//------------------------------// // Ch. 2- Twilight's Plan // Story: My Little Pony: The Rise of Warfang // by XFangHeartX //------------------------------// "So you say she jumped off here?" "Y-yes, Father." Warfang stood at the cliff where Moonlight jumped off of, then looked down at the river below. It was a bit calmer now than it was last night, and less swollen, too. He growled as he followed the river downstream. "What do you think, Father?" asked Stormhowl. "If I'm right," Warfang began as he kept following the river, where he saw Ponyville right along the bank as it kept flowing, "the filly, and the stone, should've landed in that town...Ponyville." "Ponyville?" asked one of the wolves. "A small village," said Warfang. "It's mostly inhabited by earth ponies with a few unicorns and pegasi, here and there." "Maybe we can just ask if she's there?" Swiftclaw asked. "Don't be a fool, Swiftclaw!" Warfang scolded, causing the rust-furred wolf to shrink back. "These are ponies we're talking about. They'd sooner run at the sight of us than talk to us. Go near them and we blow the entire operation." "...Right, Father," said Swiftclaw, sadly. "I'm sorry." "Next time, keep your opinions to yourself," said Warfang. "Stormhowl." "Yes, Father," Stormhowl stepped forward. "Go and search the borders," said Warfang. "Find out what you can and report back to me...at the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest." "Understood," said Stormhowl before he turned to the few wolves behind him, Swiftclaw included. "Come, wolves!" "Yes, Prince Stormhowl!" the wolves answered before they all sprinted off. "And Swiftclaw!" Warfang called, causing the younger prince to look back at him. "Yes, Father?" asked Swiftclaw. "Be sure to watch your brother," Warfang answered. "You might actually learn something, this time." Hearing that caused Swiftclaw's ears to droop before he heaved a sigh. "...Yes, Father," he muttered before he ran to catch up with his brother and the small pack that was following him. As he did, he growled deeply in his throat in irritation. XXX Meanwhile, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight and company were sitting around the table and enjoying a hearty breakfast of delicious pancakes. However, as the group ate the pastries, Applejack noticed that Twilight had hardly touched her shortstack. "Something the matter, Twi?" asked Applejack. "Huh?" Twilight muttered. "Oh...sorry, I...I guess I'm not as hungry as I thought I was." "Is something the matter, Twilight?" asked Rarity. "Well...a little," Twilight answered. "You're worried about Moonlight, aren't you?" Starlight queried. "...Yes," Twilight admitted. "You said she showed up last night, during the storm, didn't you?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Yes," Twilight replied. "She was soaking wet and cold and...she looked so sad and frightened and alone!" "Oh, the poor thing," Fluttershy said. "Well, where's her family?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Aren't they looking for her?" "...Gone," Twilight answered. "All of them, gone." Hearing that caused the group's hearts to sink. Even Pinkie Pie, normally cheery and bright-eyed, the very Element of Laughter herself, felt a tinge of guilt in her stomach. Anypony would find that kind of information hard to swallow. "Oh, my," Rarity whispered with dread. "And you never found out what happened to them?" "We tried to ask her what happened to them," said Spike, "but...she wouldn't tell us. She just broke down crying." "All we know is that she's deeply traumatized," said Starlight. "Whatever happened to her, it must have happened, last night." "...Last night..." Applejack muttered under her breath. "What is it, Applejack?" asked Twilight. "Didn't Shining Armor say that a pack of wolves attacked some unicorns last night?" Applejack inquired. "Actually, he did say that," said Rainbow Dash. "You don't think that the attack and Moonlight are connected, do you?" asked Starlight. "It's a possibility," Applejack answered. "For now, let's not worry about it," Twilight spoke up. "We need to think about what to do with Moonlight, for the time being." "Well, we can't just send her away, somewhere," Starlight replied. "And by the sound of things," Fluttershy began, "it sounds to me she doesn't have a home, either." "What are we gonna do?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Ooh, ooh!" Pinkie chirped. "Idea coming up! Idea~! She can stay here, in the castle!" "The castle?" the group repeated. "Sure!" Pinkie answered. "Why not? It's super-duper HUGE! There's plenty of room for Moonlight to stay!" "She does have a point there," Applejack said. "Oh, yes," Rarity agreed, "and what filly doesn't dream of living in a magnificent castle such as this?" "It does sound like a good idea, right, Twilight?" Spike asked. "I mean, I don't really mind! It'd be kinda fun having an extra roommate!" "Not to mention she'd probably be safe, here," Starlight added. "And you can even enroll at the school!" Rarity chimed in. "Of course, when she's good and ready." "Well?