadly.” Sweetie sighed, pulling the two fillies out from behind her. “But I do have a new potential student for you!” She shoved Fullmoon in front of her, nearly slamming into the elder.

“Eh?” Cumulus stammered, turning his attention towards the colt. “Well ‘ello there, mister. What’s your name?”

“F-Fullmoon, sir,” he murmured, bowing for him.

“Son, there’s no need for formalities like that.” Cumulus chuckled, raising his head up with a shaky hoof.

“Alright, s-sir.” Fullmoon stood back up.

“We were wondering if you could teach him swordplay for a chance at his cutie mark!” Sweetie Belle announced, pointing at his blank flank.

“Didn’t y’all three try it before?” the elder asked, a hoof scratching the five o’clock shadow on his chin.

“Yeah, we did…” Scootaloo whined, rubbing the sore spot on her noggin.

“Didn’t go too well…” Apple Bloom commented.

“Speak for yourselves! I loved it!” Sweetie Belle proudly boasted, charging up a lime green magic in her horn. One of the swords in the display lit up and zoomed over next to her. She swung it around wildly. The other three foals ducked for cover as the weapon flailed in the air.

Sweetie’s sudden outburst was interrupted by one swift strike against her weapon. Her sword went flying, stabbing into the dirt ground. Cumulus stood there, broadsword clamped within his wing skillfully.

“Your technique is off, Sweetie Belle,” he said, trotting up the steps to his home. “Very off.” The white foal blushed as she followed him up, beckoning the others with a hoof. They came out of hiding slowly, chasing after them hesitantly before flooding into the house.

The inside of the house was even worse off than the exterior. Slashes of various sizes and severity ornamented the soggy floor and worn out walls. The window in the back of the room was cracked in all four corners, with more faint scratch marks lining the intersecting bars. Thick cobwebs dirtied the coves that joined the ceiling and walls, and dust bunnies occupied the bottom corners of each room.

“Forgive the mess,” Cumulus begrudgingly said, hanging his head low as he traveled through the cluttered room into the back. “I haven’t truly had time to focus on tidying up.”

“Not even to pick up trash?” Fullmoon questioned, nearly tripping over a small bottle of half-drank water. Cumulus shook his head before slinking away into the next area, which wasn’t any better, what with a stack of empty plastic bottles sitting next to a poorly made bed. The tableside drawer’s contents lay sprawled about in the half-opened container.

“Last room, I promise. Though this one is quite… hairy,” Cumulus stated, slowly opening the door to the next room.

Cats. Cats everywhere. By far this was the biggest room of them all, and most of the space inside was taken up by many colors and patterns of fur. Breeds of all kinds lay lazily about the floor, some just sitting there, and others playing around with small toys. Multiple litter boxes surrounded the area, one of them being nearly full and masking the space with an extremely foul odor.

The ponies, save for Cumulus, instantaneously raised a hoof to their muzzles, plugging their nostrils as they entered the feline pile. Except for Fullmoon. He stood in the doorway, his eyes shifting from cat to cat as an angry fire began to burn in his chest. One thought entered his mind as time began to slow around him.

Chase them. Chase them all.

He let out a low and throaty growl as he pounced at a white and black striped cat. The animal meowed in fright before leaping out of the way swiftly, only for its pursuer to jump up again. This time his hooves landed on its long tail, eliciting a pained yelp. In the corner of his amethyst eye, another cat caught his attention. He wasn’t so lucky with this attack, however, as the target darted out of the way. His face planted into the hardwood floor.

This gave the felines the chance to make the predator become prey as they all convened around him. Before he could examine what was happening, they all jumped onto him and scratched, slashed, and bit at him all over. He twisted and turned in the dogpile of fur as he was attacked, fruitlessly attempted to push all, if any, of them off.

Lime green magic finally surrounded his form, levitating him out of the furry fight and to the other side of the room next to the others. He stared at the pile for a split second before hiding behind Cumulus.

