Fabled Archives (?) needs some friends!

[Zeig]

They've actually been accepted for a while now, but I never got around to making one of these…

Anyways, this relationship planning thread will be kind of tricky, since it involves two characters. The first is Fabled Archives, who actually shouldn't have that many relationships because he's been traveling abroad. But there are still a few he could have, some basic ones, so I'll outline them here:

 

Foalhood Friend/Rival - Pretty basic. A foalhood relation is one I look for for all my characters, since it adds time and history to a relationship. Only stipulation is that this character would have had to have lived in Kastrot, and most probably lived on the island that Arc's house owns. Or they were able to visit the port a lot of the times. This character can be either a friend or a rival, or both rolled into one.

Zebra tribes pony/Rescuer - Arc's been living in Unyasi within various tribes, though I imagine he took a shine to one in particular. This character would need to be a Zebra that's also lived in Unyasi for most of their life, definitely along the time Arc came long. Possibly somepony that liked to go on adventures with him. Another idea for this relationship is a pony who is not a Zebra, but who was traveling in Unyasi and happened to rescue Arc while he was out exploring/adventuring.

Siblings - Not so much planning but throwing it out there. I imagine Arc to be a big brother of sorts, but I didn't specify who/what siblings he had. So if anyone's interested in making a sibling character for Arc, let me know.

Now the real meat of this planning thread is for Heartless, a Changeling who has taken on Arc's face to travel around Equestria. Heartless will also take on other disguises, but Arc's disguise is his favorite. His MO is basically to travel around as Arc, and then swap disguises if he comes upon a particular target that he thinks he can exploit and will be interacting with more than once.

Some ideas:

 

Foalhood acquaintance/friend/rival - Since he grew up in Queen Chrysalis' Hive, I'm sure Heartless knew many of the other Changelings there. He could have an old rival for Chrysalis' attention, or just a Changeling he knew well. Heartless doesn't actually feel many emotions, but he'd still be able to fake feelings of friendship and affection that would be genuine - but only because Heartless knows having friends is considered a normal thing for someone to have. If that makes any sense. For all intents and purposes, a friendly relationship will work even for a character like Heartless.

Ex-Marefriend - Heartless takes Love in whatever form he can, so it's not out of the question that he would have made nice with a mare and dumped her without notice once he got bored of her particular taste of Love. There could be several of these - though I imagine Heartless would use different forms per city or something, so as not to spread a particular reputation for one disguise.

Army buddy - Heartless worked as a recon scout, but I imagine there were others he went on missions with. Maybe just a Changeling that worked in the same field as him. They could have a positive or negative relationship, doesn't really matter.

Medic/Doctor - After the failed invasion of Canterlot (and I think there was a forum canon invasion that happened during a Nightmare Night event here, too), I imagine Heartless could have been wounded in some way, enough that he had to stick around Equestria before slinking back to the Empire. He could have run into somepony that helped patched him up, let him stay in their home for a while, etc. Heartless could have either been disguised the whole time, or been unable to disguise his Changeling form (though I don't think a pony would have allowed a Changeling to be so near him/her just after an invasion). Either way, Heartless would have eventually left this pony to return to the Empire.

Anything - Heartless is a master manipulator, able to swap disguises and personalities to become whatever somepony needs him to be, and he does so in hopes of being able to feed off some form of Love from whatever pony he is interacting with. He could have been that one pony that rescued a character from the Everfree, the food critic who helped improved a baker's recipes, the photographer that promised to show off a model's portfolio to a famous agency - literally anything. If you have an idea of your character having met someone in the past that had an impact on them, either positive or negative, Heartless could have been that character.

Like always, these are just ideas that popped into my head. Feel free to suggest your own if you're interested in establishing a relationship with either of these characters, and we'll see if we can make it work! You can also check out my character log if you want more info on the characters, but it's mostly just expansion on the profile information.

[PyroBlaze]

Well, Flux could have interacted with Heartless before she lost her memory. I have her losing her memory because of the Canterlot invasion, so either military buddy or just plain friend/acquaintance could work. Of course, she wouldn't really recognize him, and he probably wouldn't know it was her unless he saw her changeling form.

[Hawkeye12]

Hm. I do have a zebra character in mind that I haven't apped for yet. He would be young-ish age, and maybe could look up to the (real) Arc as a big brother type thing? His personality would be similar to my peryton character, but with a better grasp on him than I had with September. I would still need to work out some details, but I'll just throw this out here, heheh. 

