Terror of the Timberwolf

by PonyPixel

Cue the Clock

Yona had fallen asleep. She was woken up when someone called her. “Yona?” Sandbar called. The yak jumped awake and looked down in the hole. There, Sandbar was lying down wearing his ripped up jacket. “Can you tell me what happened last night?” he asked.

“Uh... You...” Yona had no idea what to tell him.

“There you are,” Smolder cried. She flew up to the startled dragon. “Were you here all night?”

“...Yes.”

“Please tell me what's going on,” Sandbar begged. Smolder looked down in the hole and saw he was back to normal.

The dragoness flew down to help get the pony out of the hole. “We'll explain on the way back,” she said. Once Sandbar was out of the hole, the three walked away.

“Last night was just a blur. I had this weird dream where I had claws. Must've been that timberwolf giving me nightmares.”

“Yeah, about that.” Smolder whispered into her friend's ear.

“I’M A WHAT?”

“Yep, it’s true. You went crazy last night and a few snacks.”

“Oh gosh... I ate a rabbit and squirrels. I’m a monster. This is your fault.”

“My fault?”

“If you didn’t mess around in the forest, I wouldn’t have gotten bitten and go on killing...”

“Shhhh.” She covered his mouth as some ponies were now walking around. “Some of them saw you know what last night.”

“Well, I’m still mad at you.” Yona felt uneasy with her friends fighting.

“Can’t friends just stay quiet?” the yak begged.

“Yeah,” Smolder said. They kept their mouths shut until they got back. At this point, Yona was feeling a little tired from stay up so late. Her eyelids felt heavy as her horns scraped against the wall, making her wake up.

“There you are,” Silverstream said. She flew over to the three. She noticed a leaf on top of Sandbar’s ears, thinking it was stuck she pulled it off, but it caused her friend some pain. “Sorry.”

“You know what,” Sandbar said. “Why don’t you just heat me up by setting me on fire? No? Okay, I guess I’ll just have my leg bitten and I’ll become a bloodthirsty monster.”

“Hey, you’re a lot heavier than I thought,” Smolder protested.

“You’re a dragon. They can throw boulders and you can’t carry me?”

“I was also carrying the cupcakes you left behind?”

“What’s going on?” Moss asked. He walked up to where he heard the arguing. “Some of us want to sleep in.”

“Sorry,” Silverstream apologized. The changeling grumbled as he walked away. Yona wished she could get some more sleep too, but Sandbar had other ideas.

“I’m sure you guys have already eaten,” Sandbar said annoyed. “Let’s go Yona.” He grabbed the yak’s hoof and dragged her away.

“Was that thing in his ear?” Smolder asked.

“I think so,” Silverstream replied. Both of them were now worried.

In the mess hall, the only creature left in there was Gallus. He had two trays in front of him, one had an average amount of food, the other had food stack to match his height. “We thought you would be hungry,” he said trying to hide his surprise when he saw his friend, “So, we got some food for you.” The yak and pony started eating, with Sandbar going for the bigger tray.

“Thanks, Gallus,” Yona yawned. The griffon gave a thumbs up before leaving the room.

He found Ocellus in the library reading a journal that looked pretty old. “Anything new?”

“Not anything new that Granny told me,” Ocellus sighed. “I don’t even think she would be able to have a cure to change him back to normal.”

“You think we could just use our miracle beams to fix this?”

“Timberwolves are a lot more common than you think. I don’t think shooting him with rainbows is going to work.”

“Well... What about that Zebra?”

“Zecora?”

“Yeah, her. She helped us when the school was sick, maybe she can help with this.”

“It’s worth a shot. Though, I’m a bit scared to go into the forest with all those timberwolves running around.”

“Just turn into a timberwolf. They won’t know the difference.”

“Okay. How’s Sandbar doing?”

Sandbar was wolfing down his food. Yona was feeling pretty scared at this point. Her fatigue didn’t help either, she could barely keep her eyes opened. “Yona? Yona.” The yak looked towards her boyfriend but instead saw a timberwolf. The wolf lunged at her. “YONA!”

She shot awake to see Sandbar was a still a pony. “How much did you sleep?” he asked.

“Barely,” Yona replied. “Yona stayed up late to keep an eye on Sandbar.”

“You wouldn’t have to if Smolder just went in and out of the forest as I told her.”

“Sandbar shouldn’t be mad at friend. It wasn’t Smolder’s fault.”

