CherryRie

Vonderba Brian! Well, I've added the final tag and removed that italics from the begining of her character summery. She's all set and ready to go ^^,

Thankyou so much Bramble ^_^ Sorry for the bounciness. I wanted to try and imply that, while the revelation she experienced changed her life, it didn't mean that it changed who she fundamentally was. This is something Snowflake herself is only just coming to realise as she advances through her teens. When she's older and wiser, no doubt she'll find that peaceful state comes far more easily, but for the time being; Yay hormones! Do you think I should tone down some of the sciency stuff to compensate?

Well, I'd like to do a short rp before throwing Snowflake straight into the main Flight Camp thread. So I'll launch a one or two quick RP's in difrent areas of equestria with her haging up posters advertising the flight camp. Hopefuly this should draw some attention before you start the main one. What do you think? I'll bop a link into my siggy at the very least, thats another good way of drumming up some players ^_^

Snowflake Name: Snowflake Species: Pegasus Sex: Female Age: Filly, verging on Marehood Eye Colour: Sapphire Coat Colour: White Roleplay Type: Equestria Rp Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Glaucous (#6082B6), an almost grey blue. Both are kept straight and sensible, though she has lately been introduced to this amazing place called a ‘salon’. As a result her mane and tail styles keep changing based on what her Peers tell her is ‘in’ this week. Most recently she had the tips bleached in an attempt to be more adventurous… the look doesn’t suit her. Physique: Short and stocky, countered by slightly larger than usual wings, due to early development. This is an inherited family trait from her father. A rampant sweet tooth during foalhood has left her somewhat heavier than most pegasi of her age. Not that she’s over weight or anything, but podgier then she’d like to be. “... Celestia, I’m fat....” Cutie Mark: Three light blue feathers, arranged in a circle tip to quill. Origin/Residence: Cloudsdale Occupation: Student at Cloudsdale Collage, part time volunteer at flight school Motivation: Though her aim in life is a career in Atmospheric sciences (this alone says a lot about her) the freedom of the open air is her true unsung passion. Back in reality, along with exam pressures, part time job seeking and desperation to please her parents, Snow is also going through something of an identity crisis. She wants to shed her nerdy reputation as a metrological know-it-all and be one of the popular fillies, and takes great lengths to emulate any personality she perceives as ‘cool’. So yeah, about as complicated as any teen’s life. Likes: Weather studies (dur). Happy foals. High altitude flying. Dislikes: Being perceived as ‘nerdy’. Has trouble interacting with ponies her own age. Being overweight (even slightly "Be right back, going on a diet") Character Summary: Certain schools of infant psychology have suggested that a foal’s developmental path can be influenced through the environment it is exposed too. As the famous head doctor, Waler Whitherson said; “Give me a pony, a unicorn and a Pegasus, and I’ll give you the farmer, the baker and the candlestick maker, regardless of species or cutie mark.” While it is true that Mr’ Waler himself went on to disregard his life of education in favour of performance ballet, his statement still stands the test of time. If he were still practicing psychology, it is likely that Snowflake would have been used as a prime example in one of his many lively debates. Born and raised in Cloudsdale, both of the filly’s parents were heavily involved in the weather industry and related sciences. Mrs Snow Drop started out as a weather mare for the small town around the Nimbus lakes, later climbing the herd hierarchy to become the coordinator for the Nimbusguite highlands. Meanwhile her father, Mr Summer Breese, started out as a grad student of Cloudsdale university, later becoming a meteorologist, specialising in designing weather for agriculture. As a result, the young Snowflake was brought up in an environment of sciences and weather books. Much to her parents’ delight, by schooling age she was beginning to show a genuine interest in the mechanics of weather production and a talent for understanding the processes involved. Counterintuitive to this was the foals gradual disenfranchisement with the sky and flying in general. While her school peers saw bouncy fluffy cloud fields, Snowy saw super-compressed moisture suspended on a geo-stable thermal cell. She didn’t see the point in racing through the sky like a mad thing; all it achieved was messing up the atmospheric swells and making the participant sweaty. At school Snowflake was seen as the class know-it-all, a post which, in accordance with some universal law of the classroom, was disliked by all up until they needed help with their homework. Despite having friends who all loved flying, they simply couldn’t convince the young pony that the sky was anything more than a work space. The world was, in some odd way, completely unremarkable to the growing Pegasus. Then came the summer that would change her way of thinking forever. The first summer of Flight Camp. Early development in wings and excellent flying skills were running traits in her father’s side of the family, so there were certain expectations following close behind. But disinterest in aeronautical exploits and a rampant sweet tooth had left her more then a little chubby. So; nonathletic? Check. Overweight? Check. Nerdy, a definite check! Over all a perfect recipe for foalhood drama. Suffice to say, she might have well have been