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.