Numbers

By Key Gear

• August 7, 2012




Age: 32

Gender: Male

Species: Earth Pony

Appearance: Numbers is a stallion of slightly larger than average height. He has a somewhat awkward build - strong but not overpowering. He has a coat that is cadet gray in color. His mane and tail are Persian blue. His eyes are a pleasant light green in color. Unfortunately, Numbers makes no great effort to maintain his appearance, so his mane and tail are remarkably disheveled.

Cutie Mark: His cutie mark is a large percent sign. It represents his skill and his obsession with numbers and analysis. It also represents the “measured” way in which he deals with others and regulates himself.

Personality: By nature, Numbers is a remarkably sensitive and caring pony. He naturally trusts everyone that he comes into contact with. He strongly believes that good can be found within every pony. Unfortunately, this positive and friendly side of Numbers is hidden behind a wall. Only the most perceptive ponies can see through Numbers's façade and identify his true nature - a nice guy.<br /><br />Numbers works very hard to analyze and control his own emotions. In addition to this, he has developed something of a mental buffer to the emotions of others. He did this as a survival strategy. It keeps him from suffering embarrassment and emotional turmoil due to his lack of a natural gifting in dealing with others. Despite all of his efforts though, there is one emotion that he is basically unable to control - amusement. Numbers will laugh at almost anything so long as the intent of the joke is positive.<br /><br />While he is quick to trust others, Numbers has a very hard time making friends. He is always reluctant to enter into friendships because he has a strong tendency to overreact to the emotions of his friends. When a friend is upset, Numbers will be furious. When a friend is happy, Numbers bubbles with enthusiasm. Numbers is wary of the lack of thought that goes into these reactions. <br /><br />Numbers is quite focused on efficiency, so he often worries about the potential losses in efficiency due to absorbing the emotions of close friends. Numbers will often make decisions based on efficiency rather than emotions. He believes that, by being efficient, he will be the most help for the friends that he does stay in touch with. Unfortunately, because it is so hard for him to guard against the emotions of his friends, Numbers will often remain distant even from those that he cares about. <br /><br />Every once in a while, Numbers will “short-circuit”. When he is forced to deal with other ponies for extended periods of time in social situations, the stress of dealing with so many emotions will sometimes cause his “emotional buffer” to overflow and collapse. The result is usually a burst of hyperactivity and highly unpredictable emotional reactions.<br /><br />Due to his sensitive nature and his habit of absorbing emotions, Numbers will react violently to threats against his friends and allies. When this happens, there are no limits to what he would do to defend those that he cares about. He is completely willing to put his own life on the line without hesitation at any given point in time. This will often lead to Numbers overreacting to threats and being overly aggressive in situations where aggression would perhaps not be beneficial.

