My Little Pony--Ponyville Mysteries--The Tail of the Timberwolf Page 4

  Sweetie Belle was terrified, but she was determined to do what needed to be done. A pony’s life was at stake! Maybe Ambermoon, maybe Pinkie Pie. She would not be a scaredy-pony.

  “You ready?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle screamed and jumped.

  “Yes. Sorry. I-I’m just a little nervous,” Sweetie Belle replied. The others looked at one another.

  “Sweetie Belle, nopony will be upset if you don’t come,” Apple Bloom said gently.

  Sweetie Belle took a deep breath. She could do this. “We have a pony to save! Let’s go, Crusaders.”

  Apple Bloom smiled. They all hoof-bumped and marched into the Everfree Forest as the last rays of sunlight faded on the horizon.

  Continuing deeper into the Forest, they left a trail of candy behind them. Whoever the Timberwolf was, the sugar would be too much to resist. After they had been at it a while, Sweetie Belle was starting to wonder if the plan was going to work at all.

  Then she heard a noise.

  “What was that?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously. The others stopped and listened, but there was nothing but the sounds of the Forest.

  “It’s just your imagination,” Scootaloo said. But a second later, it happened again. This time Lilymoon heard it, too.

  “It sounds like… paper?” Lilymoon said. The ponies all quietly made their way through the Forest, following the noise. Above them, clouds blanketed the night sky, blocking the moonlight and making it hard to see. However, they could hear the rustling noise getting louder. Scootaloo motioned to the others and pointed toward a ravine up ahead. The fillies all crept closer. They poked their heads over a ridge and looked down to see what was making the noise. A shadowy figure was hunched over a large mound of something.

  “Is that…Twist?” Sweetie Belle whispered. Below them in the ravine, Twist sat next to a pile of candy. The rustling they had heard was her unwrapping the candy before she popped in into her mouth.

  “She took all our candy!” Scootaloo said. “Now the werepony will never get it!”

  “Twist! Cut it out!” Apple Bloom yelled, jumping over the ridge. Twist looked up, shocked to see them.

  “What are you guyth doing out here?!” she asked nervously.

  “We are tryin’ to find a werepony. But you’re eatin’ all our bait!” Apple Bloom shouted.

  Twist looked scared. But why would she be scared of them?

  “Pleath! You all have to go!” Twist said. “Before ith too late!”

  “Too late for what?” Scootaloo asked. Above them, the clouds parted, and the light of the full moon shone down on the ravine. Twist doubled over, like she had a really bad stomachache.

  “You guys…” Lilymoon said, backing away slowly. Tiny leaves popped out of Twist’s mane. Vines wrapped around her hooves.

  “Oh no…” Scootaloo said.

  “Hey. It’s okay, Twist,” Apple Bloom said slowly as she motioned for them all to back out of the ravine. “Why don’t you keep the candy?”

  Twist howled up at the moon. The fillies turned and rushed out of the ravine. But Lilymoon suddenly stopped. She looked back at Twist.

  “Hang on!” she called. She rushed down as Twist continued her transformation.

  “Lilymoon! Be careful!” Sweetie Belle yelled.

  Lilymoon leaped down next to Twist. Leaves, wood, and moss covered her body, but her orange tail was still visible. Lilymoon snagged a single hair in her teeth and rushed back to join the others. As they hurried out of the ravine, Sweetie Belle glanced back down. The transformation was complete.

  They had found the werepony. Twist was the Timberwolf!

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The Timberwolf snarled and stuck her wooden muzzle to snuffle at the pile of empty wrappers. There was no candy left. She sniffed the air. Her head turned, and her glowing eyes stared right at the ponies. Sweetie Belle couldn’t move. Glancing to either side, she could see that for once, she wasn’t the only one frozen with fear. Next to her, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Lilymoon stood just as still.

  Twist growled and took a few steps toward them.

  “The candy. In the bags,” Lilymoon whispered.

  “Should we leave the candy and run?” Scootaloo asked.

  “We need to get the potion ready,” Apple Bloom whispered back.

  “We need to get away!” Sweetie Belle said. “We can’t help Twist if we’re Timberwolf chow.”

  “I thought you said this Timberwolf only ate sweets,” Scootaloo whispered.

