Unicorn White Spade

[Chonico]

Name: White Spade, 'Spades' for short.

Gender: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Unicorn

Pelt Color: White

Mane/Tail Color & Style: Mane and tail are white like the rest of him. Kept somewhat short, he likes to give himself a somewhat wild look to go with his show.

Eye Color: Grey eyes when he's relaxed, purple eyes when he does his show, and yellow eyes when he's gambling. A cosmetic job he does on himself, unwillingly with his own magic, a problem that has persisted from foal-hood.

Cutie Mark: A diamond, a clover, and a heart arranged in a triangle while shooting out of a top hat are clearly visible, being black in contrast to his pelt color. He likes to say there's a spade there as well, but jokes that it got stuck in his deck during a magic trick and thus left a blank spot somewhere on his flank.

Physique: Average build if not a bit on the slim side.

Residence: His residence is his satchel and whatever inn has a spare room at the time.

Occupation: He is a traveling magician that specializes in card tricks, thus his cutie mark supposedly representing the four suits in a deck and a magician's top hat. He seldom uses his own magic in his act, preferring raw skill over fancy 'hocus pocus' as he calls it, and in reality, he is somewhat fearful of using anything beyond basic level spells. Placing his satchel on the floor, he's the equivalent to a street performer, entertaining ponies who walk by. Secretly however, he's a rather skilled gambler solely focusing on card games, things he can easily rig.

Motivation: His wish is to build a large theater in Canterlot for him to one day administer as its sole proprietor, giving young performers such as himself a chance at making it big... Or at least a chance to experience the world that exists on stage, something that he feels can change the lives of everypony born to be in the spotlight. However, he realizes such a dream requires a big purse, so making a large amount of bits is also part of his motivation.

Likes: Food, sweet snacks and cake, his collection of card decks, the look of surprise on the face of ponies when his magic tricks turn out right, and most of all, applauses.

Dislikes: Salty foods, being called a cheat (Although technically he is one).

Character Summary:

As far as unicorns go, Spades is somewhat of an odd one to pin as far as character. The only sure character trait about his is that he's stubborn as a mule. While performing his act, which has a hard backing in card tricks but can be as varied as pulling bunnies from a hat, to sword swallowing and spiting fire, he comes off as a rather enthusiastic pony, eager to entertain his crowd with jokes and silly antics while he performs. He is fond of pulling bystanders and making them part of the show, having them try their hoofs at some tricks, while he helps them of course. However, when he's done with his act and his irises go back to their dull gray, he seems too meek and relaxed to be the same pony as the one that was performing a while ago, perhaps having left all that energy with his crowd. He doesn't mind talking with other ponies though, enjoying the company of others and welcoming questions about himself and his act. But, if a pony was expecting the same energy they saw while he performed, they are almost always let down.

As far as the other part of his character goes, the gambling part that is, he is a rather completely different pony when it comes to that subject. The irises in his eyes almost immediately change to their bright yellow hue at the thought of gambling and the prospect of making some bits, often making other ponies slightly unnerved. Those who have gambled with him though would characterize him as cold and calculating, more interested in the game than in what other ponies have to say. The reason for that change in character, however, is rather simple to explain. It is part of his act, his poker face sort to speak, and he is simply trying to hide the fact that he is cheating as well. Not 100% of the time though, he never completely ensures a victory, but only simply nudges the scales in his favor. Having long since become comfortable with his philosophy that, 'if a pony is willing to gamble, then he is willing to lose,' he simply makes sure that when he leaves a game, his bit purse is heavier than when he started. There have been a few occasions however, where he found his fellow gamblers rather annoying and smug, and thus had no reserves about cleaning them out.

The reason for his odd sets of characters can perhaps be best attributed to his earlier life. Having been raised in the traveling circus carnival environment, Spades quickly developed a knack for entertaining crowds. In fact, his one and only desire was to follow in his parents' hoofsteps and become a great performer. His parents though, were not unicorns but an earth pony couple, part of the wild beast master acts, who had adopted him when he was but a year old. Not once did he ever wonder who his real parents were though. He was beyond content with his family and in fact believed himself to be an earth pony too, choosing to ignore the fact he had a horn and his parents did not. As a result, as a young foal, he made fun of the other unicorns in the troupe, calling them 'hocus pocus dorks,' and pulled many a prank on them when he could. And was always punished by his parents when they caught him doing as such. This however resulted in many of the unicorns not wanting anything to do with him, something he would later sadly reap.

