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// Prologue 
// Story: More Than Just The Music 
// by Renegade3299 
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My name is Shadow Chord, and I am a young pegasus stallion living in Equestria. I am the frontpony for Midnight Manes, a rock band that has become well known throughout the land.


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When I was a foal, I lived in a different land, one known as Terretia, where my life wasn’t very great. Other ponies constantly made fun of me for being “different”. Everypony (other than myself) had bright and deeply colored coats and manes. I was made fun of since I was born with a gray coat, green eyes and a black mane. For some reason, nopony else had a mane or coat similar to mine. For that, I was constantly subjected to insults, laughter, sometimes even physical attacks. It didn't help that the sky here was almost always a dark gray, with the air stale, and a dull feeling surrounded everything. In fact, I can't recall the last time I'd seen the sun. The fact that it hardly ever rained led me to believe that it was, in fact, the greed, envy and other vices that made the land the way it was, not the elements.

Unfortunately, my family was never around to help me in my times of hardship either. I never knew my father, and my mother and brother were always out partying, and constantly using drugs. I despised the thought of drug use, not wanting to harm myself in any way. That was not any kind of escape for me.

I soon found my escape, though. When I found a music player that somepony had discarded (and strangely, it was working perfectly), I discovered that the one thing I had that was anywhere near an escape for me was when I could walk down the shorelines alone, listening to my music. I’d listen to basically any type of song, as long as it had a good tune, but I was really fond of rock music. When I had my music player on, it was like I was in a different world, with no cares about being ridiculed, being abandoned by parents who thought that using drugs was more important than family, living in a world where greedy and power-hungry ponies only cared about themselves; none of these bothered me when I had my music player.

One day while walking home from the beaches, I came across an electric guitar that was being thrown out of a store by a stallion, along with some other items. I asked him why he was throwing it out, and he informed me that he was closing his store and retiring. He said that I could have the guitar if I wished, since he had no use for it. He also gave me a small amplifier and a beginner’s method book to playing guitar. This touched my soul in a manner of speaking, since this was the first true gift that had been given to me.

Soon, I found that not only was listening music a great escape for me, but I found the same care-free pleasure in making music with my guitar, as well as writing and singing my own songs. I didn‘t think my voice was that great, but I didn‘t care, since my mom and brother were never around to hear me from my room. With more and more practice every day, I eventually had the guitar mastered. Not long thereafter, I received my cutie mark- a guitar pick surrounded by a flame.

From that day on, music became my passion- my life. I spent nearly every day thereafter learning as much as I could about the guitar and music in general. By the time I was out of school, I longed for the day that I could make music my life, but every other pony told me otherwise. Like with other bands, my teachers mistook my love for music as a desire for fame and glory. That wasn’t my true goal. I simply wanted to be successful doing what I loved to do. Unfortunately, I was told to look for a “suiting career.” It became sadly apparent to me that there was no hope for a life of music in Terretia.

One day, a couple of years down the line, an incident changed my life in a way I'd have never imagined. My mom and brother were arrested and sent to jail when they were discovered to have had a large amount of drugs in their possession. Their sentence would be for many years to come, and the house would now be empty, except for me. 

I took this as a sign. I was now on my own, and though I had been able to look after myself for quite some time now, I wasn’t going to spend one more minute of my life in Terretia. My life would go absolutely nowhere if I remained here. On that same day, as I stood out in my front lawn, I decided that I was getting as far away from this land as possible.

All throughout my foalhood up to the present day, I’d always heard talk of a different land, one that was a long, long distance from where I lived. A land called Equestria. A land that did not have the pain, suffering, wars, and discomfort of Terretia. A land where your dreams can easily become a reality, with the simple concept of drive and dedication. And most importantly, a land where everypony has one of the most vital things in life- friendship. A land where you were looked at as an individual and loved for who you are. Sadly, the only talk of this land was just from mentioning it- Equestria was unimaginably far from Terretia, and apparently, the only way to get there was to keep traveling and traveling until you found yourself there- at least, that's what everypony here said. Most ponies in this land didn't care for anything that Equestria had to offer, anyway. They only cared about themselves, and wished only to see how powerful they could become here in Terretia.

I, for one, could not stand things such as greed and pride, and I made a decision that my new home was going to be Equestria. I went back to my house and packed what few things I had- the money I had saved up from working at a wood mill, a job that paid well, but was definitely not my type of job. Unfortunately, finding a job in Terretia could prove to be very difficult, and everypony had to take whatever job was offered to them first in order to try and make a living.

Living with two drug abusers, I didn't have a lot of possessions to myself- the only other things I had were the two things I held dearer than even the money I had on me- my music player, along with my guitar and amplifier. I put these in the one suitcase I had and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, I gathered my things, headed to the train station and bought a one-way ticket to Equestria. It would take a long time to reach this place- I would have to travel by land, then by sea, and then by land once more before I reached Equestria. For me, I didn't care one bit. I'd travel as long as I needed to in order to escape this land of selfishness, prejudice, hatred and despair.

Within an hour of waiting, the train arrived. I handed the ticket to the colt that was standing at the door. After looking around, I found the cabin I was assigned to. It was a small room- with a desk, two chairs & a bed, and I had a long trip ahead of me, but the room was more than satisfactory. All that mattered to me was that it was my way out of this horrid land. 

