Rakshasa (READY)

[Imagination]

"Oh my, darling, don't tell me you've been living with a face like that! Let me fix it for you~"

 

Roleplay type: World of Equestria

 

Name: Rakshasa

 

Sex: Female

 

Age: Mare

 

Species: Changeling

 

Eye colour: Amethyst

 

Coat: Black chitin

 

Mane/Tail: Her mane and tail, if they can be called that, are a light violet, worn in an obvious attempt to simply keep it contained. Her mane she takes most special care of, using a pony-o of gold to keep it in a ponytail.

 

Physique: Lithe, even for a changeling. She's a frail thing. She prefers to remain in her natural form as opposed to donning a pony-sona.

 

Residence: Stalliongrad. Close enough to the hive to not feel homesick and far enough away from it to not be bothered.

 

Occupation: She calls herself a 'face-sculptor', though in reality she's just sharing the Changeling gift with Equestria... or anypony else with enough bits to hire her services. She is the owner of the Stallingrad shop "The Changeling".

 

Cutie Mark: None

 

Unique Traits: Illusion master - Her former occupation within Chrysalis' invasion forces gives her great insight on the capabilities and utilizations of Changeling magic. The talent that was once used to train invaders is now used to make ponies believe they are as beautiful as they want to be. With the help of other magics and potions, she has found ways to make her illusions practically permanent! To an extent... After all, what's a business without repeat customers?

 

Alchemist - Since leaving the hive, she has found a great joy in potion-making, and has even discovered ways to amplify her illusion magics! In the few short years since she's left the hive, she's made great progress in her craft, thought she's always interested in learning more. For now, she's happy to have enough knowledge to provide her service, and rake in the bits.

 

History: Rakshasa was born like any other Changeling: Hatched from an egg in the dark halls of a Changeling citadel, nopony to knowingly call mother or father. Everything she ever did from childhood on into adulthood was for the good of the hive. But one thing in particular she was good at was her ability to change. "Big deal, all Changelings are good at that, they're born with it" you say? Her lessons on how to fine-tune her natural abilities only inspired her to do more, accomplish more, and share more with her hive. In what spare time she had, which was practically none with her other duties such a keeping watch, scavenging, and tunneling, she practiced her illusions, getting more and more daring as her skills grew. Over time, she learned to isolate specific parts of the body to make them appear different, experimenting with many different combinations, such as a pony with just one griffon leg and a diamond dog tail. While it looked ridiculous and was difficult to maintain, you would swear it was a true abomination of nature, rather than a Changeling being silly.

 

Her understanding and skill with the capabilities of what your usual drone should know and beyond, she was assigned to train young Changelings in the arts of manipulation, infiltration, and disguise. Deemed one of the hives few true 'Masters of Disguise', she carried her responsibility with authority. She trained many invaders, ensuring that even another Changeling may hive difficulty telling the difference. She demanded perfection in one's appearance, and made sure to coach her underlings on how to perfect their individual persona's appearances. The proof was in details. Even though Equestria as a whole hadn't experienced Changeling magic, it was easy to tell something was off just by looking at it. That was the challenge they needed to overcome: to fool even the most scrutinizing eye. 

 

Her teachings, along with those of others like her, were all put to the ultimate test when Queen Chrysalis made the daring assault on Canterlot. Rakshasa had stayed behind, much to her disliking. She wanted to see her handiwork in action, and she was worried for her pupils. It wasn't until after the stragglers were rounded up that she was finally told what had happened. Everything went seamlessly at first. Nopony was the wiser as the royal wedding was being planned. The guard leadership had been suppressed, the population infiltrated, and the city's state of alarm was nearly non-existent. However, something had gone wrong. Something had tipped them off, and one thing led to another. First, the shield. It went up, trapping the initial wave of infiltrators in the city and closing off any possibility of further reinforcements. Then, during a visit from Celestia's star pupil, the Queen herself played an unconvincing role, which eventually lead to a catastrophic operational failure. 

 

Once animosities cooled off and other Changelings began to go their own way, Rakshasa decided to do the same. The former hive Master of Disguise decided she was going to start her own business! If you're good at something, why not make a profit on it? She traveled for many days before eventually finding a place in Stalliongrad. Under the persona "White Lotus", she worked many odd jobs, several retail professions and a part-time alchemy assistant, just trying to make enough money to put a roof over her head and get her out of the common house. When at last that dream became a reality, she decided it was as good a time as any to start her business. But, a good business model revolves around honesty. So, she took time to reveal her true self to those she had worked with, who in turn told everypony around them about who White Lotus really was. She was surprisingly well-received, as it seems honesty goes a long way. But with that out of the way, it was time to make some money! Her business started small enough, operating out of her apartment in the city. It started of as an amusement, ponies wanting a temporary illusion to play a prank, or get themselves out of trouble. But eventually, word of her services spread, both to clients wealthy and shady. No matter, so long as they had the coin. 

 

Combined with her alchemy magic, her illusions are well worth any investment! While she cannot physically change a pony, she can change their outward-most appearance! For a price! Her services are expensive and discriminating, but you get what you pay for.

 

Character Summary: Rakshasa's business model is centered on honesty. In her case, brutal honesty. She doesn't have much of a filter when it comes to telling her clients how she feels about their appearance, but she feels it's for the best. Even if it's an exaggerated truth, it's usually enough to make ponies consider her services just for the chance that others might not think so too! Ponies seemed to have much more fragile self-esteem than her chitin-covered comrades had. 

 

She has a very high opinion of herself, coming from a place of success in the hive, and finding herself in yet another place of success through hard work and tough business. The fact she she's a Changeling who built up her own business in Equestria is a huge point of pride for her, and she'll gladly dare any Equestrian illusion magic-user to match her expertise. Humility is not one of her strong suits... Luckily, you don't need to be humble to be rich. Rakshasa likes money. A lot. She'll very often do whatever it takes to make a sale, and make sure that client keeps coming back for more. Even if it means breaking a few hearts and wallets. Of course, she's much warmer for her more discriminating clientele... When they finally decide to lighten their purses, the money-grubbers...

 

With that being said, as honest as she is, that honesty can be bought. She does deal with less-than-legal clients, but what good businesslady doesn't keep a ledger? All it takes is the right pricetag, and a guard can have all the information they want! Or anypony else who's interested for that matter. But, you get what you pay for when you buy a glamour at The Changeling, so what's the harm?

 

 

[QuickLime]

..Her and Mirage sound like they'd be a scary force united

[Imagination]

Indeed!

 

Anyway, I guess it's good. Ready for my thrashing!

[Lux]

Looks like a good app. I'll pass it to the next step for review! 

[RainbowFoxxy]

Looks like a fun character!