//------------------------------// // Attack from a Pack // Story: Terror of the Timberwolf // by PonyPixel //------------------------------// “Yona? Yona,” Ocellus said. The yak jumped awake. “Sandbar?” the yak asked as she jumped up. But her expression fell when she saw it was her roommate. “Don’t feel so upset. He’s going to be better soon.” “Can we check on him?” “I think so.” They left their dorm and walked to where they last saw their friend. Sandbar was still in the bubble and had fallen asleep. However, they noticed something about his hooves still had wooden claws. Ocellus tapped on the bubble which woke the pony up. “Girls?” he questioned. “What’s going on? Why am I...?” Then Sandbar noticed his claws. “But... I’m not a timberwolf now.” “I think it’s becoming more permanent.” “This? I don’t want to be a mindless beast. Yona, you have to help me.” “Yona and friends doing everything they can,” the yak replied. “Well, search faster. I only have one night left. Plus...” He groaned and held his stomach which growled loudly with hunger. “I’m starving.” “We’ll get you some food,” Ocellus said before running off. Yona started following behind as she glanced back and sighed. “I know how you’re worried, but stay calm. We’re going to fix this.” “If Ocellus says so,” Yona said. Breakfast was uncomfortably quiet. For some of the students, it was the events that happened last night, but for five of them, it was their friend. “So, what do you think Headmare Starlight’s going to do?” Smolder asked. “Maybe they have a special spell,” Silverstream said. “I honestly think they just try and kill the wolf that bit him.” “Easier said than done,” Gallus said. “Yeah,” Ocellus agreed, “Regeneration is hard to beat.” “So, we just burn them to a crisp,” Smolder said. “Right Yona?” The yak didn’t reply, she just stared at her cereal. “Yona?” “She doesn’t want to talk right now.” “Right,” Smolder and Silverstream said. Just then, they heard Starlight over the P.A. system. ”Attention students,” she said, ”Until further notice, classes are postponed.” Most of the students seemed more relief than upset by what they heard. “At least we don’t have to worry about that,” Gallus said. “Okay, but then how do we get out of the school?” Smolder asked. “You saw we couldn’t remove the safe.” “Maybe there’s another exit,” Silverstream suggested. “That isn’t the only grate in the school.” “The tree did make those tunnels to our homes,” Ocellus said. “I think it’s worth a shot.” Without saying anything, Yona got up from the table and ran off. She looked around and found a grate next to moat and bridges. She started using her horn as a crowbar she tried to pry it up. Gallus flew up to her. “Um, Yona,” he said. “What?” the yak replied, struggling to lift the grate up. “I think it’ll be smarter instead of just prying it off you...” Yona flew backward as the grate came flying off. They both tumbled into the water. Silverstream said this and dove in to help her friend back on land. “Thanks, Silver,” Yona said. They looked down the hole and saw it didn’t have the tunnel they were looking for. “I don’t think we’re going to fit through there,” Silverstream said. “Maybe friends try other grate. Maybe in showers.” “Yona, that drain’s the size of a cereal bowl,” Gallus stated. “Maybe... Ocellus transform.” “Yona...” “Yona can’t lose Sandbar! School quarantine all over again.” “I wish I didn’t remember that,” Silverstream said. “I think Ocellus wouldn’t either,” Gallus added. The griffon and hippogriff looked to their friend, who was weeping. “I don’t know how, but things will get better.” Silverstream helped her friend up and tried to calm her down. Starlight was down the hall and saw the crying yak. She walked out of the school opened a part of the forcefield so she could get out. “Starlight,” Rarity gasped as she and the other teachers walked up. “Why is the school covered by a forcefield.” “I’m not risking the students getting caught up in a timberwolf attack,” Starlight explained. “Gosh, I guess Granny was right,” Applejack commented. “It’s much worse than that. There’s this theory that timberwolves aren’t born, they’re created after biting another pony. And Sandbar got bit.” The mares gasped. “It’s okay. There’s another theory that can change the pony back, but we have to do it before tonight.” “Why?” Pinkie asked. “Well... Sandbar will be a timberwolf forever.” It felt hard to say that. “Where did you get this information?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Smolder and Ocellus talked to Zecora. The thing is we need to find the timberwolf that bit Sandbar.” “But they all look the same,” Applejack stated. “Not exactly. Here’s my plan.” She started explaining her plan as more carried on inside. Ocellus and Smolder were looking through the window. “Okay, they’re taking care of it,” Ocellus said. “But they have no idea what wolf they're looking for,” Smolder said. “You breathed fire on it. I’m sure they’ll find a burnt timberwolf.” “What about the hive mind?” “Huh?” “Hive mind, remember?” “Oh... Right. If Sandbar found out Silver and Yona were in the Everfree Forest, then they could set up a trap for the teachers.” “You really think so?” “Wolves are cunning creatures. With a hive mind, they can be in separate locations and plan out where they're going to be.” The two quickly flew out of the front of the school, but