“She stopped me and then we got surrounded by timberwolves.”

“What if Yona trip and stopped Sandbar?” The colt paused and thought. “Would Sandbar blame Yona?” He had no clue how to reply. He just scarfed down the rest of his food and walked away.

“Hey, Sandbar,” a griffon called, “You wanna help us practice buckball?”

“Heck yeah.” The pony tossed his torn jacket on the ground and walked away with the griffon, leaving a worried yak behind.

---

Later, Ocellus was making her way through the Everfree Forest. Since the wooden wolves were more common now, she a little on edge. The second she heard a twig snapping, she panicked and turned herself into a rock. She closed her eyes and hoped whatever was close would go away.

“Ocellus,” a voice called. “Are you here?” The disguised rock opened her eyes and saw Smolder looking around. Not wanting to draw attention, she changed back and flew up to her to cover the dragon's mouth.

“Keep it down,” the changeling ordered. “They could be around.”

“Sorry, I just wanted to help. Unless you don’t want my apology either.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sandbar’s mad at me again. He blames me for this whole problem.”

“Let’s just get to Zecora’s before we get eaten.” The two carried on as quietly as possible. “How’d you know I was here?”

“Gallus told me where you were going.”

“Make sense.” After a while, they got to the hut and knocked on the door. It swung open and the two were dragged in.

“What are you doing here?” Zecora asked, “This forest is a place most creatures fear.”

“We have a timberwolf problem,” Ocellus explained. “Is that why you're so scared.”

“Yes, I’m under a little stress.”

“Okay, I don’t like the rhyming, but we don’t have to talk about that,” Smolder said. “Our friend got bit by a timberwolf and he then turned into one. But now, he’s back to his old self, still a jerk though.” Zecora’s face fell.

“Wh... What’s wrong?” Ocellus stuttered. “You can help him right?”

“Hopefully things won’t go wrong,” Zecora said, “Just tell, he’s been like this for how long?”

“He was bitten two days ago,” Smolder explained. The zebra’s face looked grim.

“Zecora, please tell us you can help,” Ocellus begged.

The zebra walked up to her cauldron and poured in some potions. “Your friend is in danger, that much is said,” Zecora explained, “But there is more trouble for you ahead. Timberwolves are interesting creatures, regeneration and hive minds are helpful features.”

“They do have hive minds?”

“Of course, it’s how they form together, but your friend's problem is more dangerous, however. Theories about timberwolves are left to be debated, but something that’s hardly known is that they’re not born, but created. A pony who was going mad with power, wanted to make creatures that’d make others cower. Instead of getting his magic to increase, his last spell forever turned him into a beast.”

“A timberwolf?” Ocellus asked.

“Yes, he was the first, and he would soon spread his curse. Once a victim is bitten, their very selves start becoming rewritten. First, they gain nearly endless hunger, then they start having outbursts of anger. On the third night bitten, timberwolves come together, as their newest member becomes one of them, forever.”

“So, if we don’t fix this, Sandbar’s going to be a timberwolf for the rest of his life?” Smolder questioned. “Why didn’t you just tell us?!”

“Smolder, calm down,” Ocellus cried. “Zecora, can you help us?”

“I have been making potions for years, that I can assure, but I’m afraid this timberwolf curse has no known cure,” she replied.

“Seriously?” Smolder questioned.

“You don’t have to worry, there’s this theory but you must hurry. You must find the timberwolf responsible for this crime, and hopefully, kill him in time.”

“So, we just kill the timberwolf that bit Sandbar?” Ocellus questioned. Zecora nodded. “How are we suppose to do that?”

“I remember setting it on fire,” Smolder said. “The wood’s gotta be burnt.”

“So, we could set up a trap. Sounds easier said than done.’

“I think I gave all the information so you’re done,” Zecora said, “Now leave before they get you and turn you into one.” The changeling and dragoness nodded. The left the hut and flew off back to the school.

“So, Sandbar just changed back?” Ocellus asked.

“Yeah, like a werewolf,” Smolder replied. “Let’s just get what we need and kill the mutt that bit Sandbar.”

Speaking of which, Sandbar was helping the griffons practice buckball. When the colt kicked the ball to one of the enemies’ goal, and he scored. “YEAH!” he cheered.

“Thanks,” a dark indigo griffon said flatly. “Care to let one of us score?”

“Listen, Geena, you need to get tough if you want to win. You really think the other that other schools are going to go easy?”

“Well... No...”

“Then you need to learn.”

“Gallus said you were a lot nice than this,” a chocolate brown griffon said.

“Grace, you’ve barely even been trying to protect our goal. If you don’t like getting dirty, try dance classes instead.”

Geena didn’t like this at all. “I’m done,” she said.

“Me too,” Grace sighed. The griffons started leaving the field, leaving the colt behind.

“Alright, fine, you guys are boring,” he said.

“You’re actually a jerk,” Gale said flying by. Sandbar just growled and stomped off.

Inside, Yona and Silverstream were hanging with Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof. “It’s so cool that we have so many creatures here at this school,” Lighthoof said.

“I know,” Shimmy agreed. “Silver, Yona, how do you feel about this?”

“It’s amazing,” the hippogriff replied. “It’s so nice that some of my friends from Seaquestria and Mount Aris are here now. Yona, how about you?” They saw the yak was pretty much just a big brown pillow, as she was fast asleep. “Yona?” Silverstream tapped her friend on the head, which woke her up.

“What?” Yona asked sleepily.

“Are you okay?” Shimmy asked.

“Yona just tired. Didn’t sleep well last night.”

“You have a bad dream?” Lighthoof asked.

“Kind of.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Shimmy chuckled. The yak and hippogriff thought otherwise. They then heard some stomping and looked to see an angry Sandbar walk in.

“What’s bothering him?” Shimmy Shake questioned.

“Yona going to find out,” Yona said. She got up and walked over to her boyfriend.

“Oh, Yona,” Sandbar said. “Good, I can talk to some creature that knows what I’m talking about. So, some griffons wanted me to help them practice, but I was too good for them and they just quit. Am I being a jerk for giving them a challenge?”

“Yona doesn’t know. Need more information.”

“Um, Yona,” Silverstream called, “You haven’t answered our question yet.”

“Is it important?” Sandbar asked flatly.

“It just her opinion on what she thinks about the other students,” Shimmy said.

“Yona thinks yaks doing alright.”

“Yeah, yaks are best,” Sandbar added. “Anyways, I thought we try something new today.”

“Didn’t Sandbar and Yona have their day yesterday?”

“I just want to spend time with you.”

The yak looked over to the girls. “Yona wants to spend time with other friends.”

“Yona, I’m your boyfriend.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to spend every day together.” Yona walked back to the girls, which made Sandbar angry.

“You know what, fine. I’ll just spend my time somewhere else?” He walked away in a huff, leaving the girls confused.

“What’s his deal?” Lighthoof asked.

“Psst,” Smolder said. Silverstream and Yona looked to see the dragoness along with Ocellus.

“Be right back,” Silverstream said. She and Yona walked around the corner to see the nervous face of a changeling.

“What wrong?” Yona asked.

“The good news is, we found out there’s a way to cure Sandbar,” Ocellus explained. “We just have to kill the original timberwolf that bit him.”

“But they can regenerate,” Silverstream said.

“Exactly,” Smolder acknowledged, “That’s part of the bad news. The other bad news is if we don’t fix this, Sandbar’s going to be like this for the rest of his life.”

“WHAT!?” Yona cried.

“Keep it down. We don’t want the entire school to know.”

“I think that the dorm door is hard to miss,” Silverstream commented.

“What do you... Oh boy,” Ocellus gasped relizing what her friend meant. They raced off to find Sunburst taking a look at the broken door.

“Um, hi... Vice Principal Sunburst,” Silverstream said.

“Care to explain what happened here?” the unicorn asked.

“That...” Smolder said. “Well...”

“Yona saw wasp,” the yak lied.

“Really? Then what about those claw marks?”

“...Uh.” Any idea would be good right now, but Yona couldn’t think of anything.

“Vice Principal Sunburst,” Gallus said. The griffon flew up behind the stallion. “Yeah, you’re probably wondering about this. I honestly thought that this wood was going to snap at any moment.” Using his talon, Gallus broke a piece off the door. “I don’t think it’s that good.”

“Weird,” Sunburst commented. “I’ll see if Applejack can help with this.” He walked away leaving the students to talk.

“Thanks, Gallus,” Ocellus said.

“No problem,” the griffon replied. “Have you seen where Sandbar went?”

“We don’t know,” Silverstream answered. “We just saw him leave moments ago.”

“What we really need to do is take care of the timberwolf that bit him,” Ocellus said.

“And how soon do we have to do that?” Gallus asked.

