Jeroin

Cobalt's assessment of the blue unicorn was complete the moment his voice dropped to a mere whisper. He smiled encouragingly and then patted his mane with his right hoof. The unicorn seemed to recoil from the contact. "How much do you get out? Sorry for pointing it out, but you don't seem to be the type. I myself prefer to stay in and read books."

Before Cobalt could say anything, the young filly from before came up. Her unicorn horn glowed brightly as the bucket by Cobalt's side was lifted in a pink aura. He blue eyes twinkled again as she looked up to Cobalt and said, "Thank you!~" before trotting off with a little bit a bouncy step. A small pouch of tree sap floated by rather ominously. The colt was staring at the ground, though with one eye trying to process what has happening. Cobalt huffed, and then finally said, "How did that happen?"

It was a mess. Cobalt could see he had come at the wrong time. Several broom handles lay on the floor as if they were the victims of some horrible war. Cleaning fluid spread like blood. Cobalt looked up from the carnage to see a young colt, shivering as a clerk pony stared him down. "You have the bits to get this out, right colt? I don't have time to call your parents." The clerk said as he grumbled through a small notebook. He was white with a blue mane, and a Cutie Mark of bits and a notepad. He looked up from the floating notebook as he realized the colt was about to burst into tears. Cobalt decided to improvise. He regained composure and walked in front of the clerk, and very un-enthusiastically said, "How many bits, sir?" The clerk could only see the upper half of Cobalt's body and thus did not have a hint of surprise in his features. Without hesitation, he said, "About sixty bits." The colt whimpered. Cobalt sighed as he pulled out the bits from his pouch around his neck. I am going to regret this so much, he thought as he pulled out around a hundred bits. He looked at the colt with a glare of anger, and quickly barked, "Well, what else do you need?" The blue colt's eyes widened as he took a step back. Cobalt wanted to groan, this colt was to bashful to even understand what was happening. He then noticed there was a little scratched up note hanging in his open saddle bag. Using the most precise magic he could muster, he picked up the note and looked at it. He then read off the list, adding the extra and said, "..add these to the total and that sums up what we want from you for today." Cobalt again used his bored tone, "And this adds up to...?" The clerk smiled, "About 107 bits, total." Cobalt handed the 110 bits to the clerk with his mouth, saying, "Keep the change." He then gave a look of uncontempt to the young colt again, and then nudged his head to signal for him to follow. They left the store. Cobalt turned to the shivering colt. He had a look of utter terror in his eyes.

The automaton whirred frantically as another bottle capped off. Smiling, Cobalt used the little Hippocamp magic he had to lift the bottle into the air and into the saddlebag of a cream-colored mare with light green eyes and red mane. She smiled happily as she said, "Thank you, young colt! I was going over to the river later to get water, but now I see I can just get it from you! Where do you usually set up shop?" Cobalt chuckled lightly, "Oh no, ma'am. I'm just a drifter here. I came to meet Sunshine Beam, but he's out of the coop, so to speak. I do have a den near the river here, but I'm afraid it's only temporary." "Oh. Well, that's just a shame. Nice ponies like you are always welcome of course. Have a nice stay, Mr.Cobalt!", and with that she trotted off. Cobalt beamed internally. No one had ever called him Mr.Cobalt. He liked the sound of it. Later, a young filly smiled as she held several bottles of water in her saddle bags. Her defiant, blue eyes twinkled as she stared at Cobalt. "So, what are you, anyways?" "Well, little filly, I'm a Hippocamp." "A Hippo-what? Is that like a hippo?" Cobalt smiled, "No, not quite. Hippocampi were born of sea magic. They are sorta like Pegasus in that they're born blessed with special powers." The filly tilted her head slightly, "I thought only unicorns had special powers." "It's not like that. Pegasi can walk on clouds and manufacture weather. Not to mention they can fly. Sort of like that, Hippocampi can breath underwater and have water-related magic, if weak." She smiled and then said in a rather lower tone, "Well, Mr.Hippocamp sir, could you help me out?" Cobalt was taken by surprise. "Depends on what you want." "You see that store over there - Bradie's Cleaning Utensils? Can you get me a bucket from there?" Cobalt took this with a large degree of surprise. What did a filly need a bucket for? "What do you need a bucket for?" The filly's eyes gleamed, "Momma say's I should go buy one. But I have plenty of other chores to do. Can you go get it while I go get some Tree Sap from the vendor over there?" She nudged her muzzle to a far off location across the street." Cobalt sighed. Something told him he was not going to like what was going to happen. "Alright, I'll be back in a second."

It was a rather strange day for Cobalt. It was about midafternoon and he was in Solstice Heights. The pegasus Sunshine Beam of Canterlot lived here, and he wanted to ask for his help on a specific mechanical problem for a contraption he was making. It was supposed to grind rocks into a fine sand. However, the stallion was nowhere to be seen. The neighbors said he was in Cloudsville visiting relatives. Though it only set Cobalt's plans back a few days, and he was in no hurry. The river water in Solstice Heights was fantastic. He found a little cranny in the rockbed that was perfect. His transportable water-purifier and his many travelling books were unpacked and the charms for guarding his makeshift house were in place. He though for Ottostrophe, his pet otter. He was in the care of a friend right now, no doubt moping about. * * * Cobalt was out in the marketplace, saddlebags filled with purified water and some empty space should he find a good book. His forelimbs felt good today. The marketplace wasn't anything like Ponyville, Canterlot, Hoofington or Manehatten. It had a quiet feel but was also very busy and strange. Ponies sold a lot of goods he had never seen before - no doubt the spoils of travelling the strange terrain. There was a sparkling sapphire the size of Cobalt's eyes. He longed to buy it, but he didn't have enough bits at the moment. He resolved to quickly get some water sold so he could purchase the fine treasure. The ponies here had already bought about 4 bottles of it, surely he could rack up enough bits in no time. He wore a automaton harness which had water and was purifying equipped bottles of water on full display. It also attached to his flippers and gave them better grip on the ground. Cobalt smiled confidently. it Nothing could go wrong today. Or so he hoped.

Removed I think this will require about...more then one bag of popcorn. I'll be waiting here.

It's done now thank you. I'm itching to go RP now...that is, if this gets approved.

Thank you for all of that, you made my day. I updated the pet with a little background story - okay, so it's not that little. The story is about his namesake and how Cobalt found him. I knew from the beginning that Cobalt was going to have rudimentary water-controlling powers, and it scared me that perhaps I had overstepped my boundaries with that one. Though the weak legs were already there, I outlined them and made sure that Cobalt had weaknesses and that the magic was only compensation. Not to mention that I couldn't imagine him being able to do his work without being able to at least manipulate the flow of water. Don't worry, he received a lot of flak for being a magical Hippocamp at school, if that eases anything.

Hmm, I don't remember writing down the Omnivorous part. That's strange. Let me edit that out right now. Oh, and about Otto? Hmm... Alright, now I'll write the whole story.

