The-Jaded-Bug

Name: Gale

Sex: Female

Age: Mid-older filly

Species: Donkey

Pelt Color: Sorrel (Chestnut: #954535)

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Short dark brown mane and tail tuft (#3D352A), curly at the ends and a bit unkempt. Has a beige-colored muzzle, belly, eye rings and socks (#F5F5DC).

Eyes/Eye Color: Naples yellow (#FADA53)

Cutie Mark: None

Physique: As tall as the average miniature donkey filly her age, making Gale rather small even by her species' standards. Her strikingly compact size is quite deceiving however, as former life on her family’s farm has made her exceptionally stronger than she initially appears. Most of her strength lies in the legs.

Origin: Nimbusgait Lakes, takes current residence in Appleloosa with her older brother Finch.

Roleplay Type: FiM/Show Roleplay

Occupation: Assistant at her brother's repair shop, but will volunteer to help out almost anyone/take up odd-jobs on her own terms. She’s also beginning to form a vegetable garden in the backyard of the shop/Finch's house, with the intent of bringing in a wider variety of locally grown goods to the town as it hopefully takes off (not that she doesn't mind apples, of course).

Motivation: While Gale came to Appleloosa to help out at Finch's shop, the true reason she tagged along was so that she wouldn't be stuck alone at home with her caring though restrictive parents and relatives. That and, of course, to make a new and better start for herself by growing some of her family's vegetable crops there (and if she can, to absorb as much information as possible about dessert life with less intervention from others). While she may be young and 'stubborn as a mule' as neighsayers may call her, she's a small jenny with even bigger plans ahead of herself, and isn't at all willing to falter at them.

Likes: The Great Outdoors, adventure, independence, exploring the desert-scape of the Painted Pinto (when the opportunity arises, at least), reading, being useful, apples, rhubarb tarts (her favorite family recipe), her pet chicken Plucky, and while reluctant to admit it, she adores watching the setting sun.

Dislikes: Boredom, getting treated like a foal, restrictions, being unprepared for something, city life, others thinking of her as fragile or having 'soft hooves' due to her small size, 'lazy bums', and unnecessary prejudices.

Character Summary:

Born and raised on her family’s small vegetable farm, Gale has always been something of a nature enthusiast. Maybe it was the thrill of learning about the natural surroundings of her former home, or it could have been time spent reading various outdoor survival guides - rather than flipping through regular picture books - that helped encourage this mindset. But either way, in spite of because of this strong affinity, the little donkey had been known for being quite the hassle at times.

For starters, she was never particularly fond of school. In fact, the only classes she did like were science - or biology for the most part - and the occasional Equestrian History lesson. After all, why even bother when more than half of what you learn there will likely be useless for one’s occupational sake? It wasn’t that she was a slacker, or let alone an (almost) literal dumb-you-know-what, she just found it more practical to learn with a more ‘hooves on' approach, rather than to sit inside a dull, claustrophobic room all day along with every other pony in sight. It didn’t help that she could sometimes be a little too mouthy towards the other foals, especially if she thought they were making fun of her for her size, and had even gotten herself in a few fights as a result (or as her brother Finch would say, she would "turn into braypoleon"). Along with this, she was often caught gazing behind the classroom’s windowsill, daydreaming of exploring faraway ecosystems, discovering new plant life, all while becoming the bane of every other teacher who seemed unlucky enough to have her as a student.

Having gained a surprising reputation as being a so-called problem foal, her parents - along with other relatives in their modest household - ended up having to deal with providing her education at home, all while balancing out the rest of their harrowing work schedule. They weren't too happy about it, and the task was certainly harder than it looked, but homeschooling Gale turned out to be much more successful than having her stay in a normal classroom. At the very least, she became better focused on her studies, even if she could honestly care less about them.

But homeschooling or not, this wasn’t quite enough to manage the brunt of her behavior.

While she may have lived out in the country, her parents were not the type to let their little one run about the Lakes like a free-range foal (or at least, they didn’t want her to). While Finch was usually better about staying near the farm back in his colthood, Gale was a different story altogether. She may have worked as hard as anyone on her parent’s small plot of land, but it wasn’t uncommon for her to sneak off without permission to explore when she had free time, sometimes getting a few rough-’n-tumble ponies to tag along with her. On occasion she would manage to stray as far as the Whitetail Woods, in hopes of spotting a lone peryton roaming about. She had even set up a makeshift ‘camp’ there by taking advantage of the forest bedding and sturdy branches to make a shelter, using what knowledge she absorbed from her nature books and life on the farm as a mean for survival...but only for a few hours before getting sent straight home, as she was unwillingly discovered in the act.

As time went by she tried her hoof at more trips to test her nature-related knowledge, including a few attempts to explore the Everfree Forest (though she was always caught before she’d actually enter it, to her dismay). She ventured off just as much as she got in trouble for it, and most everypony who knew of her was fully aware of this. Due to her former behavior in school and bold outdoor explorations, the adults in the area became wary of the little donkey, and even the more troublesome and mischievous fillies and colts began to avoid her due to her often exceedingly brash behavior. While the little donkey did her best to brush this off, her headstrong demeanor and lack of any permanent friends beyond her own flesh and blood had and finally caught up to her.