before they could warn them, Starlight teleported herself and the teachers away. “Dang it.” “Don’t panic. I have another idea.” The dragoness didn’t know what she had in mind until the changeling showed her the earth pony stuck in the bubble. “No way.” “Why not?” “He’s could turn on us.” “He doesn’t want to be a timberwolf. Why would he turn on us?” Smolder crossed her arms. “You can’t still be mad at him.” “He’s making it too easy.” “...We don’t have time for this.” “You know I’m hearing everything you’re saying, right?” Sandbar asked. “Oh... You’re awake,” Ocellus commented. “Yeah, and you're really annoying.” Smolder was about to reply, but the changeling covered her mouth to prevent an argument from starting. “Breakfast is served,” Silverstream sang as she brought a tray of food up to her friend. Yona and Gallus were following behind as the hippogriff gave to the food their trapped friend, but the bubble kept it out. “Silver, I’m glad you and the others are here,” Ocellus said. “We couldn’t get to the professors in time.” “And that’s important because...?” Gallus asked, waiting for the changeling to finish his sentence. “They’re going into the Everfree Forest to kill the timberwolf. With their hive minds, they can track whoever enters the Everfree Forest.” “Then does that mean our teachers are going to becoming timberwolves?” Silverstream asked. “Um... Much worse.” “Wolf... Food?” Yona asked sheepishly. Ocellus just nodded. “Look, they wouldn’t be stupid enough just to go out there,” Gallus said. “They need weapons and maybe armor.” “I’m sure they’re smarter than that, but I had a backup plan. Since Sandbar is connected to hive now, maybe we can use him to check to see what the wolves see.” “You sure about that?” Smolder asked. “It’s our only plan now. Sandbar, can you do it?” “I... I’ll try,” the colt replied. “I’m not sure how, but... I’ll try.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He could see a point of view of something running through a forest. Another was pouncing at an unlucky squirrel. Then, there another looking at a barn with some familiar mares walking out. Sandbar gasped as he opened his eyes. “What did you see?” “Our professors. They’re at Sweet Apple Acres.” “They must be getting tools there,” Gallus commented. “What else can you see?” Silverstream asked. Sandbar closed his eyes again and saw the timberwolf’s view of the farm was getting closer. “It’s moving,” he said. “Where?” “Closer to the barn.” The timberwolf crawled to look inside the barn to see Rarity and Pinkie. The pink sniffed the air, which stank. “Do you smell any rotten apples?” she asked. “Funny,” Rarity replied, “I thought Applejack put the apples in the cel...” She paused when she turned around. The timberwolf roared which promptly caused the two ponies to scream in fear. Rainbow Dash and Applejack heard them and ran back to find the wolf about the pounce. The pegasus flew around the wolf before smacking it in the face with a kick. Sandbar held his jaw as he felt the same pain. “What happened?” Ocellus asked. “They’re fighting back,” he replied. “I felt that wolf’s pain.” “Pain too?” Gallus questioned. “We need to stop this,” Ocellus said. Suddenly, they heard a loud thump. Then there was another one. “What the heck?” Smolder questioned. She and Silverstream flew down the hall to find Yona in the library. She wasn’t alone, as some other yaks were helping try to break down the dome surrounding the grate. “Yona, I think you’re wasting your time,” Silverstream pointed out. “No, yaks not giving up,” Yona cried. She and the other yaks kept trying to ram into the dome until it started cracking. “Yaks making progress,” Trud cheered. “Little more.” The yaks gave one last ram, causing the dome to shatter. “Finally!” While she was a bit tired from breaking the dome, she pushed the safe off the grate, then opened the said grate. “I’ll go tell the others,” Silverstream said. She flew away back to the others as Smolder followed Yona to the tunnels. “Good job guys,” she commented. She slid down the hole and saw Yona running down one of the tunnels. “Wait up!” The dragoness gave chase to catch up. Ocellus and Gallus were still sticking around Sandbar as the hippogriff came flying up to them. “Guys, we can get out of the school now,” Silverstream cried. “Wait, really?” Ocellus questioned. “Let me guess, Yona broke it?” Gallus guessed. The hippogriff nodded. “Maybe we can do the same to this bubble,” Sandbar asked. “...I don’t think so,” Ocellus replied. “It’s much safer if you stay there. If you transform again, who knows what could happen.” “You stay here with Sandbar,” Gallus said. “I’ll go with the girls.” The griffon flew away to catch up with his friends. After going through the tunnels until he got to the castle. One he got out, he met up Silverstream, who had flown ahead of him, and they saw Smolder chasing Yona down. Yona was making a mad dash to Sweet Apple Acres. Her friends were struggling to keep up with her. “Slow down,” Smolder cried. “Yona need to get to professors,” the yak replied. “You really think that wolf is the one that bit Sandbar?” Gallus asked. “Yona have to try.” She picked up the pace as her friends struggled to keep up. When they got to Sweet Apple Acres, they could see their professors and headmare were struggling to fight off the timberwolf. The four hid behind a bale of