Trombone2525

Steel was somewhat disappointed when Silver took her hooves off of his lap, but decided not to say anything. Then Scribbles had come to show Silver his sketch book, sitting between her and Steel. He asked for some ice cream, and as Silver made a joke about eating it all, he worked the dessert table from across the room. He smiled, thinking about how it was Scribbles who had taught him how to do long range levitation. That little colt had been in his life for quite some time... (Possible Scribbles/Steel backstory coming up, maybe )

Moonstone sat on the edge of the Everfree Forest. He was hiding up in a tree, his grey coat rough and matted, his darker grey mane dirty. He watched the ponies on the edge of Ponyville, curious. He had lived in the Everfree all his life, and so had had to learn how to survive. Being a unicorn in this situation, he had to learn magic fast, and learn it well. This gave him magical abilities beyond most adult unicorns, despite him being only a young adolescent. He had lived alone, deep in the forest, far from any other ponies. As far as he knew, he was the only one of his kind. He had been alone for as long as he can remember, and had been in the forest since Damara knows when. Damara was a god, somepony that Moonstone had come up with when he was just a foal, trying to make sense of the world. Since then, he had learned, and he knew better now than to believe in spirits or gods, but Damara always stayed with him anyway. Not that he believed she controlled anything, or was even real. She was just a sort of quasi-omnipotent imaginary friend. Until recently, when a shortage of game in his section of the woods forced him to move and explore, he had thought the forest was the world, and he was it's lone inhabitant. But here he was, sitting in a tree at the edge of a forest he had thought infinite, staring at other creatures like him, though in different colours. They were talking. He was the only creature in the forest capable of speech. Maybe he could talk to one of them? No, he squelched that thought. Curiosity had gotten him in trouble before, and he was extremely wary of new places, new creatures. Besides, these creatures werent like him. They had these strange marks on their flanks, and some of them were missing their horns. There were a couple who even had wings, like birds. They couldnt be like him. But still, they intrigued him...

Applejack ran up and caught Pitch. "Applebloom, my sister, wears the same cover when we go out of town sometimes. It's okay if you are, its nothing to be ashamed of." She said to him, smiling.

"Because he's a blank flank." Applejack said, stepping forward. She wasn't trying to sound mean, but she disapproved of lying in any capacity. Especially about something as trivial as this. Or at least it seemed trivial to her. She lived with Applebloom, so she was used to blank flanks. She herself had been one for a long time. Sure, it was weird for somepony to not get their cutiemark until their adulthood, but it wasnt unheard of.

Steel sat listening to the mares that had come over to him, one of them currently telling him a story about how her cat had ran away, and how they had found her later on the roof of Canterlot Castle. It was an interesting story, but Steel kept glancing away to look at Silver, who had rested her hind legs on his lap.

Steel hadn't notice that a few other mares had stayed, either not having a first block, or simply skipping it in order to stay with him. No doubt, now they were wishing they had left, since their favorite host was diverting his attention to another mare. Steel turned to the three other mares. "Come, my dearest apologies for my ignorance. I was just making sure our newest guest was welcome. Please, forgive me." He said, bowing to the mares. He motioned for them to join him and Silver, which they did.

Steel chuckled. Silver looked so cute with the fancy spoon sticking out of her mouth. He went and again sat next to her.

"If you are requesting a preview, Im afraid I cant do that. I can, however, do this." He said as he reached into a pouch on his trombone scabbard, pulling out two tickets to that nights show, and laying them on the table.

"Ah. Yes, there are some of us ponies who still enjoy the older style's of music." He held out his hoof to her. "I'm Forte. Forte Fermata, and I'm a trombonist for the Canterlot Brass Band." He told her, smiling.

"Huh?" Steel asked, looking at Silver. "Oh, nothing." He said, blushing slightly. "Just didnt want you to feel uncomfortable." He added before walking over to the treat table and gathering some ice cream in a bowl, then levatating it over to Silver.