[Zeig]

@Pyro: Yeah, I'm operating under the assumption that Changelings don't have some secret power that lets them see through other Changeling disguises, it'd be pretty annoying. So he won't recognize her unless he sees her drop her disguise. Let's go with an old army buddy then, so they have another topic to relate to aside from being from the same Hive.

@Hawkeye: I'd be up for that! Having a younger Zebra look up to him like a big brother will feed into some of Arc's ego, but he'd be genuinely nurturing and friendly with the youngin. Lemme know if you want to iron out more details for their relationship, but I think it can definitely work for whenever you app the character.

[PyroBlaze]

Sounds good to me.

[Hawkeye12]

Alrighty! I'll probably end up posting the WIP version of him soon, so you can look at him and we can sort out some details and such.

[Zeig]

I'll be sure to keep an eye out for 'im! A grand adventure that turns out to be little more than a glamorized scavenger hunt set in Unyasi sounds like it'd be a fun time for Arc and his young Zebra friend.

[moonshineTheleocat]

Well for Fabled Archives, he could be a family Acquaintance of the Nova house. The family of Star Crusader, Voronoi fractal (Javasun), and Star Breezer. A bit more detail, after a marriage, there was a merge in with a lesser noble family of scholars Fractals, onto the military based family Nova. That being said, they do own an archive of years of research, both finished and unfinished from a multitude of ponies (even ones outside of the family). Along with copies of older and rarer tomes. Many of which may need translations to the modern tongue.

 

This could stim into a more friendly relationship. But it's just offering a location for him to make a pitstop.

 

You are welcome to making up more family names for this house. The nomenclature for Military based ponies follows the Nova house names, which are based on stars, skies, and galaxies. The founder of the family being named Nebual Tri-hoof (A poor mock of the Trifid Nebula), nick named Nova Blast.

 

And for Scholar based ponies, it follows the Fractals. Which is based off of Algorithms, Math, and data structures. Voronoi Fractal and Mandelbrot are both spacial algorithms. Some example, Hashed Atlas, (Hash Map - Algorithm/Data structure.), Bezier Twist (Bezier Curve - Algorithm/Math), Quater Knot, (A joke on Dual Quaternian - Math), Gibbal Locke (Gimbal's Lock - Math),  Round Birdy (Robbin-Round - Algorithm), and Bola Bola (Pair of bolas, or Parabola.)

 

 

And enemies for the Changling?

Welp... Star Crusader naturally. Nothing better than a Paladin hunting down an evildoer. Just imagine her warcry as she gives chase. A mixture of Frustration, Rage, and impending Justice upon the defiler of order. What a majestic sound that would be?

 

Though she has a "Gray" area. Even if she knows the pony is a chaotic evil changeling, it's her duty to give every creature a chance to reconcile. So... she'll be keeping a very... intense... close eye on him.

[Blueblood]

I think Kahz would make a perfect rival for Heartless.  While both are unshakeable Loyalists to the Hive, they're pretty much opposite in every respect.  Kahz is genuinely good-natured and authentic in his emotions, but also very ambitious, hyper-actively so.  I imagine they'd bump heads on many occasions, or work together grudgingly if called to do so.  Both, I imagine, would inwardly feel themselves superior to the other.

[Zeig]

@moonshineTheleocat: Sounds pretty good to me. I'd imagine Arc's family knows more about the knowledge that the Nova family has than Arc himself, but it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for him to write home with questions/comments and get an idea to stop by the Nova's.

Though the main family of Nova is located in Canterlot, isn't it? If/when Arc comes back to Equestria, I think I'm going to try and keep him more on the outskirts rather than the more popular places like Ponyville and Canterlot. That way Heartless has more time to run amok before someone is able to make a connection.

@Rackehammer: Oh, Heartless for a fact thinks he's better than everyone else. I think he might even subconsciously believe he's better than Queen Chrysalis, that's how arrogant he is. But at least in his head, Chrysalis is the best thing walking around on any combination of legs.

I like this idea, sounds great to me - though as a master at hiding/manipulating emotions, Heartless would hide his great disdain for Kahz, make it resemble just mild dislike. So I'm not sure how Kahz would treat their rivalry if Heartless keeps his end bottled up, so to speak. Maybe Kahz was able to figure out, or get a glimpse of, Heartless' true personality while they were still young, and knows that Heartless is just an extravagant actor.

[moonshineTheleocat]

@moonshineTheleocat: Sounds pretty good to me. I'd imagine Arc's family knows more about the knowledge that the Nova family has than Arc himself, but it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for him to write home with questions/comments and get an idea to stop by the Nova's.

Though the main family of Nova is located in Canterlot, isn't it? If/when Arc comes back to Equestria, I think I'm going to try and keep him more on the outskirts rather than the more popular places like Ponyville and Canterlot. That way Heartless has more time to run amok before someone is able to make a connection.

