Forever Wolfpony

Chapter 1:A Cure in Sight

"Moon, are ya sure this is a good idea?" Apple Bloom asked, nervously scanning the dark bushes and shadowed corners of the Everfree Forest. Two other fillies followed behind her, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle acted the same, cautiously looking around dozens of times. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, had a bright smile on her face. Her wings fluttered in excitement.

Ahead of the three fillies was a grey-coated pegasus colt named Fullmoon. His expression had more determination than the other three. His amethyst-colored eyes stared dead set ahead of him. He donned a brown and ragged cloak on his back, which covered his wings completely. His ears twitched slightly with every sound echoing in the general vicinity. The slight breeze that slipped through the gaps of the thick leaves made his red mane sway back and forth gently.

"There isn't any other way, Apple Bloom," he replied, looking back for a second before locking himself back to his previous stance. "If there's a way to cure me of this... thing, then I'll do anything to get it." He ducked under a branch, Scootaloo immediately getting hit by it. She shrugged it off, continuing the trot with the other ponies.

"We couldn't have sent a search party for it instead?" Sweetie Belle inquired.

"Yes, find somepony else to get a spell book that they could potentially sell off instead, then tell us that they simply could not find it. Great idea," he said, rolling his eyes.

"I was just suggesting," she whined, lowering her ears in shame. Fullmoon reached into his saddlebag, gingerly pulling out a worn out map. He halted, the three fillies bumping into each other. He unfolded the map. "The monument should be around here somewhere..." He began muttering to himself, scanning the piece of parchment for the tiniest detail that he could've missed.

"Maybe it just doesn't exist?" Scootaloo suggested, looking in every direction. Sure enough, there was no monument to speak of. Just bushes, trees, and unrecognizable flora. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. Fullmoon's face contorted in desperation. His eyes wandered around the map more.

"No, it has to be!" he shouted. "This can't all be for nothing... can it?" His ears drooped downwards. He stood up, taking the map in his hooves and putting it back into his saddlebag. "This way," he stated, pointing to the left and heading in that direction. The group of fillies followed with worried glances.

"You're really scaring me, Fullmoon," Sweetie Belle confided, catching up to trot next to him. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo followed suit.

"Yeah, ya haven't been like this before. What makes this one so special outta all the other times we've scoured the world?" Apple Bloom questioned, narrowly avoiding a bug nearly the size of her own head. Fullmoon let out a heavy-hearted sigh, stopping their trek. He turned to face them.

"Three years," he began, staring at the trio, "I have been like this for three years. So much pain. So much torment. All because of a stupid mistake I've made back then. After all of these years, I may finally have a true lead on something that could cure me. That could set me free from this... this... monster inside of me." His hooves tensed up, the colt thinking of every time he transformed. All the lives he had taken. "If there's a way to finally end all of this, then I'm willing to do anything to get it done."

"What makes this all so different though?" Scootaloo asked.

"This map, specifically." He once more pulled out the chart, laying it flat on the ground. "It has to be decades, maybe even centuries old." He pointed out the many stitched tears and dry stains on the parchment. "It seems to go all the way back to the ancient times, when wolfponies were a lot more common."

He slowly traced a couple of the pathways labeled on the map with his hoof. "Some of these trails don't even exist anymore." He folded it back up and slotted it into his saddlebag. "That's why this is more important than anything right now. I might finally have a chance to rid myself of this curse." He gazed at the three fillies with a look of assurance. "Trust me, we finally have something in our hooves."