Chapter One: Blood, Sweat, and...Apples?

Author's Note:  Yes, this is my first attempt at a story, I welcome constructive criticism and new ideas, thanks!I don't own MLP or anything associated with it, that is property of Hasbro~~0)Runaway(0~~
[Chapter One: Blood, Sweat, and...Apples?]

The young Stallion stirred to life, his eyelids defied his attempts to open beyond little slits, that was, until he focused on a young yellow filly with a vibrant magenta mane staring him down.

"Gah!" He screamed. He bolted upright, very startled by how close this young filly had gotten to his face.

"APPLEJACK, HE'S AWAKE!" The young filly shouted, only making the young stallion more aware of his surroundings, and the dull throb in his head, which was quickly becoming a piercing stab.

"Apple Bloom, ah thought I told ya to stay out of that room!" A thick country accent came from somewhere below, the stallion could only assume it was a mare.

"But...!" The young filly trailed off, he assumed this was Applebloom.   He watched as the little filly hopped down from the bed he was in and walk out the door, only to be replaced by an older orange earth pony, with a long blonde mane tied into a ponytail.

"Well howdy!" The orange mare smiled "I'm sorry 'bout Applebloom, she tends to get up in people's space, anyhow, ah'm Applejack!"  The stallion couldn't think of anything to say, picking up on this, Applejack started "Well, whats yer name, mister?"

He blinked out of his confusion, only to get sucked back into it "My name is...uh..."  "Oh, hayseed" he thought, "Just what is my name?" He was starting to panic "Why can't I remember my own bucking name, I can't remember anything!" All the stressed stallion could do was lower his head in defeat.  He did his best to keep a straight face, but his increasing worry won over, and he collapsed onto his back.  "I can't remember squat!" He groaned, plopping back down onto the bed.

Applejack frowned.  "Well, let's get ya cleaned up first, I have a friend who might be able to help ya out with yer...amnes...ammneees...oh forget it, memory problems!" Chuckling, she added "No pun intended." Applejack smiled warmly and gestured to a washroom that was attached to the bedroom he was resting in.  Smiling a thanks, the stallion waited until she had left the room to get up and head into the washroom, muttering to himself.

"Ugh...what happened to me?" The stallion said to nopony but himself.  "I look like a wreck!"  He started a water running from a shower and began to rinse off, uncovering what appeared to be a large multitude of bruises and scrapes, along with a truckload of mud that had caked onto his cream colored coat, and the tips of his mane and tale looked like somebody had burned them, upon further inspection, there were several other scorch marks all over his body, although many just rubbed out, the ones in his mane and tail refused to go.  The headache was fading, only to be replaced by a pain from his front right leg.  Looking down, he noticed how swollen and purple it looked, the lump dwarfing his large hooves.  "Not good" He thought to himself. At least he could still fly.  He stepped out of the shower and stretched out his massive wings, only to notice something very disturbing.  He didn't have a cutie mark.  His face turned a deep red as he took in the shock, quietly thinking to himself.  "In the name of Celestia, how exactly does that happen?" He couldn't think of any time where a pony's cutie mark had vanished. "Unless I never had it in the first place..."  He shuddered at the thought, looking himself over.  "Nah, not possible, I don't look that young, I must be in my fully grown!" "It would certainly explain how I'm this big, especially for a Pegasus"  Thankful he was alone at the moment, he finished cleaning himself up, doing his mane in some decent fashion, and made sure his wings covered his flank.  He poked his head out the door of the bedroom, only to be greeted by one of the most wonderful scents he had ever smelled. The entrancing smell was crisp and sweet, and he pondered to himself. "Apples? Yes, definitely apples!"

The nameless stallion trotted down the old wooden steps, silently judging the rustic farmhouse.  "Hmm...very cozy, I like it!"  He poked around a corner into what he thought might be the kitchen, spotting Applejack.  Making sure his wings covered his blank flank, because he had no explanation for it.  He purposefully made a decent thump with his good front hoof as he started to enter the room, all while taking deep whiffs of the aroma that had filled the majority of the quaint home. He felt warmer just inhaling it.