  “You wanna be the one to test that?” Sweetie Belle hissed.

  Below them, the Timberwolf moved cautiously but steadily closer.

  “Here.” Lilymoon’s horn glowed brightly, and the hair from Twist’s tail floated over to Sweetie Belle. “You go get the potion ready while the Timberwolf is distracted.”

  Lilymoon charged down the ravine toward the Timberwolf. Her horn glowed, and the knapsack on her back flew into the air, just in front of Twist’s wooden nose.

  “Hungry?” Lilymoon shouted. Twist growled at Lilymoon but didn’t take her eyes off the floating bag of candy. She swiped at it with a massive paw.

  “Wow. Lilymoon is awesome,” Apple Bloom said breathlessly.

  “Yeah. That’s brave right there,” Scootaloo agreed. Sweetie Belle nodded. She could never do anything like that.

  Lilymoon yelled up at them. “This is going to be a pretty lame diversion if there’s nothing to divert from!”

  “Oh. Right!” Apple Bloom grabbed the potion and pulled out the stopper. Sweetie Belle’s horn glowed, and Twist’s hair floated into the liquid. The Crusaders watched as the liquid began to bubble and swirl from milky gray to bright pink.

  “Oooh. Pretty,” Sweetie Belle whispered. The other two stared at her. “What?” she said. “It is!”

  Scootaloo dug the giant peppermint out of her bag and poured the pink potion over it. The elixir soaked into the candy, and it glowed brightly.

  “Um. Hey, guys!” Lilymoon called after them. They turned and saw her up in the branches of a tree on the opposite ridge of the ravine. Twist clawed the tree with her front paws.

  “Okay, Crusaders. Let’s do this!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed down the ravine. As scared as she was, Sweetie Belle was just behind them.

  “Don’t let her scratch you!” she reminded her friends.

  The Timberwolf turned when she heard them rushing toward her.

  “Mmm,” Scootaloo said, holding the glowing peppermint in front of her. “Doesn’t this look nice and tasty, Twist?” The Timberwolf licked the bark around her mouth with her leafy tongue. She took a few steps toward them. Sweetie Belle smiled—it was going to work! They were going to save Twist!

  Suddenly, a rope lassoed the Timberwolf’s mouth shut and pulled her away from the peppermint! Sweetie Belle looked at the top of the ridge and saw Applejack, Rarity, and the others. Applejack held the rope and glared down at the fillies.

  “Y’all step away from that Timberwolf.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Wait!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, but nopony was listening. Twilight Sparkle blasted a beam of purple light from her horn, encasing the entire ravine in a magical shield.

  “Ravine is secure,” she called to the others. “Now let’s get that Timberwolf and transport it out of here.”

  “You can’t do that!” Lilymoon called from the tree.

  “Oh, we can, and we totally will,” Rainbow Dash said confidently as she hovered in the air. The Timberwolf leaped and tried to claw at Rainbow Dash, but Applejack tugged on the rope, jerking away the Timberwolf’s muzzle. Applejack ignored its growls and glared at her sister.

  “Y’all got some serious explaining to do!” she said.

  “We will explain, if y’all will just stop and listen for a second!” Apple Bloom replied. Rarity and Pinkie Pie slid down into the ravine and blocked the Timberwolf on either side.

  “After you fillies are out of danger,” Rarity said firmly as Fluttershy cautiously approached the Ti
mberwolf.

  “Hello there. You must be scared. How about you let us help you?” she said sweetly. The Timberwolf tried backing away from Fluttershy, but Applejack held her securely with the rope.

  “Just let us feed her this peppermint, and then it will all make sense!” demanded Scootaloo.

  “Timberwolves don’t eat peppermints, silly!” Pinkie Pie said, giggling.

  “This one does!” Lilymoon said, leaping in front of Fluttershy. “Show them,” she said to Scootaloo, using her magic to untie Applejack’s lasso.

  “Hey now! Stop that!” demanded Applejack. As soon as the Timberwolf was freed, she roared and tried to run away. But Twilight’s shield prevented her from going anywhere.

  “Here!” Scootaloo shouted as she rushed toward the Timberwolf with the peppermint.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you thinking?” Rainbow Dash said as she swooped down and grabbed Scootaloo. “That thing is dangerous!”