The whistle sounded and I felt the train begin to move. Furthermore, I felt a great sense of relief. I was leaving my troubled life behind me and starting over. It was almost like I was being reborn. Slumping down onto the bed, I sighed with contentment and got out my music player. As the the train continued moving, I could literally feel all of my stresses and troubles literally melting away as I left Terretia for good.


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After a week and a half of being on the train, I boarded a ship, where I sailed for a total of thirty-nine days. Once more, I embarked on another week-long train ride before I finally arrived in Equestria, coming to a stop in the city of Ponyville. Stepping out of the train, I could immediately tell the difference between this land and Terretia. The air was clean, not polluted; the sun was shining brightly, but without the harshness; and one could actually feel the love and friendship flowing through the land. Taking a few moments to stand still and soak in the air, the warmth, the happiness. I knew that I was truly at home here.

Within two weeks, I came across three ponies while playing my guitar in the park one day, who were musicians like me. There was Virtuoso, a pegasus with a white coat and blue eyes; Lightning Shredder, a unicorn with a green coat and orange eyes; and Striker, an Earth Pony with a yellow coat and violet eyes. And like myself, they all had jet-black manes and a love for rock music.

Seeing as I was a musician and new to Equestria, they offered to take me into their house, seeing as I didn't have a permanent place of residence yet. I tried to refuse the kind offer, feeling like I would have been a freeloader, but the four wouldn't hear of it. They simply could not turn down helping a fellow musician in need. So, they took me to their house, where I learned that they had actually been trying to form a rock band for quite some time. They had the drummer (Striker), the bass player (Virtuoso) and the lead guitar player (Lightning Shredder), but they needed a singer and a second guitar player. 

They had been impressed with my guitar playing skills, and asked if I’d like to join as their guitarist. I told them that I'd be overjoyed to, since I wanted to make music my life. Though I wasn't too fond of my voice, I enjoyed singing. I informed my new bandmates that since I had gotten used to playing guitar and singing at the same time, I could be the vocalist as well. Eager to finally get the band under way, they gladly agreed. We talked long into the night, discussing everything from the kind of sound we wanted, to the band’s name. 

I actually ended up naming the band unintentionally. While we were writing down a list of possible names, I wrote down Midnight Manes. This was once used to insult me when I lived in Terretia- other kids liked to call me a "midnight-maned freak". I figured that if by chance it was selected, a name once used to put me down could benefit me. The name was chosen, and we began practicing that same evening.


….That was three years ago.



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The four of us walked out of the studio, having finished an interview with the Ponyville Express about the events in the upcoming weeks.

In the past two years, our passion for music has brought us to new heights, where we never ever had expected to go. We went from being a small underground band, getting more and more fans with every song we released. Our goal as a band was to just be successful in our music, and we somehow have become a popular name in these lands. Though we came from Ponyville, we now spent the majority of our days in Manehattan nowadays, doing interviews and media appearances at least twice a week. We even had a second house here in Manehattan.

We've released two albums, which have both reached high on the music charts. We’re also known for our rebel-looking type of style, wearing black pleather vests, hoofbands around our forelegs, as well as chains and studs as accessories.  We have merchandise for our band, and have become known throughout Equestria. 

I’ve basically got it all. The money, the power, even…dare I say… the fame? I'm financially secure, being able to have anything I want. We have a basically uncountable number of fans that continues to grow by the day, and I am no longer made fun of. Those days are over; now ponies want to come up and chat whenever they see me. You think that anypony in my shoes would be content... but for some odd reason, there are times when I don't really feel content. I know that my three bandmates are content. I don't mean to sound ungrateful- they are not only my bandmates, they're my friends- and that's something I never really had before. And if it weren't for them, I would never have come this far.

I will say that I don't necessarily feel this way all the time. Whenever I get onstage, I feel great, because I'm doing what I love. I feel great when I'm meeting fans, when I'm interacting with the media. I have tackled everything that was ever against me, and I have actually made something of myself, and for that I am so grateful.

So far, we've only been at playing nightclubs and theaters, for no more than 1,000 fans at a time. That's changing, because in a few weeks, we're scheduled to be a headlining performance at an open-air festival in our hometown of Ponyville. We're all super-stoked for that... but, there's something else.

Sometimes when I’m alone, I get this empty feeling inside, and I'm not sure what it could be. I know it's not the usual case of a musician missing his family, since I never really had one where I once lived. But the feeling has gotten pretty bad at times. I'll admit that I've shed tears on more than one occasion when I was feeling extremely alone.  Is it depression and I don't know it? Could it be loneliness? There have been times when I can almost hear the laughter and insults from all the ponies who hated me back in Terretia- that's when the feeling is at its worst. I usually forget about it whenever I'm onstage, though. Knowing that we're making a life from music helps to take the edge off of it.

But it always manages to return at some point, and I always end up wondering- what is it that I’m looking for? Just what it is that is causing this emptiness? More importantly, what can fill this void? 

I’m not sure at the moment- but there’s a small voice in my mind that tells me to just keep going- that soon, I am going to find a fill for that emptiness, and it will bring me true happiness. I just hope the voice is right….