"Well, don't you look handsome!" Applejack said with a giggle, snapping the stallion out of his daydream about apples, causing him to blush very deeply.

"Uh...thanks, Ms. Applejack." He replied with an awkward smile.  "That sure does smell good!" He quickly added

Applejack shook her head.  "Ya can call me just plain Applejack, and yer right, it does smell good!"  "We got apple pancakes, toast and with some zap apple jam, apple juice, and more!"  She gestured to a table where the yellow filly from earlier and a large, scratch that, very large red pony sat.  Setting the food onto the table, Applejack introduced them.  "Mister, this here is Big Macintosh and Applebloom, who've you already met, Granny Smith would be here, but she already left for town to gather some fresh supplies."

"H-hello Mr. Macintosh, Apple Bloom." Our nameless stallion stammered, before taking a seat at the place Applejack had set for him.  Big Macintosh simply nodded, and Apple Bloom already had her mouth full of toast, but she still manged to grin at him.  Our stallion decided to dig in, before it got too cold.  One they were done, he helped gather and wash the dishes, much to Applejack's annoyance.  He may have forgotten who he is and where he came from, but he remembered how to be a polite house guest.  His manners were on Rarity's level.

"A storm hit us last night, 'nothin like we had ever seen!"  Applejack explained.  "We heared a particular crack of thunder that was incredibly close, I wouldn't be surprised if it his a tree!"  Added, wide eyed.  "I took a peek outside and saw a white flash, followed by a shower of dirt and a thud." She told him, after taking a breath, she continued, "I ran outside and there you were, in a 'lil crater, and you were still smokin, as if you had been set on fire or 'somethin!"  "My guess is you were flyin and got hit by a lightnin' bolt, which would explain why you have those little burns on yer mane."  "So I got Big Mac and we dragged you inside and put you in the guest bed, mud 'n all!"  She finished talking as she led him outside to a barn.  Inside was a big cart, surrounded by heaps of apples.  "We need to get these to town, if ya can be so kind and help me load 'em up!"

Soon, him and Applejack finished with loading the huge cart with the fresh apples.  Big Macintosh had left to gather broken limbs that had fallen after a recent storm, and Applejack gazed at the dirt trail that led towards Town.

"I'm a strong pony 'n all, and as much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I'll be able to pull it through some of that mud, some of those puddles look like they'd come up to mah neck!" Frowning deeply, Applejack had muttered.  She looked our stallion from the ground up, actually taking his appearance for the first time.  He was incredibly tall, taller than Big Mac, by just a hair, although he lacked the muscle and appearance of her brother.  His coat was a rather soft looking cream/beige color, with his nose and hoofs accenting it with their deeper, chocolate brown.  His eyes were a rich sky blue, the kind that showed he was as much of a doormat as Fluttershy, the kind that would almost never say no.  The corners of Applejack's mouth has started to turn upwards, as she began to formulate a plan.  His tail and mane were nearly the exact same shade of blue, with a darker streak in them.  She knew what she could do with him, she just needed to make sure of one more thing.  "Yes, this will do just dandy!" She thought to herself as she looked at his hooves.  They.  Were.  Massive.  Giant, plodding monsters of hooves.

Applejack looked at him with her wicked plan developed in her head, making the stallion increasingly nervous.  "Sayy..." She said "You wouldn't mind helping me pull the apple wagon to town, would you?"  "I have a friend there who might be able to help you out with yer memory problem, maybe give us a clue to who ya are!" She added, sweetening the deal.

He glanced at the muddied road, and back to Applejack.  "Ah, well, it is really muddy, but I would like to find out who I am, and maybe get to the bottom of where my cutie mark could have gone...if I had one..."  He pushed the end of his thought out of his mind.  There was an reasonable explanation for it, right?  There always was an explanation.  "Sure, it ain't a problem, just hitch me up and tell me where to go!"  He answered, with one of those giant fake smiles.  Applejack simply beamed with joy.

