Earth Pony Cerra Lavender

[CherryRie]

[ Pony Related Character ]

Name: Cerra Lavender

Gender: Female

Age: Mare

Species: Earth Pony

Pelt Colour: Light grey coat, legs gradient into amathist around her hoofs as though they were dipped in clouds.

Mane/Tail Color & Style: light and dark Gradiants of Lavinder. Mane is kempt, un-styled and hangs at shoulder length, tied back in a bun whenever she's working. Her tail is short but still hangs and is well kempt, rarely tied or styled.

Eye Colour: violet

Cutie Mark: A light blue Triskelion

Physique: thin but not sickly, looks as though she regularly forgets to eat. Defiantly the sort with a regular exercise routine... probably written down in a diary somewhere.

Residence: Canterlot

Occupation: Alchemist and magical Researcher

Motivation: There is a distinct fork in her past where motivation and 'special talent' parted ways. Presently her motivation leys with following her husband and his research into the nature of magic. However, she gained her mark in a far different way, when she found a balance between empathy, valour and wisdom, all traits which have fallen by the way due to her choice of corear. This dichotomy is buried quite deeply, though its effects can still be seen in her personality.

Likes: Dedication, discipline, intelligent arguments, people who know where they stand and do not hide from facts, those with the will to better themselves.

Dislikes: Time wasters, squandering of talent, having her judgement questioned.

Character Summary: Born into a family of self made entrepreneurs, Cerra was taught from an early age that if you wanted something you'd better be prepared to work for it. True, given her parents' mail company was one of the largest in Canterlot, she didn't lead the simple life of a farmer or street sweeper. But her father was a stallion who knew the roots of his success lay in honest hard work. When she was six she started following her father to work, running memos about the offices for pocket money. Even then she was beginning to show astounding intellect for her age, memorising not only half the staff, but also their habits so to know where they were mostly likely to be at any given time. By the age of eight she was already delivering messages thought the great city for tips, though by now it had become obvious that she simply considered this to be a 'job' rather than a career. Top of her class in literacy, she had read her way through father's library before finding a knish in psychology and the science of the mind. But her real talent lay in people. Conversationally her intellect shone. It became something of a party trick to deduce a pony's occupation and residence from a brief glance and a few choice but seemingly unrelated questions. At school she was rapidly becoming the agony aunt for many of the students and for some time it looked as though the roll of counsellor would await her come adulthood. Perhaps it was this dependence that made the change seem all the more extreme.

In the summer of her twelfth year, she was finally entrusted to make deliveries outside city limits. It had been during one of these short trips that she had met the young colt whom was to become the soul and centre of her world for years to come, Matisma Lotus. Being even more intelligent than her, though wracked with emotional issues, the young unicorn had proven to be her perfect partner both intellectually and in terms of emotional dependence. Together they had started down the path of magical research, Mat' joining the collage of gifted unicorns and Cerra taking up an assistant position to be near him.

In earlier years of study alongside Mat, she and her findings would be readily dismissed despite her knack for alchemy and related sciences. Over time she developed a prickly personality as a defensive response to unfounded criticism and assumptions of ignorance. This has mutated somewhat over the last few decades as she has worked to become an accepted figure in the field of magical research.

Subtle scepticism has become her default position when dealing with anyone from rock-famers to royalty. Growing through an immature scientific community, she has developed a reliance on her own analytical outlook rather than the sudo-assumptive approach taken by most magical researchers. At least until suitable evidence is produced otherwise. This explains her slightly lower expectations when it comes to other ponies less intelligent then her. Though mostly civil in this inherent distrust, displays of short-sightedness on the plaintiff's behalf can often lead to reinforcement of her initial assumptions. Worse still is her reaction should those same ponies question her judgement. This malcontent often manifests as an unsympathetic sarcasm. Mostly her wit is just subtle enough to go unnoticed by the object of her wrath, adding to the intellectual victory should the slight go unnoticed. However, in the latter case she may be moved to all out cynical analysis; taking apart and exposing the inadequacies or insecurities of the unfortunate victim with uncompromising resentment.

Deep beneath this critical attitude is an uneven base upon which her whole life is founded. Cerra would like to believe that her purpose in life is to enlighten the ignorant. In reality, she has simply been swept along by her spouse's ambition. Dazzled by the adventure of discovery she shuns a deep seated dichotomy from when she separated from her true self to follow her love. Hidden instincts have recently begun to gnaw away the essence of her self-perception. Doubts ascend within moments of retrospective emptiness and cast judgement on her life.