Feeling brushed off and alienated by almost everypony she knew, and knowing all too well that her own parents were reluctant to trust her, Gale knew that something had to change. Maybe she needed to be more compliant around others, or it could just be that she needed to go away for a while, to start anew and find a place where her love for all things nature would be appreciated. After all, it wasn't like anyone would think different of her in the next few years, and she once overheard Finch talking about setting up his soon-to-be repair shop within a certain homesteading town...

She then came up with an idea. It seemed like a one in a lifetime chance. She just had to go to Appleloosa with him.

His initial response? A flat no. And as for why, it was simply because their parents were already nervous about having Finch live so far away, despite him already being a fully-grown jack. To even think about bringing his little sister along would risk the possibility of their parents forcing him to call off the entire thing. He’d spent quite some time raising the bits for it, through various odd-jobs and selling his family’s crops, all to attain tools, supplies, and to eventually buy off a vacant building for his business and train tickets to make a living in that quaint little town. He didn’t want his plans to be stopped just because a certain little jenny couldn't be trusted by them.

But Gale would be persistent. Not willing to give up, she did all she could to convince him and her parents that yes, she was more than ready to travel abroad, and that no, she wouldn’t run off into the wilderness without permission like at home (that is, for the most part). As much as she absolutely hated it, she spent the next few months resisting the urge to explore as she normally did, or at least enough to avoid the constant, ongoing lectures about her usual trouble-making antics. She also, at least whenever she finished up her chores, took up some odd-jobs of her own to raise bits for a train ticket for herself, which mostly involved helping out neighbors who were spread out along the Nimbusgait Lakes. In her mind, it seemed like every day she was swallowing yet another ounce of her pride, as though she were restricting herself of what little freedom she thought she had, but it payed off in the end.

Though her parents still had their concerns, they at least got the impression that she was taking up responsibility outside of farm work and schooling, which was enough for her brother to consider taking her along with him. After all, while Gale only made these efforts because she refused to take ‘no’ for an answer, he noticed that, while she was still pretty hardheaded, his sister began showing a little more flexibility through her actions. Once they both agreed on going, which was sometime after the town’s conflict with the buffalo natives, their parents also approved of decision, but under one condition: Because Gale had been taking up responsibilities back at home, she would have to do the same thing in Appleloosa. This would be easy of course, because she already had something in mind. The little jenny wanted to extend her family’s line of farming to the town, and since most of the food there - other than apples - was imported, she would already be doing plenty of good for the Appleloosans. The brother-sister duo soon packed their belongings, and are currently at their new home after a long train ride...

((Note: Welp, there's not much else that I can say here, other than this is my shortest application as of yet (which really isn't saying much xD). And yes, what you have here in a nutshell is a tough, headstrong little donkey who just so happens to be walking along the path of starting anew in a growing, prospering little town. She also happens to be an ad'awwwwwrable widdle filly willy, but that might be something you want to refrain from calling her. She might be growing through her donkey years (pun intended), but she still has a thing or two to learn.

And yes, she has a pet chicken. Because everything's better with flightless birds.))

Also, an equally AD'AWWWrable sketch of her that Cat Napper Drew:

And an illustration I drew of her after watching Friend Indeed:

Hey Jaded how does the app making thing going?

Just finished app recently! It's now up for approval...or constructive critisism, if possibly needed, if anypony doesn't mind.

While Swift Kite was normally the first to take a look at any interesting, hoofcrated item, it appeared that the four ponies were already busy as it was and two other new ponies had yet again arrived. Still, the young mare decided to keep her ears peeled as they talked on. As Whirlwind greeted the just-arrived Pegasus and Unicorn Kite simply made a warn smile back at them, and decided to spend some more time browsing through the items at Mojo's stand.

Aside from what she used to buy the boats, she brought her own money with her in case she had time left to browse the marketplace and had more left over after buying them off, but thought it wouldn't be fair to take advantage of the extra bits from the sale. After all that money wasn't hers, and she had enough of her own to get a few things. She tilted her head a bit as she spotted what was likely a pet rock, remembering a time when her mentor said something about selling them back in the day. 'Heh, maybe Joy would get a kick outta one of those,' Her eyes then wandered towards a display of long necklaces with tiny beads threaded in them, thinking that she could find one that match her bandanna...

Then Whirlwind asked Kite a question. She blinked and looked up at the light pink filly, with what she said just suddenly registering in her mind. The red-pink Pegasus looked like she had just snapped out of a daze, or like a foal who didn't pay attention in class before hearing the school bell ring.

"Oh! Uh, It kinda depends, really..." She started, trying to organize her thoughts and getting herself to be more focused. "The city aside, the Plains are out in the country - a little isolated I guess, it makes business slow at times but..." She paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next, before she continued. "It's near a pretty major path with a fair amount of hoof-traffic, so there's enough customers to get by." The young Pegasus made a small grin. If there was anything to go by it was that she loved that store, even if the location made it a little harder to attract more permanent-term clienteles.

"But I've been planning for a while to maybe start a small chain of toy stores, to get in some more revenue - not right now I mean, there's still a ways to go. There's only three of us at the one I'm working in, including the owner..." She dragged her front hoof lightly back and forth, her words becoming a little softer as she hesitantly admitted to the filly about the lack of permanent employees. Almost regretting telling her about it she omitted the fact that she was probably the first new apprentice there in years, and half-hoped that she or the others wouldn't get her to expand on it.

Thanks Robbi!

Also, added five more paragraphs to his character summary/fixed more grammar-punctuation stuff, but alas, 'tis still not done. I believe I'm close though, and hopfully I might finish this tonight/tomorrow.

“Eh, I’m not too sure either.” Swift Kite replied to Whirlwind, “Even with the city’s runoff the weather’s kept under wraps, but you never know.” Before the conversation could continue a lean,navy and white Pegasus had flown towards Mojo’s cart. She appeared to be about Kite’s age, and the three ponies who greeted Kite also did the same for the second newcomer. The red-pink pony couldn’t help but stifle a small chuckle - not to be mean of course, as she honestly liked the trio’s unyielding exuberance.

As Whirlwind waved and said a simple ‘hello’ from the wagon’s roof, Swift Kite also waved a hoof and made a friendly smile at the new Pegasus. “Welcome to Mojo’s stand! I’m Swift Kite.” She greeted more calmly than the other three, but with more zeal than the younger light pink filly. The young mare cantered a few steps towards the direction of the hovering pony before Whirlwind asked her what her name was.

((OOC: Normally I'd make a reply after Mojo, but I'll wait for Ancre to make a post since he was skipped. That is, if it's okay with him. ))

Progress has been going slowly again, but I have more time now that I've gotten my RPs updated/have Thanks Giving off the coming week, I'll have more time to (finally) finish. *is hoping to have this finished this week*

Swift Kite listened as the four answered her question, only keeping her eye off of them for a small moment when Mojo briefly set up the wagon's stage. If there was one thing that she thought of them, it was that they were an interesting and certainly friendly group. It turned out it was only Jubilee and the Paint stallion that had previously known each other. As for everypony else, they were newly found friends of theirs who used Mojo's wagon for protection from the storm, with Whirwind receiving First Aid from Starflower. 'A storm?' She thought. She didn't know until then that the Nimbusgait Lakes were hit too (assuming that was where they stayed, since the light pink filly had said she was from Cloudsdale).

"I guess the Plains wasn't the only place with a storm scheduled. I'm glad you all made it out alright." Kite said with sincerity in her voice. The one over here was pretty nasty, too." She added. It wasn't uncommon for the red-pink Pegasus to get an early weather report, since her parents worked at a storm factory. And the young mare herself, unlike the others had been safe at she shop last night. In fact, her only real threat was the possibility of Patches, Joy's dragon assistant, having a panic attack since storms made him nervous (among other things), but even that wasn't a problem once he calmed down.

Added the tag 'Dragon' and another paragraph (or two). Still yet to be completed, I'm mostly updateing it piece-by-piece for now.

I just looked up the song recently, and all that I can say is that it made me smile (no pun intended)!

Edited his dislikes slightly and I now have a good portion of his character summary started, though not quite finished.

More small edits, but slow otewise. There seems not to be enough time in the week.~

((OOC: Welp, guess who's back? ))

Swift Kite’s curiosity perked as Whirlwind explained what was sold before letting Mojo do the talking. So they – or the Paint stallion at least – sold hoof-made items? Her interest was sparked even more, once the Earth pony himself expanded on what the pink Pegasus filly had said, opening the wagon’s front panel as he did. Paintings? Sculptures? Pop art? Hammoks? Love beads? Lava lamps? Okay, so maybe she hadn’t a clue what lava lamps were, but she had the feeling that he was referring to those odd capsules with bright and colorful blobs floating inside of them. Her curious blue eyes darted back and forth from Mojo to the items displayed as he went on, a grin peaking from the side of her face, quite impressed, maybe a tiny bit jealous, at the variety of his very own hoofmade items in stock.

She listened on as Starflower made a comment on how she had slept in one of Mojo’s hammocks the night before, with Jubilee saying that she liked them as well, and that she had one in her home- wait a minute, did she say, last night’? The Pegasus mare pondered to herself on what Starflower had meant – was it at her own house? Had the unicorn mare only recently met the other three? The red-pink Pegasus pushed those thoughts aside for a bit, deciding first to say her initial thoughts on the wares being displayed.