“Before tomorrow night,” Smolder said.

“Yona doesn’t want Sandbar to be timberwolf forever,” Yona wept.

“Wait, what?” Gallus questioned.

“I’ll explain while we’re setting traps,” Smolder said. She took Gallus and Ocellus outside as Yona started to get worried.

“What if friends can’t find a way to help Sandbar?” she asked.

“We’ve faced worse,” Silverstream said trying to reassure her friend. “Maybe while their setting traps, we can go hunting for a wolf.” Yona’s pupils went tiny. “No?”

The yak shook her head. “Yona smash timberwolf to save Sandbar.”

“That’s the spirit. Let’s just get some tools and get going.” The two raced off, not knowing what they were really up against.

---

Somewhere in the Everfree Forest, a jackalope was trying to make a run from something growling. It was suddenly slashed by a large creature. It squealed as a set of jaws lunged at it.

Sandbar suddenly cried in shock. Some of the other students walking past him looking to be surprise and confusion. “What did I just see?” he questioned. He rubbed his forehead as a headache was now forming. He started seeing visions of different, some of some animals running in fear, but there was one with timberwolves howling.

Suddenly, the other students heard a howl. “What was that?” a changeling asked.

“I think it was a timberwolf,” a unicorn explained. “We should be safe here.”

“But they sound so close.”

“You can turn into anything,” Sandbar stated. “Just turn into a titan and stomp on them.” He growled as he felt his headache get worse.

“Are you okay...”

“I’M FINE!” The unicorn and changeling decided to walk away to leave the colt to his headache. Suddenly he saw the point of view of something. It was looking from some bushes and saw a certain hippogriff and yak walking by. “Wait a minute.”

In the forest, Silverstream and Yona, who both carried a different set of cutting tools. “Maybe this was a bad idea,” Silverstream said. She heard some twigs snapping, making her flinch.

“Friends should’ve come with,” Yona said. “Friends help protect against monsters.”

“Yeah, let’s turn back.” When they started walking the other way, each direction started looking the same. “Maybe we should’ve stuck on the path to the treehouse.” Then they heard some growling. Glowing green eyes were starting to show as timberwolves stepped towards them. The one that stood out was one that had black leaves and gray wood, and judging by its smell it was burnt.

The two shivered as the beasts got closer. They tried holding onto their tools but fear was overpowering them. Silverstream threw her ax as the pack but she missed. Yona just dropped her tools on the ground and screamed, “RUN!” The two booked it as the timberwolves gave chase.

The hippogriff tried to carry her friend, but she struggled to so. “Yona, you’re too heavy,” Silverstream said. “Just keep running.”

“But Yona doesn’t know where to go.”

“I’m sure we’ll losing.” She was wrong, the pack was gaining on them. Just when it looked like the two were done for, a laser beam struck one of the wolves and sent all of its wooden parts onto the ground.

“Keep away from them,” cried a voice. Silverstream and Yona looked to see Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, and Sandbar. The stallion blasted away at the wolves while the mare teleported the hippogriff and yak away from danger. Once they were at safety, she teleported them all away back to the school.

“We’re so sorry,” Silverstream said before her principals could say anything. “We...”

“What were you thinking?!” Sandbar asked.

“Sandbar, we’ll handle this,” Starlight asserted.

“No, I wanna know, why were you just wandering around the Everfree Forest? You saw what one timberwolf did to me.”

“Ocellus told us how we could help you,” Silverstream said meekly.

“What did they say?” Sunburst asked.

“Oh, I’ll tell you,” Sandbar declared. “Thanks to Smolder, I got bit and now I’m becoming a timberwolf.”

“...What?” both unicorns questioned.

“I’m pretty sure that ponies becoming timberwolves were just a legend,” Sunburst said. “I haven’t found any proof of that theory.”

“I’d like to show you some,” the colt grumbled.

“That’s not imported right now,” Starlight affirmed. “Girls, until further notice, it’s not safe to go into the Everfree Forest.”

“Got it,” Silverstream and Yona sighed. Just then, there was a springing sound, followed by a loud snap.

“What was that?” Sunburst asked. They headed towards the side of the school, to find Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus taking opening some crates to take out and set up traps.

“This just looks like a bear trap,” Gallus commented. “How is this even suppose to...”

“What are you doing?” Starlight cried.

“Oh,” Smolder said poking her head out of the crate. “Granny Smith gave us some traps for timberwolves.”

