Earth Pony Riff Run [Ready]

[Elderflower]

(Sorry if this is a bit long, heh)

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria

Name: Riff Run, nickname Birdy

Sex: Female

Age: Mare

Species: Earth Pony

Eye colour: Gold ringed with brown.

Coat: Glossy, subdued camel brown.

Mane/Tail: Jet black with muted cream streaks, glossy.

Physique: Riff Run is slightly smaller than average height with a fairly toned athletic build. Living as a drifter, she does a lot of walking and it keeps her in great physical shape.

Residence: Wherever her hooves take her! At least that’s the philosophy she lives by. In truth, she has a small place she inherited from her grandparents in Corralwood Corral that she’ll retreat to every once in a while. While she’s out and about she’ll often camp under the stars, but in cities and towns she can usually charm her way into a place to stay either through her singing or good nature (though it’s usually the former).

Occupation: Drifter, jazz singer. Riff Run goes wherever she pleases, but she has to make a living somehow! She started singing at a young age so it only seemed natural that she’d earn her place in society by performing for bits wherever she decides to go.

Cutie Mark: A shot glass pouring out coffee that takes the shape of an upside-down bass clef.

Growing up in Corralwood Corral with her grandparents, Riff Run was a pretty wild filly. She spent most of her time in the ocean or exploring the island with friends. Soon enough, her pals started having their cutie marks appear one by one, and she grew eager to find hers. She always expected that her cutie mark would be an eye patch or something similar – when she and her friends played pretend, after all, she was always Birdy – the Great and Terrible Pirate Queen! So of course she was very confused as to why it was taking so long for her mark to appear.

One day, none of her friends were available to play with Riff Run, and for once she felt compelled to explore the streets of Corralwood Corral instead of playing in the ocean. As she walked through the streets, the smell of fresh roasting coffee and rich chocolate seemed so thick in the salty island air that she felt full just breathing, and with the sun hot enough feel uncomfortable she decided to find some place to take respite from the heat. Just as she was about to duck into an ice cream parlour however, she heard it. The disjointed and frenetic sound of somepony wailing away on a piano. The filly was immediately drawn to the sound – it was so different from the stiff and mechanical playing her parents had tried to get her interested in while she was in Manehatten! The sound, though, was coming from one of the few places she was not allowed to go: a bar. Her grandparents were friends with an older stallion who ran his own bar, and she had always asked them if she could visit, but she was always brushed off and told “When you’re older, when you’re older.”

Riff Run wouldn’t be deterred, however – she creeped up to the nearest window and peered in, watching a mare slamming the piano keys as though she had gone mad. It was a spellbinding show; the performer managed to make catchy and beautiful melodies out of the chaos, and she simply couldn’t sit still. She’d stand off her bench, sit back down, and have her body follow her hooves as she moved up and down the keyboard – the young sleuth of a filly had never seen anything like it! It excited her like nothing had before – too much, perhaps, because she had thrown caution to the wind and positioned herself right in front of that window.

“Who’s there?” a gruff, familiar voice called out. Bingo! It was the voice of her grandparents’ stallion friend. “What’re you doing, Birdy?”

He asked, so she explained herself. She just wanted to listen to the music! Luckily, the bar was closed so they could do a sound check for the pianist’s show that evening, so the old stallion agreed to let her come in and listen. The only folks around were the musician, some sound techs, and the barkeep, so he knew her grandparents wouldn’t mind her coming in so long as everything was kept foal-friendly. The pianist was terribly amused, and put on quite a show for her young admirer! When everything was deemed ready for the evening’s performance, the barkeep asked Riff Run what her favourite drink was. Hoping to sound mature to the musician, the filly proudly answered, “Coffee!” and with a chuckle from the older ponies around her the barkeep poured coffee into small glasses for everyone. It seemed silly – such a small glass didn’t hold much, but she wouldn’t complain. She drank the bitter liquid in one gulp and felt an elation the likes of which she had never known – what fun she was having!

That evening, she told her grandparents the story of the jazz pianist over and over, and begged them to help her find music like that to listen to. It wasn’t long before she had amassed a fairly impressive jazz collection for a youngster, one that she would listen to on her grandparents’ record player. It took even less time for her to go from listening to the music to singing it. Her grandparents were thrilled – truthfully, Riff Run was given her nickname “Birdy” at an early age because she had a lovely and distinct singing voice. Her parents couldn’t keep her interested in singing or voice lessons, however, and they always thought she just wasn’t interested in music. It was evident as soon as the filly threw herself into jazz music, however, that the issue wasn’t a lack of interest in singing, just a lack of interest in what she dubbed “snooty tunes.”

Her cutie mark finally appeared when her grandparents took her into town one day to visit the old barkeep. Just two hours before his bar opened for the day, they had Riff Run sing for him. It was her first live performance, and it was an experience that she will never be able to put into words. She put everything her little heart had to offer into the music, and gave off her best performance. Even with the applause of just three ponies, she felt elated enough to float up to the clouds and just live with the pegasi. The barkeep finished off her performance by pouring up yet another round of tiny coffees, and as she drank it down, her cutie mark appeared! She knew she wanted to live as a singer in small bars like that one – “Singing for coffee and living it up!” is what she told her family.

History: Riff Run was born in Manehatten to two very savvy business ponies. Her parents are partners in charge of a large textiles company, and were very busy during their daughter’s early years. They tried their best to raise her well, but unfortunately she proved to be quite the handful - city life and “proper” living were much too confining for the young filly and she was always acting out, proving herself to be quite the handful. She was always causing a ruckus and could be a destructive force if she didn’t keep her high energy in check, and her parents simply didn’t know how to calm her down. It eventually became pretty clear to her father that Riff Run carried too much of his blood – he was a reckless youth as a colt as well, except he had wide open spaces to dump his energy into! So after talking it over with their daughter, the two sent the young filly to live with her paternal grandparents in Corralwood Corral.