Applejack sat back as Flashbomb helped the mare, who ended up being a stallion. Applejack wasnt one to judge, but she would have never guessed that. She noticed the cloth covering his flank. Something was familiar about it... Of course! Why didnt she remember before!? It looked just like the one Applebloom used whenever they went out of town. Applejack stepped forward when Pitch began talking about a video game cutie mark, about to call out his bluff... Forte continued trotting happily through the city, stopping at a cafe. As he ate, he overheard somepony talking about an :'up and coming brass band'. He looked over and saw a mare and a filly, so he decided to give them a sneak peak, so to say. "Good day!" He said as he walked up to the pair. "I apologize for evesdropping, but I couldnt help but notice you were talking about going to a brass band. Would that happen to be the Canterlot Brass Band you're refering to?"

Steel sat aside, quietly, with Scribbles, watching everypony crowd around Silver. He noticed her seeming discomfort. He wanted to move to protect her, but checked himself.

Applejack looked on as the pony tried to walk. "Oh, no you dont. You cant walk far like that." She ran up to the pony, supporting her as she tried to walk.

Applejack, about to answer Flashbomb, heard a cry behind them, and turned to see a mare that had fallen. "Oh my." She said, walking over to the fallen pony. "Are you alright?" (I know pitch is a stallion, Im just keeping with the description, having AJ mistake him for a mare)

Applejack sighed contentedly, leaning against Flashbomb. She noticed the two ponies they saw against the tree earlier, farther down the path. "Hey, its those ponies from before."

Steel walked over to Silver and Scribbles, looking over Scribbles shoulder at Silver's art. "Wow..." Was all he said, quietly.

"It was great! Not nearly as good as Granny Smith's cooking, but still good." She smiled at him, still happy to have him back. She looked out towards the woods that the two other ponies had ran off towards. She felt like a walk in the woods. "Shall we take a walk?" She asked, getting up and offering Flash her hoof.

Steel returned Scribble's hug, moving to catch him as he almost fell. He let him down when he ran to pick up Silver's sketch pad. He smiled at the colt he had somehow ended up protecting. It was odd to think that Scribbles was the oldest out of all of them...

Applejack smiled as he kissed her, blushing a little. She enjoyed being outside with him. She enjoyed being outside regardless, but especially with him.

Steel smiled at the new pony after she walked up to him. He glanced at Silver quickly, and after deciding that she was content for now, turned his attention to Licorice. "I'm Strong Steel. It's a pleasure." He said, smiling at her warmly. Steel didnt have as many tricks as Alba, or as many stories as Soul, but what he lacked in draws, he made up for in subtle ways. His smile had a certain... Down to earth element, and he always had an air of confidence and saftey, often making mares feel protected around him. And surely, he would protect any mare's he came across that needed help, be it with a wise word, as a mediator, or to make an aggressive stallion back off. He had even put a few stallions in the hospital, but after hearing what had happened, the school always let Steel off the hook.

"Well, that pony said that it was the Canterlot Brass Band, so I'm guessing it's a band made up of brass instruments. Shame there wont be a fiddle though." Applejack laughed as she dug into her food.

Steel sat back, simultaniously relieved and dissappointed. He was relieved to be able to sit back and listen, thus maintaining his strong silent demenor. He was dissappointed to not have Silver to himself any more, though. He eyed the other two stallions. Timid seemed like a normal shy-type, but Steel figured he would relax soon enough. Soul was a wild card. He was the host clubs bad colt, satisfying the rebelious customers, or those good mares who were attracted to what they were not used to. Being as he was, Steel had not liked Soul when he had first joined the host club. Having been here longer, Steel was untrusting of the black unicorns new ways. Over time, though, and after more than a few fights, they had become at ease with each other, though they bickered from time to time, as well as the occasional playful jab at the other ponies opposite nature.

"Well thats nice he found somepony. Its a shame him and Rarity didnt work out, though." She said, remembering when Rarity told her that they had broken up. (I dont know if thats been addressed? What happened with him and Rarity after hearts and hooves day?)

(gah, my phone is stupid! I apologise for all the double posts)