//------------------------------// // Ch. 1- Shining Armor's Warning // Story: My Little Pony: The Rise of Warfang // by XFangHeartX //------------------------------// The next day, in Canterlot, Celestia had just finished raising the sun for a new day to begin and was entering the throne room to begin the rest of her morning routine, which began when she went to the kitchen to make pancakes for Luna. Today, she figured she could try and decorate them with raspberries, this time and see how her sister liked them. "Sister?" Celestia turned to see Luna...as well as Cadence, who held Flurry Heart in her hoof. The baby alicorn was still asleep, however, but what Celestia noticed was that the Princess of the Moon and the Princess of the Crystal Empire both had these rather unnerved looks on their faces. "Is something wrong?" Celestia asked. "I just received troubling news," Luna said as she approached her elder sister. "It seems that the Zodiac Nomads...have been wiped out." Celestia gasped in horror. "I was shocked, too," Cadence replied. "Apparently, it all happened last night, during the storm." "But...I don't understand!" Celestia replied. "I just received a message from their leader, Sagittarius, yesterday morning saying that they'd be arriving here with the Stone of Wishes, today!" "Someone intercepted them sometime after," said Cadence. "Apparently it was a pack of...wolves." "Wolves?" Celestia repeated. "Like...timber wolves?" "No," Luna replied. "Regular wolves...in metal armor...and sister...the one leading them was blind in his left eye." Celestia's eyes went wide in shock upon hearing this news. "...So...he's back," she whispered. "I hoped this day would never come." "So did I," Luna said. "Who are you talking about?" asked Cadence while Flurry remained asleep in her hooves. "Who is...'he'?" "...Cadence," said Celestia, "there's something you should know...and it goes back long before you were even born." XXX Twilight yawned as she raised her head up and blinked her eyes awake. Her main was frazzled and tangled from sleep, and her vision was a bit blurred, but a good stretch of her legs and wings gave her the energy she needed to wake up completely before she got up and took a look around. That's when she noticed the little filly next to her, and at first, she seemed surprised...but then, the memories of last night soon came back to her. "So I wasn't dreaming, after all," she realized as she looked down at Moonlight, who sighed as she continued sleeping. "...Why would a little filly suddenly show up here during a storm?" "Morning, Twilight!" The purple alicorn turned to see Spike as he entered the room. "Breakfast is ready!" he called, only for Twilight to shush him before she glanced down at Moonlight. "Ohh, right...you know, it's a little strange that she would just show up here." "It is strange," said Twilight. "Why would she just appear here during a storm? And more importantly, what happened to her family?" "Who knows?" Spike asked. "Maybe we'll ask her when she wakes up." "Spike, whatever happened to her," Twilight began, "it happened last night. She's clearly in a state of trauma. We can't just ask her when she's so vulnerable." "Umm...Twilight?" The alicorn and dragon turned to see Starlight enter the room with a concerned expression. "Your brother is here in Ponyville," Starlight said. "Oh!" Twilight exclaimed. "Well, it looks like we're getting all kinds of visitors, lately-" "Actually," Starlight interjected, "I doubt he's here for a social call. Otherwise, he wouldn't be wearing his armor and showing up with four more Royal Guards, as well as having everypony gather at town square." Twilight and Spike both glanced at each other in surprise. Shining Armor hardly came to Ponyville on business like this. If he was here, wearing his armor and with several other members of the Royal Guard, then this must be important. "We better go see what he's doing here, then," said Twilight. "But Twilight," Spike started before he pointed at Moonlight, who was still snoozing, "what about her?" "...Oh, right," Twilight realized. "We can't just leave her here, but I don't wanna wake her." "You go to the square and see what your brother has to say," said Starlight. "I'll stay here with Moonlight." "Are you sure?" asked Twilight. "It's fine," Starlight reassured. "You and Spike go." "...Well...okay," Twilight replied before she walked out with Spike at her side. Meanwhile, Starlight sat next to Moonlight, who continued to sleep soundly...until she suddenly furrowed her brow and started to twitch her legs. XXX Concurrently at the town square, practically everypony in Ponyville had gathered around the podium. "Excuse me," Twilight said as she pushed her way through. "One side," Spike spoke up as he tried to worm his way around the legs of the many ponies. "Hey! Watch it!" cried Lyra Heartstrings as she raised her hoof. "Oh, sorry!" Twilight apologized as she made her way to the front of the crowd. "Scuse me! Sorry about that." Once she made it to the front, she saw that her friends were also among the crowd. "Hey, Twilight," Applejack greeted as she, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy noticed her. "Hey, you guys," Twilight replied. "What's going on?" "I think we're about to find out," Rainbow Dash answered as she looked to the podium, where Mayor Mare approached, along with Shining Armor and a few of unicorn guards. "Attention, everypony!" Mayor Mare called. "May I have your attention please! Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and appointed ruler of the Crystal Empire has come with an important announcement!" She then turned to the ivory unicorn stallion. "Shining Armor?" Shining Armor nodded before he approached the podium. "Citizens of Ponyville," he said. "I come bearing troubling news. Last night, during the storm, a clan of unicorns was savagely attacked by a pack of wolves." Everypony in the crowd gasped in shock and horror before they began to clamor among themselves. "W...wolves?" Fluttershy whispered, nervously. "Oh, relax, Fluttershy!" Pinkie assured. "I'm sure he means timber wolves!" "...How is that any better?" asked Rainbow Dash. "This isn't the first time such an attack has heard," said Shining Armor. "In fact, numerous reports have surfaced around Equestria. Whoever these wolves are, it's clear they're far more intelligent than the timber wolves of the Everfree Forest. They are clearly very dangerous!" Soon, the crowd began to murmur amongst each other in agreement. "From now on," Shining Armor began, "until this issue is resolved, everypony in Ponyville must be on their guard! Don't go out late at night, keep a close eye out on your children, and if you're ever out in the open, stay in groups! The more eyes you have, the better you can spot these wolves! Is that understood?" Everypony nodded their heads at this. "Good," Shining Armor said before he turned and walked away. "Continue your day." On that, the crowd dispersed and everypony went to continue their normal routine...even if some were a little unnerved by the news. However, Twilight looked over to her brother before she galloped after him. "Shining Armor!" she called, causing Shining Armor to stop in his tracks before he turned and smiled in excitement. "Twily!" he exclaimed as he ran over to his younger sister, who hugged him once she got close. "It's so good to see you!" "You, too, B.B.B.F.F.," Twilight said before she pulled away, "but...what's going on?" "Princess Celestia sent me here to warn you and everypony else in Ponyville about the wolf attacks going on," said Shining Armor, "but mostly...I was worried about you and your friends, too, especially since the latest attack happened around here." "It did?!" Twilight asked in shock. "I'm glad you're okay," Shining Armor, "but...I think I'm gonna stick around here for a while. Set up a patrol around the town's borders, just to make sure everything's safe." "Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Twilight. "What about the Crystal Empire? Don't they need you there?" "Sunburst agreed to take care of things for me and Cadence while we were gone," Shining Armor assured. "I'm only gonna be here for a few days. If these wolves don't show up, then I'll go." "Well, if you think that's best," Twilight replied. "And Shining Armor?" "Yeah?" Shining Armor asked. "I'm glad you're here, no matter what reason it is," Twilight smiled, which caused her brother to smile back at her. "I'm glad I'm here, too, Twily," said Shining Armor before he turned and left. "Hey, Twilight," Spike said. "Didn't Moonlight show up during that storm last night? The same time those wolves attacked?" "That reminds me," Rarity said. "Who is this Moonlight you spoke of earlier?" "Oh, she's just a filly who showed up at the Castle of Friendship last night," Twilight answered...before she gasped in realization. "OH MY GOSH!!!" She then turned and galloped off with Spike yelping as he clung to her tail. "Twilight?!" asked Rainbow Dash. "Hey, wait! Come back!" "Well, what's got her dander up?" Applejack queried. "Last one to the castle is a moldy cupcake!" Pinkie exclaimed as she hopped along in her usual happy manner, which prompted the others to follow her. XXX Twilight and Spike burst through the doors of her castle before she hurried to her bed chamber, where she found Starlight shaking Moonlight, who was whimpering and crying out in her sleep. "Starlight, what are you doing?!" Twilight questioned. "She started having a nightmare!" Starlight replied, frantically. "I tried everything, but I can't get her to wake up!" She then looked down at Moonlight. "Moonlight! Moonlight, wake up!!" But Moonlight didn't wake. She just whimpered as she kicked her legs around, almost as if she were running. "Must...keep...running...!" the filly whimpered. "Must...get...away! No! No!!" "Moonlight! Moonlight!!" cried Twilight as she tried to wake her up, to. "Moonlight, it's okay! It's just a nightmare! Wake up!!" Moonlight gasped as she sat up, her eyes shooting wide open and her breath short and rapid. Then she looked up at Twilight, whose eyes softened at the filly, who whimpered before she ran up and pressed her face against the alicorn's chest with a loud wail. Twilight could only wrap her foreleg around the poor child as she sobbed, and Starlight and Spike felt just as sympathetic for her. "What's all the crying in here?" Twilight turned to see her friends enter the room, and needless to say, they were a bit surprised to see Moonlight wrapped in Twilight's forelegs. "Well, who's this?" asked Rarity. "Well, ain't she just the cutest little dewdrop this side of Equestria?" asked Applejack in an endearing manner. Moonlight whimpered as she backed away from the group. "This is Moonlight Essence," Twilight said. "Moonlight, these are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie." "Hi!" Pinkie greeted in her usual excitement, causing Moonlight to yelp as she hid behind Twilight. "Uh...too much there, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said. "You'll have to give her some space," said Twilight. "She showed up last night during the storm and...well...she's kind of going through a lot, right now...something happened to her family." "Her family?" Fluttershy repeated in concern. "Oh, dear," Rarity said, worriedly. "How simply dreadful." "Well, is there anything we can do for her?" Applejack asked. "I don't think she needs to be crowded, right now," said Twilight. "Just give her space and see how she feels after a while." "Whatever you say," Rainbow Dash shrugged. "You know, we still haven't had breakfast," said Starlight. "I am a little hungry," Twilight replied before she looked at Moonlight. "Do you want any pancakes, Moonlight?" "...I'm not very hungry, thank you," Moonlight replied. "I think I'll just sit here...alone." "...If you say so," said Twilight, worriedly. "Come on, guys." "Yay, pancakes!" Pinkie cheered as she hopped out of the room with the others, but then momentarily came back and called "Nice meeting you, Moonlight!" As soon as they were out of the room, Moonlight sighed as she sat in her little spot in the room, all by her lonesome. She then glanced down at the necklace arond her neck before she smiled and nuzzled it, gently. "At least I still have this," she whispered...as the jewel gave a soft, red glow.