Aside from being apt with his pranks, Spades was also very apt at playing cards, his father having taught him at a young age mainly because he refused to stay home while he went out to the weekly card games with some of the other pony in the circus. The other ponies at the card games thought it 'cute' and began to show him how to do other things with cards, such as card tricks. He was incredibly gifted and caught on really quick on how to use the basic methods such as glides, Hindu shuffles, and double lifts. However, when they realized he was also becoming apt at rigging the card games, the 'cute' factor vanished and he was no longer allowed to sit at the table and 'pretend' gamble with them mainly because he might 'pretend' bankrupt them. He was however allowed to come to the games... as long as he sat far away from the deck of cards as possible.

His father felt somewhat bad that he was not allowed to play cards anymore and could only watch from far away, so for his 6th birthday, he bought him his first deck of cards, a deck with a green backing and purple symbols on the back made to look 'mystical.' Sadly for him, it was around this time that his magical abilities began to come to live. And, since he had played a few too many a pranks on the unicorns in the troupe, along with insults, he had no one to tutor him properly or teach him how to control it, and in all honesty, he didn't want to. His surfacing magical abilities were the first real threat to his self-built image of being an earth pony, and he wanted nothing to do with it and tried to ignore it for as long as he could.

Sadly, as time went on, many magical accidents befell those around him. Ponies would suddenly trip as things appeared in their paths, or start hovering in the air only to suddenly fall to the ground with a heavy thump. Potted plants would moo or dance and many of the things in his family's carriage home would suddenly poof and disappear, only to reappear somewhere else at the most inappropriate time such as when his father's coffee disappeared during breakfast only to reappear hours later while he was reading the newspaper spilling its now icy cold contents all over him.

Another side effect of his inability to control his magic was that his eye color would change back and forth between his normal gray eyes, to purple and Yellow eyes, a sort of cosmetic color change. The first time it happened, his parents were, to say the least, shocked and concerned. With time though, they learned to benefit from it, even though Spades tried his hardest to prevent the color change from happening. They quickly learned that purple eyes meant he was having fun and was thoroughly enjoying himself and happy. Yellow eyes however, simply meant he was extremely excited about something, and could be as simple as him knowing he was about to eat his favorite food for dinner, or that his father had bought his mother an expensive necklace as an anniversary gift. He had to hide for the whole day until his father gave it to his mother to avoid her catching on that something major was going on.

It was at this point, when a new unicorn named Hoofdini joined the circus. He was part of the magical act and, not having been around for Spades' insults and pranks, he took a quick liking to Spades and his card tricks. In time, he became a fond family friend, especially with Spades' father given that they both shared a love of card games and gambling and would spend much time together, much to Spade's own annoyance because Hoofdini always suggested he join the magical act and offered to teach him all he knew. But, since Spades didn't want anything to do with unicorns and hocus pocus, and the only thing he truly desired was to be an earth pony and be left out of the 'magical stage' as Hoofdini often referred to it, he would always decline. Hoofdini tried and tried again to assure him that it was not 'hocus pocus' and that he would teach him to do magic, without real magic, but Spades simply ignored him. However, seeing the opportunity, Spade's parents were quick to ask Hoofdini if he would teach their son to control his magic, and he was more than happy to oblige. Yet, Spades refused to attend the lessons, and although the offer remained on the table, his parents had to look for other ways to help their son.

His parents, deciding to keep doing all they could to help him, in the end decided that he might benefit from a hobby or a responsibility, something to help him get his mind off his predicament. Thus, they decided to begin his training to become part of their act. To say the least, he was ecstatic at the idea of finally being able to take the center ring with his parents and worked as hard as he could. Little by little, the magical outbursts happened less and less, and even his eyes stopped changing color. As far as he was concerned, he had finally become a true earth pony, like his parents.

