Unicorn Memory Lane [READY]

[Slazer]

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria

Name: Memory Lane

Sex: Male

Age: Young Stallion

Species: Unicorn

Eye colour: Dark blue-green

Coat: Solid orange with no blemishes or marks, religiously kept clean by its owner. He wears an open yellow dress vest with a matching bow-tie on days when appearances matter, otherwise he goes without.

Mane/Tail: Dark reddish-brown. His mane is styled into several smooth bangs in the front, and straightened past his barrel in the back. His tail is long, clean, and straightened into a long, lightly twisted length that- thanks to his height- does not touch the ground. He usually wears a bright yellow fez when on school grounds, but swaps it out for one of a similar hue as his mane otherwise.

Physique: Tall and thin, almost lanky compared to normal ponies- even ones of comparable height. Though fit, he possesses little to no muscle definition. His horn is long and smoothly segmented, ending in a wickedly sharp tip.

Residence: Canterlot

Occupation: University Student, School for Gifted Unicorns/Canterlot University.

Cutie Mark: An open book with a magnifying glass highlighting the right-side page, between two lines of words.

Memory Lane always had a passion for ancient history, spending days out of the week pouring over any historical records and he could find in the orphanage's small library and, after being adopted, in his foster-father's much more impressive personal collection of ancient memoirs, journals, and diaries. Hour after hour he spent marveling at the wonders of days long past as seen by the ponies who had actually lived them, enthralled by the memories within.

After being accepted to the School for Gifted Unicorns, Memory Lane decided to start making history as well as reading it. He began keeping a journal at all times and recording everything that happened to him, all of the major school events as well as day-to-day things that he enjoyed. Over the first six years of his time at the School for Gifted Unicorns, Memory Lane filled nearly thirty journals- copious notes that he made use of to write and publish his first book, "In The Light of Her Majesty", about his experiences as a student in the most renown school in Equestria. It's poignant combination of observations and emotion painted a vivid picture of student life that casual readers found both enjoyable and informative, and that fellow students found incredibly true to life as well as a good read.

A year after the publishing of his book, Memory Lane attended a book-signing event on campus with the expectation of seeing a few dozen ponies at most. What he found was over a thousand ponies from four of the five regions and even a few Griffins from as far away as Talonpolis, all eager for his signature in their copies. In the face of their praise and presence, Memory Lane felt truly accomplished and joyful for the first time in years, and it was in their wake that his cutie mark finally appeared upon his flank. True to form, he noted the event in his journal, marking the day with a crude drawing of his cutie mark and taking the first step in recording the next six years of his life.

History: Memory Lane spent his first few years in an Inner Canterlot orphanage, having been left there by his birth parents when they realized they were too young and their situation too unstable to support him properly. He wound up adopted by a noble-pony couple at the behest of the mare- a pretty young thing named Runway- who wanted a foal without ruining her figure. The stallion, a royal scribe named Carbon Copy, was not so thrilled about being badgered into parenthood- but he approached the task wholeheartedly for the sake of his new son.

His early colthood with his new step-parents was a turbulent one, marred by Runway's cherished career falling to pieces in the wake of a debilitating injury to her leg two years after his adoption- and with it most of her happiness. Carbon Copy's and Runway's marriage grew stronger despite, or perhaps because of, the tragedy, and with no other obligations, Runway was able to raise Memory Lane with the care, attention, and affection she had always wanted to.

Runway was a doting mother, but a strict one as well: with Carbon Copy away at the Royal Court for sixteen hours out of every day, it fell to her to keep her son in line- which she did with both words and punishment. Never once did she hurt him, however, and she always made her reasons for being such a naggart clear to the young colt, and over time he came to appreciate her tireless efforts at making sure his hooves stayed planted firmly on the straight and narrow

As the years past, what time Memory Lane didn't spend with his mother, he spent in his father's vast personal library, pouring over the privately owned collection of tomes, diaries, journals, and memoirs dating back as far as the Pre-Discordian era. Unable to relate well with the rather snobby children of the other Canterlot elite, it was in the ponies speaking to him through these books that Memory Lane found his "friends"; their thoughts formed the basis of his opinions and beliefs about the world, and their emotions helped him learn about his own. He became fascinated in the way that a pony's essence and thoughts could be immortalized in such personal accounts about the world, and their experiences forged in him a desire to never give up in the face of adversity, and to hold things dear to you close to your heart. They also, however, showed him the dangers of unconditional trust and taking things at face value; tales of betrayal and lost love shook Memory Lane's trust in ponies who wanted to get to know him, and aside from his mother, he never let anypony else- regardless of age- become his friend until much later in his life.

