Barnabas Kelvin

By Chann3l Chas3r

• November 4, 2012




Age: 34

Gender: Male

Species: Earth Pony

Cutie Mark: His cutie mark consists of an orange flame and a blue firework, overlapping each other in the center. He got it after he discovered chemistry and made his first successful firework.

Personality: Barnabas is a very intelligent and curious stallion, constantly experimenting in his favorite field of science--pyrotechnics.<br /><br />He's a sociable enough pony--kind, teasing, somewhat grandiose, enjoys chatting and meeting new people. Even so, he does enjoy his alone time, spending a good chunk of it around his sixteen phoenixes--mostly his two favorites, Glimmer and Glow, who he's had since he was a foal, and their four chicks, Spark, Shimmer, Singe, and Shine. <br /><br />As good of a friend as he can be, he can sometimes be oblivious to the feelings of others, and is typically quite blunt and honest in the best or worst situations, often backpedaling hastily when he realizes he's hurt someone's feelings or offended them in some way. As well, he's prone to making risky decisions every now and again (I mean, he works with volatile explosives, so it's pretty much ingrained into his personality,) and is quite a chatterbox.<br /><br />He is a realist, though, and thoroughly down to earth, being a stallion of science. He is very slow to relent his position on anything unless faced with facts. He is a natural debater, as well, keeping an even temperament throughout any argument, never seeing them as a personal thing to get worked up over but simply a comparing of facts.<br /><br />Despite his mostly placid personality, he's very energetic (and slightly reckless) when it comes to chemistry. Though he's subject to many an explosion, his appearance is almost always neat and clean--years of explosions and chemical stains have taught him very well how they work and the most efficient ways to remove them.<br /><br />As mentioned earlier, he spends a lot of time with his birds. They're not just a way of making money to him; they are his family, and he loves all of them dearly, knowing them to the point of being able to hold a conversation with them based on their facial expressions and the tones of their chirps alone. Each one has a name, personality, and quirks of its own, and they respect and care for Barnabas just as much as he does for them.

Backstory: As a young colt in Canterlot, Barnabas never got along with ponies his own age; instead, he preferred to tag alongside older, more scholarly mares and stallions, as well as spending much time alone with his pet phoenixes, Glimmer and Glow. At the early age of ten, he had already graduated his elementary and secondary schools, and was breezing through Canterlot Academy with ease. His enthusiasm for chemistry was unbridled, and his parents and teachers encouraged it, no matter that they often had to rebuild Barnabas's work areas (and often beyond,) due to alchemical explosions. <br /><br />After graduating the Academy, Barnabas spent his early adult years creating fireworks and explosives shows for grand events all across Equestria, constantly experimenting for bigger and better displays. He traveled all across the country, bringing along a large wagon which served as his study, laboratory, and living space, his only company being Glow and Glimmer.<br /><br />One night, after a particularly profitable and extremely exhausting evening at Canterlot Castle celebrating one of the royal's birthdays, as he headed for bed, he accidentally knocked a small stack of copper bits into Glow's food bowl, too tired to even notice. Glow, who took much enjoyment in food, likewise didn't notice this addition to his diet until he'd scarfed six pieces!<br /><br />The next day, Barnabas noticed the leftover copper bits in Glow's food dish and took them out, unaware that his pet had actually eaten some of them.<br /><br />Over the course of the next three days, Barnabas, and likewise Glimmer, were extremely shocked to find that their fiery companion was turning from his strong crimson reds and oranges to vibrant shades of blue and green!<br /><br />It didn't take Barnabas long to figure out what had happened to his gluttonous pet, and he realized that the copper he'd swallowed had triggered a chemical reaction in his body similar to that of burning copper powder; the reaction between the copper and the extreme heat produced a blue-green flame inside the bird as the molecules separated, which likewise had an effect on his appearance.<br /><br />Barnabas was thrilled--this was the discovery of a lifetime! Armed with his new knowledge and the fact the ingesting the metal hadn't seemed to harm his pet in any way (Note: Though phoenixes are generally picky eaters, they are naturally extreme omnivores in the best sense of the word, having adapted over thousands of years the ability to use anything as a source of fuel to stoke the fire that is its heart), he began doing what he did best...<br /><br />Experimenting.<br /><br />After a quick trip to the nearest town, and under observation of a veterinarian, within a few days, he'd uncovered several different reactions;<br /><br />A barium-fed phoenix would produce flame in greyscale, their plumage turning white and silver...<br />When fed carmine, their feathers would change to bright, vibrant reddy-pink and salmon hues, and their flames, likewise...<br />And after ingesting sodium chloride and borax, their colouring changed to bright greens and yellows!<br /><br />And that was only the beginning of the colors he learned to create.<br /><br />Within a year, he'd accumulated sixteen Phoenixes and, inherited from the same uncle who helped with his academy fees, a massive area of land where they flew free and ponies could pay a small fee for entrance and a tour. Eventually, over a few years, Barnabas hired a staff and did a massive landscaping overhaul--a lake, a huge garden, rides, a radio tower, food stands and a restaurant, and, in the middle, the stadium--turning it into the current-day Lume-Espectáculo Fairgrounds.<br /><br />To this day, he lives there in the company of his birds and his fifteen staffmembers, whom he now considers family, on his fairgrounds, hosting a circus show in the stadium once a week, still always experimenting for a bigger, better display.