Moonlighter: Runaway

by Rayvinne

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Slice of Life
Length: 6029

Moonlight Strum was a young Pony from Cloudsdale. Ostracized by his peers, he gets desperate

-Moonlight Strum was a young Pony from Cloudsdale. Ostracized by his peers for his awkward, slower thinking manner, and lack of a cutie mark. His parents wouldn't let him go anywhere, he was forced to do nothing all day every day. One night, his young patience wore too thin, and he just couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted out.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-21 05:29:29 UTC

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

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.

Chapter Two: Give, and You Shall Receive.

"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[)--------------------------------------------