“These are no where safe you,” Sunburst explain. He levitated the traps away from the students, much to their frustration. “I'm going to have to talk with AJ about this.”

“But what about...”

“If there are any timberwolves,” Starlight said, “I’ll just put a barrier around the school. It’ll keep you safe from them and these traps.” The two unicorns walked away, leaving the six behind.

“Why would an old lady even have these?” Sunburst question.

“I don’t think I want to know.”

With them gone, the students talked between each other. Sandbar wasted no time ripping into Silverstream idea. “Do you ever think?” he asked.

“But they...” The hippogriff wasn’t allowed to finish.

“You might as well cover yourself in soy sauce. It’s going to take more than axes and other blades...”

“Sandbar,” Yona cried, trying desperately to calm him down.

“Yona, let me finish. Silver, you’re an idiot. You could’ve gotten killed by that pack.”

“H... H-how did you know we were out there?” Silverstream asked, now uncomfortable.

“Hold on,” Gallus said, “How did you know they were out there?”

“I... I just saw them.”

“From the school?”

“No, from a bush, somehow.”

“What do you mean, ‘somehow’?” Ocellus asked.

“I saw them from a bush, but I was still in the school.”

Ocellus and Smolder looked at each other. “Hive mind,” they said in synchronization.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s something Granny and Zecora told us,” Smolder explained. “Timberwolves hive minds. I think you’re started to become a part of it.”

“Wolves can see us right now?” Yona asked.

“Possibly,” Ocellus replied.

“I think we know who’s fault this is,” Sandbar said. He gave Smolder an angry glare.

“Could you drop it?” Smolder asked.

“You’re the entire reason this is happening. Yona and I are going to get lunch.”

“We are?” Yona questioned. She was too surprised to say anything as they left their friends behind.

“I don’t even know why I bother,” Smolder groaned.

---

After lunch, Gallus and the girls were trying to think of a plan. They looked out the window and saw the dome surrounding the school, preventing anything getting in or out. “Okay,” Gallus said, “I’ve got nothing.”

“Me neither,” Silverstream agreed.

“Gonna be honest,” Smolder amitted, “If it wasn’t for Sandbar’s past behavior, I wouldn’t even want to save him.”

“Smolder,” Ocellus cried.

“As I said, I’m being honest.”

“Nevermind, let’s just go over what we know. We’re not allowed to leave the school, all the tools we got from Granny Smith are gone, and we have only two more nights to save Sandbar.”

“Not to mention the hive mind thing,” Gallus added. “They can spy on us now and attack us wherever we are. As long as Sandbar’s near us.”

“We don’t really have that much luck going for us,” Silverstream commented.

“We don’t need luck when we have a good plan. Something I wish we had right now.” The group went back to thinking, with little progress.

“Hold up. We just need to go through the tunnels.” The four flew to the library, but they found a heavy safe with a forcefield around it where the grate would be. On the floor next to it was a note reading, ”Way ahead of you.” “Welp, there goes my plan.”

“It was worth a shot,” Ocellus reassured.

“Can friends tell yak what safe in bubble is doing?” Trud the yak asked.

“Not now,” Gallus said. “We’re in a bit of a time crunch.” Trud nodded and walked away and out of the library, past Yona and Sandbar. Once they saw him, Ocellus and Silverstream promptly hid.

“Okay, really?” Sandbar asked.

“I’m not risking it,” Ocellus stated.

“I can still see you.” Silverstream tried crawling further under the table but her tail was still exposed.

“How are we even suppose to keep him locked up?” Gallus whispered to Smolder. “We don’t have any chains.”

“I can hear you.” The griffon and dragoness jumped at their friend’s comment.

“Yona didn’t friends,” Yona admitted.

“Really?” Sandbar asked. He rubbed his ears as he felt his hearing was getting stronger.

“Now I’m scared,” Ocellus whimpered.

“Of what? The fact that Smolder...”

“Don’t you say that again,” Smolder interrupted.

“It’s true.”

“You know what else is? You’re being a jerk.”

“Friends try and calm down,” Yona suggested.

“Probably a good idea,” Silverstream commented.

“Sandbar?” called a voice. Geena came flying into the library along with some dragons. “You ready for round two?”

The colt chuckled. “Only because you’re giving me a real challenge.”

Ocellus poked her head out of her hiding spot as one of the dragons explained. “Sandbar was a jerk to the griffon during buckball practice,” he explained, “So we’re helping them kick his flank.”

“I’m in,” Smolder said without hesitation.

Sandbar just laughed. “You’re going to be wasting your time. You’ll lose in seconds.” The pony, griffon, dragons left the library as the others followed behind.

Once on the field, Sandbar had the odds stacked against him. He was going in single-handed while every creature else, besides Gallus, Silverstream, Ocellus, and Yona, were on the other team. “How is this fair?” Ocellus questioned.

“I can make it work,” the colt said. The dragons and griffons started chucking balls at him, but Sandbar dodged and rebounded every single one of them. The ones he bounced back, nearly hit the other team members.

“How is he doing this?” Grace questioned. She was suddenly hit in the face by one of the balls. Smolder was decked in the face as well and landed next to an unconscious griffon. The dragoness rubbed her nose to find blood was leaking out.

“Hold it. Time out!” she cried. The creatures stopped and then saw Grace lying on the ground.

“Oh my gosh,” Geena gasped. She looked over her friend to see if she was alright.

“I didn’t think I was hitting that hard,” Sandbar said.

“You gave me a bloody nose,” Smolder cried. “These balls are made of rubber... How are you already this strong?” Smolder’s friends looked at each as if they knew.

“What is going on here?” Starlight asked. She walked up to the field and saw Grace just waking up. “I want answers.”

“Sandbar should not be allowed to play buckball,” a drake said.

“Why...” She then saw Smolder’s bloody nose. “Sandbar, explain.”

“They wanted a rematch and I gave them one,” the colt explained.

“Okay. Meet me in my office.” She helped Grace up and took her inside. “If it makes you feel better, we’ve been trying to hire a school nurse.” The unicorn looked back to the colt. “Sandbar!”

He followed the headmare while he gave an angry glare at the griffons and dragons, especially Smolder. “Are you okay?” Ocellus asked. She gave her friend an icepack.

“I’m angry right now,” Smolder replied. She cringed a bit as he placed the icepack on her nose while the other creatures went back inside.

“We need to figure this out.”

“We can’t get past Headmare Starlight’s shield,” Silverstream said.

“Not to mention, the library rarely has the books we need,” Gallus added.

“Guys, we have to figure something out,” Ocellus said. She looked up in the sky to see how they only had a few more hours. “Nothing’s going to get out of this forcefield.”

After a long talk, Sandbar was let out of Starlight’s office. “Finally,” he groaned. “I thought I was going to die of boredom.” As he walked down the hall, all of the other students tried to get away from him. He just ignored them until he found Yona talking with Grace.

“So, you really think I...” Grace paused when she saw the colt. “Gotta go.” She took off, leaving Yona confused.

“I injured two classmates by accident,” Sandbar stated.

“Oh, Sandbar,” Yona gasped.

“Sorry, I was in there for an hour. I can’t believe what she was saying.”

“Wasn’t Sandbar talking to headmare?”

“I don’t want to talk about her now. Let’s just go grab a bite.”

“But Yona not hungry.”

“I am. I’m sure that there’s still something left in the mess hall.” He walked down the hall with his girlfriend following behind.

In the library, Ocellus was trying her hardest to break the barrier surrounding the safe that was blocking their exit. “Don’t bother, Ocellus,” Smolder said. “I’ve already tried that.”

“I know,” the changeling said, “But maybe if a creature who uses magic...”

“Just stop,” Gallus said. “Do you still have that army helmet?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I think we’ll need it,” Silverstream said. The four couldn’t do anything but prepare for the worse as the sun went down. Ocellus gave her helmet to Silverstream as she would need it the most out of all of them. They found Sandbar chowing down in the mess hall. The only creature next to him was Yona. Everyone else was staying as far away as possible.

Smolder looked out the window to see the moon was going to rise soon. “Okay, so who’s getting him away from here?” she asked.

“I’ll do it,” Gallus said. He flew over to his roommate. “Buddy, you wanna talk?”

“Sure,” Sandbar replied with his mouth stuff. “What about?”

“Well, I was hoping that you’d help me with this project. I kind of left it to the last second.”

“Seriously?”

“We’re roommates, you know me.”

“Fine.” He pushed his tray to the side and followed the griffon to their dorm.

“Okay, now for our part,” Ocellus said quietly. She, Smolder, and Silverstream walked over to Yona.

“What friends want?” Yona asked glumly.

“We need you to help hold something back,” Smolder said.