“Well, I’ll have to admit: I’m pretty impressed with what you’ve got here!” She beamed toward the Paint stallion. Swift Kite took another look at the colorful, hoofmade wares among the cart, including a hammock on display, then back at Mojo. She noticed that her cheeks started to feel a little warm, but did her best to resist feeling them with one of her hooves. Was she, well…blushing? Her pelt, being a moderately deep and warmer color, hid it pretty well from the others, for the most part. Not knowing this though, she quickly directed her attention to everypony else.

“And you can call me Kite for short, to make things easier.” She added in, before remembering Starflower’s comment from earlier. “Also, well, how long have you four known each other?”

My apologies folks. I haven't been able to be on here all that much due to some real life craziness/chaos, but I did make some small changes in his appearance, age, and likes/dislikes as well as checking on some grammar/spelling issues. His summary is still in development, but that was mostly due to lack of time rather than feeling stuck on what to do with with the app. Will make sure to reply with more updates untill I'm finished now that my schedule is freed up.

((OOC: My apologies, but I have very little time this week to make a reply right now. I'm not sure if at this point you two could continue the RP until I'm back. I promise I'll get a reply in either by this weekend or early next week. This post here goes into the details. Sorry guys for the hold-up again.))

This week I have a some MAJOR assignments that I must finish by this Friday (29th). For the art program I attend, I need to come up with a certain amount of drawings for my visual journal before the end of quarter this week (I've been working on for the past month, but I can be a pretty slow artist >-<), along with a pretty big digital photography project (I'm learning more about Photoshop this week, and I thankfully have all the pictures in). Also in English class I have to a large amount of editing/revising my college essay, possibly making different versions of it once I get a better look into the colleges I plan on attending. I don't think I need to say a word about the normal homework load. Depending on how things run I'll get back into the RP swing by Saturday, or possibly a little bit later. My apologies folks.

My general thoughts on the episide? Awesome! Luna's canon persona was unexpected, and in a way it's both contraststing and similar to fanon portrayal; She can still manage to be timid and lovable, but also has some backbone to he. Me gusta!

And Zecora! She finally showed up again! And with (what might be) alchemy! I'm crossing my fingers to see if she shows up in more episodes this season. She's one of my favorite characters (if the avatar wasn't obvious xP).

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

Patches’ life, in the beginning, was somewhat similar to that of the few pony-raised dragons that exist: For starters, he was given to a filly who passed their exam for admission into a small yet respectable private school for unicorns. However, he had not been hatched from the exam itself, nor was given to her through any members of the school's administration. In fact, Patches was a wee bit too young to remember how he was given to her, or where he even came from to be honest, leaving his origins a mystery even to himself.

[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

Her name was Optillusion, and her special talent, as the name might suggest, was related to illusion spells and her love for the performing arts. One would think that most magic schools in Canterlot might have second thoughts about accepting a student with a knack for so-called ‘stage’ magic, let alone letting them care for a baby dragon. The school she went to, however, was a bit more liberal than the norm, and the young unicorn had more to offer than some mere superficial display fancy tricks, ones that could have been pulled off by anypony with a horn on their head. She was a remarkably skilled and dedicated student, in fact, and she learly proved that when she outperformed the majority of her classmates on the school's honor roll. Along with doing well in her regular classes, she also thrived when it came to co-curricular activities, particularly in school plays, talent shows, and just about any event where she could showcase her strengths.

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

Everything seemed to go right for the young unicorn in one way or another, but she was far from perfect. Her biggest flaws, surprisingly enough, always seemed to shine through when it came to the dragon she was raising, and neither filly or assistant were very happy about it, albeit for very different reasons.

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

Her talents aside, Optillusion was known for her astounding lack of patience for almost anypony - or any

one

,

[/colour][colour=#000000] to say the least - that wasn’t an acquaintance or of a ‘higher’ status and authority. With Patches being quite literally closer to her than most, and technically being of a ‘lower’ status in the young unicorn’s eyes, it didn’t take long before the (mostly) orange creature would begin to receive the verbal brunt of her sour temperament, instead of being overtly coddled by her as he had been sometime after being hatched.[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]As far as the filly knew, she tended to his every whim: Gems, shelter, and her privileged background apparently allowed her to give him a comfortable life, even if they both lived in a dorm room inside the school. But what she got in return? He would whine when he wanted something, would whine even more when she tried filing his claws, would run away from lmost anything she ‘created’ with her illusion spells (and would bawl his eyes out if he physically couldn’t), would get into ‘fire sneezing’ fits in the presence of even the slightest speck of dust, would eat the silverware in the cafeteria no matter how many times she told him not to, it was like he was deliberately trying to get on her nerves, and took for granted everything that she provided for him. Yet as far as Patches could comprehend, he just didn’t understand [/colour][colour=#000000]

why

[/colour]

Optilusion seemed to loathe every single action he made, no matter how big or small. Nothing he did for her, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he yearned to receive one ounce of her admiration, could ever make the unicorn happy.