wearing a ‘kick me’ sign. Exasperated at the belittling and bewildered at the exhaustive training regime, Snowflake began to realise that she actually missed flying in general. Camp had turned a liberating act into a chore and focus of most negative points in her life. After a particularly disastrous day, the filly decided that she needed to escape. While the rest of the flight group gathered around the instructor, Snowflake lifted her over sized wings, felt the breeze between her primaries and tilted them just enough to lift her steadily from the cloud base. Unbeknown to her she had been shedding pounds throughout the unforgiving training. By the time the adult pegasi had noticed the filly’s absence, she was already several hundred feet above, circling slowly as she rode a predictable updraft from the sky town. Snowflake herself had phased out most of her accent, barely needing to concentrate on the powerful equations that turned the curving of her feathers into gradual uplift through the cloudless air. As she rose past the last of the cirrus layer, heedless of the tutor’s vain attempts to reach her extraordinary altitude, the question that bugged her so much came back through the roaring air. What was it that made the sky so wonderful to her friends- neigh, every Pegasus? It was all just maths, complicated but nothing more then numbers and symbols on a chalk board. Then it happened. The texture air suddenly shifted, becoming utterly still, thin and devoid of the familiar currents. Unwittingly she had reached the zenith between layers of atmosphere. Above her, mighty winds raced across the sky like a rip tide. Forced to level out, Snowflake looked around and took in her surroundings for the first time since leaving the training base . For the eternity of a single breath, she saw the wonderful truth of the world. Under a beautiful sunset, the lands of equestrian stretch outwards in a vast infinite plane. Swirling across its grand expanse, cloud systems danced around one another. Within every system, dozens of clouds, both fluffy cumulus and foreboding grey thunderheads repeated the pattern until the perpetual waltz exceeded the most elegant of ballet’s. By the time her hooves touched down on the clouds of flight camp, Luna’s moon was already shining high above. There was a colossal fuss, but the foal wandered through it in a blissful daze, giving frustratingly few answers to the frantic training staff. When the next day’s training began Snowflake sailed through at a leisurely pace, much to the frustration of the over baring speedster coach. Despite the stallion's pushing, she flew lazily through the slalom with barely any effort, simply content to enjoy the renewed sensation of flight. Later that night, after completing the obstacle course at a steady glide, a young colt joined her at dinner and asked her how come she was acting so strangely. As week a flyer as she had been, the colt had barely managed to get off the ground and genuinely wondered how it was that she wasn't struggeling so much anymore. “I saw something in the Zenith.” she replied happily “I used to think the world must be amazing to others because the didn’t know how it worked. But the truth is, it’s amazing because it works at all.” “Flying is not a physical act where you flap about to get from place to place.” She had confided as the cutie mark appeared on her flank “It is as much a state of mind. Trust your wings and feel the air around them. If you cannot control them very well, then let them become part of the wind. The breeze is born knowing how to fly, and so were you.” That night the foal followed Snowflake on a midnight glide, flying under his own power for the first time in his life. Since then her life has progressed like many foals and fillies before. She finished school and moved on to Cloudsdale collage at her father’s behest, studying Aerology. Even with her fresh outlook on life, things were never going to be perfect. Hay, they wouldn’t be very interesting if they were, would it? Following her friends to Cloudsdale collage, her nerdy studious nature began to drive a deeper gulf between herself and the now popular click. It wasn't until the autumn prom that she came to realise just how boring she was becoming, after her date to the prom abandoned her in the middle of a random lecture on Cirrus cloud formation. This revelation hit her almost as hard as the last; even Snowflake didn’t like Snowflake. And thus the rocky road to marehood began with a knock on her old friend’s door and an impromptu visit to the salon. Developing insecurities about her appearance, she now constantly tries to reinvent herself, imitating behaviours she sees in her friends and changing her look ever few weeks. At present she has adopted something the rest of the click calls ‘the Indy look’. Suffice to say it doesn't suit her, though it would take Celestia herself saying so to convince the young filly otherwise. Regular as clock work Snow still returns to flight camp every year, originally as a pupil, then as a volunteer instructor. Having finally passed the basic instructor course, this year could be her first time as a paid member of staff, if she plays her cards right. She utterly loves working with young foals and is often seen as the big sister in the camp to the first year campers. Personality wise, Snowflake is normally somewhat zen around those she feels comfortable with, but is easily flustered around ponies of her own age. This will likely fade with time as she comes to accept herself rather then worrying about fitting in. Perks: Meditative advice. Zen flight. Basic leadership. Big sister. Quirks: Socialy awkward; Peers. Identity crisis. Euphoria through Zenith flying.

