Key Gear

By Key Gear

• September 3, 2012




Age: 15 / 18

Gender: Female

Species: Earth Pony

Appearance: Key is a scruffy looking earth pony. She's a little small for her age, but she has a tough constitution. Due to a lack of sleep (and years of questionable nutrition), she looks remarkably tired most times. Her coat is a pleasant shade of Persian blue, and her mane is an austere slate gray.

Cutie Mark: Her cutie mark is a mechanical gear. It symbolizes both her her skill in fixing and building machines as well as her skills as a problem solver and practical thinker.

Personality: Key is blunt, gritty, defensive, and slow to trust others. She is also driven, fiercely loyal, and imaginative. She's a study in contrasts. Her core personality has been shaped by both her time on the streets and her time among the elite. Because her more recent life experiences were on the street, she has forgotten most of the decorum prevalent in high society Equestria.<br /><br />Her life experiences have been grim. She has seen more things of greater intensity than many that are several times her age. While she pursues her mission with dedication, her life experiences have made her tired beyond her years, and there are many times when she longs for a chance to live a normal life free from the events of the past seven years of her life.<br /><br />She is a competent fighter due to her time spent on the streets of Manehattan. While she isn't overwhelmingly strong or large, she fights with a quick, ferocious intensity and knows when to cut her losses and run. She is also skilled at picking locks and building and understanding mechanical devices. Her knowledge of the facts and rumors surrounding the Frozen North is extensive.<br /><br />Her parents were explorers, and they shared the stories of their adventures with her. Sometimes Key will draw on those stories and become philosophical or poetic. She may also become depressive or extremely reserved when she is reminded of something from one of these stories. While she works toward unlocking the mysteries of the Frozen North, she is still saddened by the loss of her parents and she occasionally feels a tremendous burden for not warning them adequately about the dangers of their journey.<br /><br />When it comes to protecting herself and those that she cares about, she will often adopt the stance that the end justifies the means. This is a side effect of her life in the streets and the stories of her parents' more perilous journeys. Her observances from both the urban jungle and the wild expanses of Equestria have shown her that there is little room for idealism when it comes to protection and safety.<br /><br />She carries the old journal page with her everywhere she goes and is remarkably secretive regarding its contents. Occasionally, she will spend hours staring at the document in an attempt to fully understand its meaning. Whenever she has been studying the document, she is likely to be irrational and emotionally unstable.<br />

