NextGen: Moondancer

Moondancer
"You'll regret this."
Parents: Trixie Lulamoon, Duke Blueblood Maud Pie (adopted)
Species: Unicorn/Male
Build: Slender
Special talent: ????
Occupation: Sorcerer
Nickname(s): Moony, Marshmallow (by Maud)


Personality/Background:
    Moondancer's origin is not entirely known, but he was born when Maud Pie took in a homeless and pregnant Trixie Lulamoon. The tiny, giggling pudgy foal became the light of Trixie's life, and caring for him together sparked love between herself and Maud. They eventually married, and Maud adopted little Moony. For a time, they were happy enough, with Moondancer doted on by both his mothers, and him loving them both in turn (especially Mama Maudie). 

    Trixie's love for her son lead her to proudly boast to him that they were both direct descendants to Starswirl the Bearded himself, and that Moondancer was certainly destined for greatness. As Moondancer grows up, this desire to be great and powerful, to be someone important, begins to blend with a number of self-esteem issues, and Moondancer is left feeling bitter and disillusioned with the world. Although he diligently studies and practices magic, he cannot surpass the abilities of say, Twilight Sparkle, or her daughter Pandora. Moondancer grew up believing many wonderful fantasies about his future, and now that the reality of his abilities and place in the world are becoming clear to him, it's taking a disastrous toll on his mental well-being. He cannot be content with being a worthless little nopony. He will be great and powerful, by whatever means necessary.  

    Moondancer is ambitious, cunning, obsessive, and tends to relentlessly fixate on goals until they're achieved. His ego is big but fragile, and hinges on his ability to be the very best at everything, so Moondancer is prone to panic attacks and nervous breakdowns. His disappointment in himself is masked as anger, and he often lashes out at others to redirect his self-loathing. As it stands, Moondancer is a fairly powerful sorcerer, but a very unhappy little pony.

   
Relationships:
    Moondancer adored his mothers for most of his life. He was probably the only pony to love listening to Maud's lectures on rock formations, and he thought Trixie's magic tricks were the absolute coolest thing ever (at least until he met Princess Twilight Sparkle and saw what "true" magic was). Moony was spoiled and often told what a smart, talented colt he was, which possibly led to his self-centered personality. Growing up, whenever Moony asked about his father, Trixie would tell him that he was a brave, kind stallion who died fighting an ursa major. She thought this was much kinder than telling Moondancer the awful reality-that his father wanted nothing to do with him or Trixie. Still, Moondancer's trust in Trixie is broken when he later finds out the truth.

    Moondancer is estranged from his father Blueblood, and resents him greatly. Upon learning that his father wasn't actually dead, Moondancer runs away to visit him. It goes poorly, and Moondancer is crushed by the rejection. He returns home and lashes out at Trixie, leaving her devastated, and leaves home. His feelings for Trixie are complicated and tainted with anger and hurt, but he does still miss Maud, quite badly.

    As a colt, Moony was taken in as a student under Princess Twilight Sparkle, and quite enjoyed the magic lessons. He quickly befriended Twilight's silly daughter, Pandora. Unfortunately, Moondancer grows quietly jealous of Pan's magical abilities. Powerful magic comes naturally to her, while he must work hard to obtain it. Moondancer is indignant when Pan gives up her royal title and calls her out on what he sees as a selfish, stupid act, and their friendship comes to an angry end. As it stands, they maintain an unfriendly rivalry. Pan does miss him and quietly wishes for the old Moony she knew, while Moondancer has a somewhat unhealthy fixation with her (rooted in complex, annoying feelings), and perhaps subconsciously wants to be friends again too. For now, they'll settle for giant magic duels with each other in the streets.

    Moondancer is technically cousins with PB and Jam Sandwich, twin children of Pinkie Pie. He has been trying for some time to recruit them as minions in his quest to be more powerful. Jam is somewhat receptive to the idea (because of the potential for trouble-making), while PB is hesitant, because Moony is "kind of a meanie-pants".

Moondancer is neutral to his cousin Cupcake, although as a colt he did get jealous whenever his Mama Maudie showered her favorite niece with attention.
    
    
Special:

-Because of his appearance, Moondancer is often mistaken for a mare and hit on by stallions. He finds it very annoying, and once tried to grow out a mighty beard like Starswirl to stop the confusion, but all he managed to grow was a bit of peach fuzz, dangit

-Moondancer's magic is similar to Trixie's, in that it naturally leans toward prestidigitation and performance. Moondancer is quite good at stage magic tricks and can effortlessly pull rabbits out of hats, create magical fireworks, juggle, etc, but "true" magic, such as shooting giant blasts of magic energy, didn't come naturally to him and required immense study and practice to learn. To his annoyance, ponies seem far more impressed by him doing than card trick than explaining the mechanics of a magical levitation energy matrix.

-Moondancer's special talent is not actually sorcery, and he shamefully wears a cloak to conceal his less-than-great-and-powerful cutie mark. He would probably be happier if he did what his cutie mark was telling him.

-Maud nicknamed him "Marshmallow" because he used to chew on his pudgy hooves as a tiny foal. She would pretend to nom on his little hooves too to make him giggle, then have to assure a grinning Pinkie Pie that no, she was not at all getting attached.

-Moondancer has a soft spot for children and loves watching their look of wonder whenever he does a particularly amazing magic trick.

-As a colt, Moony used to draw pictures of what he imagined his dad to be-brave, strong, kind, heroic, and of course powerful, just like Starswirl.

-Maud gifted Moony with a strange present once-an odd, red-tipped, curved item she'd found while on a geology expedition out near the Crystal empire. She wasn't sure what it was, only that it wasn't a rock. It appeared to be some sort of...horn? Hmm. Moondancer keeps it near him as a good luck charm, and doesn't know why he's been feeling so drawn to the odd thing so much these days...

~~~
woof. sorry for all the text, moonbutt is probably the most complicated character in my verse bluuurgh

Moony's story in pretty much sequential order: