Ariel

By ReverieRiver

• October 14, 2013




Age: 19

Gender: Female

Species: Unicorn

Cutie Mark: Currently redesigning.<br /><br />Her special talent is magic-related. She can create constructs of magic; they're the same color as her aura and translucent, but solid and real as any physical object. This ability extends to virtually anything her imagination can conjure - however, larger and more complex constructs require more of her concentration and energy to maintain. If she loses concentration or her magical strength gives out, the construct shatters.

Personality: Ariel is a timid young mare aware of her own mental condition. At heart, she is a sweet and caring pony, but more often than not she is too hindered by her own anxiety to try and interact with or befriend others. She wants to look and act "normal," so she often conceals the bright blue eye that reveals her condition and tries to suppress her mental problems around other ponies; she's terrified of ponies finding out that she's "cursed" with these problems, afraid she'll be shunned or hated like she has been in the past.

Backstory: Ariel was born and raised during a dark time: Equestria's future. Prejudice and discrimination between the three pony races had peaked; the pegasi and the Earth Ponies were at war with the unicorns. Technology has advanced so far by this point that magic had become mostly obsolete, and unicorns, once considered the "master race," were now lowered to the bottom social tier. All unicorns were generally disliked and distrusted by the other two races. There was a small faction of unicorns that remained headstrong, and had come to believe that all technology and those that supported the use of it must be brought down. These unicorns still considered themselves to be the master race, and were determined to make it so that all unicorns would be recognized as such once more, no matter the cost.<br /><br />Ariel was born to two such unicorns. She was born with a special condition that had come to be known as the "Ice Eye," a rare birth defect; one eye was a soothing purple color, while the other was ice blue. Unlike typical heterochromia, which is caused primarily by genetics, the Ice Eye is somehow caused by a peculiar quirk of magic that occurs within the foal during development - naturally, this was seen more often in unicorn foals and foals born to unicorn parents.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the magic that caused the Ice Eye more often than not affected the foal's mental development. It had been known to lead to retardation, poor motor skills, and even conditions such as schizophrenia. Ariel's parents knew at once that their foal was not the perfect child they had expected. They came to despise her for what she was, particularly as the years passed and Ariel began showing signs of mental illness: unreasonable anxiety, hallucinations, and talking to herself. Her parents tried to "condition" her out of these behaviors even though she couldn't control them. They would spank her, starve her, and even lock her in the closet whenever she "misbehaved."<br /><br />Of course, it did no good. If anything, her parents' mistreatment of her worsened her mental state. In the midst of one particularly bad anxiety attack, Ariel - only eight years old at the time - fled from her parents, out of the house and into the street. She never returned, for she had no affection for the place called "home." But the small filly struggled to survive out on the street, seeking shelter wherever she could and having to beg for food.<br /><br />Young Ariel lived like this for several miserable months, until one kind mare happened to find her one cold evening: Galatea. Galatea was heartbroken by the sight of the cold, starving filly before her, and took her in at once. Ever since then, Galatea had been looking after Ariel, taking care of her like a mother would take care of her own child. When Ariel got a little older, she took an interest in Galatea's engineering work. Galatea allowed Ariel to become her assistant, and Ariel would gladly help out whenever she could.<br /><br />However, Ariel still struggled to keep herself sane even as her mental condition inevitably continued to decline. She did her best to control it, but she would have random outbursts which gradually grew more and more frequent.<br /><br />The problem grew worse and worse over the course of ten years. The doctors had no solution for her. And eventually... the insanity took her over completely.<br /><br />She was knocked unconscious by Galatea after trying to assault Galatea's creation, Nano. When she came to, the Diamond Dogs she herself had let into the lab (for reasons known only to her), as well as Galatea and Nano were gone. She was left alone in the lab. And, knowing what she had done, she sank into a deep, dark hole of despair. She became listless, barely moving from the spot where she laid as she stared blankly at the destruction caused by her own hooves. She avoided starvation and dehydration only because a kindly old mare stumbled upon her, and soon started bringing the young unicorn food and water.<br /><br />One day, Ariel heard someone entering the lab. It wasn't that older mare; the hoofsteps sounded different. She fled to another room at once, deciding to hide until the intruder left. But after a long while, curiosity drew her in as she heard a commotion in the next room over. She peeked in, and saw Galatea, of all ponies! It was at the moment Galatea had opened the portal to present-day Ponyville, in order to be reunited with her dear Nano. Curious and unknowing of Galatea's intentions, Ariel followed her through said portal moments before it closed itself, and thus ended up at the same destination.