Forbidden: A Lost Wolf Story

Ben was fascinated by the spell book. Since his experience, he had found a new section in the Magic in Creatures Other than Ponies section. There was a complete set of four pages all about wolf-pony hybrid magic, with special excerpts on some of the things that Ben wanted to know before. For one thing, he understood how he was conducting purple electricity. When he was born, he was given his magic through the endless powers of the weather.

Since the day in the dungeon, Ben had learned to harness and control his electric powers. He could summon sparks in his paws and direct them to a location of his choice. His first target was the metal bars of the dungeon. He not only could direct the lightning to the bars, but he could also control them while on the bars and off his body. Just as easily, Ben put the sparks out. He found out that by thinking about where the sparks are, they appear. When he stopped thinking, they disappeared.

Ben made sure to hide the book whenever Celestia decided to drop in on him unannounced, which she did quite often. Ben was not mad at her, since he did that every morning to roam the castle. Ben noticed that Celestia was rather joyful when around him. Ben suspected that she was playing the I-don't-know-but-I-really-do-know card on him, but decided to play along with it. Ben knew that Celestia would never find out he had her book.

Ben had spent the next two weeks practicing and perfecting his magic. He found out that his magic rotation was to the right. Magic rotation was the way magic spun within anything that had magic. For most creatures, the magic rotation could be determined by the direction hair turned. For Ben, he had a right rotation.

Ben decided to investigate and learn about magic rotations in other ponies. Since several of the ponies in Canterlot were unicorns, Ben had an easier job. For unicorns, magic rotation could be determined by the direction the lines spiraled up the horn. As it turned out, Celestia had a left rotation. Ben laughed at this, since several portraits of Celestia show her having a right rotating horn.

Ben went through eight unicorn before running across the young Twilight Sparkle. Ben knew that she was Celestia's new star pupil, since Sunset left a few years back. Twilight was head-deep into a book, a sight Ben chuckled at.

Definitely a bookworm.

Ben managed to see that Twilight was a right rotation. Ben was about to leave when he saw Twilight walking right into a wall. Ben wanted to see the crash. Ben never saw it, for Twilight managed to turn the corner and continued walking with the book in her face. How Twilight did not run into the wall, Ben would never know.

Ben continued his study of magic rotation until dusk, where he came back to Celestia's room and met a smile. Celestia caught him on time for once. Ben returned the smile and proceeded to his room. Jumping onto his bed, Ben opened up the spell book and found something interesting. Written onto the first few blank pages were signatures of names Ben could not believe were there. On one page was Starswirl the Bearded. Another had Rockhoof. There was also Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Somnambula, Mage Meadowbrook, and Stygian. But what caught Ben off guard was on the last blank page was Clover the Clever. Ben was beyond happy.

Ben heard stories from Celestia about the legendary Clover the Clever, but to have one of his books, it was like a dream come true.

That explains a lot actually.

Who else would be powerful enough to make an enchanted book that talked to the reader and provided answers through magical means. Ben was just about to get some sleep when he heard Celestia's bedroom door open. Ben dimmed his lights, hoping the intruder did not walk into the closet and see him. He heard Celestia's voice and a child's voice. They appeared to be having a discussion. A friendly discussion, Ben assumed. Ben crept over to his bedroom door and took a look out through the keyhole.

He saw the young Twilight Sparkle having tea with Celestia, a pile of papers stacked next to her seat. Ben was curious, but knew that if he was seen, Celestia would not be happy. When Ben found a spot where he was no longer interested in the conversation, he returned to his bed and closed his eyes, not knowing that that night might have been his last in the closet.

The next morning was strange for Ben. When he woke up, he did not see Celestia waiting for him, nor did he see Celestia in her room at all. Ben pondered whether to leave or not, but his stomach told him that it would not hurt to get some breakfast. In the back of his mind, he practiced how he would utilize rule six as his excuse for wandering the castle without Celestia's permission.

When Ben left the bedroom and entered the halls, he found that nopony was around. The cooks left the kitchen. The guards were not at their posts. Ben scratched his head in confusion, but kept to his regular routine of hiding in plain sight should he run across somepony still in the castle.

Ben was rather proud of his ability to hide. Even from a young age, Ben learned that by thinking he himself was invisible, nopony seemed to notice him. He could wall down a corridor full of ponies and not be noticed whenever he performed his special ability. When the book made its update, Ben found out that not only could he use spark magic, but by thinking that he himself was a spark of electricity, he would be able to jump from point A to point B in a blink of an eye. He called it a Lightning Jump. So for him to become invisible, all he needed to do was not be able to be seen by the naked eye.

Ben managed to exit the castle and saw that the city of Canterlot was hosting a parade. No, not a parade. Ben did the thinking and remembered that the summer was nearing the end, so Celestia was out for the Summer Sun Celebration. Ben would have liked to have seen it, but he would not risk getting caught by Celestia. While he could make himself invisible to most ponies, those who had a trained eye would spot him immediately. And Celestia was well trained, Ben was sure of.