hay. “That wolf doesn’t look like the one I burned,” Smolder confirmed. “They look like their struggling,” Silverstream commented. She wasn’t wrong, even when the mares tried to smash the timberwolf, it just rebuilt itself. “How do we stop this thing?” Dash asked. “I don’t know,” Applejack admitted. “Hold on,” Gallus whispered. “Smolder, try burning that wolf to crisp.” “I can’t burn it in a barn,” Smolder cried. “Then do something to bring it out here.” The dragoness saw a rock on the ground and tossed it to the timberwolf. The rock hit it square on the head and it turned around to see who threw it. Once it saw Gallus, who was pushed out of his hiding spot. The wolf charged towards the griffon, who quickly took off. Once he did that, Smolder flew behind the wooden beast and breathed fire on it. The wolf was ablaze as and it tried rolling around to put it out. It wasn’t enough and eventually, all of the wood burned into ash. “Alright, it worked,” Gallus cheered. Suddenly, he and Smolder were levitated into the air and towards the barn. “We put a forcefield around the exit,” Starlight said. “It takes a lot more than that to keep a stubborn yak back.” He and Smolder chuckled as they high fived each other. “Look, I don’t care, you’re going back to the school, where it’s safe.” “For your information,” Smolder addressed, “I’m the one who stopped about that wolf.” “She’s right,” Pinkie agreed. “We couldn’t stop it.” “So, we just get some fire,” Dash said. “We’re not putting them in risk.” “You know we helped save Equestria a couple of times,” Gallus said. Starlight didn’t say anything and just teleported them back to the school. “I think we should check on Sandbar,” Silverstream recommended. They did so and found the colt writhing in pain. Smolder put together what happened... “Are... Are you...?” “No, I am not okay!” Sandbar cried. “I felt what it’s like to be set on fire. Do you think I’m okay.” “We save our professors’ lives.” “Look, let’s not fight right now,” Ocellus interrupted. “Can you see where the other timberwolves are?” “I’ll try,” Sandbar grumbled. He closed his eyes again and looked around. Several timberwolves were heading back into the Everfree Forest. He then gasped when he saw a smoky gray timberwolf. “I saw the timberwolf that bit me.” “Okay, we’ll just finish the job and...” Smolder couldn’t finish speaking as Starlight teleported in front of her. Once she did that, she teleported them into another room. “You’re going to stay in this room until we get back,” the Headmare ordered. “Again, fire?” Gallus asked. “I’ve studied magic for years. I can make a simple fire spell. Watch.” Her horn glowed and she let out a torrent of flames. “See?” “What about Sandbar?” Yona asked. “I’ll have Sunburst make sure he’s alright. You are not allowed to leave this room.” “What if we have to eat?” Smolder asked, raising an eyebrow. The unicorn cast a spell, which had a beam hit each student. She walked outside for a minute and then after a bright flash of light she walked back in. “...Follow me.” Starlight walked out of the dorm room to show a tunnel. It glowed light blue and she walked through one of the walls. Silverstream tried to do the same, but she couldn’t. “These tunnels will lead you to the bathrooms and mess hall. The other students can just walk through these but you can’t.” “You can’t do this,” Gallus said. “Sandbar’s our friend.” “And you need to let us help you.” Smolder was about to break down the tunnels, but Ocellus stopped her. “She’s right,” the changeling said. “We can only do so much.” “Thank you, Ocellus. I’ll check with Sunburst and see if he has another solution for Sandbar’s problem. Just don’t do anything stupid.” “We won’t,” the students replied. Gallus tried sneaking towards the window but Starlight was one step ahead of him and zapped it with a spell, preventing the window from opening. “Nice try.” She walked off, leaving the students in the room. “I breathe fire,” Smolder complained. “They’re asking a bird not to fly.” “Let it go,” Ocellus said. “We can’t do anything now. Besides, our professors have faced more adventures than us.” “That’s true,” Gallus commented. “Hey, Smolder, I think this is our room,” Silverstream noted. Yona immediately prompted on the bed. “Yona...” “Yak not want to talk,” Yona replied. “Yona...” “Yak don’t want to talk!” “Right.” Later, Sandbar was lying in the bubble as Sunburst walked up to him. “What do you want?” the colt asked. “I brought you something to eat,” the stallion replied. He handed some lunch to the colt, who started eating. “I didn’t even have breakfast you know.” “That explains the food tray on the floor.” “Do you have anything that can help me?” “Starlight helped get some extra books for me, but I couldn’t find anything useful on timberwolves.” “Seriously?” “I’m trying. The others are too.” “Can’t I see my friends?” “Starlight said I’m supposed to keep them in a dorm.” “Trapping them like me?” “I’m just following orders.” He walked off to leave Sandbar to his meal. Starlight and the professors wandered through the Everfree Forest. Pinkie sniffed the air. “What’s that smell,” she asked. Fluttershy looked around and saw what looked to be a rabbit. It was in a small puddle of blood and didn’t seem to be moving. “Oh no,” the pegasus gasped. She flew over to it and looked over it. AJ walked next to her. “Is it...?” she