Years ago she saved a runaway foal from drowning. Not much younger then herself he had tried foolishly to cross a rotten bridge during a storm and had fallen into the churning river. Hiding as she was nearby, Cerra had run downstream after him, choosing her moment to dive in and pull his head above water. With concerted effort the two had struggled against the current until, exhausted by the fight, she had dragged the unicorn foal up the muddy river bank. As the rain beat down around them, the two had sheltered together beneath a fallen tree to wait out the worst of the storm. Adrenalin fading Cerra found herself berating the young colt for such a reckless disregard for his life. Shaking with fatigue, her fury was tinted with concern almost as though she cared deeply for a pony whom she had only just met. Both too tired to move from their dugout, the argument went on for some time above the din of the rain and crashes of thunder. It ended in tears but with the agreement that she would help him get back to his family. Despite attempts to turn back at the last minute, Cerra returned Matisma to his worried parents and agreed to stay the night. Reflecting on the adventure, how it had felt to protect and nurture someone who needed her, the Triskelion had appeared on her flank. A symble of balance, it represented her valour, empathy and wisdom she had shown in saving the boy's life and guiding him home. Deep down she felt a pang of needing, of having somepony to love and protect. Sadly the young filly misinterpreted this as a sign that her destiny was to help Mat' in all his endeavours and so she had followed him. Friends of fortune soon became inseparable. But silently a disquiet has grown within the mare's mind. Now Cerra sleeps restlessly, her dreams invaded by flood waters sweeping Matisma from her side, leaving nothing but white meaninglessness. Has she sacrificed too much to follow in her love's shadow? And in the still darkness of the night a question begs; what is she without him?

[CherryRie]

Edit; After talking about it with Pony_Sage, I've toned down the graident on her pelt and mane, as they were far too buisy. Couldn't really see this until I looked at it from an artests point of view. New gradient is icolated to the lowerlegs and hoofs, hair change is more spread out along lengh in discription ^^,

[MyLittlePonyTales]

I'm not entirely sure how a Triskelion relates to her special talent. Perhaps you could shed some light on this?

"...make magic freely available to any who wish to use it..." I'm not quite sure I understand this part... Magic cannot be used by other types of ponies, because it's like a genetic trait. Earth ponies have connections to the earth and animals, Pegasi fly and handle weather, Unicorns use magic for varying tasks. Other ponies cannot use magic like Unicorns can, plain and simple. Maybe you're thinking about this a different way than I am. If so, just please explain it.

[Skye]

There was another pony not too long ago with a similar motivation, that being to make magic available to all ponies and not just those inherently born with it. I'm not sure how a triskelion relates, it seems more the kind of symbol of a pony who goes around in circles and spirals, perhaps one who could talk her way out of nearly any situation. Or perhaps manages to find balance in every situation.

[CherryRie]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

I too am starting to wonder whether the Triskelion is going to be the best symbol, but I couldn't find anything that encompassed motherhood that weren't images of saints or goddesses. Do you know of any that would fit? As I said, the whole point of Cerra is this conflict where she has diverged completely away from what she is actually destined for. Because of her experiences following Matisma she has unknowingly shunned the elements that made her special; such as Compassion, selflessness and a desire to nurture. Ironic that she experienced all these when she first met Mat. Misinterpretation led to her following the colt like a shadow. They did everything together. When Matisam enrolled at the collage for gifted unicorns she took up an assistant position delivering memo's and studied alongside him despite her inability to practice the magic she was learning about. The traits that lead to her finding her talent still show through in her traits (likes/dislikes) but are twisted as though through a mirror darkly.

--EDIT-- Please disregard this section, I will leave it in for archive sake but it is now irrelevant to the character in present rollplay.

As for magic, Ahh I'm glad you brought this up. You are correct that only unicorns can use magic, but the real question is 'why'? Matisma has been fascinated by this question since his early childhood. As a gifted unicorn himself he longed for a deeper understanding of how magic works; what is it about the unicorn that makes them capable of channelling such a primary force? Why is the weaving of a spell concerned with the will of the user and not a mathematically devisable equation? Essentially through the course of his research, Matisma has found that the will of the caster can be substituted to some extent by carefully built mechanism and use of a conducting catalyst. With these 'artefacts' readily available to the public it would revolutionise the entire Equestrian way of life. Considering how close they have always been, it is not a gigantic leap to suggest that his original motivation was to allow Cerra to experience the wonder of magic as he does. I'm not going to go much deeper into this as it will be explained in an 'alt-history' fan fiction I'm writing, inspired by the Heart of Equestria Rp that is soon to start. Suffice to say there is a really good reason why (despite these leaps forward in understanding) they haven't started to produce artefacts for the mass market.

