Velvet Lily

Velvet grew up in a simple town, helping work on his father's farm. When he wasn't tending to crops, he would often help his mother in the kitchen where she would joke about his father being a horrible cook, which the stallion denied. In truth, he preferred her recipes to his own and she was less skilled at tending to crops as she was a Unicorn while he was an Earth Pony. Growing up, Velvet had a talent for taking care of plants, often able to somehow revive plants that had been given up for dead. The truth was that he got lucky, in a manner of speaking. He had some measure of control over his natural Earth Pony magic, but without a horn to focus it, he would be unable to turn this into a proper spell or even use telekinesis. But what he could do was channel it and use some of his own stamina to revive a plant that seemed like it was dying. After he unwittingly honed this technique for a few more years, he would finally get the chance to use it when his father hurt himself. Velvet would be in shock when his touch not only eased his father's pain but, at the time, made him feel tired and sleepy. He earned his Cutie Mark that day.

As time passed, he eventually did leave home and made residence in Vanhoover, where he works at a plant nursery while he decides what he wants to do in the future, owing to his love of cooking and his knowledge of plants from spending time on his father's farm and in the nursery where he works.

Kindness is Velvet's primary virtue, as he is always willing to help somepony in need for no other reason than it seems like the right thing to do. He can be overly trusting and naive at times because of this trait, and like anypony else, he can be selfish and put his own needs above other ponies. Though these can often make him feel guilty when he feels he could've helped out somepony in need if he'd chosen differently, he often doesn't realize that it's okay to take care of himself as much as anypony else.

He can also become irrational and blind himself to the obvious when he is upset, where he runs on pure instinct and can often snap at his friends, leading to him becoming remorseful and feeling he treated them unfairly when he calms down. These stem from his personal standards, where he tries to always be the better pony, even though he is flawed like anypony else. He simply has difficulty accepting his flaws when they hinder him.

On the lighter end of things, he can be nervous or shy in crowds and around new people, leading him to seem like a quiet sort until he gets to know them, then he will happily talk to them about anything. He also tries to establish a common ground so he can better get to know ponies, usually through his love of cooking. He is fond of cooking sweets, but also makes some very tasty savory dishes, priding himself on his home cooking.