Moonlighter: Runaway

"An eye for an eye only ends in the whole world being blind" -Gandhi

~~0)Runaway(0~~

[Chapter Two: Give, and You Shall Receive]

"Aboslutley NOT!"  Was the answer Moonlight got from his step-mother.  "I have told you a thousand times before, and I'll tell you again, you can never, and I mean never do anything like that!"  His mother screamed, her face flushed.  His father stood behind her, his head low, wishing he could do something.  This was nearly enough for Moonlight.  His entire life had been locked in his stupid room.  He and his Dad used to do alot of things together, like a normal father and son would do.  Go to parks, see movies, his Dad even taught him to play the guitar, and he had gotten very good at it.  But then his step-mom came.  She was nice at first, at least to his Dad, but when he wasn't around she was a witch.  He had tried telling his Dad, but his cries landed on deaf ears. He was head-over-hoofs in love with her, and never seemed to notice a single bad thing.  But after they got married she stopped the act, and has forced him to stay in the marriage far longer than he wanted too, using what happened to Moonlight's real Mom as blackmail.  His father refused to tell Moonlight what happened to her, all he knew is that it was an accident on a cruise they were on.  He was only two when it happened, and he had no recollection of where he was or what he was doing then.

"But Moooom!" Moonlight whined, full knowledge of the consequences, if it didn't work.  "It's even free, what harm can come of it!"  He added, with a massive frown and puppy dog eyes.

"I said NO and that is the end of it!" She replied harshly, starting to turn to the kitchen, putting an end to the conversation.  Or so she hoped.

For Moonlight, that was it, he had enough of this abuse.  "WHY DON'T YOU EVER LET ME DO ANYTHING FUN, I HATE YOU!" he shouted at her back.  His Dad looked shocked, and she turned around, menace in her eyes.

"DON'T YOU TALK BACK TO ME MISTER, I AM YOUR MOTHER, AND YOU WILL DO WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO!" She spat in his face, her voice almost at Royal Canterlot Voice levels.

"YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER!" He cried out, tears welling up in his eyes.  "YOU ARE RUINING MY LIFE, AND I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU!"

His step-mother was furious, and her voice went from the super loud voice to something far worse.  She got very quiet, but she hadn't calmed down, her neck muscles were bulging, her eyes were piercing, and suddenly Moonlight felt very, very small.  "I'm going to give you one more chance, go to your room now, and don't come out for anything, we'll bring your food to you, so move your little blank flank into there, and think about what you've done, okay?"

Moonlight was utterly terrified, but in a brief moment of courage, he had an idea.  "No." He muttered, standing tall.  Then the unthinkable happened.  She slapped him.  Hard, right across the face.  A red welt was already starting to show, and his Dad's mouth hung open.  To make it worse, his step-mom showed no regrets.  In fact, she seemed happy about it.  Moonlight, on the verge of tears, turned and walked towards his room, kicking up a small cloud of dust with his back hoof, just to show his defiance, even as the years started streaming down his face.

"Why does everypony hate me?" He thought to himself. "It's not my fault that I'm lacking in a cutie mark, she doesn't let me do anything, how am I supposed to get it if I can't go anywhere?"  he trotted to his window and leaned on the Windowsill, watching as Luna's beautiful night took form, the stars twinkling at him, the moon shining brightly.  In the midst of all his depressing thoughts, he had an idea.  An oh so brilliant idea.  He started scrambling around his room, finding his few belongings he had hidden and stuffing them into a burlap saddlebag that he had hidden.  Among the things he packed were his small stash of bits, a compass, and a guitar pick his Dad had given him ages ago.  He didn't know if was real or not, but his Dad had told him it was fashioned from a dragon scale, and Moonlight never parted with it, especially after that witch of a mare became his mom.  Briefly smiling, he hid it in a small hidden pocket in the inside of the saddlebag.  He arranged a few extra blankets and pillows under his bedsheet, so it would look like he was sleeping at a quick glance, then he tiptoed to his window and jumped out, softly landing on the cloud ground, despite his big hooves.  If he remembered correctly, the closest town was Ponyville, and in the dark of Luna's night, and a beat of his mighty wings, that is where he set off too.  If only he had the insight to check the weather scheduled for that region for the night.

"Whoa!  That was too close!" Moonlight thought to himself, barely missing a bolt of lightning, then another.  "It's almost like the storm is trying to kill me!"  "This is insane!"  His wings burned, but he ignored it and kept going, fighting the sudden bursts of wind from the side, jolting into the air pockets, and surging around the lightning.  He caught a brief glance of lights down below.  "Phew, made it!" He thought.  Suddenly he had a very, very bad feeling in his gut, and only had time to utter "Oh sweet Celestia..." as a bright flash of light struck him.  Darkness was creeping up on his eyes, he could feel consciousness slowly slipping away, and he did his best to stay awake, but it was no use, and he lost the battle against the darkness, and started to plummet.

------------------------------------------(]Bad Dream?[)--------------------------------------------

Moonlight jolted awake, startling a concentrating Twilight Sparkle, who had started to read a book.  "Phew..." He thought to himself, starting to relax  "Just a dream..."  But it wasn't just a dream, and he knew it.  Twilight's spell had done alot more than just give him his recent memories back, it gave him all his memories back, and in perfect detail.

Twilight looked at him kinda funny.  "Did it work, and more importantly, are you okay?"  She stood from from her book and walked over to him, checking over his now mostly dissipated bruises.

Moonlight nodded, feeling rather refreshed and new, despite his dream.  "It certainly worked, maybe a tad better than I thought it would, I can remember everything, even back to my early childhood!" He exclaimed, getting more excited by the moment.  "I remember my grandparents, learning to talk, I remember my Dad teaching me how to play a guitar!" His voice droned off as he remembered the burlap sack.  Did Applejack give him his own sack back, and just not tell him?  Only one way to find out.  "My name is Moonlight, Moonlight Strum." He told Twilight as he felt around the inside of the saddlebag, finding a small patch of extra fabric.  "I came from Cloudsdale, and I'm actually still in school..."  He said sheepishly.  He smiled as he found the guitar pick stowed in the saddlebag.  So it was his.  Sneaky Applejack.

Twilight beamed, glad her spell worked.  "Well, we'll have to let you meet my other friends!"  She recalled noticing his mysteriously blank flank while he was dreaming.  "And it you don't want to talk about it, it's okay, but I was wondering why you haven't found your special talent?" She spoke softly and kindly, trying not to upset him.

Moonlight hung his head.  "It's because of my step-mother." He told her. "Once her and my Dad got married, she never let me do anything I wanted, so I've never had the chance to explore my world." Well, that's not totally true, he thought.  "I can tell you and your friends when y'all are all together later, if you want?"  "I did do a few things before she came into my life, like my Dad taught me how to play the guitar, but I wasn't big enough to play it myself then, so I  couldn't really do it, but I loved playing it!" His mood had taken a sudden upturn, only to fall down again.  "But my step-mother made him stop teaching me."

Twilight smiled sympathetically, then went and told her small Dragon assistant, Spike, to go ask the others to meet somewhere private for a nice lunch.  As Spike ran off to ask the others, Twilight turned to a quiet Moonlight, to try and cheer him up.  "Hey, cheer up, nobody here will reject you because you never found your special talent, especially when it wasn't your fault that you couldn't, and you have friends here now, we're here to help anypony in need, especially new friends!"

Moonlight let out a small sniffle as he looked up unto her kind eyes.  "Th-thank you, Twilight, I haven't had a real friend in a very long time, I'm glad to know that there are some decent ponies left in Equestria."  He was stunned for a moment when she gave him a motherly hug, but he quickly returned it, tears of joy starting to well up in his face.

---------------------------------------(]A Gentlecolt in Steed[)----------------------------------------

Twilight and Moonlight walk along the outskirts of Ponyville, trotting to Fluttershy's, who had agreed to have Lunch at her house, with everyone else.  Spike had told her an abbreviated version of Moonlight's story, and she felt sympathetic for him, and she was more than happy to let them use her nice, quiet home.  Twilight and Moonlight were met up with Rarity, a stunning white pony with a curly purple mane, and three diamonds for a cutie mark, right outside of Fluttershy's cottage.  As they approached the door, the trio noticed Fluttershy attending a few animals outside.

"Oh, hello there girls, you guys can go ahead and go inside, everypony else is already here." Fluttershy said softly, as she smiled to all three of them.  Both Twilight and Rarity nodded and thanked Fluttershy, and Moonlight smiled sheepishly.  As the two girls started towards the door, Moonlight pulled it open for them, causing Twilight to blush noticeably, and making Rarity beam with happiness.  She whispered something to Twilight and her purple friend nodded in return, then whispered something back, and Fluttershy quickly followed them inside, visibly embarrassed, as Moonlight held the door for her too.

Moonlight was greeted with a room full of warm smiles, a few familiar, and some not.  Oh, and cake.  Somepony had somehow managed to set up a party in the room.  "U-uh...hi, I'm Moonlight Strum..." Moonlight managed, before being assaulted by a barrage of hellos.  A bubbly pink pony came up to him first.

"Hi!"  the mare said.  "I'm Pinkie Pie, and when Spike said you were a new pony in town, I just had to throw you a party, because that's what I do, I throw the most awesome-stupenabulous parties in Equestria!"  Pinkie was simply a fountain a joy, and for some reason he couldn't stop grinning around her, something about her total craziness was contagious.  And that cake behind her...

All of the sudden he felt his hoof going up and down and up and down and up and down.  When he focused on the pony in front of him and not that delicious cake, he realized it was Applejack.  "Howdy again there, Moonlight, was it?" She stopped shaking his hoof, but it kept moving for a moment anyways.  "We met before, but I wanna welcome you again, and I'm glad you remember who ya are, sure makes it alot easier!" She chuckled as she stopped his hoof moving up and down, causing him to turn a light shade of pink.

He watched a golden aura appear around a cake slice before it vanished into thin air.  He was going to go investigate when he felt somepony poke his right wing.  He jumped into the air for a second, startled, his wings going whatever which way.  Turning to face his attacker, he saw a cute, not to mention young, cyan mare with an awesome rainbow colored mane gaping at him.  "Whoa!" The mare said "Your wings are huge!"  He grinned awkwardly.  "OH, haha, stupid me, I'm Rainbow Dash, by the way!" She told him, suddenly very proud. "Best flier in all of Equestria!" She boasted.

"Well have to see about that!" He challenged her, putting a big 'ol grin on her face.  He turned to be confronted by the pretty white pony, with the purple mane. "Oh, hello!" He said to her, getting a bit more comfortable with the group.

"You look stunning, Mr. Strums!"  "I'm Rarity, I own the local fashion boutique, and your style is simply spectacular!" She told him, making him puff out his chest a little at the compliment.  "Oh, idea!" She blurted out.  "I'll have to model you in a tuxedo, or something to compliment your flamboyant mane style, I simply cannot wait to get started!"

"Style?" Moonlight thought. "I have style? Sweet!"  He looked into her incredible eyes.  "I'd be glad to help anyway I can, maybe sometime later this week?" He told her, genuinely happy to help.

After the stunning Rarity walked off to talk to Spike, he noticed the light yellow pony hiding under her long, soft, pink mane.  He slowly walked over to her and introduced himself.  "Hi, I'm Moonlight, what's your name?" He asked her softly, his usually cold eyes pouring out fountains of warmth and care, for alot of times he felt just like this pony looked.

"I-I'm F-Fluttershy..." She mumbled, retreating even further back into her mane.  Realizing how tall he must look, he knelt down and used his hoof to gently brush her mane away, with a genuine smile on his face.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." He told her.  Something in his eyes made Fluttershy more comfortable.  Pain, maybe? Understanding?  He didn't know.  She stopped trying to hide in her shell, smiled, and started to walk towards the rest of the group, who had all began to start eating, and Moonlight followed her, glad he made somebody smile for once.

Once everypony had settled into their meal, they turned to him expectantly.  Moonlight looked up to them with a mouthful of sandwich, and quickly swallowed, cleared his throat, and began to tell them about his life.  He told them about his Dad meeting his stepmother all the way to her slapping him just a couple of days before.  They shared various emotions with different parts of his story.  They were most shocked by his step-mother slapping him, and the fact that young mares and stallions would still bully a helpless pony over something totally out of their control.  He explained the various major scars on his body, such as the part of his ear that was missing.

"One of the jocks shoved my head into a locker, as I started to pull my head out he slammed the door, and all but my ear made it out." He explained "I was rushed to the emergency room, and the jock was forced to clean up the blood on the lockers, and his parents had to pay the medical bills." He finished the little side story, before he got too off-topic.  This small gruesome tale was met with various gasps of horror.  Soon, his 'life story' as it were was over, and a dark, thick mood had settled over the group, even the usually ecstatic Pinkie Pie seemed oddly sedated.  Fluttershy came up with an idea, in an attempt to cheer her new friend up some.

"Um, Moonlight, you said that your Dad taught you how to play the guitar, right?" She asked him, getting a nod in reply.  Fluttershy turned and quietly flew up the stairs of her home.  A decent pair of ears would have heard her rummaging around in her closet, before she came back downstairs, wielding a beautiful acoustic guitar in her mouth.  She handed it to him and promptly sat on a chair, looking at him expectantly.  Moonlight looked at the guitar for a moment, then he suddenly got what Fluttershy wanted him to do, and by the looks on the others faces, he could see that they got it too.  She wanted him to play.

Moonlight produced the pick his Dad had given him oh so many years ago, and he began to play.  He closed his eyes and let the months of instruction come back to him.  His hoofs started to strum the guitar, slowing picking up speed, he strung up something completely from his imagination.  He managed to play the guitar to wrench the emotions out of all who listened.  Rarity muttered something about it being one of the most beautiful things she had ever heard.  Twilight's mouth was agape, and Pinkie Pie had started bawling her eyes out.  Fluttershy was hugging her adorable little bunny, and Applejack held her hat to her heart, her eyes tearing up a little.  Even Rainbow was getting teary at the music that Moonlight's hoofs produced.  Moonlight felt pure joy.  Pure and utter joy.  He had never been happier in his life, not that he could remember, and he could remember alot of things right then. If any had thought to look, they would have seen a bright flash on Moonlight's flank as his cutie mark appeared.  It was a rather interesting one.  Beautiful.  Unique.  It was the silhouette a guitar.  But it was more than that.  It had Pegasus wings on it, and if one looked closely, it was actually a night sky, the stars almost seemed like they were twinkling as you looked at them.  Moonlight finished playing, and looked up, only to be shocked.  He had reduced the entire room to tears of joy, and was nearly suffocated in a monster group hug, and blinded by the flash of a camera.  They all congratulated him on how well he played, then Twilight noticed something different.

"Hey!"  She exclaimed  "Moonlight, you have your cutie mark, look!"  She pointed at it, and somehow, by the might of Celestia, the amount of joy in that room increased even more, and Moonlight Strum swore at that moment, that it was the happiest day he had ever lived.

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