Memory Lane began his formal schooling in magic kindergarten like any other colt, but it quickly became apparent that he had an unusual form of magical potential when, during a class activity, he cast a spell and was able to mimic what a young filly was saying as she said it. As such, his parents applied to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns on his behalf and allowed him to take the entrance exam. For his test, two filly students he had had no contact with beforehand were brought into the room, and Memory Lane was asked by the administrator to learn what their favorite foods were without asking them directly.

Memory Lane put his all into the task. His first attempt was to replicate the spell he had used on the foal from his old class, but he found himself unable to read the slightly older and much more skilled unicorn fillies' minds. Next, he drew on his observations of noble-ponies and asked them a series of leading questions in an attempt to make them accidentally name their favorite foods off-hand; the two students, of a similar background and with much more social experience, were smart enough not to fall for it. Memory Lane spent hours in front of the duo, trying every method he could think of until well into the night. Finally, the administrator was forced to put an end to the test, and a disheartened Memory Lane left the School thinking he had failed. However, the administrator was greatly impressed by both the magic he attempted at the beginning of the test and by his unwavering determination to succeed, and personally appealed for Memory Lane's acceptance into the School. He convinced the upper administration of Memory Lane's potential, and hoof-delivered the acceptance letter to the young colt with the promise that such a will would get him far in both the School and in Equestria as a whole.

Joining the ranks of the School for Gifted Unicorns at a belated age compared to other students, Memory Lane chose his goals early on and stuck to them. He became part of the Honors College within the School in his second year, and filled his schedule to bursting with courses on advanced magic and ancient Equestrian history. Despite the literal piles of schoolwork that materialized, the aspiring personal historian also tried to socialize to the best of his ability, though he made few friends with his extremely limited free time and debilitating trust issues.

That changed when he published his first book, "In The Light of Her Majesty", during his seventh year at the university. The runaway success that his personal recollection of his first six years as a student at the School for Gifted Unicorns became finally affirmed in Memory Lane's mind that the path he had chosen was the right one for him, granting him his cutie mark for the world to see. The book sales and popularity gave him the connections and bits he needed to finally step out of his parents' shadow and become his own stallion within the School, ascending to prefect status in his eighth year. Additionally, ponies from across Equestria and even a few Griffins wanted to be his friend, though he let few do so out of fear that they were only talking to him because of what he had accomplished.

Now, in his tenth year in the School for Gifted Unicorns, Memory Lane is riding high on the currents of life. An A- student, published historian, and magical prodigy- and all during the prime of his youth. As he is approaching the end of his time at the School and is taking fewer classes as a result, he has more free time to pursue interests outside of academic pursuits, including work on his next book.

Character Summary: Memory Lane is a rather gifted pony. His special talent is an uncanny ability to read between the lines of what someone says or writes, and see what they are really feeling- a gift that feeds into his love of and desire to create personal accounts of history and life, and into his unique magical talent: the ability to utilize spells that can peer into the mind of a willing creature and see their memories and thoughts. Should he focus hard enough, he can even create a "vision" of a pony's memory within both of their minds, allowing them to relive the past. He is unable to do this on a resisting or unaware pony, unless they willingly lower their guards.

As a foal from an orphanage living under the eyes of nobility, Memory Lane has always felt a need to prove himself in the eyes of others. This is the major reason behind his dedication to his academic studies, and why his cutie mark did not appear until after the success of his first book; he finally feels as though he has achieved equal status to the ponies who surrounded him growing up. Now, he has turned his eye towards both recording his life and, as a direct extension of that goal, living a life worthy of being a window into the age in which he lives.

As a blanket statement, Memory Lane has little patience for foolishness, and tends to have a short fuse in the face of unwarranted levity. He is often accused of having no sense of humor, and is a frequent target of comments telling him to "lighten up." Despite this, he has a genuine desire to make friends, and is willing to bite his tongue at the more irritating sides of a pony- to him, at least- rather than outright dismiss someone over one undesirable side. In conversation, he is well-spoken and collected most of the time, making it easy for other ponies to strike up a conversation or ask a question. He is out-and-out honest to ponies he trusts, but to earn that trust takes a good deal of time and effort.