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

Truth be told, many of the dragon’s so-called mess-ups and ‘petty inconsistencies’ would happen because, scaly assistant or not, Patches was a child then. A

[/colour][colour=#000000]

baby

[/colour]

of all living things, and even one’s right hoof can falter on occasion. Optillusion hadn’t at all been ready to take on the responsibility of raising him, and it showed spectacularly. The unicorn’s low tolerance for the baby dragon’s antics grew almost as fast as Patches’s fears and insecurities - and it didn’t help that, even when first hatched, he had always been sensitive to the physical world around him. Even the tiniest squeak from an opening door hinge across the room would make him cringe and cover his ears, and whether real or not, sometimes the filly’s illusion spells put a little too much agitation on his hyperactive senses. The unicorn never once took this into account, and this and her obvious displays of disapproval towards him had, unintentionally, done more damage onto him than not. Soon enough,the little dragon was afraid of many things, but his greatest fear had nothing to do with other creatures, strange noises or things jumping out at him at random. In fact, his greatest fear was the very idea of being seen as a failure in Optillusion's eyes.

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]One day, while the duo was on the side of the school’s campus, Optillusion decided to try out a fairly new trick: To temporarily ‘transform’ an inanimate object into a shaggy, burly Diamond Dog, and attempt to make the illusion ‘move’ about. It was a fairly complex spell to pull off, at least for most unicorns her age, but her innate affinity for such spells had given her the upper hoof. Not knowing at all what a Diamond Dog was or even looked like, the baby dragon Patches, almost willingly, volunteered to be unicorn's ‘audience’ (which by that time Optillusion was an older filly/young mare). With a reference picture from a book she signed out from the school’s library (which she made sure Patches hadn’t looked through), and a simple dirt-filled flowerpot (so the dragon wouldn’t try ‘taste-testing’ it), she cast the spell successfully, putting all of her focus and concentration onto that small, 'transforming' clay pot as both it and her horn exuded a bright, reddish-purple glow.[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

It wasn’t even two seconds before a piercing, unpony-like scream could be heard throughout a good portion of the campus, while the tiny and scaly source of it bolted away from the school grounds in sheer terror.

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]He didn't know how far he ran, and he didn't even notice the filly's spell having broken right after he ran away. That didn't seem to matter though, and soon enough Patches was in the middle of Canterlot square, surrounded by vaguely familiar structures and faces he couldn't recognize. In other words he was lost, and he feared the only two fates that seemed plausible at the time: To remain missing amongst the unforgiving streets, or to see Optillusion 'create' that dreaded Diamond Dog again. As the scared creature trembled on he ended up near the Canterlot toy shop, the only building that seemed even remotely safe to him. There he was discovered by a unicorn stallion named Jigsaw, the shop's owner, and his filly-aged daughter Joy Spinner. Not wanting to leave the little dragon on his own they took him in, thinking that Patches would be returned to whoever pony he used to work with. That is, if they could get him to talk without frightening the living daylights out of little guy.[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

It took a while for him to get used to the pair, as they were vastly different from the unicorn that raised him. Where Optillusion was a magically gifted, upper-class filly, both toymaker and daughter were just a pair of average unicorns with more humble origins, having originated around Solstice Heights before a stroke of money luck had affected the family business. And while Joy Spinner was a patient, forgiving pony as her father was, Optillusion was certainly the opposite. As the weeks went by Patches had finally started to trust them, and it was around that time when Optillusion had come to the store, having heard about a baby dragon there who's description matched that of her assistant.

[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

A nice, civil student-assistant reunion was expected. What happened instead was Optillusion stating bitterly that she wouldn't take him in again, going so far as to say the little dragon was apparently holding her back and that she clearly didn't need the little thing. Even with the previous harsh treatment she gave him before running away, what she said had hit Patches especially hard. She was the one who had taken him in first after all, and for him it was like a foal being abandoned while finding out that their dam had never once loved them in the first place. Shocked by the filly's decision (and even more so at what she had to say about it), Jigsaw and Joy decided to raise him at the shop, which helped the fearful little dragon cope. Still, it took some time for him to realise that maybe it was for the best that he and his 'assist-ee' parted ways, and that he was better off assisting the two kindly toymakers than Optillusion.

[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]As he worked in the store after being adopted by them, Patches had accepted them as family and vice-versa, and became accustomed to making wares to sell at the toy store. Or specifically, he became quite proficient with woodcarving and manipulating metals over time, while under the watchful care of Jigsaw and later Joy Spinner, his dexterity giving him a nice advantage when it came to the craft. [/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]`[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]Eventually, when Jigsaw's daughter was well into her marehood and her father's toy store had enough profit and employees to sustain itself, Joy Spinner had bought a small house in Saddleveil Plains from an earth pony couple and turned it into 'Joy's Toy Shop'. Though a little sad about leaving the unicorn stallion, Patches ended up joining her, leaving the often hectic hustle-and-bustle of Canterlot behind him. With Fillydelphia being a fast growing town that was still being built at the time, ponies and other equines and creatures started to flock to it, which brought plenty of business to the toy shop since it was located right near the main path that linked together the soon-to-be city and Ponyville.[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]But as time went by it became a struggle to find any permanent employees, as most of them would end up preferring work in the now populous city rather than at a simple, rustic little store surrounded by farms that dotted the Plains. Business that went through the store had slowed down once Fillydelphia grew, and both Patches and Joy Spinner weren't getting any younger. When a much older Jigsaw died Joy reluctantly gave ownership to one of his employees in Canterlot, as she felt that she couldn't be able to run both stores at once, especially as her slowly deteriorating eyesight made it much harder for her to travel on her own over time. In spite of the growing dilemmas and the loss of Joy's father, however, both dragon and store owner labored over the years to keep it afloat, with Patches growing into a much larger teenager and the unicorn toymaker becoming an older and more elderly mare.[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#FFFFFF]