Backstory: Key Gear is a young, female earth pony. She was born in Manehattan. Her mother was Key Map, an earth pony with an unmatched talent for cartography and guiding others through careless territories. Her father was Travel Gear, an earth pony with unparalleled skill in preparing for long journeys and managing supplies. They met each other while they were both traveling on an expedition into the Haysead Swamps with a large group of other explorers. Initially brought together by their mutual love of adventures, it wasn't very long before they also discovered a love for each other.<br /><br />Not too long after meeting each other, Key Map and Travel Gear had the fortune of meeting Cash Stacks, a very wealthy member of the Manehattan elite. About halfway through another swamp expedition, Cash Stacks wandered away from the group while examining the rather unique flora and fauna within the swamp. Losing himself in his observations, he became completely lost. It wasn't too long before he found himself slowly sinking into a patch of quicksand-like mud within the swamp. He thrashed around and called out for help but his efforts were futile. Finally, just as he was about to give up all hope, Key Map and Travel Gear appeared and saved him. They had noticed that he was missing from the camp and had gone out in search of him.<br /><br />In appreciation of their actions, Cash Stacks decided that he would do something to repay the young adventurers. After the expedition ended, he offered Key Map and Travel Gear the chance of a lifetime. He wanted to become their benefactor. He was willing to fund any and all of their future explorations without exception. For the two explorers, the decision was easy. They agreed immediately. They would be able to organize and launch their own expeditions without needing to look for better funded groups to accompany.<br /><br />Key Gear's parents quickly began to establish themselves as being among the most accomplished explorers in all of Equestria. By the time Key Gear was born, exhilarating tales of her parents' journeys were whispered in awe from the halls�of Canterlot to the apple orchards of Appleloosa. When she was a young foal, her parents would tell her with some of these amazing stories. She loved to listen to them talk; even when she was too young to understand what they were saying, their excitement was contagious. She loved her parents.<br /><br />Unfortunately, after she grew a little older, her parents spent more and more time off on adventures and less time taking care of her. While her parents loved her, their love of adventuring was also important to them. Adventuring was, to them, an obsession. Every moment that they spent in the safety of civilization wore heavily on their minds. The freedom and thrill of an adventure was essential to their sanity.<br /><br />When her parents were off on adventures, they would always leave Key Gear in the care of Currency Stacks, Cash Stack's mother. Currency was an older society mare and she wasn't much interested in adventures. She was also far less permissive than Key Gear's parents. Currency expected and demanded good behavior from Key Gear at all times. The concept of fun was alien to her. While Currency wasn't necessarily malevolent, Key Gear found her time spent with Currency to be completely anguishing. She didn't mind though because she always knew that her parents would come back and share their stories with her again.<br /><br />Key Gear went to one of the more prestigious schools in Manehattan. Between classes (and sometimes during), she would regale the other students by retelling her parents's stories. None of the other young ponies had ever heard anything like her stories before. She was an incredibly popular student, and she did well on her studies. She knew that in order to become an explorer like her parents, she would have to study hard and learn as much as possible. Besides this, she never wanted to disappoint her parents.<br /><br />As time went on, Key Gear began to notice something concerning. Even when her parents were back from their adventures, something seemed to be occupying all of their time. They no longer had time to spend with her to tell her stories of their adventures. They were busy, extremely busy. This went on for nearly a few months before they finally told her what they had been working on. They told her that Cash Stacks had agreed to give them the funding necessary for a full-scale expedition into the Frozen North. <br /><br />At first, Key Gear was excited. From her time in school, she knew that the Frozen North held many remnants of pre-Equestrian civilization. However, as time wore on, she began to become increasingly worried about the upcoming expedition. While reading about the Frozen North expeditions in the school library, she learned that very few expeditions had ever gone as far into the Frozen North as her parents were planning on going. In addition to that, several expeditions had never returned.<br /><br />Though she did not know it, Key Gear was not the only pony worried about the upcoming expedition. While he had agreed to fund the upcoming expedition, Cash Stacks was greatly concerned about the safety of his friends. He begged and pleaded with them to reconsider their plans, but they knew that, ultimately, his promise to fund all of their adventures would hold true regardless of his personal thoughts on the safety of the journey.<br /><br />Cash Stacks knew more than most about the dangers of the Frozen North. One of his ancestors had been the benefactor of one of the failed expeditions into the Frozen North. Only a single explorer had returned from that expedition. This lone survivor had been scared out of his mind by some unspeakable horror, and he had lost the ability to speak. The only clue to what had happened to him was a single page from his journal. In a last ditch attempt to dissuade his friends for making the perilous journey, Cash Stacks showed them the page from the journal. Far from scaring them, Key Map and Travel Gear were enthralled by the journal entry.<br /><br />Finally, the day of the expedition arrived. Not wanting to disrespect her parents, Key Gear decided not to mention her misgivings to them but instead to simply wish them a safe journey. After their departure, Key allowed herself to relax. Her parents had been through many dangerous journeys before but they had always returned. Despite her fears, she just knew that this time would be no different. She couldn't wait to hear the stories of their most recent adventures.<br /><br />So, she waited for them to return. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. The day of her parents's schedule return from the expedition seemed to come all too quickly, but they did not return. Key Gear remained hopeful, but her old fears began to gnaw at her. Still, she waited for them to return. Days once again turned into weeks. Weeks once again turned into months. At the home of Cash Stacks, a certain tension intermingled with sadness began to dominate the atmosphere.