She immediately fell in love with the place. Warmth, ocean, black sands, a huge volcano (though inactive, it was perfect fodder for her adventurous and childish imagination!), the smell of coffee and chocolate that seemed to hang about the streets, and fresh coconuts to be found at every turn! Her grandparents were retired traders who had been involved in the coffee business and decided to retire in a small home on the black sands of Corralwood Corral’s beaches. Hardly an hour passed before Riff Run felt at home, and immediately she could feel the stress from living in the refined city of Manehatten just oozing out of her body to get eaten up by the relaxed atmosphere of island living.

Growing up in Corralwood Corral was like living in a dream for the young filly. She spent her schooldays daydreaming, and the afternoons exploring the islands with her friends. She was always the ringleader – making up grandiose stories for playing pretend as they familiarized themselves with every inch of their island home. She often missed her parents, however, and counted the days to their visits. She was always eager to show them new things she had discovered, and to prove that she wasn’t just some destructive force. For their part, they missed their daughter but understood how much happier she was with her grandparents. They also recognized how calm she was now that she could throw all of her excess energy into swimming, climbing, and exploring!

As Riff Run grew older, though, she found herself more eager to explore Corralwood Corral itself, and not just the island around it. When her cutie mark appeared she threw everything she had into jazz, and for years stayed on the island with her grandparents singing in town and saving up money. Her favourite performances were always the ones she did when her parents came to visit – seeing their pride filled her heart with incomprehensible joy, for she always worried they would see her as the destructive and lost little filly she had been in Manehatten.

Her life on the island wouldn’t stay the same forever, however. As she grew older so did her grandparents, and they eventually made the decision to move to Manehatten to live with her parents and stay close to them. They left their small house on the black shores of the Gallopocus Islands to their granddaughter and left town, leaving Riff Run a bit at a loss. Life felt different with them gone, and she quickly grew restless. She knew she needed a change in her life, but wasn’t sure what it should be. She was a young mare at that point, and so she went to visit her old barkeep friend for advice one evening and found the answer she needed at his bar.

She met that same mare who inspired her into a life of jazz that evening, and the two of them got along famously. The pianist even invited Riff Run to sing with her for a few numbers after hearing her voice. Somewhere in the sea of jazz, coffee, whiskey that clouded the atmosphere in that small bar the answer just seemed to come to the young singer. She would live her life on the road, get to finally see the world and make her living hopping from joint to joint, living off of her voice! It was the perfect plan! Not quite “singing for coffee and living it up,” but close enough!

Just like that, the next day she was taking a boat to the mainland where she would begin her adventurous life! And that’s just what she has been doing, living as a drifter going from town to town and singing for money at bars, cafés and restaurants, charming her way to good accommodations at cheap rent and making quite a name for herself as Birdy the Wandering Jazz Singer! Her parents are a little disappointed that she wasn’t creating a more refined image for herself, but accepted that she was happy and successful in her own way. Her grandparents, of course, are happy and supportive as always!

Character Summary: Riff Run’s almost too cool for school. She speaks in a husky voice that oozes jazz, doesn’t seem to have a care in the world, and she’s able to get along well with any and everypony she meets. If she’s not performing, you can be sure to find her sitting and relaxing with a cup of coffee and a block of dark chocolate, taking in the flavours of home with a whimsical air about her.

It goes without saying that a drifting jazz pony has an adventurous spirit and an endless font of energy stored somewhere in her, but it’s definitely scary at times just how much energy Riff Run has. The running theory with her friends in Corralwood Corral is that the Mount Thunderhooves went inactive because it was decided to be the source of energy for their earth pony friend! She puts that energy to good use, however; she has a tendency to lend a helping hoof in every town and city she visits. Usually she goes out of her way to find out if a barkeep or restaurant owner she’s working for needs anything done by ways of odds and ends. She was always helping her grandparents out with chores and repairs growing up, so she’s handy with small fix-up projects (such as plastering walls, painting, fixing fences and wood panelling).

If there is one thing she has no patience for, however, it’s arrogance. She was born in a world of wealthy and privileged snoots but she certainly didn’t take to it. No matter what one’s wealth or status is, she sees everything and everypony on the same level, and when she comes across ponies who look down on others (or at least act as though they’re way above others) you can put bet your bits that Riff Run is going to have something to say on the matter!

[starswirlthebearded]

Awesome character. Being a former jazz musician myself and current jazz lover, this is just an awesome app all around.

Even though I know I'm partially responsible

I have no issues passing this one up the ladder!

[Elderflower]

Thanks!

And yep! It's pretty much all your fault, but I think I can forgive ya! Heh.

[SunsetSombra]

I'm feeling this app....very nice, absolutely well done on a standout application all around!

Fun fact: Vinyl Scratch is a secret Jazz fan...but shhh, it'll be our little secret!

[Rosewind]

Very nice! I'm continually impressed by your creativity and character quality. Moving to accepted applications - earth pony.

[Elderflower]

I'm feeling this app....very nice, absolutely well done on a standout application all around!

Fun fact: Vinyl Scratch is a secret Jazz fan...but shhh, it'll be our little secret!

Thanks very much! And I'll keep my mouth zipped shut, I promise!

Very nice! I'm continually impressed by your creativity and character quality. Moving to accepted applications - earth pony.

Thanks a lot! I've been having a lot of fun writing on these boards~ c: