Blue Shift

By ChampionWhatever

• December 18, 2013




Age: 20

Gender: Male

Species: Unicorn

Appearance: For his age, Blue Shift is a tall pony with a slender build. His coat and horn are a deep blue color. His mane and tale are both a slightly faded purple color with black patches of hair. He often likes to try to keep his mane and tail as neat as possible, preferring to keep them both at medium length. However, his mane tends to be very unruly and curly, resulting in a bedraggled appearance even on the best of days. His eyes are an emerald green, a stark contrast to the deep blue color of his coat (they had originally been blue before his cutie mark had first appeared.) Blue Shift is almost never seen without a brown satchel that he hangs around his body (again, now shown in the image), which contains some items needed just in case of an emergency (usually, a few healing potions and salves, a few empty flasks, and a small telescope).

Cutie Mark: Blue Shift's cutie mark on either flank (not shown in the image because I cannot draw whatsoever) is an erlenmeyer flask that is tilted, causing a fluid to flow from the interior of the flask. The fluid within the flask is a deep purple color that changes color and appearance to a dark blue color containing multiple stars and constellations.

Personality: Blue Shift is an introverted pony who often keeps to himself and does not speak too much when he does not feel like it. He often works best when he is by himself or with very few people, as it gives him the "mental space" (as he would describe it) needed in order to solve a problem. He often has many things on his mind, leaving him even more prone to silence. Because of his reservation, Blue Shift often has a deadpan (sometimes focused, when in deep thought) efficacy that people would describe as "cold," "emotionless," or even "angry," even though he may not necessarily want to give out that emotional signaling. Because of his upbringing and previous interactions with others, Blue Shift often has a difficult time associating with other ponies when he wants to.<br /><br />Despite his reservation and cold exterior, Blue Shift does care about other ponies in his life. He shows a readiness to help the sick and dying, showing a caring side that is radically different from his normal behavior, as well as a desire to help anypony that he considers to be his friend. He is hard worker, often spending many tireless hours a day either researching or creating potions for the hospital. He is very polite when meeting and addressing others(especially the royalty), and upholds respectfulness when he does communicate with others. Blue Shift also shows a childlike curiosity when it comes to learning new subjects or traveling to other locations.<br /><br />Blue Shift often talks to himself when solving a problem or attempting to figure something out, a habit that often causes other ponies to look at him strangely as if he has gone mad. He also tends to fidget with his mane in an attempt to straighten it out, although this tends to make it look worse than normal. While Blue Shift prioritizes and emphasizes organization, he tends to be very disorganized himself, often conveying information in a very non-linear fashion and having his work (his research papers, books, and anything else needed to perform in his occupations) disorganized. A prime example of this is his "observatory" (which is actually just an attic in his house), where there are research papers and books stacked from floor to ceiling in a confusing manner. <br />

Backstory: Blue Shift was born and raised as an only child to his mother, Solar Wind (an astronomer), and an unknown father in Canterlot. Blue Shift's father apparently left the family shortly after Blue was born. Life at home was generally good for Blue Shift, albeit very lonely. Often, Blue Shift had been left at daycare (or left at home when he became older) because of his mother's need to travel for her astronomical studies. Despite this, Blue Shift loved his mother and even admired her ability to research the stars and to travel. To keep himself occupied, Blue often read books in his mother's library on astronomy and books on alchemy and potion-making that apparently belonged to his father. Because of his mother's periodic absences, Blue's ability to communicate and associate with others was seriously hampered, and as such was a very shy child, preferring to spend time in the library rather than outside playing with other ponies. Because of his reservation, Blue did not have many friends growing up, preferring to keep people at arm's (or leg's, I guess) length whenever possible. Blue did not receive his cutie mark at around the same time that other ponies had while he had been going through school, resulting in other ponies ridiculing him and throwing the usual schoolyard insults in his direction. This had only served to enhance his reservedness even more, resulting in more frequent sojourns to the library and into his mother's observatory to read as well as to tinker with her astronomy instruments (which did land him into trouble on a few occasions.) Blue often talked to the stars, the constellations, and the other heavenly bodies to curb his loneliness. Over time, however, it seemed as though the stars had listened and had "spoken" back to him, slowly filling his mind with knowledge of space and the magical energies that lay dormant within the cosmos...especially those that could heal others.<br /><br />At some point in time, when Blue was around 12 years old, Blue had been invited by his mother to travel with her and other astronomers to the Crystal Mountains as part of a research project to observe constellations. To Blue, the expedition and the opportunity to understand more about astronomy had been an exciting enterprise. En route to the Crystal Mountains, however, Solar Wind and Blue had been separated from the rest of the research party in a blizzard; the freezing temperatures and harsh winds had forced them into a cave, where they had waited for days. Solar Wind had become severely ill and, given the conditions under which she and her son were stuck, would die if there was no help soon. Blue, frightened that he would lose his mother, had frantically searched the frigid wilderness for the ingredients needed to create a potion to diminish the effects of his mother's illness. He had been successful in gathering the ingredients, but the administration of the potion did nothing to cure his mother's illness, as it was too severe. It was then that Blue had "heard" the stars again; they had whispered knowledge of the ability to infuse their power into his potions and to give him the ability to cure his mother's illness. Blue had listened intently, re-brewing the potion needed to cure his mother's illness, but this time infusing it with the magical energies of the stars that had seeped into his mind. Between using his alchemy and casting curative magic that he had learned by using the magical energies of interstellar bodies, Blue had discovered his special talent and had thus received his cutie mark. From that point in time, Blue had spent most of his spare time in learning about and understanding the stars, as well as improving his potion-making and alchemy skills by volunteering to help the sick whenever possible.<br /><br />Several years after the incident at the Crystal Mountains, the time had come for Blue Shift to enroll in Canterlot University to receive degrees in astronomy and alchemy. However, Solar Wind had fallen gravely ill again; the hospital staff had informed Blue and his mother that the incident at the Crystal Mountains had left her immune system permanently weakened, leaving her more vulnerable to diseases...and any disease that she had contracted had the potential to kill her. Blue had personally worked with the hospital staff, desperate to find a cure and to save his mother again. However, Solar Wind had not wished for Blue to work to save her again like last time; she knew that, given her condition, she would suffer for longer than she wanted to. With her last goodbye, Solar Wind had told Blue to pursue the paths in life that would make him happy and to remember that he was never alone in the world; that she would be watching him from the stars. Solar Wind had passed away the day before Blue was officially enrolled in Canterlot University, and it was on that day that Blue had promised to himself and his mother that he would finish whatever research his mother could not. This had made life in college extremely difficult to adjust to; without his mother, Blue worked tirelessly to keep his house in Canterlot for as long as possible while still tending to his studies. During college, Blue learned more about astronomy, alchemy and, through his own experiences, the limits of his magic. Four years later, Blue had graduated from Canterlot University with his degrees in astronomy and alchemy. Because of the financial strain of attempting to maintain ownership of his house as well as paying for college, Blue has recently sold his home in Canterlot and moved into a smaller home in Ponyville. There, he has recently landed a job at the hospital developing potions and he continues to work on his and his mother's research projects.