So Ben decided to go for a run around the castle. He stretched his legs for the run and just when the clock hit ten, he was off. In a few minutes, he was at the guard barracks. He saw all the lockers were empty, a sign that every guard was on duty at the celebration. He then made it to the kitchens, where he snatched a few treats for himself, having forgotten that he skipped breakfast. He made it from the East Wing to the West Wing in just two minutes, a new record for himself. He managed to cover the entire castle in must more time than before. Since nopony was in the castle, Ben had little to worry about being spotted.

This place is so much bigger without all the ponies.

Ben was having more fun roaming the castle than before. He was free to be himself without being confined to the dungeon. He was--

CRASH!!

Ben stopped in place and made himself invisible. His ears were erect, trying to find the source of the crash.

Crash.

Ben turned around and found that the sounds were coming from the vault. Ben never really considered visiting the castle vault, since that was the one place where he would most likely get caught. But this time, his curiosity got the better of him and he went to investigate.

Before turning the last corner that would lead him to the vault, Ben heard voices. Four voices, that almost all sounded the same, but Ben knew that there were four because they were all arguing among themselves.

"I told you to put that down! But did you listen to me, NO," one voice shouted.

"It was an honest mistake, but what are you worried about? Nopony is here," another voice argued.

"Doesn't matter! You could have triggered the alarm," a third voice said.

"And I told you that I took care of the alarm!" said the forth voice.

Ben noticed that the voices were very similar, but how was still a mystery. Ben decided to pear around the corner and saw four blue ponies scavenging around the open vault. Two were pegasi, one was a unicorn, and the last was an earth-pony. They all wore masks that looked like cat faces. Their cutie marks were most likely painted over, since Ben knew that they were burglars stealing money from the vault. The items that crashed were suits of armor. Ben wanted to get a closer look, but it appeared that his cover was already blown when the unicorn shouted something.

"Somepony is here!"

Ben quickly returned his head around the corner and hoped that he was not spotted by a trained unicorn. He heard the flapping of wings as the two pegasi flew over to the corner. Ben saw the two fly past him, stop, and look at each other with confusion.

"Um, boss. There's nopony here," said one of the pegasi.

"Look harder. He must be invisible. There is no way he escaped that quickly," replied the unicorn.

Ben held his breath and remained motionless as the pegasi swooped past him multiple times. Ben hoped beyond hope that they did not have a good sense of smell like him. But smell was not what gave him away. One of the pegasi flew so close to Ben that Ben's hair stood up from the static electricity. The pegasi stopped and turned, waving his partner over. Ben was not going to wait for them to rush him.

With a jolt, Ben undid his invisibility spell and made a break for it. He did not make it far, for the unicorn teleported himself between Ben and the rest of the castle. The pony quickly put a spell on Ben, immobilizing his arms and legs, locking him in place.

"Well. This is a surprise. And just, who are you?" asked the unicorn.

Ben did not speak, because he did not know what to say to get out of this situation. He hoped that they would let him go if he appeared to be mute, but that would be a stretch. Ben knew that the unicorn was not an idiot.

"Well, answer," asked the unicorn.

"Ben. I'm Ben," replied Ben, a little disappointed at himself.

"Ben. What all did you hear?" asked the unicorn.

"A crash, then you guys bickering, then you shouting to find me, and now you asking my questions," replied Ben, a little sarcastically.

The unicorn looked a little frustrated by that response.

"And where were you going to go?" asked the unicorn.

"My bedroom, I guess. You know, I didn't actually think about that," Ben responded.

"Well I'll let you know where you are going. Lok, Mok, take him to the dungeon! Jok, check the corridor to make sure nopony else comes down here," said the unicorn. The two pegasi, which Ben assumed were Lok and Mok, carried Ben, still immobilized, through the castle while Jok took position. The unicorn used a spell that gave Jok the appearance of a Canterlot guard. Ben wanted to struggle, but could not resist the spell the unicorn put on him. But Ben was already in a cell when he felt his arms and legs again.

Lok and Mok were flying up, having thrown the keys out into a closet that held armor. Ben was about to scream for help, but remembered that nopony else was in the castle. Plus the dungeons were sound proof, so nopony would hear him anyways. Ben began to memorize the names and appearances of the ponies. Lok was the pegasi with a smooth mane, while Mok had a tough mane. Jok was the earth-pony with a short mane. And then there was the unicorn, who was referred to as the "boss."

Ben had thought of ways to explain this to Celestia, but nothing would make a good excuse. Ben waited until he was sure the ponies were not nearby and made his escape. He turned into lightning and made his Lightning Jump out of the cell. He made sure that he was not heard, and after the few seconds of silence, Ben made his way to the vault once more. He stopped just before Jok, who was still wearing the false armor. Moments later, the unicorn was walking toward Jok with a brown sack that was full.