The app is now final and I await that I may be approved. May I also request feedback from you lovely people? Because that would be just lovely. Edits 1/15/12 - Changed Age, Pet, and other minor details. Pet is now significantly longer, but I feel like I really had no other option if I was going to elaborate on it. Name: Cobalt Currant (Cobalt is his first name, where Currant is the family hereditary title) Age: Stallion Species: Hippocamp Pelt Color: #2554C7,A shade of cobalt Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Black, worn rather shaggy and dyed red at the ends. Wears a light blue-green hairband to make a single ponytail on the mane. It looks unkempt to due constant fidgeting when bored. Eye Color: #52F3FF, a rather light tourquise Cutie Mark: Water flowing from a silver vase, sparkling Physique: Rather well-built, though the tail is the best developed. The fore-limbs are weak and not very strong. The tail of a dolphin and forelimbs of a pony. The tail has two small stubby flippers which do function. Origin: Gallopocous Island Roleplay Type: Equestria Occupation: Water purifier. Motivation: To keep the water clean for his cousins, the Pegasi, Unicorn and Earth Ponies, and find new ways to do it. Likes: Swimming, Talking with Land Ponies, Reading books on land, Sunbathing, Amethysts, turquoises, other lesser gems, Gold, Platinum, Conducting scientific experiments with water, Rather loud music, finding out solutions to problems and learning about things. Dislikes: Intrusive Ponies, Wet Weather on land, Ignorance, Slow Market seasons, Having to wait too long, Complex Riddles, Strong Violence, And Species-Teasing(Like calling a Hippocampus "Whale-Breath" or "Flounder-Foot"). Character Summary: Cobalt was born on the shore of the Gallopocous Islands magnificent beaches, to a loving mother and father. When young, there was a small emergency as the pony was born with rather weak forelimbs. He was taken to land so that unicorns could observe the problem, and found that he had a rather weak bone structure there. It was nothing serious, but he was advised to never do heavy weight-lifting or anything that could harm his forelegs. And for the most part, Cobalt never had reason to use them as he hated exercise and would often read books on science on land. Cobalt loved the land and all of the Land Ponies he met. They often vacationed on the Islands and there would always be interesting ponies for him to meet. His parents did not approve of his frequent visits to the land but they did not deny him the privilege. It was harmless and Cobalt got the best grades in his classes at the Atlantic Academy for Young Hippocampi. But he soon met a unicorn with a passion for magic, and that set him off. Cobalt would begin to visit the unicorn mare everyday. He fell in love with her as she tried to teach the hippocampus how to use magic. Hippocampus did not generally excel at magic, and most of them could not really manage much more then simple little tricks. Cobalt managed to learn hydrokenisis, albeit a rather novice one in comparison to the mare. She was ecstatic on learning of her pupil's magic ability and insisted he try to work even stronger spells, such as levitating large masses of water and even changing the temperature of it. Cobalt trotted out of the land in the rather awkward way a hippocampus trots, and stood there, trying to use the spell to freeze some of the waves. In doing so, he fell on his forelegs and broke both of them. The mare bound the injury and took Cobalt to a hospital, where he recovered. His parents forebode him from meeting with the unicorn again, and Cobalt accepted it, though sadly. Soon Cobalt graduated from school...without a Cutie Mark. Often he would be teased by being called a 'Blank Flank', though the same detractors would often ask for his homework as well. So he thought none of it. But now, in the real world, fellow ponies looked at his blank flank and shunned him. He tried for a job as a clerk and did not get it, as the manager said he could easily turn into something nasty, like a thief. Sad, he went up to the land after several months of depression and met there a Land Pony, a Pegasus filly, in need of a drink of water. He quickly purified a decent amount and levitated it in front of the filly, who drank the water eagerly. She had never seen a Hippocampus before, and she had a strange idea seeing Cobalt's talent. She asked if he could mess with a cloud. Cobalt, now quite older then when he regularly met that mare, hesitated but tried anyway. He managed to make it rain a small amount for about a minute. The filly then laughed at his attempt, though in good humor, and suggested he try to do something with water for the Land Ponies. Water was normally dirty in the numerous rivers and lakes of Equestria and he could be rich purifying them. After telling his parents of his plan, they set him up with some bits and a map of the world, with the river routes in a bright blue. He traveled to Manehatten, the place where he thought he could strike a fortune. Many of the Land Ponies there were rather arrogant and the bustling city life did not amuse him, nor did using magic to keep his pelt moist. He traveled to Hoofington, a place he actually likes quite a lot and made some lasting friends, but he place had enough clean water already. And so he tried his luck at Ponyville. He instantly found the place interesting and the rivers right next to it were accessible. He made his home near the Whitetail Wood by building a cave into the rockbed. He then made a drain, so he could easily drain his home of water in case he was meeting Land Ponies. He even managed to find some Hippocampi near the river in Cloudsdale. He began to purify water and got ponies to go the market and sell it to them. This was very profitable, as the water was free to him and he purified the water with his magic. However, the demand for his clean water increased over time. He could not make the market asking. So he began to devise machines to purify the water that would require less magic on his part. Simple machines with little needed input that could make pure water. After a few months of work, he managed to create a machine that used sedimentation for the water and needed very little magic. The satisfaction at creating the machine was so intense, he earned his Cutie Mark - A silver vase pouring clean, sparkling water. Now the Hippocampus sunbathes in joy and reads all the books he ever dreamed of reading while operating his business. All the while he thinks of new ways to purify water and make new business ventures. He often journeys into town and makes and visits friends. All is right for Cobalt. Water-based Power: Water