“Are you okay?!” Sweetie Belle whined, dispelling the magic charged in her horn. He responded with a gentle nod, shaking in his hooves.

“Why were you trying to attack my cats?” Cumulus questioned, rushing over to his pets to make sure they were okay.

“I-I don’t know what came over me…” Fullmoon admitted, rubbing the side of his head with a twitching hoof.

“Hey, Ah thought you were cured,” Apple Bloom blurted. Immediately Cumulus’ eyes narrowed at the colt with suspicion.

“Cured?” he queried.

“Uhh… Crusader meeting!” Scootaloo shouted as she pulled her friends into a huddle away from the elder.

“I was wondering the same thing! I thought you had this whole wolf business behind you!” Sweetie Belle whisper-screamed, staring deeply at Fullmoon.

“I-I thought so too! But… it felt different…”

“Different?” Scootaloo tilted her head.

“Yeah… as if I wasn’t myself. Well, I wasn’t myself before, but when I was cursed, it felt like a natural part of me.” His eyes lowered to the floor. “But then it felt like I was an entirely different pony… or creature.”

“Could be a side effect of the spell that Twilight cast!” Apple Bloom suggested, a hopeful smile on her face. “Let’s keep an eye on ‘im, alright girls? Fullmoon, if anythin’ happens that’s outta the ordinary involvin’ yer behavior, please tell us!” He nodded, the four breaking the huddle. “Sorry ‘bout that!”

“What was all that about?” Cumulus asked.

“Uhh… it’s a disorder!” Sweetie Belle stammered, chuckling nervously.

“A… disorder?”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo jumped in. “It was one that gave him dog-like tendencies. We thought we had it under control, but I guess not. Back to the drawing board it is, I suppose!”

“Uh… huh,” Cumulus muttered, before clearing his throat. “Anyways, I forgive you for the assault that you launched on my family.”

“Sorry about that,” Fullmoon whimpered. Cumulus said nothing more as he finished his journey through the felines’ home. The next doorway led to the outside; the backyard more specifically.

Compared to the front yard, the back was extremely tidy. Roomy, too. An expanse of land stretched out in front of them, covered in bright green grass with flowers sprinkled in here and there. In the middle of the field seemed to be an arena of sorts, with a bench on both middle sides. A pure faded white line cut through the middle, separating each side equally.

Beside each of the benches were worn down wooden barrels, with the handles of weapons sticking out of them. Upon closer inspection, thanks to Scootaloo’s curiosity, all of the handles were attached to expertly carved wooden blades. Names of differing lengths were carved into the sides of the blade; some in English, others in some odd gibberish that none of the foals understood.

“You said you wanted to learn swordplay?” Cumulus asked, approaching the barrel and pulling out one of the blades with his wing. “This is where you’ll be taught.”

“Woah woah woah,” Fullmoon faltered, stepping back slightly. “W-we’re only trying this for my cutie mark, right? Not as a vital skill?”

“Ya can’t rush gettin’ a cutie mark, ya know! We of all fillies would know that!” Apple Bloom replied, lightly jabbing the colt in the leg with a chuckle.

“The youngin’ is right,” Cumulus affirmed, turning around slightly to show off his own cutie mark… a white featureless cat head with a bag of open cat food right next to it.

“Wait,” Fullmoon began, his mouth slightly agape. “Your talent isn’t swordplay?”

“We were shocked too!” Scootaloo stated, giggling at his reaction.

“Why do you think I have so many cats?” Cumulus quipped, letting out his own chuckle as a pure white cat ran up to him and onto his back. Fullmoon was about to growl once more, but Scootaloo held a foreleg out in front of him like a gate. “I thought my talent would be swordplay too… but then I found this cat hungry and alone in an alleyway. I couldn’t just leave it there...so I took care of it. That’s how I got my cutie mark.”