<br /><br />Though no one had told her, Key Gear just knew that something had happened to her parents. Something horrible. She was completely devastated. A voice seemed to whisper in her mind, “if only you had warned them”. Frantically, she resumed her research in the school library. Over several weeks time, she searched for any and all information that she could learn about the Frozen North. While she searched, she neglected all of her studies and her grades began to suffer tremendously. She had become frenzied, obsessed.<br /><br />Eventually, she came across information about the expedition that had been funded by Cash Stacks's ancestor. She was furious. “He had known! He had known the entire time!” She returned home from school, she wasted no time in confronting Cash Stacks. She demanded to know why he had allowed her parents to make such a dangerous journey when he knew the risks and could have easily pulled the funding. <br /><br />Cash was caught completely off guard by her ferocious inquiries. When his friends had failed to return, he had been worried, but even months after their expected return date, he still held out the hope of their survival. He shared this hope with Key Gear, but she was undeterred. To her, the situation was far past hope. She continued to demand answers. Finally, Cash told her about his promise to his parents. He explained that while he had been aware of the danger, he really didn't have a choice. He had to stay true to his word.<br /><br />Then, Cash made a fateful mistake. He decided to show Key the page from the journal. As Key read the words on the weathered old page, the fear of her parents's fate, that had lurked below the surface for so long, exploded within her. The sudden realization that she would never see her parents again hit her hard. She stood for a few moments, frozen in horror, an eerie reminder of the fate of the one that had written the journal page. Then, she ran. She ran as fast as her hooves could carry her. Down the steps, out the door, and into the streets of Manehattan. Shocked by her reaction and aggrieved by her accusations, Cash was too stunned to do anything to stop her.<br /><br />She didn't stop running until she couldn't see the home of the Stacks when she looked over her shoulder. She just wanted to get away from everything. As far as she was concerned, her parents were gone, the Stacks had betrayed their trust, and her dreams of becoming an explorer like her parents were destroyed. With one last glance behind her, she continued running. She ran until she couldn't run anymore. By the time she stopped running, she found herself in Lower Manhattan. Tired from the running and weighted down with the sadness of losing her parents, she fell asleep while sobbing in an alley.<br /><br />While she slept, she dreamed. It was a simple dream. In her dream, she was still standing there, staring at the journal page. Looking at the page, she could see words that had been desperately scrawled onto the page. The first few lines referred, plainly, to some unspeakable horror. The rest appeared to be nothing more than indecipherable gibberish. The dream seemed to last forever and throughout it all she stood unmoving, staring at the page. Until finally, she was awakened by the noise of the hustle and bustle of the city. <br /><br />As she looked around, the full gravity of her situation hit her. She was a child with no parents and no caretakers roaming the dangerous streets of Lower Manehattan. For just a moment, she felt about returning to her home, but the thought of going back repulsed her. Thinking about her dream, she knew she could never return to that place. From that moment on, she resolved herself to somehow making her new existence work. <br /><br />From her parents' many stories, she knew what it took to survive in hostile environments. However, the environments that they had described were far away from civilization. Key Gear had to adapt what she had learned from her parents' stories to a harsh urban environment. It wasn't easy.<br /><br />During her first few days, she tried panhandling for money and food. Her efforts were successful, but being out in the open attracted far too much attention. She remembered her parents' stories about how predators in the wilds preyed on weaker creatures while they were foraging out in the open. Reasoning that survival and safety were more important than efficiency, she decided to turn to less conspicuous methods of survival. She would watch for opportunities to grab the loose fruits and vegetables from shops and from unsuspecting bystanders.<br /><br />After being awakened by a small dog during her second night sleeping in the alley, she realized that sleeping out in the open like that was dangerous. It was the equivalent of sleeping on the grass in a clearing in the Everfree Forest. She wasn't very large, so, at nighttime, she would find constrained spaces where she was unlikely to be noticed. She never slept in the same place twice to prevent forming a habit that could be predicted.<br /><br />As time went on, she was able to apply more of the lessons from of her parents' adventures. She was also able to discover some things on her own. One day, when she was out waiting for an opportunity to obtain some food, she watched a locksmith across the street. One of the local shopkeepers had lost the key to their shop, working methodically, the locksmith was able to use seemingly simple tools to open the lock without a key. Key Gear was captivated by this.<br /><br />The next day, she found a handful of metal picks and decided to try duplicating what she had seen the locksmith do. While it took her a little longer, she was able to open the lock of a storeroom. Once inside, she was able to have the best meal that she had eaten since running away from home. She decided that picking locks was definitely a skill that she would continue to develop. Over time, she discovered that there was almost no lock that she couldn't pick.<br /><br />She also learned how to fight. She did everything she could to avoid any and all contact with other ponies, but sometimes a number of the other young ponies living on the streets would try to steal her food. She lost her first few fights, but she fought savagely each time and always retreated before receiving any major injuries. After her first fight, she noticed that, far from feeling scared, she actually enjoyed the challenge.<br /><br />After every scuffle, her skills improved and she became more and more fascinated with with the “art” of street fighting. She became proficient in both defending herself and from escaping more powerful opponents. While she wasn't large or strong by any stretch of the imagination, she was speedy and nimble. What her strikes lacked in force they made up for in frequency, and she always knew when to retreat - early. <br /><br />As the months passed and then turned into years, Key Gear adapted well to her lifestyle in the streets. Her pain at losing her parents had been replaced by a rabid obsession with survivalism. While at first she had lived in the streets, eventually she became the streets. Never speaking, sleeping odd hours, picking locks, fighting, and only rarely seen - she was like an apparition. She acquired the nickname Shade among those that lived in her “territory”.