Telekinesis A rather weak telekinetic grab on anything water based. Can lift several gallons of water above land, and anything water based can usually be picked up if light enough. Cannot pick up Ponies. Can manipulate rainy clouds to bring a drizzle out, but cannot maintain for very long. Pet : A young otter named "Ottostrophe" or "Otto". Was hit buy a boat when a young cub and damaged his right arm. Using hydrokenisis, Cobalt healed the arm and earned the affection of the otter cub. Has a smoke black pelt and a scar over the right shoulder. Red eyes. A rather playful nature but is jealous of anypony who commands Cobalt's full attention. One day while on the riverbed of Manehatten, as Cobalt was busy finding some food and contemplating if he should continue staying at the town. Suddenly, a loud screech later, Cobalt saw a boat propelled by magic zoom across the river. He had seen these boats many a time and did not heed them much, though they're loud sound did irritate him rather badly. Today however, the end of the boats had strange dorsal fins at the end, which were extremely sharp. That did not attract his attention. What he saw on the tip of the strange fin made his stomach retch. There was a fine trail of blood flowing from the fin. Cobalt hated blood, and he knew that this blood was that of a living creatures. He rushed opposite the flow of the boat and finally happened across a baby otter, with a large, pulsing scar over its right shoulder blade. The young otter was fainted on the floor and loosing blood quickly. Using his hydrokenisis, he quickly picked up the otter and sealed off the vent with ice. He then traveled to his makeshift underwater cave and began a long, laborious task made of removing excess water from the otter, replenishing the body with any vitamins and minerals he could find in the water around him, and then healing the body. After healing the otter, Cobalt collapsed from exhaustion. When he woke, the young otter was awake and curiously testing its right forelimb. There was a ropy scar on its shoulder. and it heeded it warily. When it noticed Cobalt was awake, it huffed lightly and began to leave the den. Frightened that the otter would hurt itself by going out, Cobalt locked the door by making the entrance freeze over. The otter refused to talk and licked it's wound as it moped about for the rest of the day. Cobalt managed to inspect that the shoulder blade was grazed and the otter was badly injured. He made a brace and silently commended the otter's will. After a few days, Cobalt realized the head-strong otter was a nuisance. It teared at his waterproof books and messed with anything that was breakable. It managed to make a few well-sized cracks in the ice wall. It never acted as if it was hurt. The last straw was when it broke a giant gem stone Cobalt was going to sell for bits. Cobalt wanted many things. He wanted to get rid of the otter. He also wanted it to get better. Selfishly, he decided that the headstrong cub would get better eventually and decided to let it leave. If the otter felt any joy, it did not show it. It merely swam away with dignity, and a slight jumpy nerve in the shoulder. Cobalt followed it to see where it would go. Perhaps he could find the young otter's mother and tell it what happened. The otter did not go anywhere, however. It just swam about in random places. Then the least expected thing happened. A boat screeched by, with sharp dorsal fins. Cobalt had been swimming a bit too near the surface, and got rented with a rather deep and long slash along his backside to tail. He screamed in terror. His vision a crimson red, he saw the otter, with a sense of purpose in its eyes, flung itself to the top of the boat. The boat suddenly veered off course and hit the shore with a loud and defining THUNK. Cobalt, smelling the metallic tang of blood, his own blood, and could only begin to wonder what the otter was planning on doing. Ignoring his injury, he also swam to the surface. There, he saw the otter growling at a group of scared Unicorns, each with a fancy purple best and medallion. A blue unicorn with a white mane saw the hippocamp and shouted, "Help! This crazy...thing has crashed our ship and now wants out bodies for food! It's a savage beast I tell you! Look at it's eyes!" The otter growled again. Cobalt, with noticeable difficulty to everyone, stood up on his hooves and yelled at the otter, who did not give hint that it was listening. The otter only snapped and began to lurch forward, as the unicorns all winced in terror. Then, he yelled, "Is this really right?" The otter stopped in it's path. Cobalt's legs wobbled but he continued, "Do you think hurting these ponies will make up for your shoulder? They probably didn't even know they hurt you - they may not even be the same ponies." Cobalt began to see red flecks in his eyes. Normally his legs were in better condition, but with his back cut open and his exhaustion from healing the otter a while back was hurting him. "You don't have to pretend your tough.Your plenty tough. I saw that. You aren't telling me anything by hurting them." The otter cub looked back at Cobalt, and he noticed that it had tears in it's eyes. It looked down and then began to retreat carefully. However, the blue unicorn stood up from it's fetal position and said, "Well, I for one will not stand for this. That beast is a monster, and I think I should rid Ponydom of it." The unicorn's horn glowed with a slight golden shade, and the otter flew up a few feet in the air. "This monster could kill any pony who boats by. It would be a catastrophe!" The otter suddenly broke the show of power and cried out in terror itself. "Oh no you don't," Cobalt said, as he summoned the water in the otter's body and began to pull at him. "Oh, and don't get me started on you, you hybrid nonsense. It would do the world a great deal of good if I got rid of you as well. You're good for nothing. You harvest no food, do no work, and bring no order. You are useless. One death would not end the world." Cobalt, with a flash of anger, suddenly pulled the otter right by his side. Working on the same energy, he began to rise the river water. He felt the tides on his body as the wave grew in size.As the save eventually shadowed the unicorns, Cobalt said plainly, "He's my catastrophe, you stuck-up jerk." And the river water swept the unicorns away. Ottostrophe, as the otter was soon named, developed a sudden adoration for Cobalt in the days that came. It became apparent that the otter had no family. Upon adopting the otter, Cobalt decided Manehatten was not for him. As soon as his wound was healed, he packed his things and left the cave, Ottostrophe dutifully swimming behind.