Pegasus Cherry Dawn

[CherryRie]

Edit: WIP for update based on recent topics. No reapplication needed but just to let viewer’s know this is not presently 100% cannon for her. Character still active, consider this a template upon which the various story events will be applied.

Update: Added Key Relationships and topic links.

Update: During an upcoming rp, at Sir Virtue's recommendation in :"topiclink": Cherry's appearance and name will change somewhat. Presently the format show is my padding out of this consept, and the profile will be reverted soon to its original layout until the changes are needed.

[ Pony Related Character ]

Name:Cherry Godfeather Dawn

(presently in hiding under the alias ; Cherry Blossom)

Sex:Female

Age:Filly (teen)

Species:Pegasus

Pelt Colour: Naturally Mulberry, presently Bleached Grey as part of her disguise

Mane/Tail Colour & Style: Deap mouve with a near-white stripe on the far left. Mid length mane, practical cut but has clearly been well stiled in the past. Tail has recently been cut shorter then most, looks hurried. Normaly she would have both mane and tail braided and both significantly longer, however recent circumstances have forced her to take steps to alter her regular aperance; Both have been bleached and have lost much of their colouration, leaving them a pail cherry pink.

Eye Colour: Brillient sanguine red

Cutie Mark: Three pink petals blowing away from a cupped flower

Physique: Scrawny

Accessories Saddle bags and a garish lime green scarf

Residence: Born in Cloudsdale, Raised in Manehatten and presently on the run.

Occupation: Councillor, though takes any job she can get for extra bits. Presently works and lives at Shining Berry Fields.

Motivation: Seeking a job and an outlet for her own worries. Though she unquestioningly takes on the problems of others, she often finds herself becoming overburdened. Despite her unusual family life, she dose her best to see the best in life even in the bleakest of moments.

Likes: Meeting new ponies and hearing their stories. Experiencing the world. Lifting the spirits of those around her, even to her own detriment.

Dislikes: Stress. Criminals. Talking about herself. Letting others down.

Character Summary:

Hailing from an unusual family of 'wealthy' Cloud-Builder ponies, Cherry found her love for life early in life and relished sharing her gift with others. Never one for social seclusion, Cherry avoided most of the usual playground Cliques, instead floating amongst various groups of Friends. Though she was never anyone's 'best friend' it was pretty clear that she had a knack for getting along with other foals. Even the class bullies seemed to mellow around her, as though she was the calm eye at the center of the storm that was foal hood.

Though she would never admit it, the filly was the odd ball of her family, being that their more 'discrete' sources of income were barely on the cusp of legal. Whenever various uncles came to visit they would always go to her father's study to converse away from prying ears. Though the matters they discussed away from the family had never really interested her as a foal, when her older brother began to be invited into these meetings curiosity got the better of her. Cherry considered herself smarter than your average pony, and proved it when she was able to ascertain the true nature of her family's business from bits and pieces of information gleaned for eavesdropping. Intoxicants of all forms were banned in Cloudsdale for obvious reasons, namely the council couldn't afford to keep rebuilding half the city whenever some over-salted Pegasus ran into a support cloud. But this did not mean such things were unavailable. Whatever your poison, the Godfeather's were on hoof to provide.

Mustering her courage, Cherry confronted her Grandfather, Squire Godfether. Unexpectedly the old stallion wasn't angry at all. More than anything in fact, he seemed pleased that his young grand-daughter had inherited his brains, unlike her brother, who needed the whole thing explained three times when he'd been invited to join the business. The next day, the stallion took her into the city to see the true nature of the world they lived in. It wasn't nearly as insidious as the filly had imagined but somehow that made it all the worse. The city guard seemed entirely aware of their activities and permitted handily. The bottom line was, some ponies would always find away to get their hooves on recreational produce and if someone wasn't in charge things could so easily get out of control. With the family in charge of imports they knew exactly how much was in circulation at any one time and could regulate the trade of product. As her Grandpa had explained "If you're going to have crime, my girl, it may as well be organized."

Though the old stallion had a fair point, Cherry still wasn't convinced. But she loved her grandfather dearly, however tainted the business had made him. Assured that this was the lesser of two evils, Cherry learned to accept the family business as the norm. However, this did nothing to allay the unease she felt. Things only became worse when her father moved their whole family to Manehatten to set up a new Arm of the business.

Azure Skies was an unusual pony. He didn’t ‘herd’ or feel compassion and love in the same way other ponies did. On top of this, he was ruthless in his intellect.