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What do you think, Twilight?" Twilight pondered for a moment...then pondered a little more before she reached a decision. "I guess there's no harm in letting Moonlight stay," said Twilight. "Besides, there is plenty of room and she would be safer here than out in Equestria all alone." "Yay!" Pinkie cheered. "Ooh! Can we throw a party for her? Please, Twilight?! Pretty, pretty please with sprinkles and whipped cream and a cherry on top?!!" "As fun as that sounds," Twilight began, "I don't think it's a good idea to just throw her a party when she's still a little shook up. We should ease her into her new lifestyle before we do anything else." "Twilight has the right idea," Starlight agreed. "I don't think she's ready for that, yet." "So no party, for now," Pinkie said. "Right?" "For now, Pinkie," Twilight affirmed. "Got it!" Pinkie beamed. "Excuse me." Everypony turned to see Moonlight enter the room. "Well, hi, Moonlight," Twilight greeted. "How do you feel?" "A little better, now," Moonlight answered. "Are there are any pancakes?" "There's plenty, sugarcube," Applejack replied. "Help yourself." Moonlight approached the table, only to look around before she looked up at the older mares and baby dragon. "Umm...where do I sit?" "Oh, right!" Twilight realized. "Hang on a second." Using a quick spell, she lifted Moonlight up into the air, then conjured up several cushions, which she piled up into a neat little stack- according to color starting from the darkest on the bottom to lightest on the top- and then gently placed the little filly onto the cushions. "Umm...thank you," Moonlight said as Spike set down a stack of pancakes for her, and, without a single warning, the filly just buried her face into the stack while munching noisily, which slightly startled the group. "Well, someone's sure hungry!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Sorry," Moonlight said, a bit embarrassed of her manners. "Oh, don't be, sweetie," Rarity answered. "We all have our little...piggish moments." "That just means you're enjoying them!" Pinkie added. Moonlight smiled before she kept eating the pancakes. "So, Moonlight," said Starlight, "we've been talking about you." "Y-you have?" asked Moonlight. "Mm-hmm," Twilight nodded. "We were thinking that since you don't have anywhere to go, how would you like to stay here in the castle?" "H-here?" Moonlight asked. "Are you sure?" "Of course!" Twilight answered. "There's plenty of room for you, here!" "Wouldn't you like that?" Fluttershy asked. "You can even have your own room!" Spike added. "...I dunno," Moonlight said. "I know it seems like it's a lot to take in," Twilight said, "but trust me, we'll make sure you feel right at home here." "And someday, we'll have you enrolled at the school in town," said Rarity. "There, you can meets lots of colts and fillies your age and make many new friends!" "I...I don't know how to make friends," said Moonlight, causing everyone to gasp. "My family and I were always moving around, so I never got the chance to make any friends...the only one I had was...was Starburst." "Starburst?" Pinkie repeated. "My big sister, Starburst Shine," answered Moonlight before she glanced down at her necklace, and soon after, she sniffled as tears began to well up in her eyes, again. "I miss my sister...!" Twilight reached her right wing over to her and gently pulled the filly to her side, causing her to look up at the Princess of Friendship, who smiled tenderly. "We know you miss your sister, Moonlight," said Twilight, "but you should know that she's in a better place, now." Moonlight sniffled and nuzzled Twilight's side. "And besides," Applejack spoke up, "you've got us now." "We'll be your friends, Moonlight," Starlight said, warmly. "Y-you will?" Moonlight asked. "Really?" "Sure we will!" Pinkie answered. "The more friends, the merrier," Fluttershy added. "Especially a friend as awesome as I am," Rainbow Dash grinned, putting a hoof to her chest with pride, which made Moonlight giggle a little. "Aha!" Spike exclaimed. "Caught you smiling!" "Well, yeah," Moonlight replied. "I kinda like it here, now." "That's good," Twilight smiled. "It means you're starting to open up more." "And if you don't mind me saying this, darling," Rarity spoke up as she eyed Moonlight's necklace, "that is quite the lovely piece of jewelry." "Yeah, I'll say it is," Spike said with a bit of drool coming out of his mouth. "Spike," Twilight said in a warning tone, causing him to shrink back with a sheepish grin. "It was my sister's," said Moonlight as she looked down at the gemstone. "She gave it to me before...before..." "Err...never mind, darling!" Rarity interjected. "Don't worry about how or when she gave it to you! At least you have something to remember her by." "...Yeah," Moonlight said. "Also..." Rarity said as she took a look at the filly's mane and tail, "have you been to a salon, lately?" "What's a salon?" asked Moonlight, causing Rarity to give a dramatic gasp. "You've NEVER been to a salon?!" the ivory unicorn asked. "Like I said, my family and I used to move around a lot," Moonlight answered. "Well, this will never do!" Rarity exclaimed as she took a strand of Moonlight's mane into her hoof. "Look at all these split ends!" "Oh, boy, here she goes again," Rainbow Dash muttered in irritation while the others giggled. "Oh...it's not that bad," Moonlight said. "...Is it?" "Not to worry, dear," Rarity said. "Thankfully, you have an expert in this castle, and she is none other than moi!" "...Huh?" Moonlight muttered as she tilted her head in confusion. "Just follow me, Moonlight," said Rarity as she walked off. "It's time you had a little makeover~!" "O-okay," Moonlight said as she hopped off the cushions and followed after Rarity, while Twilight smiled after her. "Seems to me she's making good progress," said Starlight. "I think so, too," Twilight agreed. "I have a feeling she's gonna love it here." "And who wouldn't with friends like us here?" asked Applejack, causing everypony to chuckle. However, one thing still bothered still bother Twilight: if the wolf attacks and Moonlight showing up at the castle last night are connected...then what would the wolves want with one little filly?