Earth Pony Lampwick 'Flicker' Jane [FINAL]

[Manestream]

Name: Lampwick ‘Flicker’ Jane

Sex: Female

Age: Young Mare

Species: Earth Pony

Pelt Color: #cebe4f ||||||||

Mane/Tail Color & Style: #b48327 ||||||| Flicker wears her mane fairly short; in the hot seasons she’ll have it cut back to keep off of her shoulders. In the colder seasons, she lets it fall past her shoulders. Similarly, when Flicker visits wintry regions with long cold seasons, she tends to tie her mane and let it fall to one side, choosing warmth over the comfort of a shorter, breezier mane style.

Eye Color: #693b45 ||||||||

Cutie Mark: A lit lantern. The metal top and bottom portion of the lantern are triangle-shaped, with curling edges at the lip of each corner. The lantern itself is primarily grey. The same model of lantern can be found outside her parent’s inn in Canterlot.

The lantern symbolizes Flicker’s need to bring light to the unknown in her world. The need to explore and adventure runs deep in her bones- a trait she inherited from her mother- but she always keeps warm thoughts of her family with her wherever she goes. In this way, Flicker believes her cutie mark is a reminder in that no matter where she is at, she can feel at home, rest and be at peace with her world.

Cutie Mark Story: (I recommend coming back to this after reading character history.) Flicker received her cutie mark around the same time other foals her age did, but she never paid attention to others much. The need to explore and adventure was her primary occupation- and her sole focus. Having a mother who had spent her youth seeking treasures, and a father who had moved across Equestria to map the geography of the land had given Flicker’s family deep roots in traveling; but that seed had blossomed brighter in Flicker than either of her parents had expected.

Flicker received her cutiemark on her birthday, when she had left her parents’ inn in the dark of night to pursue a particularily suspicious, and hooded pony she had seen when locking up the inn for the night. It had been a perfect birthday- and what would make it better was an adventure of her own to top it off! Quietly closing the door behind her, and instead of blowing out the old lantern that hung outside the door as customary each night, she took it in her mouth and set out following the curious stranger into the night.

After tailing the hooded pony, careful to conceal the lamplight as she did, she finally reached her destination at a little cave dug out of the mountain side- where the figure had slipped in. Taking a deep breath and swallowing back both the fear and excitement in her stomach, she made her way into the cave.

It was not a large cave, the lantern almost immediately illuminated all of the walls- but the hooded pony was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in the center of the cave was a small chest on a pedestal. Upon investigation, she noticed a small message that had been carved all along the base of it that read: “Inside this box lies my most valued treasure - worth more than any gem or magic”. Placing the lantern on the ground, Flicker’s hoof shook with excitement as she opened the small box to reveal the prized treasure- a lock of mane. A very simple, ordinary, lock of mane very much the same color as hers. A sudden wave of disappointment filled Flicker at the sight of simple hair, and not some gemstone or magic artifact like she had expected- but the feeling of disappointment was quickly replaced when she could hear the rustling of hooves behind her.

Turning quickly, she saw the hooded figure she had been tracking- but the hood was down, and out of the cloth, looking back at her, was the very familiar face of her mother. To her side was her father, and they both were smiling brightly at her. Finally, Flicker understood that this adventure was their birthday gift, and the lock of hair their way of telling her how much she meant to them. It was when Flicker picked up the old lamp again to head home after an emotional embrace, that she noticed a smaller lamp of the same style positioned on her flank.

Physique: Flicker is a very average pony. She may have the extra mile of endurance on other ponies, having traveled so often by hoof over the last few years, but her travels are peaceful and prone to wanderlust. She has grown accustomed to carrying what her lifestyle requires, but that is a small burden even in comparison to an applecart. Flicker does enjoy having strong health, as keeping active and moving from one location to another keeps her physically and mentally engaged.

Residence: Flicker grew up along the outskirts of Canterlot, and still has family there, but she considers no town home. Rather, Flicker carries home in her heart. Anyplace that she can find rest is a temporary relief from having no shelter, but because of her strong urge to travel, the feelings and comforts attached to home never take root for her, as she feels the need to travel again before ever growing comfortable enough in one location to settle down.

Occupation: Flicker is not terribly talented in any one aspect of traveling life, rather, she feels a great passion for experiencing the unknown and the unseen. This need to experience the world with her own eyes is what drives her to travel, however traveling is not always easy, and sometimes she finds that she is in need of bits.

For this reason she collects oddities from different locations she has visited, and trades them to other far off locations for food and board, or supplies. Sometimes, making bits is as easy as picking berries on one side of a mountain range, then selling them the day after on the other side of the range, where the berries are in demand.

