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Chapter 1

"Sure hope the girls were just seeing things…" The man grumbles as he cuts his way through the thick bushes. "Random light shows at night are rarely a good thing in small out of the way places."

The tall gray trees around him, though familiar, do not keep him from tensing at the howl of a Beowulf.

"Might have to go take care of that one if it gets closer." He looks around, trying to spot anything that doesn't belong in the forest.

All is drab and dreary around him, very much the norm for the island of Patch.

Then he sees a flash of gold.

"Huh?" He goes over to it, machete still in hand.

As he approaches, he hears sniffling, the gold withdrawing into a bush when he steps on a twig.

"Is someone there?" He asks, concerned now as he keeps going.

The bush rustles in response.

"Come on, I won't hurt you." He adopts his dad voice that he uses to calm his girls, reach a bit into the bush and trying to move it aside.

The first thing he sees is those big, bright rose eyes, staring up at him and filled with tears.

"Aww, hey there, sweetie." He says softly, crouching down on one knee. "Are you lost?"

She nods, whimpering a bit when her oversized pith hat falls down over her face.

Reaching down he lifts it up a bit, pausing when he sees her pony body. "Well, aren't you an odd cute one?"

She sniffles, looking up at him in silence. Then the howling begins again, causing her to flinch.

He looks up, eyes hard. "Beowolves are around." Looking back down with a soft expression, he holds out his hand in front of her. "You don't want to be around when those things are. Want to come with me? I bet my daughters would love you if you're nice."

Shivering a bit, she stands and walks over, sniffing his hand a bit before stepping into it, looking up at him nervously.

He brings up her." You're a tiny one, too." He puts her into a pocket on the inside of his vest, letting her head stick out. "There, that should be warm and safe for you."

She looks up at him, then down at her hat, whining softly.

He sees, this pets her head with his hand before he reaches down. "Oh, you want this?" Spotting writing on the inside, he turns it until he can read it. "Daring Do? Is that you?" He looks to the pony, putting the hat lightly on her.

She shows the first sign of happiness, babbling brightly as she tries to grip the too-big hat.

He chuckles, making sure it's not going to fall as he pets her again. "You like that? Well, it's yours. Come on, let's go home." He starts walking.

A large black creature jumps in his path, landing on all fours and growling at them.

The man crouches in a fighting stance, shifting his grip on the machete. "Ah, there you are. Well, at least I'll get rid of your before the girls are in danger."

The Beowulf says nothing, lunging at the man with its maw open wide.

It promptly intercepts a hat to the mouth, staggering backwards from the blow as the young pony catches the hat in her mouth, flipping it back onto her head afterward.

He grins at this. "Well, a fighter? I think you and little Zwei will get along just fine." Lunging forward, he takes advantage of the stunned creature and jams his blade into it's head up to the hilt. The creature falls to the ground once he withdraws it. "There, now, let's head home, huh?" He laughs fondly at the filly.

She babbles happily in response, turning and nuzzling his chest, the only part of him in her reach.

He chuckles, following his path home. "Heh, you sound like my girls when they were babbling babies. I wonder if that's what you are..."

The filly just looks around as he walks, trying to reach out to a few plants as they pass.

He smiles, taking her hoof in a few fingers and playing with it. "Curious one, aren't you? Don't worry, we're almost home and there will be plenty for you to explore."

Her attention, briefly caught by his fingers, turns to him and she gives him a bright smile.

"Daww..." He rubs her head and ears. "I wonder if the girls would forgive me if I kept you for myself... nah, I couldn't do that to them." He laughs as she house comes into view.

Daring turns her head and manages to catch his fingers, gumming at them.

He smiles as he walks to the door. "Hmm... we're going to make sure you're not hungry and thirsty. I don't feel teeth, so nothing hard..." His other hand goes to the door and opens it.

He immediately gets tackled by a small form, hugging his legs tight. "Daddy!"

The pony actually gets startled at this, ducking inside his vest until only her hat is visible.

He reaches down, rubbing the girl's head. "Hey, Ruby! Miss me?"

She nods, smiling warmly at him. Then she notices the hat, reaching out for it. "Gift?"

"Not quite, Ruby." He smiles, crouching down to see her. "I found a little something out in the forest. This hat belongs to... actually, I really need to check it's gender." He says, peeking inside his vest.

"It?" She peeks along with him, her eyes widening a bit in surprise when she catches sight of Daring. "Puppy?"

"Not quite, we already have one of those." He opens his vest a little, holding his hand palm up to the pony inside. "You want to come out, Daring?"

The only thing she does is place a hoof in his hand, the foal in question looking out nervously. However, Ruby's bright smile eventually convinces her to step out, all four hooves on his hand.

Ruby squeals in delight, hugging the golden pony quickly. "Pony!"

Her dad takes a quick peek under the foal's tail. "Yep, that does seem to be what she is. I found her out in the woods with this hat with her name on it. She's a little scrapper too."

Ruby blinks, looking up at him in confusion, letting go of the struggling filly. "Scrapper?"

He picks up the foal, gently hugging her to his chest. "Yep, she threw that hat of hers to stun a beowolf we ran into."

She blinks, her young mind trying to process this information. Then she grins and throws her arms up in the air. "So cool!"

A small bark comes from within the house, like a puppy asking what the commotion is about.

The man chuckles. "Looks like everyone's getting up, and you were all supposed to be sleeping."

"Nuh-uh! I wasn't going to miss my wish!" Ruby looks up at him, defiant. "I wanna meet my baby sister!"

