Earth Pony Peggy Tinkerer [Final]

[AsthmaticPegasus]

Roleplay Type: Mane

Name: Peggy Tinkerer

Sex: Female

Age: Mare

Appearance:

Cutie Mark: A wrench and gears

Origin/Residence: Canterlot

Occupation: Engineer, Locksmith, clock maker

Motivation: To revolutionize Equestrian technology and to construct an artificial leg to replace the one she lost.

Character Summary: Tinker was born in Canterlot into a poor family with many siblings. Her parents were barely able to keep enough bits in order to pay for rent in a ramshackle house, working constantly in order to be able to afford the barest minimum of food. The foals had to take up various tasks, one of Peggy's older brothers began selling newspapers, another delivering packages for the local post offices. Even though some of her older siblings were able to get work and be useful Peggy had a hard time finding something that she could do for the family, a lot of places wouldn't hire younger and less skilled foals.

Eventually Peggy became sick of being dependent on her older brothers and sisters and started finding things she could do to pay in any way possible. She began searching through scrap heaps for useful materials that she could sell off, such as intact machinery and metals. She became familiar with the way things were constructed, especially more intricate pieces of machinery like clockwork and locks. As she grew older and more skilled with working the small pieces of tech Peggy began piecing these bits and bobs together to make small toys and gadgets for her younger siblings, and they began giving them out to their friends to enjoy. Ponies on the street saw the young foals with the interesting clockwork toys and became curious as to who was making them.

A clock maker in the area took notice and asked one of the foals where he got it from, and the young colt directed the clockmaker to Peggy's family. The clockmaker found Peggy to be very creative with the ways she used her meager supplies and offered her an apprenticeship with him at his shop. Peggy was ecstatic, but tried to decline, thinking of her family and how she would have to continue to help provide for them in the only way she could. She knew that apprenticing would open new opportunities for her in terms of a job, but she didn't know how long she'd be willing to go without getting paid. Her father encouraged her, insisting that they'd be fine without her, and she reluctantly left her family behind.

Peggy's years working under the clockmaker were some of the most educational and enjoyable years of her life. She learned how to make her machines more reliable and durable, and even became quite precise with her tools, despite the fact that she didn't have the advantage of unicorn magic. Her master not only taught her about clockwork, but showed her the designs for train travel, and possible automobile designs that were being developed at the time. He showed her how the larger machinery worked relative to the smaller gears and bits that she was working with. Even though she had a great time she still worried about her family constantly, not hearing from them for weeks at a time and only getting visits from her eldest brother (the messenger) occasionally. The fact that she was a blank flank only added to her confusion, because as much as she loved working with the tiny mechanics of the clocks and locks she never got her cutie mark.

However, one day near the end of her apprenticeship, her life was changed forever. Her master assigned her to work at a factory, her job was to keep the machines inside operational with the help of the other engineers. She was going to be staying there for a week, the purpose of this being to learn about the differences and similarities of large machinery to the smaller, more intricate clockwork. She found herself enjoying the large scale work more, it being physically taxing as well as having the mechanical intricacy that she'd grown to love. She just found it more satisfying. Peggy also found herself fitting in quite well, and felt that this would be the time she received her cutie mark.

After a few days of arduous work and many learning experiences Peggy was beginning to fall behind the others in her work. As a filly just ending her apprenticeship she wasn't as strong as the ponies who had been doing this almost their whole lives. She pushed on with her work however, and even through exhaustion she monitored her machines with precision and care. One night, when there were less workers attending to the machines than usual, there was a freak accident. One of the machines went out of control and threatened to tear itself apart, it being a part of the vital systems of the factory everypony did everything they could to keep it operational. Peggy was one of those ponies, and with the combined efforts of every engineer there they were able to stop the machine from destroying itself. Unfortunately, as Peggy was trying to slow the machine down, she got her left foreleg caught and crushed by it's massive gears. She was rushed to the hospital instantly, and received medical attention, but her wounds were too grievous and the doctors had to amputate it. In an astounding twist the doctors had also discovered the filly had gotten her cutie mark for her work on the failing machine.

After getting out of the hospital Peggy was determined to become better and was in no way dissuaded from achieving her dream of revolutionizing technology. She now thought back on her previous work with clockwork as well, wondering if there was a way she could replace her leg with technology. She tried to focus on the dream of making a new leg using clockwork, but after awhile it became apparent that with all of her other aspirations and work she simply didn't have enough time to spend on her previous expertise. So as she became more knowledgeable of engines and other similar mechanics her practice with clocks waned. She was always current on Equestria's developing tech. She examined designs for the famous Flim Flam Brother's automobile engine, and found work on various trains and air ships. She considered airships to be her favorite thing to work on, allowing mundane earth ponies like herself to soar through the skies like a pegasus using the new engine technology.

After so many years of study and developing into a semi-renowned engineer Peggy realized that she had made a horrible error. She had somehow forgotten to get into contact with her family with all that was going on, and she had yet to receive any word of them! She felt as if she'd betrayed their trust, leaving them behind for a life that was filled with much more excitement and promise. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to contact any of them. Her siblings had all grown old enough to move on from their parents and gone their separate ways, Her parents having moved out of the house long ago and to another city unknown. Peggy spent several days wallowing before coming to her senses and realizing that her parents had wanted a life like this for her, that's why they had encouraged her to move onwards. She was as determined as ever to develop her skills and work on as much as she possibly could, even if she did tend to favor airships (both as an active engineer on the ship and designing them).

And so now she spends her time designing and working on some of the most advanced Equestrian technology, and tries to find continuous ways to use her talents in her spare time.

(oh... sorry for making that so long... I tried to shorten it but I got a little bit excited with the premise )

[SunsetSombra]

A rather interesting looking application and one I feel that may just have a place within the RP!

Let's see how she does in the next stage!

[Dio]

I would pare down some of her profession and her field of expertise. Mechanical engineering, locksmithing, and clock making, while they share similar traits require vastly different skill sets and each requires substantial investment of time to stay good at it. I think mechanical engineering fits her well since she seems to love engines, though the clockworks part was a good stepping stone towards that.

[AsthmaticPegasus]

I wanted to keep her interested in the clockwork aspects because I figured she'd see more potential to make a prosthetic using techniques that she'd used when she was young, just more advanced. I understand that having a character that's good at everything is uninteresting, but I thought that perhaps because those professions were similar she could focus on them all. I will change it as you see fit however, and I'll mention that ever since she started working on engines she went out of practice with things like locks and clockwork.

edit: okay, I've added in that she went out of practice with clocks.

[Dio]