Roleplay Type: World of Equestria/Mane RP Name: Sundancer Sex: Female. Age: Mare (youngish). Species: Unicorn. Eye colour: Cerulean Blue. Coat:[colour=#000000]Her coat is best described as “burnt umber” – a rather pastel tone of dark orange-brown. Kept well-groomed in general, her hooves and lower legs are splashed with the occasional small patch of black where molten glass came in contact with her coat. Most of these patches have faded to her usual colouration, but a discerning eye could pick out the darker marks.[/colour] Usually she wears a short cloak over her back and hindquarters coloured burgundy, with a small layer of gold stitching around the edge – though when she’s working she wears a thick pair of boots and a thick vest, both burnt and marked from years of glassworking. If she’s feeling particularly elegant she wears a slightly more ornate version of her cloak, with some silver stitching around the edge as well and a pattern of glittering snowflakes. Usually anything she wears is covered in sand and dust, except for her elegant clothing. Mane/Tail:[colour=#000000]Her mane and tail are two-coloured, striped yellow and red. The yellow makes up the majority of her mane, with the red as highlights. Her mane is usually kept short-ish and swept back, untied at the back and carefully kept out of her eyes at the front. Her tail is quite a moderate length, kept tied up tight while she’s working using several ties. When she’s not working she prefers to brush her tail out in a slightly more curly way, but keeping it relatively straight. She’s usually – as might be expected from where she lives – covered in dust and sand.[/colour] Physique:[colour=#000000]Oddly for a unicorn Sundancer is built rather sturdy and strong. Almost as strong as an Earth Pony, but she’s extremely tough considering her occupation (lugging large pots of molten glass about means a reasonable degree of strength is required). She’s roughly the same size as the average unicorn mare, but her heftier build means she looks bigger – this does detract a little if she’s trying to look glamorous.[/colour] Residence:[colour=#000000][colour=#000000]The Painted Pinto Desert, a few miles north-west of Appleloosa.[/colour][/colour] Occupation:[colour=#000000]Glassworker, specialises in making suncatchers and paperweights but is equally capable in making other glass wares. Makes the glass from scratch.[/colour] Cutie Mark: Her cutie mark is a glass figure of a pony with two saddlebags, showing her sturdiness and her skill at glassmaking. Sundancer gained her cutie mark when she was quite an old filly. Her father (a glazier and occasional jeweller from Stalliongrad) often needed fresh glass for his job. While she was still quite young she decided to come along with him and look about (as curious fillies often do) and while she was there she spotted an old glassworker making a fine glass. Intrigued she wandered off as her father was distracted and asked him if she could have a go. As expected he shook his head, but then mentioned that if she wanted she could come along and help clean up the workshop afterwards and earn a few extra bits. She jumped at the chance, and pretty much begged her father to let her help. Seeing no harm in it her father agreed and she began turning up to help tidy out the workplace after the glassworkers had finished for the day. A few months later the old glassmaker (name of Crystal Clear) offered to teach her the very basics of glassmaking (mixing up the ingredients in the correct proportions and similar), having noticed she kept watching when he made a few extra pieces of glassware after-hours. She agreed again, and over the next few years was slowly instructed in the art of glassmaking by the old pony. And then a surprising event happened! One day she was asked to come in early by the manager (unusual considering she wasn’t even employed) and he explained that some of the work she had been producing was of surprisingly high quality. He offered her a place at the glassworks starting immediately (especially unusual considering she was still just a filly – a rather old one, and quite strong, but still a filly). She blinked, and then almost fainted from the excitement! And at the end of that long work day, one of the other workers mentioned that her flank was no longer blank – her cutie mark had come. History: Sundancer was born in Canterlot, the child of a glazier and jeweller from Stalliongrad (named Golden Shimmer, an earth pony) and a fairly well-off baker from Canterlot (named Lemon Swirl, a unicorn). Her father’s job meant he had to spend most winters in Canterlot due to the difficulty of getting materials to Stalliongrad during the winter. She spent most of her childhood with her mother in the bakery, trying to stay out of trouble and for a period of time ever tried singing to entertain the customers (which swiftly stopped after her voice cracked a window!). Her mother took her to dancing lessons as well, which fared somewhat more successfully. After a few years her father decided to take her with him one year to Stalliongrad, where she gained her cutie mark through working in the glassworks there. Currently her parents are still on excellent relations