When he reached colt-hood, his debut finally came and he took the center ring with his parents, bathing in the spotlight and the cheers of the crowd. Along with his parents, they began their act to the continuous cheers of the crowd. First came the mantacore pyramid, then the ball balancing cockatrees, followed by more mantacores jumping through hoops, and each segment was done spectacularly as the crowd cheered and applauded, carefully watching the young beast tamer. Those who watched closely could have sworn they saw tears of pure joy rolling down the young colt's face, as they glistened across his now bright purple eyes.

His eyes had changed, not even his parents had noticed being too busy keeping an eye on the animals to make sure they didn't decided to suddenly make their son a meal. Little by little, things on the ring began to change. Benches began to float, the scattered hay on the floor would sprout flowers, and sections of the bars that surrounded the center ring to form a cage began to turn to licorice as the light and humming from his horn became louder and brighter. It began to become too much for them to not notice. The crowd however, thought it part of the act and began to laugh, and as Spades realized what was happening, he could only feel them laughing at him and not the spectacle that was taking place in the ring. His eyes changed back to their neutral gray as fear began to set in and his tears of joy turned to tears of panic. He could only observe as his parents did all they could to control the situation, making it a priority to control the animals to make sure nopony got hurt. And, just like that, he was out cold as a bright flash erupted from his horn and everything in the ring, including his parents were suddenly turned into chickens, his last clear memory being the roaring laughter of the crowd.

He awoke later in his family's carriage home, tears streaming down his cheeks as he begged his now restored parents to forgive him for being a unicorn and ruining their act. His parents could only hug and try to console him as they admonished him for saying such things. He was their son not matter what he was or what he did. He was too caught up trying to control his own sobbing that Spades didn't notice another pony in the room. It was Hoofdini, his act followed his parent's act and he had been near the ring when everything happened. He had been the one to restore everything back to normal, including his parents. And, as he stood there looking at the scene, a sodden sad expression on his face, he offered to teach him again.

'You tried your best kid, and I don't think anypony could have asked for more. In my eyes, you are an honest to goodness earth pony, just like your father and mother. But, some things just can't be ignored. Somepony could have gotten hurt, including your parents. Let me teach you to use magic. Let me be the first unicorn to teach an earth pony how to use magic...'

Spades simply sat in his bed looking up at his parents and Hoofini, tears no longer streaming down his cheeks. He thought about what had been said, and he thought long and hard as his head hung low almost buried into his mattress. After a while, he finally gave his reply, 'I want my act to use magic without using magic, like you promised!' and as he raised his head to reveal a pair of bright yellow eyes, he reached inside his nightstand and pulled out the deck his father had given him. 'Teach me more card tricks and how to pull rabbits from a hat!'

He had his first lesson the very next day. And, although he left his home gray eyed and sadden to go meet his new teacher near the circus tent, he returned purple eyed and screaming with joy as he sported his own cutie mark fresh on his flank.

[Chonico]

I want to apologize to anypone who has to read this. I realize its a huge wall of text... Just like my other 2 characters. What can I say? I start writing and next thing I know I'm 2-3 pages into it If anypony has suggestions on this, I am willing to listen. Even if it includes a wooden mallet hovering over my head set to a timer to drop when I reach a 30 minute mark or something

[BlindJester]

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooved it! (Bonus points if you get the reference) I approve! This is one of the best story/summery I've ever read!

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooved it! (Bonus points if you get the reference) I approve! This is one of the best story/summery I've ever read!

[Chonico]

Thank you for the compliment I have to say though, wall of text and all, I must be doing something right.

I'm 3 for 3 as far as getting my character apps approved on the first go

I have no idea where that's from, but I assume it has something to do with the two-headed dragon? No clue where he, err she... It? is from either.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Thank you for the compliment I have to say though, wall of text and all, I must be doing something right.

I'm 3 for 3 as far as getting my character apps approved on the first go

I have no idea where that's from, but I assume it has something to do with the two-headed dragon? No clue where he, err she... It? is from either.

Ha ha it's Dragon Tales. It's a kids show. Kinda in the same tier as ponies, I guess. Little more kidsy, and probably wouldn't really attract older fans like FiM does. But not all that bad. (XD I also have four younger siblings, otherwise I might not have voluntarily watched it.)

[Skye]