<br /><br />She existed in this state, sinking ever deeper into her own world, until one day, when she was shocked to find a lock that she couldn't pick. On an unassuming door, in an alley, she ran across a lock of an unusual design. The keyhole for this lock was far too small for any conventional key and she could hear vaguely mechanical sounds that seemed to emanate from within it. For hours, she fiddled with the lock using every conventional method that she knew of to get it open. After a while, she realized that she had been doing everything completely wrong. It wasn't just a lock, it was a machine!<br /><br />She refused to be defeated. Listening to the mechanisms working within the lock, she was able to pick out a particular pattern that seemed significant. Based on the rhythms of the device, she was somehow able to gain an intrinsic knowledge of how it worked. Once again, she tried the locks with her lockpicks. After a handful of failures, she was finally rewarded with a satisfying click as the lock came undone. Removing the device, she decided to enter the door.<br /><br />On the other side of the door, she found a rather musty room containing a wizened old griffin. The griffin seemed completely unaware of her presence. He was working on something. All around the room were mechanical contraptions of various types. Tools were scattered all around. Key felt strangely at ease in this setting. Even when she dropped something clumsily wall tilting to examine it, the griffin still had no reaction. She reasoned that he was probably deaf.<br /><br />Without even looking at her, the griffin finally spoke, “You are one of the few to ever try picking my lock. You are the only one to ever succeed. Well done. Well done and congratulations.” Startled but unthreatened, Key quizzically addressed the old griffin, “Congratulations?” The old griffin shrugged idly. Thinking about why he could've possibly congratulated her, Key turned and looked at her flank. She had never really thought about her cutie mark before, but there it was - a gear. Finally, the Griffin glanced in her direction. With his wrinkled face and beak, he looked like an old turtle. “I could use some help around here. Would you like a job?”<br /><br />Compelled by her curiosity, Key decided to take him up on his offer. Over the next year, she would show up at random points throughout the day and work with the eccentric old griffin on various projects. At some point or another during the day, she would leave and resume her normal daily routine. She never told the old griffin her name, and he never told her his. They would simply work in silence and she would learn by observing. <br /><br />She was a fast learner, and it wasn't very long until she was able to take apart and rebuild just about everything in the shop. One day, she was doing exactly that when the griffin made an unusual observation, “If only everything was so easy.” Key stopped what she was doing and looked over at him, “What do you mean?” For the first time since she had met him, the griffin smiled. “Your parents were explorers. Yet, here you are stuck in the city. Don't you have questions that you would like answers to? Things that you would seek to understand that have never been understood before.” That was all he said, and then he went back to his work.<br /><br />That night, for the first time in a number of years, she dreamed. It was the same dream that she had dreamed on the night that she ran away from home. The journal page. There it was lying on the floor, and there she was just staring at it. But this time, something was different. What had appeared to be gibberish now seemed to be some type of pattern. When she woke up, she immediately set out to the home of the Stacks. She had to get that journal page back, even if she had to use her skills as a thief to steal it.<br /><br />When she reached the mansion though, it wasn't at all the way that she remembered. From the outside, the building looked dead and decaying. The surrounding lawn looked starved for care and water. Weeds were everywhere. When she reached the door, it was already slightly ajar. In fact, it looked almost exactly how it had looked on the night that she ran away. Cautiously, she entered. Inside of the house, the atmosphere was still and a certain tension hung in the atmosphere. No one seemed to be home. All of the rooms were dark and lonely.<br /><br />As she made her way up the winding staircase, she felt an uncanny sense of calmness. Walking into the room where she had originally seen the journal page, she saw it again. Right where it had fallen when she fled the house. Her heart beat faster as she realized that this was her dream all over again. For what felt like and everlasting moment, she stared at the weathered sheet. Finally, she took it, placed it in a satchel bag, and left the house. [i]What happened to the Stacks?[/i] The thought echoed in her mind as she raced to the curious griffin. Somehow, she thought that he had to be connected to this.<br /><br />However, when she reached the old griffins workshop, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a note from him. In the note, he signed over the legal rights of the space and all of its contents entirely to her. Other than that, he included only one unfathomable phrase. “Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.” When she read that, Key quickly pulled out the old journal page. That phrase, that same phrase was right there on the journal page.<br /><br />Over the next few months, she took advantage of the equipment within the shop to generate a small income for herself as a mechanic. She used her money to gather every text that had ever been written about the Frozen North. When she wasn't steadying the Frozen North, she spent her time contemplating machines and inventions that could possibly be used on a future expedition. She worked tirelessly, ceaselessly to become an expert. Slowly, she began to decrypt the contents of the journal page. With each new discovery, her quiet fervor intensified.<br /><br />Unfortunately, her plans for next addition to the Frozen North ran into a significant problem. While she had income, thanks to the shop, the expenses associated with an expedition to the Frozen North were far beyond her capabilities. She needed a benefactor. Someone that would be willing to fund a dangerous journey. Someone that would not hold her young age against her. <br /><br />Currently, Key Gear is attempting to leverage her parents' legacy as successful explorers to find a benefactor among the Canterlot elite. She chose Canterlot specifically because she didn't think that it was likely that too many in Canterlot would be aware of the mysterious disappearance of the Stacks in Manehattan. She hopes to find a benefactor and begin more advanced preparations for her expedition soon.