Comet Tail

By Comet Tail

• August 4, 2014




Age: 20

Gender: Male

Species: Unicorn

Cutie Mark: Ever since he learned what planets are as a foal, Comet Tail has been fascinated by the celestial orbs. For many years, however, his interest shifted to being an inventor. Although he did well building little devices, he eventually started to find it less and less exciting, and more and more meticulous.<br /><br />Then, one night when he was a bit older than the CMC's, his hometown of Ponyville was gathered to see a comet in the sky. That's when he realized what his true love had been all along, and earned his Cutie Mark in astronomy.

Personality: At first, he comes off as somewhat shy and a little bit awkward. He has a hard time coming up with things to say to new ponies, and is rather nervous at meeting them, always preferring a quiet evening of reading and study to any social event. It can be a flaw, because he doesn't usually work to keep friendships strong. Unless you come to him, he'll probably hardly stay in touch; not because he doesn't care about his friends, but just because he's more comfortable reading and writing at home than going out, though on rare occasion he may throw a small party to feel a bit more normal.<br /><br />He's somewhat self-conscious of the tendency, so he usually stops himself, or asks if the listener is interested; but he loves to fall into lectures on topics from cutting-edge theoretical physics and astronomy, to psychology and philosophy, and the latest inventions in air travel technology. To call him "obsessed" with these passions, particularly physics and astronomy, would be an understatement (one of the greatest things that would get him giddy is to see an airship engine workshop, or a visit with a prominent physicist/astronomer or laboratory/observatory). One of the things he'd love most that he rarely gets, though, is someone who can keep up with his conversation and give an insightful exchange.<br /><br />His bright intellect and passion are a two-edged sword in this regard, because he often feels somewhat alienated and lonely since others can't keep up with his passions, and he has so little interests in mundane things of day-to-day life.<br /><br />He can, on occasion as well (almost never in public), act very childish and silly as the mood strikes him, should he feel comfortable enough to do so, though more often than not he's rather formal and very cordial, his drive to lighten interactions up with silly jokes and puns notwithstanding. He loves humor!<br /><br />The traits he values most are kindness, patience, rationality, intelligence and curiosity.<br /><br />His weaknesses would be his shyness (which melts away the moment you start talking about his interests), particularly with those who don't share his interests as he's often at a loss for what to say or talk about, and feels very uncomfortable going about in public doing new things, or roaming around with a group of friends. It leads to him making himself somewhat lonely. He uses his humor to combat the shyness, but sometimes it can backfire when he tells a joke too sciencey for most ponies to get, or with too obscure a reference.<br /><br />He can also be a little stubborn/arrogant, and a bit lazy, but these things are greatly tempered by his friendliness and shyness. The result is he'll want to ask someone else to do things (can you get me a salad from that one cafe'?...), but will usually do them, anyways, for fear of straining a tenuous relationship. As for the stubbornness... He's hard to convince, but tends to be rather quiet about his disagreement unless it's a rare case where he's very confident about the correctness of something (science!) or an injustice (you just price-gouged that poor mare into paying twenty bits for a cherry? Maybe I can't argue what you do with your prices, but I can grow my own cherries and compete with you...).<br /><br />As a general rule, he has an easier time getting along with gentler/less masculine personalities.

Backstory: Comet Tail was born and raised in Ponyville to a doctor and a nurse. As such, he's been raised greatly valuing education, and is dead-set on becoming a Ph.D-wielding professor.<br /><br />His life has been largely uneventful, aside from a few shenanigans with friends around Ponyville and trips around Equestria with his family. His life, however, has not been free of problems, as he's always had to work to make himself socially capable and fight his low self-esteem in social skill, but is now finally getting the hang of it.<br /><br />To his joy, he was accepted to the general Canterlot University. Although not the prestigious "Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," it still holds a decent amount of prestige, and is quite an accomplishment for a pony from small-town Ponyville. He is currently a student in his field of passion, and eagerly ambitious as ever, takes strokes at Ph.D-level academic problems way over his level with a surprising, almost prodigal level of competence. Discussing his current "research" is usually one of his most favorite topics.<br /><br />He currently spends his time either staying in Canterlot during semesters, or in Ponyville for the summers.