asked. “Yes...” The pegasus began to weep after what she saw. Growling was then heard. The mares looked around to see what was there. Starlight’s horn glowed as she was ready to see some beasts on fire. Glowing green eyes could be seen through the darkness. Before Starlight could attack, she was pounced by another timberwolf. She tried her fire spell, but the wolf raised his claw and she instinctively used a shield spell. Several more timberwolves came out to attack. They ganged up on the ponies, who were starting to struggle. “There’s gotta be hundreds of them,” Applejack said. “Why didn’t we bring Granny along?” Rainbow asked dodging a pouncing timberwolf. “She’s too old for this. Starlight! Use your spell!” “A little busy,” Starlight replied. She teleported away before she could get bitten. She appeared next to Fluttershy, who was hiding behind a tree. “I should’ve stayed at the school,” Fluttershy shivered. “Just stay calm Fluttershy.” Pinkie bounced pass some of the wolves away as she turned to Applejack. “None of these wolves are the one we’re looking for,” the farm pony said. “How can you tell?” Pinkie asked. “Starlight said that Smolder burnt the one that bit Sandbar. None of these are burnt.” Just then, Rarity got knocked to the ground as she fell unconscious. “Oh, dear,” Starlight gasped. “Fall back!” The gathered the others around and teleported them all away before the wolves could have another meal. They teleported back to the school and helped Rarity inside. Sunburst was surprised they were back so soon. “Did you find the timberwolf?” Sunburst asked. “Not the one we’re looking for,” Pinkie replied. “Plus, Rarity got injured,” Fluttershy added. The vice-principal saw the injured unicorn. The helped her into the lounge and lied her down on the couch. “I think we’re going to need some help with these wolves,” Rainbow said. “You think some of the castle guards will help us?” Pinkie asked. “Only a few of them are unicorns,” Starlight stated. “Not mention I don’t think many of them practice any spell kind of magic aside from levitation.” “How about the dragons?” Sunburst suggested. “That might work.” “I’m on it,” Dash said. She flew outside and Starlight opened a part of the shield so she could fly to the Dragon Lands. “What do we do?” Applejack asked. “I’m not sure,” Starlight said. “We only have one thing that put them down for good. The dragons are far tough than us and breathe fire.” “That’s what I said!” Smolder cried from down the hall. The mares looked at Starlight. “I’m trying to make sure certain students don’t get into trouble.” “Is that what that weird blue tunnel was?” Pinkie asked. “Look, the important thing is we need to keep all of the students safe.” Smolder was listening to the conversation before she walked off back to the dorm. “Okay, so, I couldn’t get close to Sandbar,” she said. Yona sighed as she sulked lower in the bed. “Isn’t there any other way out of this tunnel?” Silverstream asked. “I’ve tried getting out of the mess hall, but no luck.” “Great,” Gallus groaned. “You do remember what one timberwolf did so Sandbar,” Ocellus explained. Smolder shivered at the thought. “Is there anything we can do?” Gallus asked. “So, far,” Smolder said pausing to think, “Nothing.” Yona face-planted in the pillow and started crying. “Probably shouldn’t have said that.” “It’s okay,” Silverstream said trying to calm her down. “It’s not,” Yona sobbed. “Yona won’t get to see Sandbar again.” “You will,” Gallus said, “If we were allowed out of this room.” “I’d just transform into one of the professors,” Ocellus addressed, “But since I can’t walk through the tunnel walls, it won’t work.” “What about when the yaks smashed that smaller dome?” Smolder said. “Couldn’t we just do the same thing with these tunnels?” “It does sound like a good idea,” Gallus commented. “You said the same thing about the poison joke cure,” Ocellus said. “It worked.” “But you got detention.” “That’s in the past.” “Yona,” Smolder said, “Can you hel...” The dragoness saw her running towards the exit, and she flew out of the way as the yak rammed into the side of the tunnel. Yona felt a bit dizzy after the impact. “Did it work?” Yona looked and only saw a small crack. “Not much,” she said. “Try again,” Gallus explained. He helped Smolder and Yona try and ram into the tunnels, as they kept trying to make it crack. “Harder,” Smolder cried. They rammed it again, and again, and again. Finally, after what felt like and hour, with one last ram, they broke through the wall. “We did it,” Yona cheered. With that, she ran off to where Sandbar was. The colt was feeling bored until the yak ran up to the bubble. “Yona,” the colt cheered. “Where were you.” “Head pony tried to keep friends save. Yona wanted to see you again.” “That’s good. I’m just glad to see you.” He placed his hoof on the wall of the bubble and Yona did the same. “There you are,” Ocellus said as she and others caught up with Yona. “Sandbar, how are you feeling?” Gallus asked. “Still the same,” the pony replied. “How about we try using his hive mind vision again,” Silverstream suggested. “I haven’t used it since you left. I’ll try again.” Sandbar closed his eyes and could see timberwolf’s vision. It looked up and could see Rainbow Dash and some dragons flying overhead. Many of the dragons were quite big, but nowhere near full grown. “So, you’re saying that