"Well Hok, this was fun. Why did you send Lok and Mok to the royal bedrooms again?" asked Jok.

"To see why that pony wanted to head up to his room. He must have something up there that we may need. Besides, it is still a good two hours before ponies start returning from the celebration. You know how much Canterlot ponies like their royal celebrations."

Ben would have stayed to hear the rest of the conversation, but he bolted to Celestia's room, hoping that Lok and Mok had not found out about his secret room. Thankfully, the two were still on the third story, while the royal bedrooms were on the forth story. Ben had to make sure that he could sneak past the two without alerting them. Ben did not need to try hard, since Lok and Mok were holding high beliefs that Ben was still in the dungeon.

Ben quietly entered Celestia's room and went into the closet. Ben had thought about how he would handle the ponies if they were to find his room, but no good ideas came to mind. Ben noticed the spell book open on his bed. Ben took a look and saw a single phrase written in black ink.

"Make new friends. Stop them from destroying themselves and your life."

Ben was about to question the book, but was stopped by the opening of Celestia's bedroom door. The four ponies walked in together. Ben saw that they had taken off their masks. They all had green eyes, and Hok had his mane shaved off completely, exposing his horn. Ben took a look back at the book.

Make new friends? What does that mean?

Ben noticed Jok getting closer to the closet door and prepared for a scrimmage.

"There is something here. I can sense it," said Hok. Hok pointed towards the closet door, and Jok proceeded to open it.

Ben did not hesitate. Ben summoned sparks to appear on Hok's horn to prevent him from using magic. Lok and Mok tried to fly in and punch Ben, but Ben put sparks on their wings to keep them from flying. Jok was on the ground, his limbs suffering from the same sparks, making him immobilized.

Ben collected all four ponies and put them together in a rope of electricity. They would not have any way of escaping that rope, so Ben decided to play the role of "good cop."

"So here we all are. You guys should really hold somepony outside the dungeon, you know, just in case a prisoner escapes. So you're names are Lok, Mok, Jok, and Hok. I am assuming that you are related?"

"Quadruplets," replied Jok.

"Through magic," said Lok.

Hok rolled his eyes and said, "We are not actually related. We are just partners. And you don't understand why we were doing this."

"Okay. Why?" asked Ben.

Hok said, "Because we had no choice. Celestia and the bureaucrats keep raising the taxes so that Canterlot is home to only those who can afford it. We were just barely getting by when the lords passed a new tax on pony homes. They built new homes so everypony needs to pay taxes to pay off the building of those homes. We ran out of money and had to see our home. We have to beg for food and money to survive, all because of Celestia's tax law.

"We were trying to get money to move to Ponyville, but we didn't have enough for a home in Ponyville, so we needed to get money. And nopony in Canterlot is willing to give third-class ponies money just because they asked. So we planned on stealing the money that Canterlot took from us. The taxes that we paid that were supposed to go to the new buildings weren't even used. They were just put into the vault! So we needed to steal it back."

Ben thought about what he just heard. Celestia passed a law that made ponies pay taxes for buildings that were already paid for? And if these ponies were hurt this much to steal from Canterlot, Ben could only assume how many other ponies were in the same situation. Ben did not want to forgive them, but Ben felt that he needed to help them.

Ben undid his rope spell and said, "Sorry to hear it. I'll pretend I didn't see you guys. Just, promise one thing for me."

Hok asked, "What?"

"Don't tell anypony about me. You four and Celestia are the only ponies that know about me right now. I would like to keep it that way."

"Why don't you leave?" asked Mok.

"Where would I go? I'm not exactly your everyday pony now am I?" said Ben.

"Why not come with us?" asked Jok.

Ben shook his head.

"Really? That is how you want to go? Under Celestia's wing? I know powerful magic when I see it and you have powerful magic. You should not let yourself be dependent on Celestia all the time. Look at us. We just stole from the Canterlot vault because we are going up against Celestia. You should join us," said Hok.

Ben was at a stand-still. He knew Celestia was powerful, yet these four ponies would stand against her and all who support her. And Ben was powerful, Hok said, and Hok was the pony leading this small group. Ben knew that Celestia would never forgive him, but Ben had tasted freedom before, and he did not want to let it go.

"Okay. I'll join you guys. I'll help if I can, but I can't make any promises," said Ben.

"Good. Now pack your things and lets go. I estimated we have about ninety minutes before ponies start flooding back into Canterlot," said Hok.

Ben smiled. All he really needed what his book. Ben thought about whether he would miss his routine, but quickly through the thought away, knowing that he had a chance to see the outside world.

Besides, who follows all the rules anyways?