The stallion grumbled to himself as he trudged, yes trudged through a particularly deep mud puddle.

"I didn't know Ponies actually trudged, at least most don't" He thought to himself, thinking of the rich Canterlot snobs and cloud streets of Cloudsdale.  Once they made it to the market, Applejack unhitched the stallion from the cart and pointed him in the direction of her friend's, giving him instructions on how to get there, and how to get back.

"Ah thank 'ya kindly, mister, ah'd still be stuck in that mud if you didn't help!"  She stated, tossing him two large, juicy apples and a plain burlap saddle bag  "Give one to my friend, her name is Twilight Sparkle, and the other is fer you, if ya happen to get a might hungry." She told him.  Waving as he trotted off, he put the saddlebag on, and stashed the apples into it.  He wandered around town, getting a few odd stares from the occasional pony, he eventually made his way to the place that Applejack had described.  It was a big tree.

"A tree?" He thought to himself. "That's it?"  He sighed and made his way towards the front door, wiping all the mud off his legs, he noticed that it was, in fact, a library.  "Well, it's open, guess that means I can just go in." He thought, hoping he was right.  It was seemingly bigger on the inside, and the walls were lined with books.  Lots of books.

"Hello!" He heard a female voice call from some back room. "I'll be out there in a minute!" It added.  When the mare appeared, he was somewhat stunned, but he managed to get a sentence out.

"U-uh...hi."  He stammered.  "Your friend Applejack sent me here...apparently I had an accident, and I can't really remember anything." He started, before continuing to explain, after getting a puzzled look.  "She found me outside in the rain last night, near her house, she guessed that I got hit by lightning in that storm, and I figure I got knocked unconscious from it." He finished.  Was it just him, or did she look a bit sheepish when he mentioned the storm?  Probably nothing, he figured, re-focusing himself.

Twilight nodded, secretly hoping he didn't see her blush ever so slightly at the mention of the storm.  Instead, she walked over to a bookshelf and started to look for a certain spell book.  "Well, Applejack did you right, I actually have a memory spell somewhere, and I just might be able to help you out with a couple of those bruises, and do something for your ankle, too."

"Ankle?" The stallion thought, looking down.  "Oh, yeah, that ankle."  His cheerier attitude vanished, leaving his head hanging a tad lower.  Remembering something, he opened the burlap saddle back and pulled out the bigger, fresher apple and held it out.  "Ms..er..Applejack, told me to give to you."  He said, smiling nervously as it was taken by a sparkling purple glow..

"Applejack knows me too well..." She said, taking a munch out of the apple and gesturing to a couch.  "You can lay down over there." She smiled after biting another good portion of the apple.

"Thank you Miss...?" His voice trailed off as he laid on the couch.

"Oh, you can call me Twilight!" The mare said, after swallowing the apple.  "And it's no problem, really!"  "Anything to help a pony in need!" She smiled warmly, before getting to work. "You can probably sleep while I do this, it might take awhile, and you look kinda tired." She whispered to him, with a stern yet gentle tone to her voice.  She sighed lightly, then got to business, speeding the healing process of the injuries first, so the less severe ones could be almost totally healed by the time they finished.  Satisfied with her hoofy-work, she moved on to the memory spell, warming it up in her horn, before gently touching the tip of it to the stallions forehead.  She would know if it worked soon enough, as he had actually taken her advice, and was conked out.