“Azure is just... wrong. You can see it in his eyes when you speak to him, like he’s hollow inside. More importantly, he’s poison. A pony can go to him as a perfectly model citizen, innocent as a flower, and Azure will take everything good about them and twist it. The longer you stay around him, the more like him you become, cold heartless and brutal. Ponies who ain’t never hurt a fly will do the most terrible things just cus he tells them its a good idea. What’s worse, they won’t see that it’s wrong, they can’t. I know this sounds crazy but it’s like he won’t let them know black from white.” –Rich Tea

Azure saw that the best way to make bits was to take something no pony wanted, and turn it into something every pony NEEDED. Rhubarb leaf has never been banned in any equestrian city despite its poisonous and addictive properties. Why outlaw something when everypony knows how it can mess you up? By the time the guards realized that there was a problem, half of Manehatten’s Earth ponies were hooked on ‘the leaf’. Lacking her grandfather's distinct moral standing, Cherry's father began to operate as a catalyst for crime in the city. Through his lieutenants and sub Dons, Azure Skies set about constructing an entire false economy, turning the entire city against itself while ensuring that he came out ontop.

In the gritty metropolis, Cherry began to see what the Godfeathers could become in her father’s hooves; immoral peddlers willing to sacrifice the happiness of others for the sake of few bits. It was quite the predicament for the young foal. Half of all the home-issues she heard about from her friends were beings caused by her family. If she could she would have torn down the whole thing. But at the end of the day, they were family.

Trying to avoid involvement in the business proved difficult, but while she could do nothing to prevent the damage, she would do her best to clean up after it. While her father’s business provided a shallow ephemeral way of relieving pain, Cherry strove find something more permanent. Whether it was a shoulder to cry on or a change of context, the foal quickly became the pony that all her class mates went to when they needed to talk in confidence. With open arms she drew in their worries, lightening the burden of life in the crumbling city and helping them to make the best of their lives. While she could council and advize those who were willing to listen, some problems were lost beneath ponies own anguish.

Her true talent lay here. Much as her father could use a ponies own emotions to corrupt them, so too Cherry could lift away their fears, pain and despair. Gradually, Cherry began to realize that this ‘empathy’ was her special talent and soon her cutie mark appeared, sealing the deal. Three petals floating away from a pink cherry blossom, symbolizing her hope to carry away the troubles of others like a gentle summer breeze. Deceptive though, for the breeze cannot carry pestles forever. All the pain she took away had to go somewhere and, unwilling to deposit it onto some other soul, shouldered it herself.

As the years unfurled into Fillyhood she started working for a division of the weather pegasi over Manehatten, while privately she became the local agony aunt, much to her father's disgust. Since turning down her father's offer of a job within the family her relationship with her parents had become ever more strained. She was the next generation for the family, smarter than her brother and with the gift of a voice that could rap other ponies around her hoofs should she choose. And here she was, throwing it all away to help some petty no-ponies.

They attempted to restrict her once or twice, having two ‘body guards’ called Buxer and Bolt follow her around. Much to the embarrassment of the two lackeys, they found that in her presence not even the tank like stallions seemed intimating. Perhaps the one who came closest to restraining Cherry’s self imposed mission of mercy was her Coltfriend, Rich Tea. Though somewhat lacking in spine, the color blind Pegasus was her closest friend and companion through the darkest times.

As she began seeing more fallout from Azure’s business the guilt thickened and became harder to deal with. Every day, ponies would come to her and pour out their hearts, showing the scars of her father's dirty business. Every day, she would shoulder more and more pain until it felt as though her soul wanted to tear itself in two.

Nopony can give forever and Cherry's sacrificial cycle was driving her into the ground. Gradually she became ever more dependent on her own vices as a means of escape. Barely a mare and already an alcoholic, much to Rich’s distress.

Events finally came to ahead after a particularly awful intervention left her in desperate need of release. Finding herself in one of her father’s regular establishments, she met an ageing stallion by the name of Maximilion Rockefilly. After a confrontation with Max’s business associates, Cherry discovered new aspects to her abilities and that sometimes the end can justify the means.

“A purge, yes. But not by Azure,” The stallion stressed, hoping that his openness would at satisfy his interrogator’s demands. “A week after Cherry disappeared everything just imploded. Crooked business owners and goons turned themselves over to the garrison commander. Guards that’d been on the take for years rejected their payments and started arresting their bribers. Dons who ran protection rackets in the city showed up at the garrison with documents incriminating dozens of subordinates. Azure’s own lieutenants either offered themselves or ended up committed to a sanatorium.” Bittersweet Betrayal

For several months the filly traveled around, seeing the sights of Equestria, but never staying long in one place, always helping where ever she could. In time her travels brought her too Fillidelphia, where she settled for nearly a week. Here, surprisingly, she met with Rich Tea again, the stallion apparently visiting on a business trip. Despite spending a wonderful evening together, sadly Cherry’s paranoia turned out to be well justified. Tea had been affected by her father, blackmailed into betraying her trust and attempting to retrieve her, lest Azure send violent mercenaries to do the job for him.