I have a suggestion too. Given that if this receives enough attention you might be able to end up with multiple threads running from the central theme, it would be worth getting as many ponies participating as possible. Perhaps it would be an idea to have some short setup rps running first? I was thinking I could have Snowflake hanging posters in the major cities and towns, advertising the upcoming flight camp. They don't need to be particularly active, but it'll raze awareness.

Okay, this is the excuse I've been looking for. I'll need to get her authed first, but fancy a volunteer instructor?

I am intrigued, do elaborate. Is there a specific story line or plot for characters to discover, or is it more of a spontaneous free for all?

I think we should run this in the Free for All forum. No aplications needed and we can go loonytoon if we want to ^^,

Rubbing a fetlock against his sore throat, Rich Tea fearfully met the stranger’s unforgiving gaze. Wrestling for control over his panicking senses, the slight stallion found himself unable to brake eye contact with the livid behemoth at whose mercy he was thrown. “I just-” he began, interrupted by rasping choughs as his bruised airway protested “- had to be sure she was alright. I saw you carry her here last night, after you saved her. I – I was scared that the fall...” For a moment the shaking stallion tried to stand, but the faiding surge of adrenalin had left his exhausted body unwilling cooperate. “Please. You can do what you want to me, just please tell me she’s okay.” "She is NOT." Virtue spoke, his inflection seeming to chill the air between them. The room seemed to darken, the shadows around him lengthening as Virtue clawed at Rich Tea's psyche with icy talons. "This is not a trial. You are unredeemably guilty. You cannot sway my judgement with pleas for mercy so I suggest you choose your next words carefully." “I didn’t mean- It wasn’t meant to -” Rich bleated plaintively, floundering under the absurdity of his own excuses. Searching desperately for some manner of escape, the floor bound Pegasus found himself looking towards the door at the far side of the room, undoubtedly leading into the sweet’s meagre bedroom. At once his panicked words faded, leaving a void in the chilly air where the excuses had been. She could be in there, right now, listening to this whole exchange. Deep within his rotten soul, the thoughts that were holding up his will finally broke. Lifting himself to sitting, the defeated Colt stared past his tormentor’s left ear, eyes never leaving the door. In barely a whisper he let slip the truth and damned the consequence. “It was the only way I could protect her.” Silence met his words in both weight and measure, Virtue unchanging demeanour drawing the guilt from him. “Things weren’t meant to get so out of control. When I heard that Cherry was in Filidelphia, I found out through one of her father’s contacts, somepony who suggested he was hiring Talon mercinaries to ‘retreive’ her. Gryphons! They’d have killed her if she resisted, and he knew as much! I went to try and find out what he knew, see if the rumours were true, but the guards caught me snooping. They were right in the meeting with the Gryphon, so I got offered an ultimatum. Either I brought her back, or he would send Talons after her.” Rich Tea shuddered at the memory of the grizzled half bird’s furious response to this change of plans. “If I could bring her home, she wouldn’t be harmed. He said I’d have stay with her, her warden and... partner. Azure’s sick idea of poetic justice; Cherry would hate me forever, but neither of us would be allowed to leave alive.” “Buxer and Bolt were sent to watch me, make sure I did things right by Azure. Origionally I was just meant to meet up with her, slip something into her drink and get her home while she was out. But when I finally got here... when we met in the bar, I realised how much I’d missed her. A drink ended up as a day out, then an evening date and then... Cherry, never said good bye when she left Manehatten. I lost myself in the moment, I-I forgot about everything when I was with her, nothing mattered because I was so happy just to be with her again. And then those two caught up with us at the hotel, and so did everything else.” Hanging his head, the errant Pegasus took a steadying breath as his downcast gaze examined the dreadfully cheap carpet. “I bucked up, totally bucked the whole darn thing up. First I get myself sucked into betraying her trust, then I go make it worse by reminding her about what we had. I could have just told her to run, but with those two hoofers following me Azure would have known in minuets. The mercinarys would have caught up and used me to get to her. If I’d just stuck to the plan we could have been home by now, safe. Cherry would still hate me, she’d have every right to. But at least she’d be safe. I could have explained myself to her. She might see I hadn’t much of a choice, maybe one day she could have even forgiven me. But now?” Looking back to the bedroom door, Tea’s signed solemnly. There was nothing else he could do here. “Celestia banish me.” He muttered, returning his pleading eyes to Virtues emotionless gaze “Listen, when Buxer ran outside last night he left the sending-scroll that’d tell her father things had gone wrong. With that gone it’s a full day’s flight to Manehatten. I know I’m not in any position to be asking favours from you, but please take Cherry away from here while there’s time. Help her hide. Get her somewhere safe were Azure can never find her. Please.”

Outside, beyond the gloomy interior of Virtue’s motel dorm of solitude, Fillidelphia was enjoying a rare sunny day. For the first time in what felt like months the sky was devoid of water laden clouds, replaced by a vast ocean of the most spectacular blue. Wisps of high cirrus formations gave the impression of waves barring across the cityscape, dotted with the occasional colourful Pegasi revelling in the excellent flying conditions. Across the city ponies pranced about their day’s work or relaxed in the warming light. Foals played games in the gravel lined streets, dancing among thin rivulets of evaporating steam from the previous nights storm. And for the second time in as many minuets, a pastry coloured hoof paused barely a breath from the unblemished wood of the motel door. Reluctantly it withdrew as its owner turned to face the city beyond with an irritated flutter of his dishevelled wings. Pacing the decking that ran the length of the motel rooms, the stallion wrestled once more with the weight of his conscience. He looked young, barely out of his colt years, with a thin complexion and a figure that suggested he hadn’t seen a day of hard labour in his life. That being said, this didn’t look like any high society tof. Far from superficial factors, such as his submissive posture or the tendency to mutter to himself, what self respecting business pony would be seen in such a scruffy state? His silky feathers were unpreened, a pale bleach mane hung ruffled and damp from the night’s storm. Dirt around his hooves and his puffy blood shot eyes lent ever greater evidence to his sleepless night on the streets. Mumbling under his breath as though vocalising some heated inner debate, he finally arrived back at the door to the for bodeing room. In all likelihood he would regret doing this, at least for a little while. But that would be nothing to living with the guilt of not knowing. He’d stick to his cover story, just make sure, and then be gone before she knew he was even there. With a steadying breath, Rich Tea confidently lifted a hoof to the half clasp door... and froze one again. Clenching his teeth, the colt silently cussed his own weakness as his head fell forward to bump against the woodwork. Why couldn’t he do this? Sounds from within the dorm broke the colt’s melancholy. Indubitably the soft head butt had been a little louder then he thought. Rich Tea had just enough time to right his posture before the door was pulled aside, revealing a more detailed version of the stranger whom had tackled both bodyguards the night before. There was a brief moment of confusion across the older Pegasus’ features, as though a series of dots were rapidly joining up in his mind and was just about to take a step back to look at the unpleasant picture before him. At first it looked as though Tea would launch into some rehearsed story, perhaps try and pass himself off as a member of motel staff coming to check on the late night lodgers. But the elegant lie caught in his rapidly drying throat. Trying again, the Pegasus was rewarded with a strained croak before the crude façade crumbled like so much dust. Through the wreckage, those powerful judging eyes bore into him, blowing away the dust and leaving bare thoughts exposed. “Is she... is she alright?”

