I still remember the day Moon vanished. She was there in the evening, sleeping peacefully, and gone in the morning when I awoke. No pony knew what happened to her that night, and no pony has ever found out. Search parties went out, looking all over Ponyville and even venturing into the Everfree Forest to hunt her down, but she was never found. It was assumed she has died, and my parents accepted that fact. I, however, refused to believe it. Despite the quiet, shy, nervous filly she seemed to be on the outside, Moon Dance was a born survivor. I continued the search, never giving up and hoping that one day I would see her cute little face again. I've never forgotten the clumsy way she flew and the graceful way she ran, the way she seemed to be too different ponies rolled into one. I've never forgotten the day when she got her cutie mark, a full moon hidden by clouds, and the way her big blue eyes sparkled in joy as she spotted it for the first time. I've never forgotten a single detail about my beloved sister, and I know I never will.
Life has moved on. After looking through every corner of Ponyville and once or twice in the forest, I knew the whole town like the back of my hoof but there was still no sign of her. Despite my initial determination to never accept that Moon Dance was dead, it began to seem like there was just no way she could possibly be alive. I’ve continued to hold my head high, keeping my pain on the inside, hidden away from every pony but my family and closest friends (uh, friend). The only thing that really kept me sane was Rainbleed. I met her shortly after Moon Dance’s disappearance, and for a while she filled the hole left by my sister. Although I now call Rainbleed my best friend, that title belongs to Moon Dance alone, and I know no pony will ever replace the relationship I had with my sister.
“Hey, Song. You okay?” Rainbleed’s voice cuts through my thoughts like a knife. “Song!” She gently bumps into me, and I look at her, my expression blank. “Feelin’ down again, huh?” she asks. Her crimson eyes are full of concern.
“Fine,” I murmur, trying to keep the sorrow out of my voice. The white pegasus doesn’t seem convinced, but she says nothing. That’s one thing I love about her. She always seems to know exactly how I feel, but never tries to get me to talk about it unless she thinks it will help. Often have I curled up next to her and sobbed for hour upon hour after a simple question set off a massive chain reaction of emotions. She knows very well I gain nothing from these moments, and that it’s best to just leave me when she can tell I’m upset.
“C’mon, it’s gettin’ dark. We should get back to ground level,” Rainy murmurs. A bitterly cold wind blows, and my friend’s already messy mane, purest white just like her fur, but streaked with jagged bars in all the colours of the rainbow, is ruffled even more, blown into a crazy style that is surprisingly fitting. She laughs, a crazy, high sound, the sound track to all my happiest memories after Moon’s disappearance. A smile spreads across my face, despite everything. There’s just no way you can be said with this mare around. We drop the ground in a daring dive, pulling up at the last second to land lightly on our hooves.
“We should totally do that again tomorrow,” Rainbleed gasps, her eyes shining with delight. I nod in silent agreement. “See ya, Song. And don’t you go gettin’ all upset, you hear me!” she calls as she gallops off, her tail blowing in the breeze like a banner. I watch her go until I can no longer see her, then turn to head back towards my own house. I look above me into the black sky. Clouds have covered the fairy light stars and moon. A sudden wave of weariness washes over me. I pick up my pace, hoping to get home soon. It’s chilly without the sun’s warm rays, and the lack of light makes everything seem so much colder.
Soon, the old cottage is in sight. It’s a bit run down, but its home, and right now there’s nothing I’d rather see. The thatched roof is broken in places and the white paint coating the walls is peeling away. The overly fancy gate is rusting and it creaks loudly as I gently push it open. The walls surrounding the overgrown garden are so covered in lichen and moss you can barely see the rock. I trot down the dirt path cleared through the weeds that leads to the door. Usually, you can see warm yellow light through a slight gap in the faded patterned curtains and some delicious smell is almost always leaking through the hole in the kitchen window, but tonight it may as well be uninhabited. I guess my mother must already be asleep. Of course my father won’t be there. He’s never there, not any more.
Silent as a mouse (well, more like as a mouse with hooves) I trot through the door and into the house. There isn’t a sound to be heard as I make my way slowly up the stairs and to my room, watching where I place my hooves so I do not disturb my mother. Her days are long, waking up early in the morning for work, and then working late into the night to prepare our meals for the next day, and she gets little sleep. Judging by the loud snores coming from her bedroom, I assume that this is one of her good nights, a night where she isn’t going to be kept up by stress, and I do not want to steal it from her. The poor thing works so hard, and she really deserves a break. But without Moon Dance to help her out with the cooking and my father to bring us some extra income, she’s doing double. I’d offer a helping hoof, but I can’t cook to save my life, no matter how hard my mother tries to teach me, and I’m too young to get a decent paying job.