------------------------------------------(]Enter Dream Sequence[)--------------------------------------------

Moonlight Strum sighed heavily as he walked away from Flight School.  He hung his head low in despair, glad his oversize wings covered his blank flank.  He is a young stallion, no more than thirteen, but he has the size and stature of a full grown Earth Pony, just not the weight.  His coat is a light cream/beige, accented by his chocolate brown hooves and nose. He had a soft sky blue mane, accented by eyes of a similar hue, the kind that showed he wouldn't say a thing if you put him down, and it was obvious that people had.  He bore various scars about his body from years of abuse, from both his school and a resentful public.  Although most of the scars were hidden under his coat and mane,a very visible portion of his left ear had been torn out, leaving a large gash.  His parents didn't like him either.  His Dad used to try and have fun, but his evil witch of a mother made him stop.  They didn't let him have fun.  He couldn't have friends or do social events without a responsible adult.  He had a few friends, thankfully, so he wasn't terribly awkward, but when it came to pretty mares, he was a goner.

It was Friday, and flight school had let out.  Moonlight Strum wanted to avoid the crowds, fearful of more public embarrassment. He trotted near the edge of Cloudsdale, keeping the same, distant look on his face as he watched a small town come come into view.  Gathering around a lake was a group of Pegasi, he could only assume were some of the residents of the town.  He noticed a large machine being dragged to the lake.  He knew what this was.  They were there to funnel the water to Cloudsdale, for the factory.    His parents told him all about it, and they seemed genuinely excited for once, for reasons he couldn't fathom. What was so interesting about making clouds?  At least they were happy, they usually gave him a little more freedom when they were.

There was a bright orange blur that flew past him, knocking him on his face.  He got up, brushed himself off, then hung his head and kept walking, figuring it was some hateful pony that wanted to put him down, like usual. But the orange blur came back.  He looked up, defeat clearly written on his face, when his jaw dropped, and wings sagged, touching the ground, then splaying out in all directions.

"Oops, my bad" The mare smiled warmly, obviously used to having people stare in wonder  "I didn't see you there, I was heading down to Ponyville so I could watch over the water transfer!"  It was all Moonlight Strum could do to close his mouth, and the mare simply chuckled, holding out her hoof.  "I'm Spitfire, and you sir have a very fine pair of wings there!" She said with a wink  "So whats your name?"  She looked puzzled for a moment as she noticed that behind his massive wings was a blank flank.  He couldn't possibly that young, could he? Thankfully, she didn't say anything about it.

"I-I'm M-moonlight Strum..."  He managed, his voice trailed off and his face glowed red as he saw he glancing at his flank, and quickly brought his wings back up to cover it.  Although deeply embarrassed and shocked that his childhood hero was actually talking to him, and that she now knew about his sad blank flank, he shook her hoof.  And to her everlasting credit,  she didn't burst out laughing, like every other Pegasus and Pony that saw it.  Keeping up an awkward smile, Spitfire spoke softly

"Hey, cheer up kid, it's no big deal!" "Tell you what, I have to go now, but when I get back, I'll take you to meet all the other Wonderbolts!"  She couldn't help big give a big, gleaming white smile  "How does that sound?"

"U-Uh...wow...that'd be...amazing!"  Moonlight stammered, although he knew his parents would never approve such a thing.

"Sweet!"  Spitfire flapped her wings and started to turn.  "Nice meeting you, Moonlight Strum!"  At that, she flew down to Ponyville.  Sky Strums couldn't remember being this happy in years, and he galloped home.

------------------------------------------(]End of Chapter One[)--------------------------------------------

Alright guys! It's your author again, this concludes the first chapter of this story!  If you see any flaws, have any suggestions, or see continuity errors (I had to change alot of it several times over, I promise it'll get better) please feel free to point them out to I can improve the stories, and make it better for all to read!  To add to that, I'll do my best to keep consistent updates, but I can't make any promises, at least for the next few weeks.  I don't know how long this story will go, but your ideas might just make a difference between three chapters and ten!  So keep 'em flowing!

Sneak Peak!Coming up next, our mysterious stallion, Moonlight Strum, explains what happens. Twilight and Applejack encourage him to go with them to meet rest of the mane six, and after getting a complimentary tour of Ponyville (And a muffin or two) he encounters something that will change his life, forever.