First Day of Something Woolly Wonderful

Zoo Vegas never slept — not really. Even at sunrise, the city hummed and flickered with neon signs shaped like parrots and tigers. Right in the middle of it all stood Ms. Art Sheep's School For The Creative, a wide building painted in bold blue and black stripes, with giant painted murals across every wall.

Ms. Art Sheep stood at the front gate, checking her clipboard.

She was a humanoid sheep with soft white wool, fluffy ears, and a wide friendly muzzle. Her blue-and-black dress was pressed perfectly, her blue mask sitting snug around her bright eyes.

"Good morning, Zara!" she called as a student in a blue-and-black supersuit rushed past.

Zara — a small humanoid fox kit with bright amber eyes — skidded to a stop. "Good morning, Ms. Art Sheep! Did you see the new paint delivery? There are like twenty crates!"

Ms. Art Sheep smiled.

"I did," she said. "It's Professor Huxley's special formula. He says it'll change everything."

Twenty Crates of Trouble

Inside the school's main art studio, the twenty crates of Professor Huxley's special paint sat stacked against the wall. They looked ordinary enough — wooden sides, metal clasps, and labels printed in plain black ink: HUXLEY FORMULA V. DO NOT SHAKE.

Nobody shook them.

Nobody needed to.

The first crate popped open on its own.

A blob of bright red paint slid over the edge, hit the floor, and — slowly, impossibly — stretched into the shape of a fire-breathing dragon the size of a golden retriever.

Zara, the small amber-eyed fox kit, froze by the supply shelf. "Ms. Art Sheep—"

But the second crate was already opening. Then the third.

Blue paint rose up and became a crashing wave. Yellow paint twisted into a giraffe with spinning legs. A green blob became something that looked like a very confused frog the size of a desk.

The frog let out a sound like a foghorn.

Students scrambled. Chairs scraped. Someone's juice box hit the ceiling.

Ms. Art Sheep spread her hooves wide and shouted over the noise — "Nobody touch the crates!"

The fourth crate tipped sideways on its own.