these wolves can just rebuild themselves?” one of the dragons asked. “Yeah,” Dash replied. “Fire seems to be the only thing that can stop them.” “This is going to be easier done than said,” a drake scoffed. “So, where are they?” a dragoness asked. “Down in that forest,” Dash explained. “Starlight said we need to meet her back at the school.” “Couldn’t we just burn this forest?” “This way is more simple. Just try and keep up.” They kept flying on towards the school, but the timberwolves saw them and quickly ran off. “We’re going to get dragons,” Sandbar said. “Really?” Smolder asked. “Yeah... Maybe they’ll... Stop this.” “You were stuttering. What’s with that?” “I’m getting tired of us arguing. I was just angry before and I don’t think I was myself at the time. I’m sorry.” “...I understand. When should they get here?” The doors suddenly swung open and Dash, Starlight, and the dragons walk in. “Right now,” Silverstream chuckled. “Okay,” Starlight said walking with the dragons, “We’ll go in different teams. If we stick one group we’ll...” She paused when she saw the students. “How did you get out?” “You underestimate the strength of a yak,” Gallus told. “Yona not leaving Sandbar,” Yona affirmed, stomping her hoof on the floor. “I don’t know why we didn’t like the yaks earlier,” a drake said. “Look,” Starlight said, “You were in the dorm because you could get hurt.” “That’s what I tried to say,” Ocellus responded. “Yaks are stubborn,” Gallus said. “No offense, Yona.” “None taken,” the yak replied. Starlight was about to teleport them back, but Dash had to point something out. “We can punish them later,” the pegasus said. “We have timberwolves to take care of.” “She’s right,” a dragoness agreed. “What do we do?” “Just... Follow me,” Starlight grumbled. They walked off to leave the students by themselves. “Hold on,” Ocellus said. “Sandbar’s part of the hive mind. He can track where the timberwolves are at.” The headmare stopped. “Go on.” “If he can see what they're seeing we can get the leg up on them.” “That could work.” “But how are we suppose to stay in touch with each other?” Rainbow asked. Starlight thought for a minute before she remembered something. “I have an idea.” Dash, Applejack, and some dragons walked through the Everfree Forest. AJ was carrying a scroll that had a sketch of Starlight, while Dash had a sketch of Sunburst. “This is kind of weird,” the farm pony said. “I know it is,” the sketch of Starlight said, “But I’ve seen Twilight do this. I’ll let you know if our group finds anything.” “And how do we control this thing again?” Rainbow asked. “Just keep it closed when you don’t want to talk to us. If we need to talk to you if it’s closed, it’ll glow and shake.” “Got it,” AJ and Dash said. They rolled their scrolls and carried on. With Starlight’s group, which had her, Pinkie, some other dragons, and Pinkie’s party cannon, they crept moving through the forest. “So, that thing can set up a party in seconds?” a drake asked. “Yeah,” Pinkie replied. “It can distract the wolves before you get them.” “Shh,” Starlight hushed. “I hear something.” The group braced themselves as they crept closer to the noise. They looked and only saw a small twig. “Is this seriously what a timberwolf is?” a dragoness asked. “No, they’re way bigger,” Starlight stated. “Yeah,” Pinkie agreed. “Like...” She paused as her tail started twitching. Pinkie looked around and saw a timberwolf pouncing at her. She moved out of the way and dodged it. The mare positioned her party cannon and fired it at the wolf. Once it was done, the fired breathed fire at it. Sandbar, who was still at the school, groaned in pain. “Are you okay?” Sunburst asked. “I’m fine,” the colt groaned. Back with the others, Starlight shielded herself from an attack as the dragons kept breathing fire. Some of the flames hit a bush, which Pinkie aim her party cannon at and shot it with cake batter. “Take it easy,” she cried, “You don’t want to burn the forest too.” “Sorry,” a drake replied, “These things won’t sit still.” “None of them are burnt,” Starlight said, burning a wolf. Pinkie grabbed her scroll and contacted Dash and AJ. “Girls, any luck?” she asked. “Nothing,” Applejack replied. “We found a pack. Can you come over here and help.” “Um, scratch that,” Dash replied, ”I think some found us.” The sketches of the ponies vanished as Pinkie then started noticed that Starlight was getting tired. “Starlight, what’s going on?” the pink pony asked. “I’m getting tired from using so much magic,” the unicorn replied. “I don’t think I’ll last much...” Suddenly, another timberwolf pounced on her. A dragon managed to throw it off of her and started breathing fire on the beast, the unicorn could barely stand up. “We should probably get out of here,” Pinkie said. “You go,” a dragon said, “We’ll make sure these things don’t go anywhere.” Pinkie nodded, picked up Starlight, and ran off. Just when it looked like they were home free, Sandbar saw something. “They’re going to catch them!” he cried. “I’ll try and warn them,” Sunburst said. He unrolled the scroll to warn Pinkie and Starlight, but instead of sketches of the ponies, he got a couple of scribbles. “Uh oh.” Pinkie had to leave her scroll as one of the timberwolves had torn it to shreds. When it looked like she and the unconscious unicorn were home free, they were promptly surrounded by more of