Thankfully the timely arrival of the knight Errant, Virtue, saved the filly from whatever twisted revenge her father had in store. However, her fiancé’s betrayal scarred her deeply, and she fled the city broken hearted.

After flying for nearly two days straight, the filly became lost in the Everfree forest. Barely escaping with her life, the exhausted pony finally found refuge in an abandoned barn on the borders of Ponyville.

By some astounding coincidence, Sir Virtue happened to pick the same barn to seek shelter from a particularly violent thunderstorm. After nearly being assaulted by the frantic filly, Virtue convinced her to remain in Ponyville for a time under his protection.

Unfortunately, after the shock of Rich’s betrayal, her mistrust of others had festered like an exposed wound. Agoraphobic to the point of inaction, Vitue proposes a change of look and identity, a fresh start in a new town.

Relationships:

Maximillion Rockefilly: Max? I like him. He lived in a dream, a cage forged from a despirate desire to appease his long dead father. The things he has been a part of, the ponies he has hurt, that can never be undone. But now that he is awake he can how long his shadow has become. The old Buck has a lot to atone for, but if there’s hope for him, then there’s hope for all. The stallion who pulled me back from the precipice of my own martyrdom and showed me that sacrifice is meaningless without a lasting legacy.

Sir Virtue: Oh my knight in Shining armor, ever vigilant yet demanding nothing in return for his kindness. In many ways he’s the older brother I never had. He’s always there for me, stoic and unyealding, a shoulder to cry on no matter what silly thing I’m upset about. Mind you, all that training and stiff-upper-lip honor business from his days at the Destriers has left him incredibly uptight and socially conscious, thus earning himself a place as my side project. I will get old stone face to enjoy the more whimsical side of life, even if it REALLY frustrates me.

Strawberry Fields: Every pony has a little lie we tell ourselves, a mask we ware before the herd. It just so happens that her’s is a hat. Berry’s heart is in the right place and her hooves firmly on the soil of her grandfather’s farm. If only she could find that spark without relying on ghosts to support her.

Swift Breeze: Lonely. That’s all that comes to mind when I see this young monk. It’s buried so deeply beneath those layers of hardened discipline, but I feel it as surely as his heart beat.

Rich Tea: … Betrayal is bitter sweet. I don’t know if I will ever love again.

[BlindJester]

How is this application coming?

[CherryRie]

Well I'm a little conserned for the core consept atm. I need to speak with Mane about it, but I haven't been able to catch her for long enough. That's one pony with a lot on her plate ^^,

Essentially I've been struggling to get cherry to the point where she not only has a realistic personality but also a rich history while still being a playable character. Anywho, Freddie and I were bouncing around ideas and we ended up chatting about the possibility of a mafia esc organisation operating inside equestira, due mostly to the fact that I've been watching way too much film noir recently. The profile got bounced around a bit between various help staff (with a lot of help from Dio bless his heart) and the verdict we came too was that the character personlity was pritty good, but the appearance of an organised crime sindicate would be a sticking point.

Honestly the more I think about it the more I see it as being a bad idea. I've toned it down about as far as I can without getting into 'pie flinging' territory. But no matter how well trimmed I make the concept, it still opens that particular floodgate for anyone who wants a character based in organised crime, even if technicaly Cherry is not. Though the core concept is somewhat amusing, that's mostly because I know how to spin things so that they would remain tame enough for the fim universe while adding just enough juxtaposition to be humours.

At the end of the day, this might be opening a can of worms for anyone less interested in parody and more interested in being mean.

[BlindJester]

Well I'll try to bring it up to Mane next time I see her and I'll get back to you with what she said.

[CherryRie]

After having chatted with Skye he dosn't think there'd be much of a problem so long as its toned down and cartoonish, hence the slight changes to the family name and such.

Either way I think it should be ready for real vetting now. So wip removed!

Yay or Neigh? Any suggestions? Or is it fine the way it is?

I know I'm kind rushing this but Kudalyn is waiting on me before they can carry on with the Berry Feilds rp and I hate letting people down >.>

[Dio]

The application as it stands is fine. The portrayal of Cherry's family and her view of their actions is up to you to act out in your RPs. This has come a long way since I first began reviewing it and I think your reworked concept has potential. It's up to you now to realize it. Assessed.

[Manestream]