Nodding vaguely, Cherry seemed to slip from her distress into an emotionless void. “They’re my father’s Colts.” She said at last, still not looking at the Pegasus across the table from her “My old bodyguards. Now they have come to collect me, to take me back to him. And he helped them.” For a moment Cherry remained silent, only the slow ticking of the ageing wooden clock cutting seconds away from an undefined stretch time. “it’s all over” Whispered the colour drained Pegasus, “just like that, over, gone…” With barely a glance at Virtue, the filly stood from the table and started back towards the bedroom “I-I need some space. Just to think.” Gently the door closed behind her, shutting with barely more than a dull click. Alone once more the fog that had descended over Cherry’s thoughts solidified into a thick miasma of loathing. Part of her felt like breaking something, maybe plow her forehooves into a wall over and over until the plaster was as dust and the running pain drew out her inner agony. But the majority hated herself for being so naïve, so easily lured into the hooves of some pony she knew was under her father’s heal. The wonderful, romantic evening they had shared beneath Luna’s gaze melted in a boiling pot of peculating stomach acid. Had he ever loved her at all? She felt sick, filthy, used. Worse still, now this stranger had been dragged into her mess of a life. Buxer and Bolt were easy enough to handle, they weren’t the quickest pigs in the pen, but there were far worse beings on her father’s payroll and she could bet they would be on her tail. But that was just an excuse, a solid motivation to eye the open window, the inviting sky laying just beyond a softly billowing floral curtain. The mind of a pony is that of a herding animal, to stay close to one another for the safety of numbers. Yet now, every bone in her body, every sinew of her diminutive being wanted to be as far away from this place as phisicaly possible. Her wings stretched. The curtain, blown breifly aside, hung lazily outside the empty room. Two miles up and half a mile outside the city limits, Cherry paused, no longer able to see past the burred colours of a tear dashed world. Her wings were turning to beating lances of pain from the sudden demands that had been layed upon them. Yet even as she alighted upon a thin cirrus cloud they remained unfurled, begging for her to take to the air once more to out run the burning in her chest. Looking back to the soulless mass that was the city of shattered dreams, the filly checked her surroundings and screamed her tortured anguish into the empty sky.

It is astounding how often atempts to hide in plain sight have the oposite effect. The fillies despiratation to remain unknoticed had Haze fretting and even Snails was looking at her worriedly. “Oh no, please don’t be mytherin’ you two.” Peanut winced, accent slipping as another brick of guilt upset her wheelbarrow of woes “An' s’ne tha’, Hazy. Honest! Av’ missed you sum‘at fierce! Really, I'm okay. Tis’ just -- just, ya know... Stuff...” Words failing her, the young Paint foal was rescued from certain oblivion by another late arrival. Practically floating into her seat, the bubbly unicorn filly took up station beside Hazy and launched into a string of excitable comments, barely containing her excitement within her athletic frame. “Bodacious? That’s, umm... nice?” She replied, trailing off once she saw Haze’s attention drawn away from the uncomfortable conversation. Distraction firmly occupying the earth pony, Peanut shrank back and tried to look innocuous, hoping that the line of question had been entirely abandoned. Though her attention was directed to the front of the class once more, the foal found herself glancing at their new row-mate. She was an odd little addition. Though no medicine mare, Peabee had come to recognise the symptoms of a ‘Jabbering Fan-spasm’ from one of her cousins, an Earth pony who reliably fainted at the sight of DJ Pon-3. Without doubt, Haze’s friend contained more vivacious enthusiasm for the wonderbolts then the rest of the class combined. The way she seemed to vibrate almost imperceptibly with ‘happy’ was almost mesmerizing.