Flicker is no herbalist or medicine maker, but she has picked up necessary tips and know-how from her own scrapes and breaks in the past. She listens carefully to those that she comes into contact with, curious about their lifestyles, outlooks, and roles in life- and her doctors have been no exception. Knowing which herbs help take away pain, which are safe to eat and which are not, which reduce fevers and which can speed up mending has made her life on the road much easier. Occasionally, she has offered poultices and light remedies to other travelers along the way to bring in a few bits. It is a very modest lifestyle, but it is one that fills Flicker with the richness of life.

Motivation: Flicker's passion is actually traveling. She has an affinity for the evening, night, the stars, and moon, often laying awake at night to watch them as she travels from one destination to another.

A very mellow pony at heart, she enjoys company, but prefers to travel in solitude. This is better explained in that she is fascinated by other ponies, but isn't very socially graceful, often being overly blunt or honest in her statements and assessments- or completely un-attentive of her traveling companions while lost in her own thoughts. She is most at ease when she experiences nature just herself, and is able to carry on in her parents’ hoof-prints. It is her hope to add to her father’s maps with her own, and to write down the places she encounters and adventures she finds herself on in her mother’s fashion.

In other words, Flicker finds herself driven to experience and chart the world- learn about its peoples and see the sun rise and set on lands no pony has seen in the history of Equestria.

Character Summary (History): In a stroke of incredible un-creativity (but sappy sentiment of her father), Flicker was named after her mother, Lampwick Jane, explorer-extraordinaire! Over the years her filly friends picked up the habit of calling her Flicker- sometimes bright, and sometimes a little dull, but always warm- and the name stuck.

It has always been impossible to keep Flicker still for long, or focused on something outside of her field of vision. She was not a highly active or energetic pony- in fact she had a slow and somewhat lazed gait in everything she did. It was her insatiable curiosity and love for the outside world, the tops of the mountains, the bottoms of lakes, the depths of caverns, and the open expanse of the sky that seemed unmanageable to everypony around her.

Flicker would immerse herself in the maps her father had made, and the stories of her mother’s travels into the southern reaches of those maps- longing to hear more about glimpses of dragons in the badlands, and sunken ships never seen or heard from again between the oft dangerous waters between Equestria, and the land of the Zebra tribes.

When her parents met, it had been a cold stormy night that had gripped Equestria from one end to the other with howling, whipping winds. Looking for shelter from the weather Pegasi’s efforts, the two had found refuge inside an old abandoned rickety inn several miles out of Canterlot. The only sign of life on the outside had been an old lantern that had been recently lit- guiding stranded and wet travelers to some form of safety. The sign had been worn so badly that nopony inside knew the name of the beaten and dingy, but dry, shelter they had found. The two soaked ponies were not the only refugees that had found solace in the old inn; other adventurers, merchants, and travelers had gathered by the hearth to ward off the chill. With a little initiative from the waterlogged newcomers, a fire -and a few discovered barrels of cider and preserved rations- what had been a rag-tag group of strangers quickly become a warm, loud, and rambunctious group of friends- sharing stories and tales about the places they had come from, seen, and were yet to go.

When the night ended, Flicker’s parents went their separate ways, and spent the next few years traveling Equestria, pursuing their own dreams, and crossing paths in the most of unlikely places; but from that night for all the new places and sights they had seen, their hearts slowly began to yearn for something they had already discovered- each other.

Come one cold and wintry night some time later, the two explorers found themselves once again under the worn sign of the unknown inn, and after a night alone of retold exploits and dreams, the two weathered ponies found a warmth in one another, and began to share a new adventure, together.

It wasn’t long before Flicker was scurrying underhoof- and the abandoned inn had undergone many changes. The two explorers had refurnished and refurbished the inn from its sad state into a cozy and warm place for any traveler to dry their coat. New tables had been made, beds began to line the rooms again, and foods and drink from all over Equestria was shipped from friends made during old travels- and the sign outside had been painted. The same old worn wood had been polished and stained, treated and cared for, and painted to boast a picture of an old looking lantern, spreading a soft warm glow to attract any stranded or lost travelers in need of sanctuary.

(only took 7 months in the making- lol!)

[Manestream]

I think think i'm pretty much done with this- I dont want to name her parents yet (at least not her father). If she's named after her mother, (which she is) then that determines her mother's name- but i'd like to leave *some* things up to future flexibility. I feel like I already pinned down an awful lot more than needed- but hopefully this will provide a nice stable platform to work from in most cases.

[Dessa]

Wow. 7 months and not a one of them wasted. That cutie mark story is fantastic, and the rest is good too.

[brianblackberry]

Wow; I love that this story of her background is so ground in what I see their world is like. It captures the feeling of FiM.

For Great Justice!

[Skye]

Finally you got around to her!