The reason I'd really like to play this character in a role-play is to flesh out and get a feel for her personality, thus knowing where she started before I move on to the deeper emotionally conflicting parts of the fanfic.

If there's anything you can suggest to make this more acceptable or things you would tweak I'd be hugely grateful ^^

[Skye]

I'd probably cut back on the artifact portion, as it hasn't been established in canon yet exactly how or why that would work, and even Faust herself says she doesn't like when electricity sneaks in, so she hasn't explained how that works yet either. As we don't have artifacts in the show, I'd think it might be better just to keep him studying them and maybe you can have him 'develop' and bring them out later if they do become canon.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Well, as for the Cutie Mark, Cheerilee's is simply 3 smiling flowers. Her special talent is teaching and being good with kids, like a motherly character. I'm not sure what else might fit, but perhaps something relating to magic AND children? Perhaps a toy of some sort, if you're going more for the child angle.

[CherryRie]

Hmm, I believe I need to do some thinking on this. I can easily tone down the research side of things as the extent to which it is complete is kind of irrelevant from a role play perspective. The cutie mark is giving me trouble though. It has to be something that could be easily misinterpreted otherwise the inner confusion is irrelevant.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Hmm, I believe I need to do some thinking on this. I can easily tone down the research side of things as the extent to which it is complete is kind of irrelevant from a role play perspective. The cutie mark is giving me trouble though. It has to be something that could be easily misinterpreted otherwise the inner confusion is irrelevant.

Skye had a good idea about the mark you already have though. I think the mark looks neat, just need to have a reason as to how she got it.

I'm not sure how a triskelion relates, it seems more the kind of symbol of a pony who goes around in circles and spirals, perhaps one who could talk her way out of nearly any situation. Or perhaps manages to find balance in every situation.

[CherryRie]

Edited! Okay is that any better? I've added a bit too the back story and re worked how she got her cutie mark so hopefuly that should do the job

Oh, also could someone take a look at my other aplication? I know it needs work but I need to have feed back to know how much I need to rewrite, I really REALLY want to start rping this weekend ^^

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Somewhere in the editing you changed the spelling of Pegasus in the title. Just one letter off.

For her residence, it says "Barnly". I'm not sure where that is or what you mean by it.

In the Character Summary, it says, "the fiery disposition associated with her race..." I think this is putting a stereotype on Pegasi that we haven't seen confirmed in the show.

In your last big paragraph, you spell "Matism" as "Metatisma".

Maybe add a little something about her parents as well.

I do like the story you made for her Cutie Mark though.

[Manestream]

Checking in on this app, looks like a few things may still need editing, such as the location since Barnly isnt a cannon location- you'll have to assign her something else for the sake of the RP :3 I read through it, and its looking good to me overall though; just needs a few of the tweaks already mentioned.

[Manestream]

Nev, looks like those changes were indeed made. Going to approve this, but still needs final word from Ashi before its given the final ok!

[CherryRie]

Fantastic Mane! Thankyou very much ^_^

[CherryRie]

Queary; If I wanted to change her to an earth pony, would it requie submitting again? The changes I'd have to make would to her background would only be quite small, but I don't know if the admin would prefure resubmission.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

So long as she hasn't RPed and the changes are minor, it should be fine. Put the changes in, and then comment about what you changed/added, just so that we can be sure.

[CherryRie]

Okay, so, the conversion is complete with few scars to show. The edit to Earth pony composed of;

Removing references to Pegasus in title and physical description.

Changing physical descriptions to match both the image provided and the new species.

Removing references to flight and or airborne activities from character-background.

Checking to ensure the background still worked fully given the change of perspective.

I also took the opportunity to change her name from the tong twister 'Cerra Cirrus' to 'Cerra Lavender'. Not being a Pegasus anymore the name Cirrus makes little sense, but her first name still really suits her.

Have to say, after making those changes, I'm feeling a lot more confident about her character. Just yell if this needs to be reaproved

Oh, I'll change the picture too sometime tomorow