The first thing I do upon entering my bedroom is fling myself at my bed, landing with a muffled thump on the fluffy blankets covering it. I bury under the piles of material, tucking my legs neatly underneath me and folding my wings in a way that I know will not result with me hurting them by sleeping awkwardly. I then poke my head out from underneath the blankets and rest it on my pillow, closing my eyes and letting sleep’s dark but warm hand take control.
~*~*~
I awake with a start, my heart racing, my breathing fast. My fur is wet with sweat, and half of the blankets that had covered me when I fell asleep are now on the floor. I sit up in the bed, my tangled mane dropping in front of my eyes. I look out of the window to see the clouds have now mostly cleared, revealing a perfectly circular full moon. It’s still covered in a few small wisps of cloud, and I can’t help but notice how similar it is to Moon Dance’s cutie mark. Why must everything remind me of her? My heart aches to see her again, and I suddenly know what I must do to stop the suffering. I have to find the answers to my questions. I’ve suggested the idea to Rainbleed in the past, and she warned me the answers I seek may not necessarily be what I want to here. But I don’t care. I have to know. Is she still alive? Does she miss me as much as I miss her? And most importantly, where the hay is she? Does she want to come home?
I gaze at the moon and in my imagination; I turn its round shape into my sister’s face. Deep purple, with a light sprinkling of freckles over her nose and the biggest brightest blue eyes I have ever seen. Her fringe would always drop in front of her eyes, and she would irritably push it away. Within seconds it would fall again. It was always so comical.
“I will find you, Moon,” I promise, “Where ever you are, I will find you,”
Author's Note
So, like I mentioned in the description, this is my first story submitted to this site, and actually my first MLP fan fiction in general. Did I do okay? It's quite a bit different from the Pokemon fiction I'm used to writing. If anybody wants to see pictures of the characters, I can provide for Moon Dance and Fire Song, and for Rainbleed too when I get my butt in gear and draw her.
I wake up early in the morning, eager to start my quest. The sky is still dark when I trot out into the shadowy garden, a small bag slung over my back and a scarf wrapped around my neck. I left a quickly scribbled note on a small scrap of paper to my mother, explaining where and why I have gone. I feel so bad leaving her so suddenly, without saying a proper goodbye, but I know that if she would never let me leave if I waited for her to awake.
The night is bitterly cold, and the whole town is covered in a thick blanket of fog. Frost crunches beneath my hooves as I make my way through the streets of Ponyville. The town is eerily quiet, even for so early in the morning. It’s a little creepy, to be perfectly honest. I’m so used to seeing the streets filled with ponies of all shapes and sizes and all the colours of the rainbow, going about their busy daily lives that the now empty village seems like a ghost town. I shiver, and wished I’d packed a blanket in my little bag, which is instead filled with a torch and batteries, a few tattered copies of my favourite books, a map of Equestria and countless apples and small bundles of hay.
My hooves slip and slide around on the ice-coated paths, and I’m glad when I feel grass under them, even if it does mean I’m drawing closer to entering the Everfree Forest. I’m still shaking as I spot the closely packed trees looming ahead of me, their trunks twisted into sinister shapes. I gulp, my heart thumping against my chest like a frightened rabbit.
“You can do this, Song. You can do this,” I mutter. The more I repeat the phrase, the more ridiculous it sounds. I can’t do this. I just can’t.
No. I must. For Moon Dance’s sake. It’s too late to turn back. I swallow down my fear and take a step into the dark shadows. My legs are wobbling like jelly as I slowly move away from the light. My heart is racing, my breathing fast. I stop and close my eyes. Sounds echo all around me; howls and hoots and snarls. Images of timberwolves, dragons, griffins and a whole range of other creatures that stalk through my nightmares fill my mind.
Suddenly, a twig behind me snaps. The whole forest seems to fall silent, and the noise echoes like a gunshot. My breath catches in my throat and my heart stops as I turn around, and...
“Rainy!” I exclaim angrily as my friend steps out of the undergrowth, laughing almost hysterically. “You, you... you bitch!” I cry.
“Oh Celestia, Song, the look on your face!” she gaps, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“I really hate you,” I glare at the white Pegasus, who is trying, to no avail, to stop laughing. It’s quite a comical sight, and in any other situation I would have laughed. But this is not any ordinary situation.
“C’mon, Song, lighten up! I didn’ mean to scare you!” she says in between short bursts of giggling.
“Well you did! What the hay were you thinking? We’re in the bloody Everfree forest, of course I’m going to be scared if you sneak up on me like that,” I yell, my rage raising my voice. Rainbleed takes a step back, evidently shocked at my little rant.
“I’m sorry. Really, truly, honestly, sincerely sorry. Forgive me?” she apologies. I take a deep breath.
“Okay. But you dare do that again... Anyway, why did you follow me?” I sigh, quickly changing topics.
“You didn’ seriously think you could find Moon Dance on your own, did ya?” Rainbleed questions.
“Yes,” I say, “Maybe. No,” The other mare laughs.
