Moon Ray Vaughoof

**Moon Ray Vaughoof** (his entry here) is an ancient Alicorn god who is a member of the Trimortidae, and is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential blues musicians of the Second Age.

## Appearance

Pre-Ascension, Moon Ray was an Earth Pony stallion with slight buck-teeth, a brown pelt, and a short, purple mane and tail. He was always seen wearing a black, wide-brimmed gaucho hat, sometimes with a plumed feather adorning it. In terms of attire, he either wore a purple poncho or a purple suit. His Cutie Mark is an electric guitar with water splashing behind it.

After becoming a god of Death, Moon Ray started appearing as members of various mortal sapient races to make transitions into the afterlife easier, but his favorite form is his mortal, pre-Ascendant self. Due to coming from the Ponyland state of Lonestar, he speaks with a southern accent.

Post-Ascension, Moon Ray became an Alicorn with a mane and tail composed of purple, perpetually-looping water. His wings have a magical gradient on them, going from brown to purple. His true form as an Alicorn contains traits from all mortal Pony tribes, including the aquatic tail and gills of a Sea Pony, the chest gem of a Musical Pony, and, after Star Flower returned from space to Equus in the Fourth Age, the butterfly wings of a Flutter Pony. He usually doesn't manifest these traits because, in his words, "I look like a freak show."

While tall in his true form due to his divine "age", Moon Ray is shorter than Healing Song, which applied even in their mortal days despite Moon Ray being biologically older than Healing Song. Moon Ray is also a "prodigy deity", which accelerated his physical and magical growths to abnormal rates.

Despite being an Alicorn, Moon Ray prefers to wear divine versions of his hat, poncho, and/or suit instead of divine regalia/barding typically worn by Alicorns. Many older and/or traditionalist deities have tried making him dress like a "proper" deity, but he never listens, and has gotten into arguments with them over this on numerous occasions.

## Relationships

### Sunny Mane Vaughoof

In stark contrast to his close relationships with his mother and older brother, Moon Ray's relationship with his father is extremely strained.

### Sunny Field Vaughoof

Even as a colt, Moon Ray was very close to Sunny Field. He deeply admired his older brother, and when Sunny Field got into music, Moon Ray tried emulating him by trying different instruments such as the drums and the saxophone. He ultimately settled on the guitar instead; according to him, his first "professional" guitars were three electric guitars that were hand-me-downs from Sunny Field, one of which Moon Ray would trade for another guitar.

Sunny Field leaving home at age 16 caused Moon Ray to feel incredibly miserable at home, as it meant dealing with their abusive father alone. Despite this, his love and admiration for his older brother never really wavered, and he always credited Sunny Field as the reason why he became a musician. As a sign of familial respect, Moon Ray would often call Sunny Field "Big Brother" or "Big Brother Fields", something that continued long after he Ascended to godhood and became far more ancient than his brother. This is because in Moon Ray's mind, Sunny Field was born first, so he'll always be the older brother.

Because of Sunny Mane's abusive behavior, Moon Ray seemed to rely on Sunny Field for protection and emotional support growing up. During a concert, after hallucinating a shouting fan as his father during his drunken rages, Moon Ray was so terrified that he locked himself in a stadium bathroom and refused to come out, only doing so after Double Trouble called in Sunny Fields from another city. According to Sunny Field, Moon Ray had mentally regressed to a "poor, scared colt" who clung to his older brother and cried after being coaxed out.

Moon Ray's love and admiration for his brother seem to be mutual, as Sunny Field enjoyed a close relationship with his younger brother. After Moon Ray died suddenly from a helicopter crash caused by bad weather, Sunny Field was devastated, especially after he and Sunshine Cream were called by the morgue to identify Moon Ray's mangled body. He never really got over Moon Ray's death and remained in mourning for the rest of his life, though he was overjoyed when his brother personally showed up to usher him into the appropriate Heaven-Realm.

### Blue Suede Heartstrings

Due to feeling uncomfortable with being called "The King of Blues", Moon Ray gained the sympathies of Blue Suede Heartstrings, who himself hated being called "The King of Music" and has been unsuccessfully trying to give his title away to those he thought were more worthy of it. Moon Ray appreciated Blue for taking in Healing Song as his student, as he felt he wouldn't be a good mentor himself due to going through drug/alcohol abuse at the time.