“Your talent is taking care of cats?” Fullmoon speculated, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes and no. Swordplay has become a very important hobby to me, while my cutie mark represents my job. I run an adoption agency for these cats. Trust me, I had way more than what’s in there right now,” he explained, the cat on his back rubbing against his neck with a small purr. Cumulus returned the affection with a light pat on its head. “I could never give this one away, however. Haven and I have gone through so much together. He’s my one and only companion.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom let out a collective “aww” while Scootaloo looked away with a tear in her eye and a sniffle.

“That’s… really sweet,” Fullmoon admitted, his frown turning upside down into a bright smile.

“Yes, very,” Cumulus agreed. He whistled, and Haven leapt off his back, returning to the crowded cat room. “Anyways...” He tossed the weapon in his wing over to the colt. Fullmoon fumbled as the sword bounced off his hooves and onto the ground. Cumulus let out a gentle sigh as Fullmoon picked the weapon in his hooves, struggling to stand on his hind legs.

“First lesson,” Cumulus began, trotting up to him, and swiped the weapon from him with his wing. “Never hold a weapon in your hooves while on land, if you can prevent it. As an example, the young unicorn.” He pointed at Sweetie Belle. “She can easily hold the sword with her magic. Out of the three races, unicorns have the easiest time with swordplay--”

“Yup!” Sweetie Belle interrupted, enveloping another one of the swords with her magic. Cumulus had none of it, however, immediately smacking the wooden toy away with his own before glaring at the unicorn. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink as she backed away onto one of the benches. “I-I’ll just watch!” Her two friends quickly joined her, darting their eyes side to side.

“Right.” Cumulus let out a frustrated huff before returning his attention to Fullmoon. “As I was saying, unicorns have the easiest time with swordplay in terms of control. Pegasi, however, aren’t slouches either. If taught right, they can make up for what they lack in control with power and speed.” He unfolded Fullmoon’s wing forcefully, the young pegasus shivering slightly from the touch as the stallion examined the appendage.

“W-What are you doing?” Fullmoon groaned as chills travelled up his spine with each passing moment.

“Do you exercise your wings, young man? Besides flying, of course,” Cumulus probed, continuing his evaluation.

“Not… really, no. I’ve, uh, been distracted with that disorder issue.” He gazed over at the Crusaders, who sat on the bench listening to the conversation while having one of their own.

Cumulus grunted, releasing his tight grip as he backed away. “Your wings, while strong enough to carry you in flight, are frail. Carry this weapon in your wing.” He gently laid the item on the ground in front of the colt and backed away.

“My wings?” Fullmoon gulped, extending his right wing as he stared at the sword. Cumulus nodded as he pulled out another from the barrel with his own wing.

“When exercised properly, they are the strongest appendage of a pegasus’ body. Granted,” he gently wiggled the stub on his right side, “I’m at half the power I was at many years ago. One wing is all I need for what I like to do though. You still have both wings. Your versatility is staggering,” Cumulus explained, grinning down hopefully at his apprentice.

Fullmoon focused his attention back onto the sword, a hint of doubt outlining his features. Inhaling deeply, he bent over and grasped the handle with the majority of his wing, attempting to lift it up with one swift motion. For the most part, he succeeded, lifting the sword high up in the air… before faltering and the sword tilting backwards, slamming onto his back. He collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

Cumulus let out a frustrated sigh as he helped him up. “This is going to be a long day,” he muttered under his breath. The Crusaders looked at each other with concerned expressions.

They agreed. This was gonna be a long, long day.

Author's Note:

Holy CRAP it's finally done! Seven months in the making and chapter 6 is finally here!

I was originally planning on having a compilation of what Fullmoon and the CMC tried to do to get his cutie mark but eventually decided that wouldn't work, so stuck with only one thing for now. The swordplay is gonna be a long term thing involving his character. But is it really his cutie mark?

I'll never tell!

Don't expect an update any time soon, that's all I'll say. Burnt myself out cranking this one out :P

Comments

[SC14]

Hey, usually the longer you take to make a chapter, the better it is . Glad to see this back!