the wood beasts. “Why did they go after the scroll?” Pinkie questioned. “Sand... Bar...” Starlight groaned weakly. The pink pony was confused as she bounced over the timberwolves, but started to realize what her friend meant. She kept going as fast as she could to get away, but the wolves wouldn't give up so easily. Meanwhile, Dash could see the drawing of what would be Pinkie or Starlight was now just scribbling. “AJ, there’s something wrong with this scroll,” Dash said. “What do yah...?” Applejack paused when she saw the scribbles. “Golly.” “That’s bad, right?” asked a dragoness. “Very. Star and Pinke are in trouble.” “So, we just split up.” “Normally, that be fine,” Dash commented, “But again, timberwolves.” “Dash is right,” Applejack explained. “We can’t split up.” “Then what can we do?” the dragon asked. “I don’t know,” Dash replied. “We’re thinking of this on the fly.” “RD,” Applejack said, “Take three of the dragons with you. That should be enough to keep y’all safe.” Dash and three of the dragons flew off to find the mares in danger. The rainbow pegasus dragged two of the dragons with her to speed things up until they saw Pinkie fleeing for her life while carrying Starlight. “Pinkie!” Dash and the dragons raced to catch up with the ponies, just as some timberwolves got in the pink pony’s way. She turned around as the pegasus caught up. “Dashie,” Pinkie gasped. “These wolves won’t let us leave the forest.” “Why’s that?” a drake asked. “They’re picking up on our plan,” Dash said. “Think about it.” Pinkie gasped, “Sandbar! You need to get to him.” “I can’t leave you guys here with...” “We’ll be fine. Just make sure the others are safe. The only dragons there are just teens.” “Alright.” Dash flew into the sky and back to the school as the dragons helped Pinkie fight off the timberwolves. When the pegasus returned to the school, she saw some timberwolves beat her there. Dash tapped on the upper part of the dome to signal to Sunburst that she wanted inside. The stallion opened a hole and the mare flew in. “What’s wrong,” Sunburst asked. “They’re using the hive mind against us.” “What?” “They heard everything we’re doing.” They looked towards Sandbar, then outside to see the timberwolves scratching at the dome. “We have to knock him out.” “No!” Yona cried. “Yona, he’s a spy,” Dash stated. “But they’re already outside,” Gallus said. “The suns going down!” Silverstream cried. “Already?” Smolder questioned. “We were in the dorm for a while,” Ocellus said. “And I had a long way to go to get to the dragon lands,” Dash added. “Guys,” Sandbar said. “I’m starting to feel weird again.” “No,” Yona cried, “Sandbar, fight back.” The glow of the moonlight shined through the window. The colt groaned as his body started turning into wood again. The timberwolves outside started sniffing the air. They could smell something that was transforming. The glow in their eyes diminished and their body parts fell to the ground. The timberwolves that were the forest with ponies and dragons suddenly ran away from them, much to the creatures’ confusion. The smaller wolves surrounded the floating pieces of wood which formed into an enormous timberwolf, which let out of a mighty roar. The giant started slashing at the dome which started cracking in seconds. “We need to get out of here,” Sunburst cried. “Yona not leaving Sandbar,” Yona asserted. Sandbar’s eyes began to glow again as his entire body was almost wood. There was barely any ‘moss’ on his body. The only bit was one his head. He grew in size which helped him when he tried breaking out of the bubble, which was quite easy. He landed on the ground and growled at the creatures. They all got back, except Yona. “Get back here,” Smolder cried. “Sandbar, please.” The wolf wasn’t in the mood for listening. “Yona don’t want Sandbar to be monster. Please, don’t...” The timberwolf slashed as the yak, making her scream in pain. There was a large gash on her arm as she started bleeding. “Yona!” the students and teachers cried. Rainbow and Sunburst rushed in front of the yak to protect her. As Yona’s friends raced over to help her, Sandbar looked at what he had done. His girlfriend’s wool was beginning to stain with blood. He whimpered as he knew his mistake, and he quickly ran off. “Sandbar, wait.” Yona tried to stand up, only to make her injury worse. “Don’t move,” Gallus ordered. “Where’s Ocellus?” “She went to get Professor Fluttershy and a first aid kit,” Silverstream explained. “Stay here,” Sunburst said, “We mean it.” He and Rainbow went after Sandbar just as Fluttershy and Ocellus came running up. The mare started bandaging Yona up, but the yak and her friends had no idea what to do. Sandbar burst through the school doors, the giant timberwolf did the same with the dome, and the whole thing came crashing down and vanished. Once he saw he was spotted, he ran away but the pack wasn’t going to let their new member get away that easily. Luckily, the ponies and dragons came out of the forest, just as Sunburst and Dash got out of school. The stallion went to help the others as Rainbow went to catch up with Sandbar. Fluttershy and the other students stayed inside, hoping the wolves won’t come inside. Even though it was dark, Gallus could see some gray wood was part of the giant timberwolf. “I think I found our smokey,” Gallus said. “What?” Smolder questioned. “The wolf you