“So, I reckoned you could do with a helping hoof. I mean, there are so many dangerous creatures in this forest, timberwolves, manticores and Celestia knows what else. And that’s just the Everfree; no pony can say what we could find beyond the forest...” Rainbleed continues to talk, but my attention is drifting. My friend can be incredibly boring at time, talking for hours on end without letting you get a word in edgeways about things no pony really gives a damn about.
I’ve calmed down from my previous panic, and my breathing has returned to normal, but I don’t think my heart rate will ever slow down. Rainbleed and I trot through the forest. She still hasn’t shut up, and it’s beginning to irritate me. Suddenly, I hear the sound of a large creature moving through the undergrowth. I skid to a halt as it stops, directly in front of me. It turns, ruby red eyes glowing. The creature emerges from the shadows, stepping into the moonlight that filters through a small gap in the trees, and a little gasp escapes me.
The thing that stands before me has features of a pony, a feline and a dragon. Its head is that of a horse, and a deer antler grows from the right side of its head and on the left, a dragon horn. Looking at just the head of this strange beast, one might believe it was a regular horse (of course, taking the horns out of the picture), but from the shoulders down, it’s body starts to get a lot crazier.
Its long body is covered in golden scales, dulled by dirt. Its tail is long and white, spotted with black, the tail of a snow leopard. Its right legs also appear to come from this feline, but the left limbs of it are equine. Wings grow from its shoulders. I have never seen such magnificent wings. Golden feathers, the same beautiful colour of its scales, flecked with red. Its wingspan must be enormous, and its wings seem very powerful. The claws of its snow leopard paws are incredibly sharp; a regular leopard would never have claws that large. They look as if they could tear me to shreds in seconds. Its eyes are filled with a crazy expression, and I get the feeling this creature is not quite right in the head, and is most definitely not a critter I would not want to be on the wrong side of.
“Does she ever shut up?” he asks in a voice that fits him perfectly, an icy cold voice that sends shivers down my spine. I shrug my shoulders, strangely at ease with this creature.
“I don’t know. She might eventually, but if talking was an Olympic sport, she’d be a gold medallist,” I mutter. The creature laughs.
“You got that right. Seems like she could talk forever,” he says, “The name’s Skra. You ponies call my kind a draconequus. I don’t call myself anything,”
“I’m Fire Song, and Little Miss Chatterbox over there is Rainbleed,” I say, flicking my tail at my friend, who seems to have realized that I am no longer by her side.
“Who are you talkin’ to – mother of Celestia, what the hay is that thing?” she gasps, stepping back in horror.
“’That thing’ has a name, you know,” Skra snaps.
“He’s a draconequus,” I say with a sigh, “and to be honest with you, he’s not that scary, so calm down, you chicken,”
“Look who’s talkin!” Rainy grumbles, “A draconequus? Like Discord?”
“Dis... who?” I say, my forehead creasing.
“Discord. That thing Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated about five years ago,” Rainbleed explains, but all she manages to achieve is confusing me further, “Twilight Sparkle. The Elements of Harmony. Seriously, have you never heard of it? Geez, Song, do you live under a rock or something?”
“Even I’ve heard of them, and I’ve never left the forest,” Skra says. Both are giving me looks that make me feel like a complete and utter idiot.
“Five years ago? That was when Moon disappeared. I was probably still mourning over her. And to be honest with you, I don’t really pay much attention to what goes on in Ponyville, not anymore,” I reply.
“Well that explains things. The Elements of Harmony. Where to begin... I take it you’ve heard of Celestia and Luna, right?” Rainbleed starts.
“Yes, I do have a brain, you know,” I snap.
“Well, you don’t make that exactly obvious, do ya? Anyway, Celestia and Luna did once and they used ‘em to defeat their enemies, Discord included. Eventually, ‘tia used ‘em on Luna and sent her to the Moon. Don’t ask me how, but she sorta... lost control of ‘em and then Twilight and her friends took over and defeated Nightmare Moon and... yeah,” Rainbleed says.
“That made no sense at all, but I think I get the picture. Anyway, it’s been very nice meeting you Skra, but we really must be going now. C’mon Rainy, we need to find Moon Dance,” I say. The two of us continue on our journey, but a beating of wings behind us tell me Skra is following us.
“Hang on a minute. Moon Dance, I know that name. She vanished shortly before Discord was defeated, right? Little purple filly?” I nod in response, “I saw it happen. Black unicorns. She screamed like a banshee, I’m amazed you didn’t wake up. They dragged her through the forest, towards the mountains. I can show you where I think they went, if you’d like,”
“Really?” I say, unable to believe my ears. “Then, lead the way, Skra!”
Author's Note
This was originally two updates, but I cut out a lot of rubbish in the forest and merged them together. This should be the last of the strong language, Song only swears when she's angry, which isn't often.