Memory Lane takes part in numerous activities outside of his academic work. He reads often, taking books from the university library in groups of five or more and pouring over them in two days or less. He participates in the university Magic Duel club, though he often ranks poorly because of his specialized magical talent, and he has a particular love of the Inner Canterlot night-life scene, often staying out until the sun begins to rise in wild raves orchestrated by the local clubs. Beyond these hobbies, Memory Lane likes to travel, to see more of Equestria and the world at large, and has a particular desire to visit the Griffin city of Talonpolis. He often walks the city of Canterlot during the daylight and nighttime hours just to do so, and records much of what he sees there.

For all of his gifts, Memory Lane is not as great as he wishes he could be. His magic is weak outside of his natural memory manipulation spells; his telekinesis is limited to objects less than twenty pounds, and he is only able to handle two or three objects at a time. A lifetime of academic pursuits and pampered living has left him relatively weak physically. He is also quite obsessive when he devotes himself to a task, unwilling to accept anything less than perfection- even if it drives him to the breaking point in the process. His greatest fear is that he will be forgotten by the world, that everything he does will mean nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Memory Lane looks up to ponies like Twilight Sparkle, who achieved greatness through her actions and will always be remembered by history. That is what he wants to become: perhaps not an Alicorn, but a pony who can deliver history to historians some millennium down the road through his actions, words, experiences, and feelings. Somepony to remember and be remembered for an age to come.

[GhostGirl]

Hi there! I'm Ghost Girl, and I'm going to be your Spirit Guide*, but you can call me Ghostie.

What I see before me is a very, very well rounded character. Good job! He's interesting and unique without being obnoxious or stereotypical. I like it. There is one thing that I need to point out, however. I'm afraid that, for our board canon, the dragon-hatching test is unique to Twilight Sparkle's entrance exam. You'll need to remove that, but, quite frankly, I don't see you having a problem replacing it with something fitting.

I will point out that we usually do not allow orphan characters, but you've done an orphan character in a non-tragic way. An SRPH may have something different to say about it, but I personally feel like this character will fit into WoE.

The last thing I want to point out is that Memory Lane's particular magical talent feels a little... overpowered. The way you describe it in the character summary passes just fine for me, but the way he utilized it with discovering the filly's name before she even said it to him doesn't seem in line with your description of the spell. What I'm going to suggest is that you take that bit out, but perhaps replace it with something along the lines of... someone was telling him about themselves and he ended up guessing the end of the story nearly out of left field because of his talent. You aren't required to follow that particular suggestion by any means, but I don't think the original mention of it in his history will work.

Once you get these done, please post in this thread letting me know, and we can move on from there!

*^{Dio made me do it.}

[Slazer]

Thank you for your feedback. I've been working on this character for quite some time for a story idea I've been trying to fill out, so I'm pleased to know he's turned out well.

Insofar as his magical ability: I don't think my description was as clear as I would have liked. The idea is that he can read the thoughts of either willing or weak-minded ponies; the former meaning that they have to consciously clear their minds and allow him to tap into their thoughts, and the latter meaning very young or inexperienced creatures, or non-sentient or semi-sentient animals like dogs and the like. Any normal colt or filly- of any race- at the age of, say, Scootaloo or older could block him out easily, and trying to read the mind of a more powerful magically-inclined creature of any age would be out-and-out impossible without consent. The use of the spells involved isn't particularly subtle, either- requiring a buildup of magical energy and a degree of focus not unlike what Twilight Sparkle needed to deal with the Ursa Minor in Ponyville, though not as mentally taxing.

That being said, you're right about the way he learned about his magical ability not fitting into how I described it. I have adjusted that part of his history and his exam, as well as run the entire application through the spellchecker and a second proof-reading. I'm not sure how I forgot to do that before marking it ready for viewing.

[GhostGirl]

While that works a lot better, I have to say that including the ability being able to work on weak-minded ponies (unwilling ponies at all, i'm afraid) isn't really in the tone for WoE. You don't have to change the story of his discovery of his ability. Since the filly was already saying something, she was obviously willing to share it. Basically the ability, if I'm understanding you correctly, would allow Memory Lane to learn things that the spell's target isn't trying to hide.

That would be the only thing keeping me from passing it onto an SRPH at this point. Let me know if I'm wrong on my interpretation of your character or when you've changed that last bit!

[Slazer]

You're not wrong in your interpretation, though Memory Lane isn't the type of pony to forcibly read the mind of another.

To better adhere to the tone of WoE, I've changed it to be usable only on willing creatures.

[GhostGirl]

Thank you very much for being so cooperative and pleasant about this! I'm going to go ahead and pass this up to a SRPH. If they see anything that I missed or that I misjudged, they'll let you know.

[SteelEagle]

Very good job!