burned. It’s part of that giant.” “Oh, good, now it’s going to be harder to kill.” “It’s heading into town,” Silverstream cried. It was, Sandbar was running the same way. Yona started limping towards the exit, but Fluttershy stopped her. “Yona, you’re making your injury worse,” she explained. “But friends need to help Sandbar,” the yak replied. She cringed as she applied pressure to her cut arm. “Just lie down. I’ll go get you some pillows.” The pegasus flew off leaving the five students be themselves.” “This isn't right,” Gallus groaned. “Yeah, you guys came to save me,” Silverstream commented. “Why can’t we do the same for Sandbar.” “There’s a twenty-foot monster that’s pretty much indestructible,” Smolder said. “Even if we burn it, it’ll just move around and put itself out.” “If only we could keep it in one spot,” Ocellus pondered. After hearing that, Gallus snapped his talons. “Where’s that hole?” he asked. “What?” the group asked. “The one where Sandbar was trapped.” “Oh, that,” Smolder responded. “It would be deep enough for it to get stuck,” Ocellus said. “If we put some flammable stuff in it and get the dragons to help, we could pull it off,” Gallus considered. “And what do we use to bring that wolf to the hole?” Silverstream asked. “...I hate to say this,” Smolder said, “But I think one of us is going to have to be bait. The group stayed silent for a while until Ocellus broke the silence. “I guess I’ll do it,” the changeling sighed. “Yona can’t walk, she’ll be ripped to shreds.” “Okay,” Gallus spoke, “Silver, you’ll help me put flammable stuff in the hole. Smolder, you’ll help the dragons turn up the heat. And Yona... You should probably stay here. That leg’s just going slow you down.” “Got it,” Yona replied. “I’m back,” Fluttershy said, flying towards them. “Quick, act natural,” Gallus cried. Lucky for them, their professor didn’t hear their plan. “Sorry, it took so long. I was checking with Rarity to make sure that the students were safe.” “Understandable,” Ocellus commented. “If anything else goes wrong, you should head to the tunnels under the school.” Fluttershy helped Yona onto the pillows to help her get comfy. “How do we get out?” Smolder whispered to Gallus. “We need to get her into another room,” Gallus replied quietly. “On it.” The dragoness walked up to her professor. “I thought that Headmare Starlight set up another barrier around the exit. Could you double-check for us.” “What’s stopping you from checking?” Fluttershy asked. “Well... I want...” “Starlight warned me about this, and the answer is ‘no’.” “Here’s the thing,” Gallus explained, “If we don’t do anything now, there’s not going to be anymore Sandbar.” “Yona want to see Sandbar again,” Yona said. “I know you’re scared,” Fluttershy reassured. “But this is the safest place to be at right now.” Something begged to differ. A large wolf broke through the window without warning. It bit on Yona’s horn to pick her up. The yak screamed in fear as Smolder was about to attack. However, the wolf just smacked her flying into a wall. Once it did that, it ran off. Without hesitation, Yona’s friends gave chase. “Guys, remember the plan,” Gallus cried. “On it,” the girls replied. Smolder went to get some of the dragons, while Ocellus searched around for Sandbar and the giant that was chasing him. Silverstream and Gallus flew to where the hole was while grabbing some flammable items such as twigs and leaves along the way. Meanwhile, ponies fled and hid in fear. Sandbar wasn’t wanting to hurt any pony, he was just wanting to get away from the other timberwolves. This was incredibly hard as he kept trying to resist the hive mind. While he ran he could see and hear the screams of a certain yak. Since the giant timberwolf was still behind him, Sandbar had to get a bit creative. He lept onto the rooftop and was light enough to do so without breaking them. The other wolf was too heavy, so the building it tried to climb just collapsed. He would go after him, but it smelled something. It looked down and saw a blue pig, which it promptly chased. Now that he lost it, Sandbar raced back to the school to help Yona. “HELP!” Yona screamed as she dangled from the wolf’s mouth. Sunburst tried using his magic to pull her out, but the wolf held it’s grip. Dash and Fluttershy tried flying up to catch Yona, but they were just swatted away like flies. One of the dragons was about to breath fire, but another stopped her. “Cinder, you’ll hit the kid,” the drake said. “But we don’t do anything, she’ll...” The dragoness, as well as the drake, were knocked to the side by the timberwolf. Just when it looked like Yona was a goner, a mossy timberwolf pounced and catching the bigger beast off guard. Yona was released and the small timberwolf caught her on its back and ran off. “Put Yona down,” the yak begged. The wolf stopped so Yona could get off. The yak noticed the ‘moss’ on the wolf’s head and gasped. “Sandbar?” The beast’s tail wagged, though his ears drooped when he saw Yona’s cut. “This? No, cut not Sandbar’s fault. Friends making plan to save you.” Sandbar regained his smile as a blue pig ran past them. “Get out of the way,” the pig screamed. Sandbar looked confused. “That Ocellus.” They soon saw the giant timberwolf chasing their friend. Sandbar picked Yona up onto his back and ran off behind the pig. Elsewhere, Gallus and Silverstream were tossing in some logs and leaves into the hole as Smolder and two other dragons breathed fire into it. “You sure this is going to work?” a drake asked. “It has to,” Gallus said. “Is that a blue pig?” the other drake asked. “That’s gotta be Ocellus,” Silverstream responded. “Get ready,” Ocellus replied as she changed back into her changeling form. Right behind her was Sandbar carrying Yona, and the giant timberwolf. It swiped at the former pony and yak, both of which tumbled into a tree. Yona winced in pain from the blow as Sandbar stood up. The giant towered over him and let out a mighty roar. “Get that thing into the fire,” Smolder cried. She and the two dragons helped, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Gallus fly around and ram into the giant wooden beast. Despite the strike, the timberwolf fought back. Gallus and Silverstream went down, but Ocellus turned into a dragon and help breathe fire at the beast. Sandbar winced in as he felt the giant’s pain. The huge timberwolf roared in anger and used its tail to swat the dragons away. Unforinetly, it began to lose its footing as the ground near the hole crumble and it nearly fell in. The timberwolf stopped the regeneration to small and regain its footing while the other timberwolves fell into the flames. “It’s getting weaker,” Gallus groaned while standing up. “Get it while we have the chance.” Ocellus and Smolder got up, but the other dragons were too tired to fight on. “We’re so close,” Smolder panted. She flew up and flew around to distract the timberwolf from Ocellus, who turned into an Ursa minor and started getting into a fight with the timberwolf. While this was happening, Sandbar was struggling to resist the hive mind. His body parts started to glow and started floating apart. Yona saw this and tried grabbing the part from floating away. “Yona need help!” she cried. Gallus and Silverstream saw her problem and helped her keep Sandbar in one piece. “Sandar, fight back.” The giant saw what was going on and managed to lift Ocellus upwards and smash her on Smolder, knocking both of them out. It then stomped towards the griffon, hippogriff, and swiped them to the side. It bent down to bite Yona, but lucky for the yak he horns prevented the wolf from biting her body. “Help! Put Yona down! HELP!” Sandbar looked up at the terrified yak. The bigger timberwolf looked at him but the infect pony’s body parts stopped glowing. The answer to that came from him running up and slashed through the hind legs of the timberwolf, causing it to stumbled backward to the burning hole. Sandbar did it again with the foreleg and the big timberwolf let go of Yona and tumbled into the hole. It ditched all of the extra pieces of wood, though that only got the burnt wolf enough to grab the ledge. Sandbar stood over the timberwolf hanging on. He bit it’s paw, causing it to break apart and the smoked wolf fell into the flames. He let out a howl for victory as his body started glowing green. Instead of fusing with another wolf, his wooden body turned back into one consisting of flesh and blood. Hooves, fur, a cutie mark, mane, tail, all of the parts that would make up a pony. When the glowing stopped, Sandbar sat down as he returned to his old self. He looked towards Yona and stumbled over to her. “S... Sandbar?” the yak studdered. “Yeah,” Sandbar groaned. “I think... We got it.” He gave weak chuckled as the yak hugged him and kissed him on the lips. Both yak and pony embraced each other and released when their professors ran up to them. “There they are,” Sunburst called. He, the ponies, and the dragons helped the students up. “Sandbar,” Starlight gasped. “You’re... Back to normal?” “Looks like it,” Sandbar replied. “Still feeling a little weak.” “Yona just happy Sandbar still here,” Yona cooed. “What happened to the other timberwolves?” Ocellus asked with Pinkie helping her up. “They just ran away,” Dash explained. “Seeing how Sandbar’s himself again, I can see why,” Sunburst said. “Let’s get you back to school.” It was midnight when the six students were resting in the lounge. “I still can’t believe how much those things weigh,” Smolder mentioned. “Sorry about that,” Ocellus apologized. “It wasn’t your fault. At least that thing is gone.” “I hope you learn to stop throwing yourself in danger,” Fluttershy said. She gave the students some ice packs, which they placed on different parts of their bodies. “I hope things start calming down,” Silverstream commented. “Me too,” Sandbar agreed. Yona leaned against the pony as she was very tired. “Easy Yona.” “Sorry,” the yak apologized. “Yona wants to forget what happened.” “Ditto.” The two just lean against each other for a nuzzle. “It’s great to have you back Sandbar,” Gallus commented. “Yeah, it is.” Sandbar saw that Yona had already passed out. One by one, the friends went back to their dorms. However, Sandbar decided to stay behind with the snoozing yak. He helped her lie down and covered her up with a blanket. He was about to leave but the yak started shivering a muttering to herself. “Sand... Sandbar,” she groaned. The pony started feeling bad for her and lied down next to the yak. Yona calmed down and snuggled against Sandbar. He gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek as he got himself tucked in. “Thanks for being by my side.” With that, the pony and yak snoozed throughout the night.