Earth Pony Midnight Brand

[RarityDash]

Because I don't think I can ever have enough ponies, here's my fourth application:

Name: Midnight Brand (shortens to Midnight. Wind Chaser called her simply Night.)

Post colour: CCFF33

Sex: female

Age: middle-aged Mare (40-45 equivalent)

Species: Earth pony

Pelt colour: very dark green

Mane/Tail/Markings colour & Style: bright yellow. Mane is somewhat long and kind of wavy and combed over her left eye. Tail is long and full.

Eye colour: reddish brown

Cutie Mark: A long sword at an angle, with a thick black shadow surrounding it.

Physique: Very fit and a little taller than average. Looks many years younger than she is.

Origin: Born in Solstice heights. Now resides in an isolated home within the Roughrider Ridge.

Roleplay Type: Mane RP

Occupation: former soldier of the Royal Equestrian Army. Now a single mother living as a recluse in the Roughrider ridge, taking odd jobs for money when she needs it.

Motivation: Be there to provide for and protect her daughter, Hopesong.

Likes: Hopesong, snow, clouds, plants, tranquility

Dislikes: hurting others, being away from her daughter, monsters, sweets.

Character Summary: Ever since she was a foal, Midnight had been different from most ponies. She would never smile. Her expression remained cold and hate filled. Her parents, simple ponyfolk in charge of a small plot of land at the edge of Solstice Heights hadn't a clue what to do with their somber and sometimes cruel daughter. Things hardly got better as the young Midnight aged.

It was one day when she was a filly that her life started to take focus. A roving manticore, not fully mature, but full of rage, wandered onto the family land and started wreaking havoc. Midnight, with just her strength, anger and a sharpened kitchen knife, frightened the beast into a hasty retreat. In the process, her cutie mark was earned: a sword surrounded by a dark shadow. Midnight's parents took this as a sign of where their daughter was headed and had Midnight volunteer for the Royal Equestrian Army when she was of the right age. Midnight passed through training with incredible ease and was soon a full fledged soldier.

So began a distinguished career of service, keeping Equestria safe from those who would mean it harm. Her toughness and ferocity was hardly matched, as was her prowess in battle, and she did a good job of following orders to the letter. The higher ups noticed, and soon she was on the way up.

After years of serving, now an adult mare, Midnight had achieved the rank of Lieutenant and was leading her own platoon of ponies. Among the soldiers under her command was a pegasus scout named Wind Chaser, a good natured stallion from Ponyville a few years Midnight's junior who claimed to fall in love with the hardened battle mare at first sight and tried to win her over. Midnight thought him an undisciplined simpleton and would reprimand him constantly and often quite cruelly, thinking his behavior completely inappropriate. Chaser had boundless persistence though, as well as a knack for romantic words... and a certain loneliness had long been growing inside Midnight, as much as she would deny it. She gave in to her persistent subordinate for one night and one night only.

Only just days later Midnight's platoon was deployed to subdue a ferocious hydra which was terroizing a small pony settlement. The beast was fully grown and more cunning than an average hydra, but Midnight's crew were tough and ready for action. Soon both they and the hydra were weakened. A couple of her ponies were wounded pretty badly, but the hydra looked nearly ready to fall. Wind Chaser suggested they pull back and regroup with another platoon just to be safe. Midnight wouldn't hear of it. She charged the beast herself, intent to bring it down with all her might. She found what would be a critical blow, but it wasn't quite enough. The hydra snapped at her and there wasn't any time to get away.

Wind Chaser threw himself between Midnight and several sets of sharp hungry jaws. The rest of her platoon soon had the hydra defeated, but it was too late to save the pegasus. Midnight blamed herself for the loss, which had her shaken and completely devastated. Though Chaser was ultimately the only casualty of the day, she decided she was unfit to serve Equestria any longer. She retired from service immediately. Very soon after she realized she was with child.

Midnight, wanting to distance herself from hermilitary life and live in solitude, settled in a desolate corner of the Roughrider Ridge where she gave birth to a pegasus foal she named Hopesong. She came to devote her life to tending to this foal who she had limitless love for. All the anger and sadism of her youth was gone completely as she watched her young foal play.