with her, her father having become a proper jeweller selling moonstone jewellery from Stalliongrad and her mother now owning three bakeries in Canterlot. She has two siblings, both younger than her (names are Orange Sour and Buttercream). Neither has developed their cutie marks yet, though Buttercream has displayed a talent similar to her mother in baking. Both are very proud of their big sister for her job, even if it seems a bit unsophisticated. Currently Sundancer is stationed in her workshop in the Painted Pinto Desert, about four miles northwest of Appleloosa. Her “house” – well, more “shack” – is kept supplied by water via several means – a small secret spring she found, frequent visits to Appleoosa, a few of her friends from Las Pegasus who fly her down water, and if she’s really desperate tapping cacti. She chose the Desert due to the availability of raw materials even though survival is trickier – and moved there in a remarkable move, paying for quite a lot of pegasi to transport materials from the Everfree Forest and Bareback Gulch in order to start up her workshop. Her own personal objective is to expand out and start making even more glassware – as well to actually try and sell her wares to the rich and famous (being based in Appleloosa is not going to make you really popular, even if your wares are very high quality…) Character Summary: Sundancer is a perfectionist. She wants her work to be the best possible. While this has obvious flaws – her work often takes a bit longer than would be expected – the quality is of the highest order. If someone criticises her work she’s usually quite happy about it as an opportunity to improve, but if it starts getting too critical she can get rather angry. While she’s a perfectionist she understands that there is a time factor to be considered. She worked her way up from being a nopony to being an expert in her field, and find those who don’t work or work less than they should extremely annoying (people who inherit their money from their family for example). She generally tries to be sociable overall even to people she dislikes. She spends most of her work hours (most of the morning and afternoon) digging sand in the desert. During the middle of the day when it is hottest she stays inside and out of the sunlight to keep cool. In the evening when the temperature drops she starts working glass with her forge, melting the sand into molten glass and shaping it as needed. This can last well into the night if she needs to make a large order, though she catches up on sleep with a siesta during the day. If she’s in town she might nod off to sleep in the middle of a conversation! This doesn’t usually hinder her social skills but it can lead to some awkward situations. In her spare time – not that often – she enjoys reading, especially adventure stories, and making plans to visit new places. This takes her quite a long time as she works most days so it can take her over a month to read a book. She keeps her diary up-to-date, and currently has a small shelf-full of them dating back to when she was a young filly. She records almost everything that happens or she thinks about in them, and is very protective of them. Letting someone look at them is a sign she considers them a good friend. As expected of someone who lives on their own, she knows how to cook pretty well (even if most of her recipes involve apples and/or prickly pears in some way). She keeps a small area of prickly pears behind her house and buys apples from Appleloosa’s orchards. Generally she’s quite accustomed to being self-sufficient. Her main flaw is arrogance. She’s as very sure in what she does – perhaps a little too sure – and can be more than a little stubborn in her ways. This developed after she won a few local glassblowing contests and the judge mentioned offhandedly "These would be good enough for Celestia herself!" - unfortunately she misheard that and took it as a compliment instead of an offhanded statement. She prides herself as being tough to shake and fearless, but it can come across as bravado and bragging sometimes – especially as she does have a notable problem. She's particularly wary around dragons, big or small, as when she first set up her shack in the desert she accidentally set it up near a teenage dragon's cave - something which is rather likely to make someone wary if there's a chance he might feel hungry and try to eat her. She's less wary around baby dragons, but always keeps a very careful eye on them near her - she doesn't trust them because she knows what they grow up into. In addition she refuses to use magic unless it’s dire circumstances, as she considers it “too easy!”, and enjoys doing things the hard way. Sometimes she wishes she was born an Earth Pony. Her magical powers are almost entirely focused around light and heat, with very little skill elsewhere. She’s rather rusty at using her abilities because she prefers to do things the hard way, but is rather potent if she decides to use them. About the only day-to-day things she uses magic for is creating little baubles of light to light her way in the dark, and even then she prefers to use candles if possible. I welcome critiques from everyone!
Hammertime.