YAY GIN!

“I’m sure he’ll be happy with whatever you get him... Ah.” Grim apathy toward the fading scene of chaos painted Peanut’s features. One of the Wonder Bolts had attempted a dramatic entrance only to run headlong into a panic stricken filly, who was being accosted by a wayward amphibian. Cheerilee seemed tried to salvage the situation through distraction, but was interrupted by a dull thump as yet another filly ran into -- yes that was Soarin’. She hadn’t recognized the first one, but that was defiantly Soarin’ bringing up the rear. Legume farm held the annual Nut Family Bake-Off, an event that the stallion had attended consistently since he discovered the wonders of Grandpa Butternut’s pie. And then there was the mare, her flaming mane one of the few Peanut could recognise from the ground, often leading the graceful formations across the Nimberguist Highland. Throughout their haphazard entrance, the foal remained quiet, lacking both the astute attention and the giddy excitement that seemed to infect the class. At least they were here now. They’d give a speech of some kind, answer a lot of dumb questions, probably show off some fancy flying and then flit away into the afternoon sky to the cheers of happy little ponies who didn’t know the first thing about them. Peabee had a limited vocabulary when it came to describing things she disliked, thus “hate” wasn’t a noun that came easily. But as sure as Celestia was white, the little Pegasus hated this whole affair. She hated being stuck here. She hated being a burden. She hated that special arrangements were being made around her, like she mattered. She even hated that everypony around her seemed so much happier than herself, which for her was quite unusual indeed. But most of all, she hated being so far away from home. Since becoming stranded, nopony had come to find her. Now they had stopped answering her daily letters, the reply of silence fueling the building doubt and paranoia. Had she had been abandoned? Because she was different? Not even her brother, Cashew, had wings. That meant something beyond the simple explanation of being ‘special’ that Mommy had proffered on many an occasion. All the whispering ponies did in town, the name calling at school, and the shouting at night that followed any incident. To Peanut, there was no such thing as inexplicable. Something about her had been driving them apart, and now they didn't want her anymore. Running off and getting lost had been the last straw. It didn't matter that Mr Rockefilly had been so nice to her, or that Miss Birch had taken her in for the week, or even that she had met Haze by chance and rekindled an old friendship. Right now, she felt so alone, and it was all her fault. Mumbling a word of thanks to her seat buddy, the filly tried a nibble of the sugary carrot stick, finding its fountain of wonderful taste soured slightly by her low mood.

Hay ya Gin! You’ve got a really nice app shaping up here! Short but sweet, containing plenty of information and ticking most boxes first time. Do you think you could expand a little more on his personality? We know that he is kind and puts others before himself, ever the little pony scout, but is there anything more to him then this? Though he’s still a colt, from his description I’m getting that ‘gentle giant’ vibe, something which I feel you could pull off quite effectively. Assuming he grew up in Appaloosa, would you say that the frontier life has been a magre factor in his development? I’m also intrigued about his time at the train yard. Was it his first job outside of the family? How long has he been working as a puller? Sorry about all these questions, but I am genuinely interested to see how this app could progress. From the look of things it might work just as it is, but there’s so much potential here that could be uncovered with but a few tweaks and elaborations. Anywho, I need sleep now, I'm realy looking forward to seeing what you do with this ^_^

Looking nifty so far Ancre Give me a poke if you need a hand with anything or feel stranded for ideas ^_^