@Rackehammer: Oh, Heartless for a fact thinks he's better than everyone else. I think he might even subconsciously believe he's better than Queen Chrysalis, that's how arrogant he is. But at least in his head, Chrysalis is the best thing walking around on any combination of legs.

I like this idea, sounds great to me - though as a master at hiding/manipulating emotions, Heartless would hide his great disdain for Kahz, make it resemble just mild dislike. So I'm not sure how Kahz would treat their rivalry if Heartless keeps his end bottled up, so to speak. Maybe Kahz was able to figure out, or get a glimpse of, Heartless' true personality while they were still young, and knows that Heartless is just an extravagant actor.

 

 

Nope. Only two members lives in Canterlot. Java and his Jaded Skies. The main family home is in Fetloch along with most of their influence and power. Captain Star Breezer is a Duchess of Fetloch. Should be far enough away from the higher population areas. And has a long enough travel time.

 

Some notes...

 

The Nova family really wouldn't mind in donating resources either if asked, and presented with proof that the researcher in question is not a lost cause. In other words... the research is capable and is making progress.

For a family like Fable's the name the would know the best from the Nova family, or find the most popular would be Mandelbrot Fractal.

He is a Gray pegasus with long and neatly combed hair. His natural resting expression is usually akin to a mixture of pensive, irritation, and grumpy. He usually wears Wayfarer sunglasses. Well known for turning away aspiring students, being relatively strict, and absorbed in his work. A few of his quirks are his tendencies of answering questions with questions, making anything into philosophical queries, and pretty anal about data collection. Deceased however.

[Blueblood]

Oh, Heartless for a fact thinks he's better than everyone else. I think he might even subconsciously believe he's better than Queen Chrysalis, that's how arrogant he is. But at least in his head, Chrysalis is the best thing walking around on any combination of legs.

I like this idea, sounds great to me - though as a master at hiding/manipulating emotions, Heartless would hide his great disdain for Kahz, make it resemble just mild dislike. So I'm not sure how Kahz would treat their rivalry if Heartless keeps his end bottled up, so to speak. Maybe Kahz was able to figure out, or get a glimpse of, Heartless' true personality while they were still young, and knows that Heartless is just an extravagant actor.

 

I think Kahz would be perceptive enough to be able to discern Heartless' true self.  His physical deformities made it necessary for him to rely on social skills and reading other changelings in order to get anywhere in the Hive.  Plus, Kahz was really all over the place in his own younger days, trying to get a sense of how the Hive as a whole worked, so it's possible that he would have encountered Heartless in the more distant past, before he began play-acting.

 

So, how politically ambitious is Heartless, and what are his preferred means of getting his policy wishes across?  It would seem to me that Heartless is more of a Hardliner, as opposed to Kahz's Reformer tendencies.  Sort of a Ligachev-Gorbachev dynamic.

[Zeig]

@moonshine: Given their dedication to spell and magical research, Arc's family can undoubtedly get access to the same things the Nova family can, sans unique/specific/limited texts and the like. But their own knowledge is quite expansive, I doubt Arc would need to ask for donations. Unless he was researching something specific and discovered that the Nova family had some specific texts he needed, but that's a singular situation. 

 

Anyways, I can go with that idea (or the Ea'thr family being acquaintances with the Nova family) and Arc stopping by if he's digging around in the area. Them being located primarily in Fetloch works out better too, since it's more removed from Equestria main, meaning more likely for Arc to go rummaging for some interesting history. 

 

@Rackenhammer: That works out fine for me then. Yeah, I imagine that Heartless didn't realize the full potential of putting on a different mask until later in life, so at the start it's entirely possible Kahz could've seen/witnessed his true uncaring self while Heartless was still loudly getting his opinions known.

 

And it depends on what sort of policies you mean, exactly? Is Kahz trying to reform Changelings or Equestrians (i.e. Equestrian view on Changelings)? Heartless is more than likely a Hardliner - he believes the current Changeling policy (or what I assume the current policy is) is correct and that he is right in all things. I can totally see the two of our characters arguing "Nature vs Nurture" and all sorts of things.

[Blueblood]

Well, Kahz is very much an anti-militarist, though that's from his experience of two failed invasions as much as any sympathy for Equestria as such.  He fears that if Chrysalis persists, a third failure will bring about a critical lack of confidence in her rule, and trigger a mass defection.  Using diplomacy to buy time and peace to develop the frankly moribund domestic economy of the changeling kingdom is the best policy in his view.