He sighs, rubbing her head with the hand that isn't holding the pony and her hat. "Ruby, falling stars aren't on the ground..." After a moment, he thinks of something. "But, if you want, this little one might be your new sister if you're nice enough."

Her silver eyes widen, and she grins in excitement. "Really, daddy?"

"...d... da... da?"

The girl blinks, looking at the filly in awe. "Did... she speak?"

He looks down at the filly, shocked. "Just how smart are you little one? Can you say dada?"

She laughs, tearing up and placing her hooves on his chest. "Dada!"

"Dawww..." He gives her a hug, looking at Ruby. "She reminds me of you and yang when you were learning to talk."

"Really?" She tilts her head at this, then jumps when the filly jumps down and starts tottering off down the hall.

"Dada dada dada dada..." She repeats the same word over and over again as she heads to the source of that barking from earlier, driven by curiosity.

"Yep... exactly like you two." The man chuckles, quickly taking off after her. "Come on, let's see how she likes the rest of the family."

Ruby quickly nods and follows after her, hoping that this pony would be the new sister she wished for.

As they enter the room, a corgi puppy is on the floor, bouncing around as another girl sits up from her bed. She wears a white nightshirt and her yellow hair is a mess as he speaks. "What's all the noise?"

Daring tries to climb on the bed, her tiny wings fluttering as she does so. For a while, she's hanging on the edge with her front half on the mattress. "Dada dada..."

The blonde girl picks up the pony as the puppy comes over, sniffing. "Dad? Am I seeing things?"

The filly looks up at her, eyes wide, before pouting a bit. "Nuh dada..." even though she says this, she nuzzles the girl's hand.

The mane walks over, rubbing the filly's head. "Well, Yang, this smart girl here may just be you and Ruby's little sister."

"Huh?" Yang just blinks at this. "But, she's a pet, but she can talk, so... sister?"

As the older girl spoke, the filly turns to the puppy, leaning down and holding a hoof out to him, cooing happily.

He gives her a sniff before licking her hoof and giving a yip.

She giggles brightly, using both hooves to pet him. The rose eyes turn to the man, giving him a happy smile. "Dada!"

He gently takes the foal as his blonde daughter shakes herself a bit. Cradling the foal to his chest, he waves a finger above her. "I think she's a baby like you two were, just a different shape."

When she reaches for the finger, babbling happily, Ruby can't help but squeal in delight. "Yay! Another sister! My wish came true!"

The puppy barks, jumping up on the bed and snuggling against Yang while the man responds. "Yes it did Ruby... yes it did." He move the finger down to the filly's stomach, poking it gently to see if she's full.

Her stomach suddenly growls, as if he pressed a button to activate it. When she starts sniffling, Ruby, the toddler she is, wags her finger at her dad. "No making her cry!"

He looks mock offended, defending himself. "Hey now, it wasn't me! She's hungry! Now... what could she eat... she can't speak yet, and I didn't feel teeth... Milk, I suppose. I still have your old bottles around."

Daring starts gumming his finger once more, making his youngest giggles brightly. "She's hungry for daddy!"

"Not quite, but I think I can help." He says, smiling and standing up. "You girls can go back to bed if you want." Yang looks like she's seriously considering this.

"'Kay, daddy." Ruby hugs him, giggling softly. "Night!"

"Good night, Ruby." He rubs her head before he kisses it. Walking over to Yang, he does the same to her, getting a smile from the girl. "I'll see you both in the morning."

The smaller of the two moves over to her bed, climbing up and getting beneath the covers quite easily.

He smiles at the two of them, well, three as Zwei moves over to Ruby's bed for the moment and curls up. The man chuckles, knowing he'll switch half a dozen times during the night. At another growl from the pony in his arms he gives them all a smile and shuts the door.

"Alright, let's get you something, huh?" He says down to the filly as he heads for the kitchen.

She says nothing, just nuzzling into his chest a bit more.

In the kitchen, he fetches a bottle and nipple from under the counter, running them under warm water as he grabs milk. filling and capping the bottle, he puts it briefly in the microwave before it's ready. "There we go." He sits down at the small table, testing it first before nodding and holding it to her mouth. "Let's see if this works."

She sniffs at it before latching on, eagerly suckling on the bottle for sustenance.

He smiles. "Well, glad I learned how to do this right." His fingers rub the back of her head as she feeds. "Just don't drink too fast."

It seems as though he need not worry, as the soothing motions of his hand make her relax and slow down her drinking.

"Now let's see, you've got a name, we know what you can eat and drink... You can probably sleep with me tonight and we'll see about doing a couple things to test how smart you are tomorrow. If you're as smart as I think you are, I'll just have to raise you as a daughter who's a quadruped." He talks as she eats.

Daring pulls away from the bottle and yawns, nuzzling against his chest sleepily. "Dada..."

"Dawww..." He leans down, kissing her forehead. "Ready for bed, Daring? I bet it's been a big day for you."

She nods, curling up a bit more in his embrace.

He chuckles. "You seem to understand me well enough." Putting the bottle the fridge for now, he stands up, heading to his room. He begins shedding his vest and a few other pieces of clothing, getting comfortable. "Try and let me know if you need anything during the night."

Another nod as she snuggles up more against his chest.

He smiles, now in just his shorts. "Alright." Getting into bed, he turns onto his side and pulls the covers up, no completely covering the filly. "Sleep tight, Daring."

"Nigh', dada..."

He smiles softly, tucking her against his chest and resting his chin on her to complete the protectiveness as he closes his eyes.

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