GuidingLight

Starlight squinted, taking mental notes as GearShift spoke. After taking note of the names, she nodded to herself, and said to Gearshift in response to her question, "Maybe a while. Maybe not long. I think I'll just go with the wind. It'll take me a while to get there, anyway. But thanks. Those two should be more than enough to get me acclimated." Then as Boxy spoke, Starlight gave her a nervous smile. "No, I'm set for now. And don't worry about being overly talkative. Some people come here just to let out words they've been holding in. But others come for something to listen to. I would guess, anyway... anyway!" She straightened herself out, stretching her legs and bowing her head with a subdued smile. "I'm going to get going. It's a long way to Canterlot, even without my detours. Thanks for everything. I'll keep you in mind, Boxy, when I get to Canterlot." And with that, taking nothing with her, Guiding Starlight steadily made her way for the exit, and beyond.

Starlight watched Boxy, wide-eyed and paralyzed with what was likely shock. She thought that she had seen Boxy at her most excited. She acknowledged to herself that she was wrong, her mouth hanging just a bit as her brain churned to comprehend the outburst. She had never thought much of city life. Granted, she never had much to base her thoughts of city life on. That said, it seemed to her a little superfluous, and she never did understand the necessity for fashion, or makeup, and the like. But it seemed like a good opportunity to learn. "GearShift? I'm kind of interested in, maybe, visiting Canterlot and spending some time there to learn its, eh... for lack of a better term, ways. Is there anyone you could recommend that I speak to, when I get there?"

"Sonic Rainboom?" Starlight said in manner perhaps doubting some esoteric reference, but when GearShift presented them with the photo of the Sonic Rainboom, Starlight's eyes widened and she reared her head in sudden understanding, saying, "Ohh, so that's what that was. Come to think of it, weren't there two of those... one recently, and another a long time ago..." Mostly she said this to herself, allowing GearShift to go on about Twilight's friends, Starlight appearing silently amazed that each of them was, or had, an Element of Harmony. As Boxy more or less flipped out in response to this news (at least, in comparison to Starlight), Starlight grinned, although her face betrayed a slight worry that Boxy might spontaneously combust, or something along those lines, due to the excitement. Starlight glanced at the door, gauging the light and time of day, and then looked back to GearShift. She would stay a bit longer, if only to hear more details about these apparent celebrity ponies...

(( I'll give Dusky one more day, then I'll continue without him! ))

"Guiding Starlight," said the cocoa unicorn in reply to GearShift. She quickly added, "I'm from... somewhere that doesn't hear much news." She looked somewhat ashamed of this now, when she did not earlier. Starlight glanced down at the floor a moment, but looked back up at GearShift and continued, "I knew Princess Celestia was powerful with magic, but I didn't know she had an apprentice. I'd like to hear about this Twilight Sparkle's friends, but, er, what's an Element of Harmony? It sounds important."

Starlight kept quiet, watching the other two. She may indeed have looked a bit strange as Boxy related the story, staring with a lost expression. But when GearShift entered, Starlight raised her brow and boggled at the spectacle of her version of the story which followed. At the end of it all, Starlight commented laconically, "That is a lot of information." She looked GearShift over and her somewhat baffled expression became one of subdued admiration. Now less like a shocked witness and more like a reporter, she asked GearShift, "You seem to have an intimate knowledge of what happened. Were you there? Do you know much about the ponies involved? With all these royal names, it sounds like the ponies there had a lot of celebrity."

As the other two spoke, Starlight listened quietly, even somewhat blankly. As Boxy mentioned the Royal Wedding, Starlight made no reaction. When she named the Princess, Starlight did not blink. Then she turned to Dusk and squinted as he relayed the rumour of an attack on the capitol. None of it seemed to register. After a bit, she turned back to Boxy and asked plainly, "Who's Cadance? Is that royalty? I haven't heard about a royal wedding, or a Cadance... or any attack on Canterlot." Boy, was she out of the loop.

"Thank you!" Starlight said enthusiastically to Dusk as he paid his bits. She turned to watch Boxy make the drink eagerly, As Dusk looked at Starlight, she returned it with a lingering stare, then smiled after a pause. "I'm glad to have met the two of you, too," she said, still facing Dusk. Then she turned back to Boxy and beheld the glass a moment, then levitated it and drank it all as quickly as she had her first glass of water. Afterwards, she gasped pleasantly and let the glass sit on the counter. "It was good," she commented quietly. Then she quickly added, mostly to Boxy, "Has there been anything interesting going on in Equestria, lately? News doesn't travel well to my village. Anything a traveller should know?"

Patiently she listened with a muted smile. She wracked her brain for the name Trottingham as Dusk spoke of it, but nothing came to her - though she did not let this reflect on her face. She said nothing until Dusk offered her a drink. Then, immediately, she grinned wide and replied, "Yes, please!" She gave herself a split second to consider something and looked to Boxy. "A wheatgrass juice," she said to Boxy. Then, turning back to Dusk, she added, "If you please."

Starlight responded immediately and brightly, though not loudly, grinning a little bit at Dusk, "Guiding Starlight. Starlight is fine." She paused a moment, eyeing his drink, then looking back up at him. "It sounds like you and I are doing the same thing," she continued, "though you're better, uh. Prepared." She eyed his saddlebags again. "I've never even heard of Trottingham. It sounds far away. Why did you come to Dodge Junction? Why not some other place?"

Starlight watched Boxy as she prepared Dusk Twister's wheatgrass juice. Wheatgrass juice... two bits. Water... free. Water wins every time. As Boxy worked, Starlight nursed her water, and by the time Dusk Twister's glass was full, Starlight's was empty. She smelled the juice and looked at Dusk and his saddlebag. She almost said something, but she stopped herself, instead sitting back and awaiting Dusk's introduction, figuring she had had her turn at it.

