Pegasus Parhelion[FINAL]

[Trilobite]

Name: 'Par' Parhelion

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Pegasus

Pelt Color: Light gray

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Long, braided, and white for both.

Eye Color: Bright blue

Cutie Mark: A white circle around a star. Two smaller rings on either side are bisected by the main ring, and have their own, smaller stars inside. There's a faint opalescence in the cutie mark. (Please see below).

Physique: Long of limb, slender and graceful, with very long wings for a pegasus his size.

Origin: Cloudsdale born, living in Stalliongrad.

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria RP.

Occupation: Weatherpony.

Motivation: The freedom and silence of the highest flights, the shifting beauty of cloudscapes, the bracing feel of ice and snow on hide and feathers, and being part of a good team.

Likes: Long, high-altitude solo flights, playing in the snow, seeing new places.

Dislikes: Loudmouths, short-sightedness, and ewww, bugs!

Character Summary:

Born and raised in Cloudsdale, Parhelion was proud to be a pegasus and certain he would become a weatherpony. He'd always liked cold winds and snowy days, so he had thought he might work in the snowflake smithy when he was older.

A weak-winged, clumsy flier, Par always had trouble around other foals, but his parents, both former racers and now top weatherponies, never showed an ounce of disappointment that their son did not seem to share their talents.

After a particularly frustrating day of cloud-and-sky sports at school, Parhelion took off on a solo flight, just to get away for a while. Solo flights away from the city were strictly against his parent's rules for the young colt, but they were at a storm-building conference and wouldn't be home until late that late, and the young colt desperately needed time alone.

As usual, Parhelion's wings quickly grew tired. Resigned, he started to turn back when something happened. A wind tickled his wings in a way he'd never felt before, inviting, almost beckoning as it moved up through his pinions. It was a great stream of air lifting up and over a set of high hills. Parhelion caught the wind, and found that somehow, his wings settled right into into, that it buoyed his body up effortlessly. The slightest adjustments let him move side to side, and he circled back instinctually, easily gaining altitude. This was what other pegasi felt like! He'd never flown this way before. He rose higher and higher, slipped from the upward stream to a thermal, his heart rising with him.

A high-altitude wind beckoned, and he angled into it, then into another, and another, each time moving higher, each time in a slightly different direction, until he was racing high above Equestria, watching the sun set far below and feeling the indigo sky embrace him. Far below was a bank of ice clouds, and as the sun caught them the lit in a magnificent ring that flared out on either side, the flares stretching and splitting off to become two bright miniature suns. Parhelion watched, entranced, as the spectacle blazed brighter, shifting through every color of the rainbow and into the brilliant hues of sunset. He felt as if Celestia herself were looking on him with proud approval, and in that moment he knew he had found his own special joy in flight, a type of flight he'd never even heard of before! He knew he wanted to glide here, in the high, thin air, so darkly beautifully blue, and that he would remember this joyful moment for the rest of his life. It was then that his cutie mark appeared.

It was a long, happy journey back to Cloudsdale, which had grown quite tiny and was very far below. Exhausted but happy, Parhelion returned just after his parents. He thought he would be in serious trouble, but upon seeing the cutie mark on their son's flank his parents exploded with pride.

Of course, Parhelion was not the only pegasus to take to extreme high-altitude flight, and his parents enrolled him in a special after-school program for high flyers as soon as possible. Surrounded by pegasi who felt as he did (and had remarkably similar life stories), Parhelion made many friendships that last to this day. He took every course and went to every camp he could, and as he got older, filled much of his spare time with jobs that let him fly high or glide far. After a summer volunteer weatherwork project in Stalliongrad, Par fell in love with the area and returned for the winter as well, one of the only pegasi from outside the region ever to do so.

Now, Parhelion lives and works in Stalliongrad, where the weather is wonderful and the winds perfect for a bracing challenge. He's still a bit of a clumsy flier, but he's at home riding the currents far above Equestria for hours on end, and his work as a weatherpony mostly takes place in the near-black he considers his true home: collecting information on high-altitude conditions, gathering raw ice crystals for snowflake manufacture, helping to manage the jet stream, and sculpting cirrus clouds. He's been known to spend all day aloft, even when off-duty. Some other pegasi may find him a bit odd, and for his part he feels a bit sorry for others who don't feel the same soul-deep connection with their work that he does.

The confidence he's gained since discovering his special talent has turned him into a fairly outgoing pony, especially toward earthbound ponies, who don't expect him to go flapping around everywhere with them. Altough he loves his new home, he writes his parents every month, and travels back to Cloudsdale (usually meeting other long-distance high-flyers on the way) for the Summer Sun and Hearthwarming Celebrations.

------

Parhelion's cutie mark.

[Haserman]

Application looking really good so far. Just a few points what does Parhelion do as a high altitude weather pegasus, why did Parhelion move away to Stalliongrad (weather issues, work, need to get away from Cloudsdale ...) and what are is his current demeanor towards others or to his job (does he dislike ponies who don't show a passion in line of work? Is he easy to upset if somepony were to say it was pointless or irrelevant since he has such a passion for his work?). Other than that looks like a really nice application it's also good to see a few more Stalliongrad ponies coming around. Best of luck.

[Trilobite]

Thanks for the suggestions. Updated to answer some of those questions. I'm worried that I have a bit much in the character background. Comparing to other approved and in-progress applications, though, I seem to be on par. Anypony care to offer an opinion on that?

[Snowshoe]

Thanks for the suggestions. Updated to answer some of those questions. I'm worried that I have a bit much in the character background. Comparing to other approved and in-progress applications, though, I seem to be on par. Anypony care to offer an opinion on that?

Background is subjective, IMO. I'm a fan of holding back except for the most important bits (basic information, cutie mark story, where he's from, who his parents are and if they're still alive, what he does, etc) to give my character an air of real life mystery...you don't always know everything about someone, after all. I keep it to something that would be "general knowledge", and let secrets and other little things come about as time goes on and ponies get to know my characters. Others find it best to write down everything they can think of so as to not forget anything. It's totally up to you, so long as it contains enough information to get to know the character.

[Trilobite]

Sturmmann, not only is that a great avatar, that's also good information that helps me get a feeling of the way things are done 'round these parts.

Think I'll offer this up to the gaze of Brother Eye to see what needs to be tweaked, changed, and improved. Thanks for the advice, you and Haserman both.

[brianblackberry]

Looks good to me!

For Great Justice!

[Skye]