Earth Pony Valen Orange [Final]

[SteelEagle]

Type of RP: World of Equestria RP

Name: Valen Orange (Like Valencia Oranges)

Sex: Male

Age: Foal, borderline colt. (Around 12, almost 13)

Species: Earth Pony

Eye Color: Blue, just like his mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Orange.

Coat Color: A light orange, bordering on yellow.

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Teal mane and tail that are expertly taken care of to a fine shine, care made to ensure they conform in a way that is most pleasing. They are both rather long and well-kept, time obviously spent ensuring the aforementioned .

Physique: Slender and relatively weak-muscled, with a stringiness and toughness to it that speaks to his bloodline. Healthy and fit, if not experienced. Care taken to preserve much of its natural beauty.

Cutie Mark: None, currently.

Origin/Residence: Manehattan.

Occupation: Student at Manehattan Academy for Foals, Colts, and Fillies.

Motivation: Life is short and precious, and Valen sees little cause to spend that doing displeasing things. Loving life, laughing, and making others enjoy life is always a paramount concern. Motivated internally by a strong streak of feminity, and by a sense of displacement and nervousness about his place in the world. These things manifest themselves in an inability to distrust others as often as needed, increasing his gullibility in the name of friendliness, trusting others, and finding his place.

Likes: Nice clothes, sunny days, plays, parties, music, fruits of all types, a good joke here or there. Also has an affinity for curled tails.

Dislikes: Heavy labor, cut-throat personalities, deceit, the cold, intolerance.

Character Summary:

Born into the home of Navel Orange and Cara Cara, thought to be a filly while in gestation and was to be named Valencia. A short change of the name solved all issues, and since then, he has grown up in a home whose primary focus has been on business, the business of oranges! Valencia Oranges, Navel, Blood, Moro, Cara Cara, the list goes on and on. Of course, being the heads of the family business, his parents never had to deal with the heavy labor. Unlike their silly brothers and sisters, the Apples, who all dedicated themselves to work and less on running tha actual business outside of their farms, the Orange family has their 'headquarters' in Manehattan. There, Navel and Cara Cara Orange rub elbows with the Equestrian elite as they travel through one of the country's greatest cities, finishing deals and pursuing a better bottom line.

This has naturally created a disconnect not only between the Apples and Oranges, but within the Oranges themselves. A small subsect of the family enjoys the good life in big cities, cutting deals and eating the finest food in the land. The rest toil relentlessly to produce and back up the absurd claims of the top echelons of the family. The increasing mechanization found in some spots has helped ease the tension, as the investment means that the laborers are less overwhelmed. Still though, the bottom line and health of the family business can often appear to be the sole driving force behind the actions of his parents, meaning Valen is often thought to be the weak foal of a well-to do, disconnected branch of a large and rough tree.

And truth be told, little has been shown to disprove that. He has enjoyed all the trappings of a high-society upbringing; few things have been denied him. Whether it was the usual requirements of a top-notch education and nearly unfettered to Manehattan's unending stream of entertainment to more unusual and at times unnerving requests like dresses, he has always gotten what he wanted and when he wanted it. This would create a sense of entitlement and spoiled behavior in many, but he lacks the self-confidence and sense of direction of others that helps build the foundation for such behavior. Hard to feel entitled when you sometimes feel like you don't even belong in your own fur!

His life has been spent in high society, sheltered from both labor and fear. His education has gone on unabated, and he finds himself a well-spoken and polite young Colt with manners- well, when required. He spends as much time talking to other ponies and fretting about things of truly little concern. He has met and dealt with powerful figures in Equestrian business, and found them boring. This attitude has rubbed off on how he views business, both familial and otherwise. Despite the at times intense attempts by his parents, he has shown no interest or aptitude in the family business.

In the Academy, which is renown far and wide for producing high-caliber Mares and Stallions, Valen finds himself excelling in some areas while falling laughably short in others. Language, Drama, and History tickle him in certain ways, likely due to their non-linerarity and ability for interpretation and development. Classes such as Math and Science bore him to tears, their complete linerarity and focus on formula and repetition seemingly shutting his brain off and engendering little other than disdain. His peculiar tastes and mannerisms have caused him no end of trouble with some other students and the academy itself, but his persistence in his choices and small group of friends have eventually combined to give him an effective oasis of support inside the school.

He remains one of the few in his class without a cutie mark. This worries his parents, as his lack of skill or interest AND cutie mark relating to their work leads them to believe that, perhaps, his future lies elsewhere. They worry about how to help him, and are considering sending him for a season to do some labor on one of the Orange farms. Perhaps that will help spark some sort of love for the family business? His mother Cara cara more than readily admits she knows this won't work, but it sure can't hurt to try. After all, who else can take over? Cousin Sunkist?! That thought nearly breaks her in half.

Nearly a colt now, Valen spends the majority of his days outside of school attempting to evade the high-society business gatherings his parents attend on a nightly basis. He wanders Manehattan with his close-knit group of friends, staying where ponies of his kind are most welcome, though often he finds himself being dragged around town in the name of fun and/or learning something new. His demeanor is soft, his personality trusting and forgiving. He lacks confidence in who he is and what he is supposed to be, the competing demands of the business, his blood which always screams for more physical work, and his heart which utters words and feelings that contradict his body. Lacking in many ways a sense of self, he is gullible and easy to lead, hoping to find happiness and a sense of place in someone else's domain.

In summation, if one wanted to know him in a nutshell, he is a sheltered pony, one quite similar to perhaps a crossdresser, intelligent, kind, and always helpful, but easy to fool due to his quickness to trust other ponies. He doesn't know who he wants to be in life, and this lack of focus benefits him through his willingness to try new things, and hurts him by clouding his decision process.

[GingerbreadSpy]

I like the character concept... but... I know there's a rule somewhere about not having ponies that are directly or indirectly related to the Mane cast.... Valen seems like a pretty distant relative, though, so I'm not sure if it applies... but it's possible that it does. //^_^\\'... I guess a mod/help staff would have to tell you, for sure.

[SteelEagle]

I cleared it with Diomedes and MyLittlePonyTales before I wrote 'em up. He is distant enough and currently has had no interaction with AJ in any way, so it works.

[GingerbreadSpy]

Awesome, then!

[SteelEagle]

Some minor revisions and a picture later, finalized.

[brianblackberry]

Looks like a good, complex, deep character to me.

For Great Justice!

[SteelEagle]

*Does a dance*

And there was much rejoicing. Yay.

[Skye]