"Oh, I'm glad you - ah!" Starlight began before Boxy noticed the third pony. She turned to him, and after Boxy greeted him, Starlight smiled a little bit and said shortly, "Hello," before levitating her water and drinking from it more slowly now. Beyond that she said nothing, preferring to let the other two spend their energies on each other.

As Boxy poured the glass of water, the unicorn smiled a little bit, giving a happy little sigh. Her horn glowed stronger and the glass levitated to the mare's mouth. She drained it in a second flat, let the glass sit on the counter, then sat herself as commanded and paused before responding to Boxy, "I'm from a little place in the Saddleveil Plains, near the southern end of the Harridans... - Er, my name's Guiding Starlight - ...It's called Bypass." Starlight looked to the side for a moment, then looked back to Boxy and continued, "Because nopony does anything more than pass by it. But also because it's right before a passage through the Harridans. Travellers would pay my family to guide them through - it could be dangerous." She seemed to become enthused as she spoke of her home, though her enthusiasm was a very muted sort. Still, her smile had grown wider as she spoke. But then it leveled some as she continued, in her neutral fashion, "When I left home, I had to leave my supplies with my family. Supplies are really short there. I figured I could manage supplies on the way." Then she perked her head with some surprise and said apologetically, "Sorry! I rambled. 'Bypass' probably would have done fine."

Guiding Starlight Guiding Starlight | Unicorn | Female | Young Mare | Profile: Threads Active: (Latest*) The Salt Bar *Chronologically speaking, the latest thread is the one whose events, as it pertains to Starlight's timeline, are the most recent for her.

A cocoa colored unicorn quietly entered the bar, her mane disheveled and her eyes red and weary. Her horn, inclined somewhat towards the ground as the mare hung her head, passively radiated a dim, yellow light. Despite her ragged appearance, she seemed durable, fit, and lean, as if her current condition was nothing out of the ordinary. She had no bags or adornments - indeed, this mare seemed to carry nothing besides her own weight. This may have complicated her visit to this bar. The mare slowly dragged herself to the counter and looked first to the menu, then up at the counter's attendant. With a meek, raspy voice, she asked, "Do, ah... do you have any water?" She paused and would have added, "But, er, I have no money." Though the sentiment was a shameful one, she did not seem ashamed of her poverty. Rather, she seemed to be ashamed of even asking something of the attendant.

I left it deliberately ambiguous to save the staff from the chore of reading and because I generally prefer for these kinds of stories to be told from the character's perspective during RP rather than by the writer. But since you're interested, I'll clarify it!. I've edited the post to reflect this. She left her village because her parents told her that she has potential to touch lives across Equestria, rather than limiting herself to a backwater part of the plains. To replace her, her father offered to come out of retirement (her parents are relatively old). Guiding Starlight doesn't know exactly what she wants to do, so she'll wander Equestria (like the itinerant intellectual Faust, if you know him), helping others as she travels, until she settles down, if she decides to. Edited the OP to reflect all this. And if there isn't anything else to address, hopefully that's the final draft! Edit: Also, I should note* that her chronology/RP begins just as she's leaving her village, so she hasn't actually done anything yet. Her first stop will be Appleloosa. Edit again*

Good point QuickLime. And being a young filly, she would probably have a hard time setting up her own business in Appleloosa. Working as a courier as a youngster I can see, because plenty of fillies have to help out with a family business (which is how you could explain Drowsy having that job in the first place). You might explain the cutie-mark story as: Drowsy was not the "doctor" in charge of rehabilitating the patient's wings, but the nurse or even a mere bystander in the company of the ones helping the patient - and seeing the patient's transformation inspired her cutie-mark. Edit: And apparently Appeloosa is a very new settlement, so you might place the cutie-mark story further back in Drowsy's history - perhaps while she herself was in rehabilitation, she watched the transformation of another pegasus and realized what she wanted to do in life. Also, that way, you don't have any problems with being too young to set up a training yard, since Drowsy would be an adult when she goes to goes to Appleloosa (apparently, APPARENTLY and don't quote me on this, it's only a one year-old settlement).

I can imagine your friend... __ Your friend presses a gun to your forehead, shouting, "WATCH IT. WATCH THE SHOW ABOUT LOVE AND TOLERANCE. DO IT NOW!" You: ;___; Welcome to Canterlot!

Yeah - if it's just a random newspaper than that sounds jolly!

I love your character. She has an interestingly ambivalent dynamic with her father. Also, excellent, concise, but specific cutie mark story. In my opinion, Night Breeze is solid and your application doesn't have any flaws or holes in it, except perhaps (being as pessimistic as possible) in her mother being an editor of the Cloudsdale Prophet. Admittedly I don't know if that's a pre-existing organization/newspaper, but if it is, making Starshine an editor could take characters who are involved in Cloudsdale's news by surprise. I don't think it's that big of a deal, but it's worth keeping an open mind about Starshine's career. In any case, I think this is a very well written character and application. Good luck!

I'm not saying change this - in fact it's great. And I'm not even saying add what I'm about to suggest to your application. But, you might want to consider how Forest knows that plants are a source of oxygen. Now, I know it's true, and we know it's true because we have science to show us, but Equestria might not be that advanced. That said, there are still ways for our pony visigoth-barbarians to know that plants help produce the air ponies need to breathe (eg. the air feels fresher in forests and places where there are plants, as opposed to urban cities, where there are fewer plants). In other words, this is good - just make sure you have an Equestrian, low-tech reasoning and not a Human, modern/highly scientific one! I've run into the same dilemma explaining how my character knows certain things in other fantasy settings. Otherwise, I think your character is very solid and you should consider making this [Final] so we can see Forest in action!