Midnight, as raising Hopesong, now a filly, takes money, will on occasion go into town to find work doing whatever she can. Her only real skills are in fighting, and though doing so now pains her, she will take on violent work if it pays well. She'll do anything to ensure that her daughter has the brightest, most peaceful future possible.

Midnight as she is now, is somber and taciturn, yet kind. She only really gets worked up over her daughter, of whom se has limitless pride. She enjoys tranquil things and being amongst nature. She is ashamed of the old her, and will often wear clothing to conceal the shadowed sword on her flank. She is extremely quiet about her past when talking to Hopesong, as she is terrified of her kind and gentle daughter hating her for it.

Though she is a changed pony, some traits have remained in Midnight. She is courageous and headstrong. She has the strategic mind of a trained soldier and a great deal of persistence. What she fears above all else is losing anything else important to her; anyone foolish enough to endanger the things she loves, and especially Hopesong, will be promptly greeted with a return of the old Midnight Brand.

Midnight misses a lot when it comes to her daughter. She means entirely well and feels its her duty to work hard to provide for Hopesong, but she's never had a normal family life. She didn't really have a strong connection or respect for her parents, and is really kind of misguided raising a filly by herself, having no real guide to go by. In Midnight's head, the proper way to best provide for her daughter is to get her material things, and though she does really value the time spent with the filly above all else, she's willing to sacrifice it to get such things. Hopesong has had to learn to be a fairly mature filly, able to provide for herself when her mother is away for long stretches of time. She is a kind of lonely filly without many pony friends (she might have a pet or two though), and while she does lack a formal education, her mother did teach her to read and often brings her books which she learns from.

Hopesong's profile

Art of Midnight with her daughter Hopesong, courtesy of the incredibly talented Buxy.

And here's a solo pic from the awesome NemesisPon3:

[Dio]

For the most part, I really like Midnight. I'm really interested in seeing how other people will play military ponies, especially how they deal with issues like females in the military. Midnight's history for herself is well thought-out and very thorough. I would make sure to add her rank, though. It would make it easier for other military ponies to interact with her and give you an idea of whether you should play her as an enlisted soldier or an officer. Since she was platoon leader, I'm going to go out on a limb and say lieutenant (officer), though a rank of staff sergeant or sergeant first class (enlisted) would also be appropriate.

However, one thing still bothers me. From your description, Midnight is obviously very concerned with the well-being of her child. Also from the description, she lives in a very secluded area. How does she raise her child if she needs to leave for unsteady work to earn the bits to buy supplies? Also, in order for Hopesong to truly thrive, she'll need an education and friends, neither of which can be acquired in isolation with a mom who has to work extra hard to make ends meet. As Hopesong is a major part of Midnight's story, some additional exposition will be needed.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

[RarityDash]

She was in the military for a long time as I see it, so she definitely was an officer of some variety. I hadn't really thought about the specifics of rank, but I suppose Lieutenant seems about right for her. I'll add that in.

As for the rest, I really do plan to do a full application for Hopesong in the future as I do plan to RP them separately, and I was planning to go more into detail on Hopesong's side of things there. But the real gist of it is that Midnight misses a lot when it comes to her daughter. She means entirely well and feels its her duty to work hard to provide for Hopesong, but she's never had a normal family life. She didn't really have a strong connection or respect for her parents, and is really kind of misguided raising a filly by herself, having no real guide to go by. In Midnight's head, the proper way to best provide for her daughter is to get her material things, and though she does really value the time spent with the filly above all else, she's willing to sacrifice it to get such things. Hopesong has had to learn to be a fairly mature filly, able to provide for herself when her mother is away for long stretches of time. She is a kind of lonely filly without many pony friends (she might have a pet or two though), and while she does lack a formal education, her mother did teach her to read and often brings her books which she learns from.

Actually, might as well just add that paragraph I just wrote to her profile...

[Dio]

One final note. Reading up on the responsibilities and role of officers in your country's (if you're not in the US) military will be helpful in roleplaying, especially when dealing with other military ponies. We seem to have had a lot of them pop up lately. Also, you may want to look at the Royal Equestrian Army thread. The information there isn't show canon per se, but it may be helpful for creating story ideas or establishing relationships with other military ponies.

As for the application, it looks good to me.

[Skye]