  “No!” Scootaloo shouted as the peppermint flew out of her hooves and landed in the dirt below, right next to Sweetie Belle, who picked it up.

  “Toss it here, Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom called.

  “Sweetie Belle, you put that down this instant!” Rarity shouted.

  The Timberwolf crouched defensively, her back against Twilight’s shield.

  “Oh for Cerberus’s sake,” Lilymoon said, running toward Sweetie Belle and the peppermint, “none of you are listening! Sweetie Belle, throw it to me!”

  Pinkie bounced over and hugged Lilymoon tightly, then asked, “Hey, what gives, sister? Are you on Team Pony or Team Timberwolf here?”

  The Timberwolf was ready to leap at anypony who came close. Applejack rushed toward it. The Timberwolf slashed at her with her claws. Sweetie Belle gasped! At the last moment, Applejack ducked, and the wooden claws harmlessly raked against her hat.

  “A little scratch ain’t gonna bother me none, fella,” Applejack said, looking for an opening.

  “Sis!” Apple Bloom ran and barreled into her older sister, knocking her out of the way just as the Timberwolf slashed at her again. “Stay back! If she scratches you, you’ll turn into a Timberwolf, too!”

  “Say what, now?” Applejack asked as she stood up.

  “Twist is a werepony,” Lilymoon explained.

  “Twist? That’s Twist?” Pinkie Pie asked.

  “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you!” Scootaloo called from above, still in Rainbow Dash’s hooves. Everypony started talking at once.

  The Timberwolf turned in a snarling circle, confused by all the shouting. Sweetie Belle stared at the peppermint in her hooves. Looking around, she saw that everypony was busy yelling. She really wished she could explain it all and not have to be the brave one, but so far that had been a disaster. This had to be done—now. Sweetie Belle took a big breath. She didn’t think about it. She just ran as fast as she could toward Twist.

  “Sweetie Belle! No!” Rarity called. But Sweetie Belle kept going. The Timberwolf turned toward her and roared out a fog of sour green breath.

  “Not a scaredy-pony. Not a scaredy-pony. Not a scaredy-pony,” Sweetie Belle whispered to herself over and over again. Just a few more feet. She was almost there. Everypony shouted as Sweetie Belle jumped into the air. The Timberwolf leaped to meet her, its jaws gaping wide… and Sweetie Belle jammed the peppermint into the Timberwolf’s wide mouth.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The Timberwolf collapsed, as if she had suddenly fallen into a deep sleep. Rarity rushed toward Sweetie Belle and helped her up.

  “Sweetie Belle, what were you thinking?” she asked.

  “Somepony had to help Twist,” Sweetie Belle said shakily. Twilight’s shield vanished, and she trotted over to join them.

  “Now, what is all this about a werepony?” Twilight asked.

  “It’s a long story,” Lilymoon stated. “But the short version is, Sweetie Belle figured out the Timberwolf was a werepony, we got a cure from Zecora, and then—”

  “We tried to tell y’all so you could handle it. But you were so busy protectin’ us, you wouldn’t listen,” Apple Bloom finished, glaring at her sister.

  “So we had to deal with it ourselves,” Scootaloo explained. “We thought the Timberwolf was either Lilymoon’s sister or Pinkie Pie.”

  “Why me?” Pinkie Pie asked, shocked.

  “You were acting really weird at Zipporwhill’s party,” Apple Bloom said, “and you said you slept through the Timberwolf attack on Sugarcube Corner.”

  “Ohhhhhh. Well, that’s because I was trying to break the Equestria record for Earth pony unicycle juggling on the first night of a full moon. See?” Pinkie whipped three unicycles out of nowhere and began juggling them as the others gaped. “It made me kinda tired the next day.”

  “Anyhow… we came out here because we were worried about you guys,” Scootaloo continued. “And then we found out the Timberwolf was Twist. But we couldn’t let you send her away, or she’d get stuck as a werepony forever!”

  “Wow,” Twilight said. “That’s… really good work.”

  “Definitely,” Rainbow Dash added. “You guys were pretty awesome. Especially standing up to us!”

  “Hey now,” Applejack said as Rarity sniffed. “Don’t push it.”

  Behind them, somepony groaned. A pile of wood, leaves, and bark lay where the Timberwolf had been. Twist poked out her head. She looked around, confused.

  “Hey, you guyth. Whath goin’ on?” she asked. Lilymoon and the Crusaders rushed over to her.

  “Twist, are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.

  “I think tho,” she responded.

  “What happened?” asked Apple Bloom.

  “I hafth no idea,” Twist said as she crawled out of the pile. “I got home from thchool the other day and felt groth. Tho I thtayed home from the party. But then… I had a crathy dream… and I wanted to eat loth and loth of candy… I thaw thom ponies in the Forest, and felt really funny…”

  “It wasn’t a dream,” Lilymoon said seriously. Then she smiled and nodded toward Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. “But you’re okay now. Thanks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

  Apple Bloom put her hoof around Lilymoon and said, “All the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Lilymoon beamed.

  “I guess I owe you an apology, sugarcube,” Applejack told her sister. “We shoulda listened to y’all.”

  “It’s okay… for now.” Apple Bloom smiled. “But next time you’d better listen.”

  “Next time? I swear, you just love findin’ trouble, don’tcha?”

  As the Apple sisters continued to bicker, Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle.

  “Sweetie Belle, darling, I’m so proud of you,” she said.

  “Awwww… I’m just glad I wasn’t a scaredy-pony,” Sweetie Belle said happily.

  “Are you kidding?” Scootaloo said. “After that move? Nopony can ever call you scared again!”

  Twilight was staring up at the moon thoughtfully. She looked at the Crusaders.

  “Even though I don’t love you putting yourselves in danger, we all owe you our thanks. You did some excellent research. But did you ever figure out how Twist became a werepony?” The Crusaders all shook their heads.

  “That’s the one thing we can’t quite get,” Apple Bloom admitted. Twilight looked troubled.

  “What’s wrong, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked.

  “There’s some dangerous magic being cast here in Ponyville. And I don’t like it.” The Alicorn princess frowned.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “And then, Sweetie Belle galloped past everypony, ran straight at the Timberwolf, leaped into the air”—Scootaloo jumped onto the seesaw on the playground for dramatic effect—“and soared across the ravine. The Timberwolf jumped up at her, her sharp claws slashing the air! Wshh! Wshh! But Sweetie Belle wasn’t having it! She crammed the candy right in the monster’s slobbering jaws!” Scootaloo turned to Twist. “No offense.”

  “It’th fine!” Twist said, grinning.
“Thath totally what happened! Thweetie Belle thaved my life!” The other ponies on the playground all turned to look at Sweetie Belle, who was standing off to the side, blushing.

  “That Sweetie Belle?” Snips asked.

  “Are you sure?” Snails added.

  “It wasn’t exactly like that. Everypony helped.” Sweetie Belle wanted her friends to get the credit they deserved.

  “But you did leap into the air and make Twist eat the candy?” Silver Spoon confirmed.

  “Um. Yeah.” Sweetie Belle’s blush intensified. It was nice not being the scaredy- pony anymore, but all the attention made her nervous.

  “Weren’t you frightened?” Pip wondered.

  “How did you figure it all out?” Diamond Tiara looked very impressed.

  “Lilymoon did. She’s the one who guessed the Timberwolf was really a werepony,” Sweetie Belle explained. The other ponies turned and looked at Lilymoon, who smiled shyly.

  “Well,” Diamond Tiara announced, “between that and saving our lives at the party, I just don’t know how we managed to survive in Ponyville without you!” The ponies gathered around Lilymoon, asking her what other cool and mysterious things she knew about. As she answered, she glanced over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and smiled gratefully. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all watched her proudly.

  “Looks like Lilymoon is finally settling in,” Scootaloo observed. “Guess it’s a happy ending for everypony.”

  “Mmm-hm!” Sweetie Belle agreed. “Rarity finally forgave me for the fabric we took for the bogle. She said next time we go monster hunting, just check with her first.”

  “Yeah, Applejack feels awful about almost sendin’ Twist away,” Apple Bloom said, grinning. “She promised to listen to us about stuff like this from now on. And you know my sister never lies.”

  Twist joined the Crusaders. “Thankth again, you guyth. Thorry if I thcared you when I wath a Timberwolf.”