## Powers and Abilities

### Tribal/Racial Magics

As an Alicorn, Moon Ray has the combined magics of all mortal Pony tribes, including Musical Ponies and Sea Ponies.

### Death Domain

As a god of Death, Moon Ray can easily travel between mortal and divine realms, summon magical copies of weapons from thin air, appear in multiple places at once, free spirits that are bound to the mortal plane by cutting their "ties" to it, and summon spirits of the dead. By playing music, he can control spirits as well, including those whose spirits are not their own, which makes him a nightmare for necromancers. He doesn't really use it due to how easy for him to abuse such power.

In addition, Moon Ray can shapeshift himself into mortal forms in order to blend in with his surroundings, and possesses clairvoyant abilities that allow him to sense a person's impending death. He is among those of the Trimortidae who possess true precognitive sight like Bossa Nova.

### Temperance Domain

As a god of Temperance, Moon Ray is a powerful empath who can project an aura of temperance that ebbs negative feelings like anger, lust, greed, and envy, making him a calming and relaxing presence to be around. He also has telepathy, which he uses to encourage virtuous mindsets and discourage sinful thoughts. Moon Ray possesses enhanced precognitive abilities that give him visions of a person's future depending on their actions, allowing him to warn people of the consequences of pursuing vices and letting their emotions run unrestrained. This also applies to himself - whenever he considers doing something bad, he'll get a vision of a bad future involving himself, and a good future if he does something good.

### Water Domain

As a god of Water, Moon Ray can walk/run on water, create barriers and blades out of water, and turn himself into an entity made of pure water. He can teleport through bodies of water, though his mobility regarding this is limited by how much water is present. He can also automatically generate water, which proves useful in providing drinkable water for both his allies and himself.

Because his Water domain is symbolically tied to his past addictions, Moon Ray possesses a unique ability in water healing, which involves some degree of purification - in his case, he can eliminate poisons from the afflicted as well as most forms of pollution. At his most powerful, he can do things like creating tidal waves and floods as a form of crowd control, but only when absolutely necessary. While capable of manipulating water on his own, he is skilled in manipulating it through music, allowing for more powerful and intricate water-based constructs.

### Forgiveness Domain

As a god of Forgiveness, Moon Ray shares his domain with Hopeful Moon and Princess Lampyridae/Fire Wing, though he is far more powerful and experienced. Moon Ray can cure people of spells fueled by hatred, bitterness, and resentment, and nullify both magically-binding contracts and punishments wrongfully inflicted by Justice/Judgement deities. This makes him ideal for dealing with corrupt and/or puristic judges who abuse their positions by condemning innocent people.

In addition, Moon Ray can heal wounds of physical, emotional, and mental nature, and he can weaken or even kill malicious magical/psychic entities like Tulpas, especially those whose existences revolve around encouraging hatred and other negative concepts. His psychic powers allow him to see what is preventing someone from reaching forgiveness and help them through their problems, so they can forgive those who wronged them.

However, there's a catch: Moon Ray's domain of Forgiveness only works if he's truly and genuinely forgiving. If he forgives someone superficially, his domain won't work. Contracts made by older and more powerful deities, such as Ispita, a "Titan"-ranked goddess, will not be affected.

### Other Skills

As a whole, Moon Ray is a "prodigy deity", making him one of the more powerful members of the Trimortidae.

Moon Ray is a powerful psychic who specializes in precognitive sight. Even before he died, he has received symbolic dreams of the future, such as drowning in water (indulging too much in vice or emotions), flying towards the Heavens (his newfound emotional and mental freedom), or being buried in a cemetery in front of thousands of mourners (his impending death). His precognitive sight is enhanced by his Death and Temperance domains to where his visions are more powerful than Bossa Nova's. Training under the Three Deaths allowed him to hone his psychic potential, manifesting other abilities like psionic telekinesis, telepathy, and empathy. Moon Ray believes that his precognitive sight, and by extension his psychic powers, emerged to warn him of the consequences of his alcoholism and drug abuse.

### Weapons/Equipment

Moon Ray has a canteen that he stores drinkable water in. Being a god of Water means he can refill it whenever he wants.

## Trivia

* Moon Ray Vaughoof is based on Stevie Ray Vaughan.