`

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

In recent years their hard work has slowly began to pay off, as plans of a possible toy store chain have become vocalized with the inclusion of Swift Kite, a plucky young mare and apprentice who, to be honest, is one of few employees to show any long-term interest in their family-like business. Small yet noticeable changes have and still continue as funds are being raised for future plans, and while the now somewhat older dragon may sometimes have difficulty adjusting to them (especially when it comes to actually leaving the store and venturing outwards), he remains hopeful for what may be in store for the shop.

[/colour]

[/colour]

[/colour]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]

[colour=#000000]Personality:[/colour]

[colour=#000000]Character-wise Patches is a cautious ‘gentle giant’ figure, maybe uncharacteristically so when it comes to other dragons his age. While he isn't quite in the paronoid, hyper-sensitive state he was in as a baby, he still has quite the list of irrational, crippling phobias that he's yet to overcome. In spite this though, he tries his hardest to not judge a book by it’s cover, even with those who might seem scary or strange to him at first glance, but even then he’s still prone to making quick judgements - whether justified or not - if he sees (or has a hunch) that somepony or creature has the intent of hurting anyone he considers close to him. He genuinely values the lives wellbeing of his friends and the innocent before himself, maybe even stubbornly so, which is likely due to his being a little too aware of his longevity and his often faultering self-esteem. To convince him that he holds more courage than he estimates is a near impossible task, and his unwavering, ridiculous set of fears can lead him to think of himself as 'lowly' in the eyes of others, but maybe all he needs is way to break out of his shell, and his adapting to the potential prospering of the shop may be one way of doing so.[/colour]

((Note: I've tweaked his app a bit, editing anything about his dragon breath and specifically the beginning of the summery, to better fit in with the show's canon via Word Of Faust. Assuming you've read it, it's basically pointed out that he was never hatched due to any magic exam, yet still happened to be with a student at another magic school. Considering that it's hinted that Optillusion (who obtained him) came from a pretty well off family, it could be possible that she'd been given to her by somepony else. But beyond that, well, his origins are intentionally vague. It's all up to interpretation, folks.

Oh! And on a smaller and unimportant note: Added another reference, and Patches normally breathes blue and orange flames, though it can be noted that they have a tendancy to turn violet/blue if he isn't feeling well, like having a dragon flu (do they ever get sick?). ))

Reference pic (drawn by yours truely):

Standing~

And on his fours:

Rule of thumb: The top on an average adult pony's head should reach the the highest point of where his wings meet his back, if not a pinch taller.

Also, Cat Napper drew up this awesome sketch of him (thank you so much!):

Swift Kite listened to the little filly as she made a simple hello to her and apologized to the others, having the feeling that she really did mean it. It turned out that the light pink Pegasus had a strong affinity for flight, even more so than some of the more speedy flyers she knew back in Cloudsdale. A young risk taker who loved the thrill of living on the edge, only to feel, at this point, as though she were living in a gilded cage. It was made clear in her apology that lack of patience had gotten the best of her, and no one, not even Kite, could really blame her for it.

Yet going onto a lighter subject, the filly introduced herself to the young mare as Whirlwind, saying that she was from Cloudsdale, the city where Kite herself used to live. The pink Pegasus also introduced the names of the other three ponies, and mentioned a little something about the wagon set up for buisness. But before Kite could speak again, Jubilee, Starflower and Mojo went up to greet her with wide, friendly smiles, the latter politely introducing himself as he offered her a hoofshake.

“It’s nice to meet y’too, Mojo!” Swift Kite replied to the Paint stallion, accepting his kind gesture and happily shook his front hoof. She smiled brightly at him, showing some more confidence than she did when she first spoke to the group.

Jubilee was the next to greet her, the blonde maned Pegasus being enthusiastic and direct, which Swift Kite herself didn’t mind at all. ‘Well, I’ll definitely have to see her preform sometime!’ She thought to herself as she greeted her back with another smile. She didn’t know a lot of entertainers, famous or otherwise, at least not personally, so it was always a pleasure to meet one. And last but not least, Starflower chimed in with a polite smile, saying she was a nurse, and questioned if the red-pink Pegasus lived in the very city the group was in.

“I live around the Saddleveil Plains area, actually. I moved from Cloudsdale this year to be closer to work.” She answered. “Right now I just came through to run an errand for this toy shop I work at, you see. Joy’s Toy Shop, for specifics. Just recently bought a stock of custom toy boats ordered by Joy Spinner herself! It’s along the road connecting the city to Ponyville, by the way.”

Any hint of nervousness had before seemed to quickly start disappearing. The Pegasus lifted one of her wings up to reveal a good sized, nearly full saddlebag. She used her wing to open it slightly before taking a peek inside, and closed it carefully after.

“The store’s all stocked with hoofmade and artisan-crafted toys in general, but we definitely make our own toys there, too.” She was about to continue, but before she could say anything more it dawned to her that maybe it wasn’t the best idea to talk about the shop while on front of a another pony’s business. Sure they were nice to her for somepony they just met, but even then one couldn’t be too sure. Not to mention that she had gone onto a new topic, even if it did answer her question somewhat. With that in mind, she decided to direct her attention on wagon they had set up.

“But enough about me, I guess… So, what’s sold here exactly?” She queried curiously.

((OOC: Sorry for taking a few days to get this down Ancre, and to Mojo for stalling the RP after asking him if I could join in. The weekend was a little chaotic and it's my first RP post on the site, so I was a little nervous. Also, I know this post is rather lengthy, so my apologies for that too.))

Cantering towards the town square with a genuine, upbeat smile, it wasn’t the first time Swift Kite had visited the wondrous city of Fillydelphia. The tall young mare’s lively blue eyes kept wandering from side-to side and back towards the direction she was trotting, still expressing the same awe she had when she had stayed there for the first time as a growing foal. Still though, the deep red-pink Pegasus wasn’t just there to admire the cityscape. She had a job to do after all, and she knew that Joy Spinner, her older unicorn mentor, would be expecting Kite’s arrival back at her small toy shop in the Saddleveil Plains. Preferably with a moderate stock of toy boats, crafted by a unicorn couple she was supposed to meet that afternoon.

And if there was anything to go by, she was just the right pony to do it! Well, perhaps she was the only pony who would, but she didn’t seem to mind.

It didn’t take too long before she had entered the square. With the growing amount of ponies, booths and merchant carts surrounding the area, the Pegasus was taken aback at first. How in Equestria was she supposed to find them here? ‘C’mon Kite, you’ve been here before! You’ll be fine, It’s not a big deal…’ She rambled in her thoughts, now standing still amongst other moving ponies. Large towns and cities were funny in a way; no matter how many times you have gone through one, the places you would expect to be familiar always seemed so…different, with every visit.

“Excuse me!” A stallion’s abrupt voice severed her train of thought, with a rude tone of voice that contrasted with a phrase that was normally meant to be polite. Swift Kite stepped aside as her wings patted the sides of the saddlebags she wore, the older pony not even sparing a passing glace to thank her as he passed by. Yet despite this Kite was barely bothered by it at all. In fact she was almost grateful for the stallion’s vocal intrusion, as it caused her to immediately snap back into reality. The last thing she needed to dwell on about was the surrounding ponies, and not finding the two artisan unicorns among them. They just had to be there, and she would spend just about all day trying to find them if she could.

Swift Kite continued her search, a more confident look showing on her muzzle. Two lone braids swayed beside her as she did, one held back with the rest of her unbraided, spiky blue mane by a pale teal and pastel bandanna. The many bright and colorful items being sold were beckoning her admiration, trying to distract her from her goal, but she forced herself not to pay attention to them. As she trotted on however, a brown peddler’s wagon being set up in the middle of the square had caught her eye. The wares being displayed were rather, neat though a little unusual to her, something that she knew she needed to check out. Yet before she could get close enough to the ponies near it she quickly stopped herself. She could look around there later, but not until she bought off those toy boats to bring back to Joy’s Toy Shop.

“EEK!” A sudden, strong gush of wind caught the young mare by surprise, her wings temporarily sprouting from her sides while, as if though on cue, a kite designed with the appearance of a monarch butterfly unfolded and popped out of her left saddlebag, being quickly blown away from her. She didn't take notice of the kite though, for her eyes had widened and blinked as she spotted the cause of that temporary wind: a rambunctious, light pink Pegasus filly with a need for speed, who for some reason or another had only three legs.

As the kite began to plummet towards the ground, a unicorn mare used her magic to stop the impact, making glide onto her hooves. The unicorn stallion next to her, likely her husband, exchanged glances with her as both went up to the distracted and temporarily spooked young mare. Kite didn't notice them at first, her attention on the younger pink Pegasus, who was farther away but close enough for her to see her pulling off some fast flying stunts. Though Swift Kite didn’t know of about her current conditions, she couldn’t help but feel a little…worried?

She suddenly heard a small ‘ahem’ escape the muzzle of the unicorn mare in front of her, the Pegasus giving them an odd look before she finally realized who they were: the unicorn couple with the toy boats! Kite's eyes lit up as she let the two craftsponies lead her to their merchant cart, and she finally exchanged her bits for the toys that would be used to stock the small toy store in the Plains. In fact, the two had even given her a nice discount in exchange for the kite from her saddlebag! The young mare hadn’t expected to trade it in, as it was mostly for proof that those working at the shop, including herself, also made their own toys to sell there. Still though, it was quite the bargain she acquired, and there were plenty more hoof-crafted kites where that came from. The ‘Kite’ in ‘Swift Kite’ wasn't there for nothing, after all.

As she left the two artisans and waved a hoof goodbye, the reddish pink mare spotted that same, three-legged light pink Pegasus again, flying towards that same wagon that caught Kite’s eye earlier. This time however she noticed another Pegasus following her, one with a white pelt and a blonde mane and tail, trying to tell them something. Swift Kite didn’t quite pick up on what she said, but she peered back at the flying light pink filly, her eyes widening as she did; the Pegasus was growing tired from flapping her wings, possibly struggling to keep herself up in the air as she came closer to the wagon. At least, that's what it looked like. Kite suddenly grew worried for her again, even more so than earlier. One Would think that the blue maned mare would have been annoyed with her, but now that she thought about it the Pegasus filly had actually helped her, in an odd, unknowing way. The red-pink Pegasus followed her by hoof, not wanting her now full saddlebags to slide off her if she flew. The blonde maned Pegasus could likely catch her mid-air anyways, and Swift Kite got most of her good grades back in Flight School through her skills in technical flying, rather than speed. As Kite trailed behind her she saw the light pink filly started exuding an odd faint glow, which caused the younger Pegasus in flight to struggle before she gave up and reluctantly let the aura softly place her onto the wagon’s roof. Kite had trotted close enough to see who had caused it, which turned out to be a worried light blue mare with a flowing violet mane, but not enough to be noticed either. A stallion with a most peculiar, unique brown and white pelt was there too and seemed just as worried.

“Why ? Why, Starflower ? Why did you do this to me ? I was doing all right ! I was actually landing ! I know when my wings needs a rest, and I crashed enough times to know how to do it safely anyways ! I'm a freaking pegasus, I know how to fly ! And I'm not going to make another stupid mistake, I promised that already ! Do I look that irresponsible to you ?”

The filly’s sudden outburst surprised Kite almost as much as the other three ponies, the blonde Pegasus chiming in and landing beside her near the others after the light blue mare had made an apology. Embarrassed as unicorn made the light pink Pegasus feel, they had been worried for a very good reason, including the reddish pink on-looking bystander. Even if, other than the missing leg, she wasn’t completely clear about her condition.

"Please don't get all uptight, miss, all of us want to keep you safe. You're our friend and we all care about you."

As Swift Kite veered closer, she couldn’t help but form a small smile at the peaceful Paint stallion’s words. She could tell how important he and the others thought of their friend’s wellbeing, even if Pegasus filly herself was upset.

“Me too-”

The words suddenly slid out of her mouth, unintentionally, before she stopped herself from saying anything more. She thought that maybe she would introduce herself once things settled down between them, but it was too late and she had been more than loud enough for all four of them to hear. She cantered toward the group even more, now clearly seen, feeling a little guilty for being so, well, intrusive.

“I mean, you ponies weren’t the only ones worried there,” She started. “For a second I kinda thought she’d fall down from exhaustion from flying so fast.” She looked over at the light pink filly, a little less worried now that she was safe, but still held some concern at the upset Pegasus. Before she could open her mouth however she realized that she hadn’t even introduced herself. Feeling a little nervous, she again put her attention on the quartet.

“Name’s Swift Kite,” She stated simply, unsure if she should try shaking hooves with the group or not. “And um, sorry for, well, jumping in like that…” A smile formed sheepishly from the corners of her muzzle.

"Shoot for the moon - even if you miss, you'll land among the stars!" - Some smallish earring box I have

THIS~

Welp, someone had to bring it up. And I was correct! Halloween-themes event here I come!

And on another note, yay for the confirmed and upcoming Luna episode the involves one of my favorite holidays!

General thoughts on a Halloween-eque episode with Luna? Definitly hyped! It'll be interesting to see how her character plays out, not to mention how others (aside from the mane 6 and Celestia) will react to her if possible.

Is it me or do I smell a possible event idea that could happen in relation to this?

Two words: Willy Wonka!

Well, from the original movie however, not the one with Jonny Depp. I have the right hair for it (it's kinda long in comaprison, but our hair colors almost match and my hair is really curly) and I haven't dressed up as any guy characters before (yes, I'm an older filly, and yes, I'll get away with it). It'll b fun making my own costume for the second time and my highschool has a Halloween contest anyways. 'Twill be awesome!

I have a pug named Lady! Curse me and my six year old mind when it came to names.

That and one of my older sisters has a Puggle (a pug/beagle mix). He's rather adorable too.