Gallus and Sandbar got back to their dorm room, the moon started to shine from the clouds. The colt fell onto the floor as he was struck with pain. “You okay buddy?” Gallus asked.

“...N... No,” Sandbar groaned. He started regaining his wooden claws again as his bones began to crack.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get help.” Gallus flew out of the room and closed the door. The transforming pony pounced at the exit, but the griffon held back. His friends saw what he was doing and ran over to help. Still, Sandbar put up a tough fight. The door hinges nearly broken off as the timberwolf kept trying to break out.

“Okay, say he calls for backup,” Smolder said. “He can break down a door, what’s stopping him from breaking windows?”

“He won’t be able...” Ocellus paused as the door was rammed again. “...To break out of Headmare Starlight shield.” There was another ram but then, it stopped.

“There’s no way he’s already tired out,” Gallus said.

“Maybe it’s a test,” Silverstream said. Suddenly, there was a shattering sound.

“Uh oh,” they all said. They let go of the door, which now hung by one hinge, to find a broken window. Outside, they saw Sandbar in his timberwolf form. He was scratching at the forcefield trying to get out.

“Now what?”

“I think we try and trap him,” Ocellus explained. Before they could make their move, Sandbar looked towards them. They could see there was less ‘moss’ on his body. Before anything else could happen, there was a scream coming from another changeling.

“A timberwolf!” he cried.

“No wait,” Yona said. The timberwolf raced off to try and find a way out. “Sandbar wait!” The yak raced after him, with her friends following behind.

“Just stop and we can figure this out,” Silverstream cried. The timberwolf glanced back but was struck by a blue beam.

“How did that get in?” Starlight asked. “Nothing can get in here.”

“Headmare starlight, please...” But Ocellus couldn’t finish as Sandbar pounced at the unicorn that shot him. Luckily, Starlight formed a shield, but the timberwolf kept attacking.

“Sandbar, stop!” Yona cried. The headmare was confused but the timberwolf looked back towards the yak.

“Starlight!” Sunburst cried. He came running towards Sandbar and started firing beams at him. The timberwolf roared and raced off.

“Oh no you don’t,” Starlight said. She let down her shield and started charging up a beam. Yona quickly tackled her to the ground, causing the mare to miss. “Yona, what are you doing?”

“Headmare will hurt Sandbar,” the yak explained.

“Sandbar? That’s...”

“Long story,” Gallus said. “Just catch him, but don’t hurt him.” He flew off to help his friends catch the rogue timberwolf. Though they didn’t know what was going on, Starlight and Sunburst followed behind.

Sandbar had made his way into the school, where several of the students saw him and ran for cover. Some of them threw objects at him, which just made him mad. He snarled at the students, which made them run. Suddenly, a bugbear tackled him to the ground.

“Sandbar, we know you’re in there,” the bugbear said in Ocellus’s voice. “Just try and calm down.” The wolf growled as the other creature and principal and vice-principal caught up. The two unicorns activated a spell that trapped the wolf in a bubble. Ocellus flew back and changed back to her normal form.

“Okay, we caught him,” Silverstream said.

“We did,” Sunburst stated. “Now, explain what’s going on.”

“Sandbar’s a timberwolf,” Smolder said.

“But I didn’t believe it,” Starlight said.

“You sure it’s not him?” Gallus asked sarcastically. “I mean, he’s nowhere around and this timberwolf somehow got past...”

“Gallus,” Ocellus said with an annoyed look.

“I’m sorry, but I really think they should’ve figured this out.”

“This is something I’ve never seen before,” Sunburst commented.

“Zecora said we need to kill the timberwolf to change him back,” Ocellus explained. “If we don’t find the timberwolf before tomorrow night...” She looked up to Sandbar who looked to be trying to claw his way out.

“He’ll be that way forever,” Smolder finished. There was a long silence.

“We’ll search for the timberwolves tomorrow,” Starlight said. “I’ll see if the teachers can help out.”

“What about Sandbar?” Yona asked.

“We’re going to have to keep in there for a while,” Sunburst explained. The wolf kept growling as his friends looked at him.

“Just get some sleep,” Starlight said. “We’ll figure this out.” The five students walked away to their dorms. Yona one more look towards Sandbar before she walked away with Ocellus.

“They know now,” the changeling said as she got in bed. “There’s still a chance to save him.” The yak said nothing. She just pulled the covers over her head and forced herself to go to sleep.