Backstory: Numbers was born in Canterlot. His mother is an earth pony named Percept, and she works as a librarian within the Canterlot library. His father, Distant Gazer, is an eccentric inventor and dreamer. His parents originally met when his father was on one of his many trips to the Canterlot library. His father had been looking for a magical way to open portals into other worlds. Eventually, his father's studies led him to spend quite a lot of time in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot library. After watching for some time with thinly veiled interest, Percept was able to work up the courage to speak to this strange unicorn, and she discovered that she shared his enthusiasm for esoteric magic. The rest was history.<br /><br />Given his parents shared interest, it only made sense that Numbers, himself, took an immense interest in unicorn lore. From the moment that he was able to read, Numbers immersed himself in the tales of preclassical Equestria. He took a particular interest in the history of the unicorns and the evolution of magic over time. In the beginning, his parents approved and encouraged his endeavor. It was clear to them both that Numbers greatly admired both his mother's extensive knowledge on the subject and his father's extensive experience in translating magical theory into practice.<br /><br />Unfortunately, as time wore on, Numbers grew more and more immersed in his studies. His interest had become an obsession. When he started skipping school in order to focus on his own studies, his parents became worried. Desperately concerned that their child was slipping away from them, they began to gently coax Numbers to go back to school and try making some friends - to broaden his perspective. At that point, it had actually been a few years since Numbers had actually left the confines of his home.<br /><br />Returning to school was a nightmare for Numbers. Because he was an only child, his time spent in his studies had basically been spent without any interaction with any other ponies aside from his mother and father. He was completely unprepared for dealing with other young ponies. Because he had spent so much time studying such old texts, he was completely unaware of modern culture. To the other young ponies, he was naïve and clumsy. <br /><br />Further adding to his social discomfort, Numbers found that he was overly sensitive to the emotions of others and not very much in control of his own. When others found something slightly funny, Numbers would roar with laughter. When others found something slightly sad, Numbers would weep. The other young ponies found his erratic behavior to be somewhat disconcerting. Needless to say, he didn't make many friends. However, his love of laughing and intrinsic good nature did save him from being completely shunned.<br /><br />After a few months of continuous embarrassment and emotional agony, Numbers finally began to figure out his own survival tactics for social interactions. Drawing on the mechanics of magic and applying them to his own psychology, Numbers mentally developed a system that he could use to "filter" his emotions and those of others. Using his system, he was finally able to obtain a degree of normalcy in his interaction with the other ponies in his classes.<br /><br />After creating his system, Numbers began to refine it. Eventually, he discovered that he was able to “read” the intentions of other ponies within his class. Instinctively, he was able to know when they were upset or sad even when they made attempts to hide it. Unfortunately, no degree of refinement could remove Numbers's sensitivity to amusing situations. His habit of laughing uproariously at the slightest provocation remained.<br /><br />Finally solving the puzzle of interacting with other young ponies, Numbers realized that he had another challenge. While the other ponies in his classes had already begun to discover their special talents and get their cutie marks, Numbers remained completely clueless about what his special talent would be. Because of his parents, Numbers had always made the assumption that his special talent would be found in his studies. However, no matter how hard he had studied, his cutie mark had never appeared.<br /><br />Years went by, and, while he tried different ways of searching for his talent, Numbers was still a blank blank. When he finally finished his classes and graduated from school, Numbers was still a blank flank. When he began working alongside his mother in the Canterlot library, Numbers was still a blank blank. While he made light of his situation, the truth was that his lack of a cutie mark was a tremendous point of shame for him. It was frustrating. He had tried everything he knew, and yet… Nothing.<br /><br />As fate would have it, a rather rudimentary new assignment in the Canterlot library was what revealed Numbers's special talent. One day, the head librarian could not find the pony that was normally responsible for conducting an inventory of books within the library. So, he turned to Numbers instead. Normally, the task of conducting an inventory of the library took at least several weeks. However, by developing a more efficient method, Numbers was able to complete the task within just 5 days. <br /><br />The very next day after he completed the inventory, Numbers left the final report on the desk of the head librarian. When the head librarian returned to his office, he was completely shocked by what he saw. In the entire history of the library, no one had ever completed the inventory so quickly. He immediately went to find Numbers so he could find out how this was done.<br /><br />The explanation that Numbers gave him was quite astonishing. Numbers had been able to discover several patterns in the placement of the books. This had allowed him to figure out how many books were present and which books those were without actually examining each book. Numbers told the librarian that he was confident that his method had the same level of accuracy as the old way of doing things. While he was talking, his cutie mark appeared. Finally, Numbers had discovered his special talent.<br /><br />[Human Backstory for Shifted RP]<br /><br />Jack Rossi was just a simple administrative associate working for a medium-sized Midwestern city. Every day, he went to work. At work, he looked over financial records, wrote efficiency reports, and attended meetings with management. Every evening, he exercised, called his mother, read the news, and went to bed. To say that he was boring would be an understatement. Of course, he had not always been that way.<br /><br />When he was younger, he had grand ambitions. He had thought that he was going to change the world one day. As a young man in pursuit of grand ambitions, Jack cut himself off from friends and family to focus on nothing but his work. Days turned into months. Months turned into years. Still he worked. And worked. And worked. But, the world didn't change. <br /><br />One day, Jack woke up and he realized that he had done basically nothing with his life. In pursuit of the impossible, he had sacrificed the plausible. Embittered by the sudden realization of all that he had lost and missed out on due to his obsession, Jack immediately abandoned his dreams of changing the world and decided that, in fact, the world was fine enough as is. Seeking stability, he sought employment with the local city government.<br /><br />It had been years since he made the decision to seek stability, and Jack found himself quite happy with this decision. He had health insurance, a decent car, and really nice shoes. Yet still, every once in a while, he would find himself looking towards the sky and daydreaming. His daydreams were always the same, he was back into his old habits - no job, no steady income, no friends. But, at least in his daydreams, he still had his dream.<br /><br />One day, while out jogging after work, Jack saw a mysterious crack appear in the middle of the sidewalk. Not noticing it, because he was in one of his daydreams, Jack stepped right onto it. His next step did not move him forward. Instead, he fell. Thinking that this weird event was somehow part of his daydream, Jack had no reaction at all when he suddenly found himself a pony in a strange land. Jack said, “Well this is the most interesting daydream I've ever had…”