The "Black Adder"

By Raven Rawne

• March 27, 2017




Age: 27 (still young adult in lamia years)

Gender: Female

Species: Non-Pony

Appearance: A lamia pony mare, shares characteristics of Vipera Berus. Her snake tail measures twenty metres and has 0,7 meter across in widest part, just below the "hips" of her pony part. The tails is very muscular and rather hard to the touch, unless the lamia relaxes deeply. Scales are bluish grey with black zigzag on her back. The scales on the bottom side are light grey, near white.<br /><br />As far as her upper half is concerned, the "mare part" is averagely built, and one may think that Nature forgot to bring colored crayons when drawing her concept art. Her coat is steel grey, and her mane is Midnight Blue, kept long and loose, often falling over one eye as she frequently changes the manestyle on the go. Interestingly enough, she keeps her appearance to a high standard, shining her scales and brushing her mane and coat. Bright red serpentine eyes, with vertical slits, are often the first feature one notices when looking for her, since they stand out the most. She has short fangs to inject the venom, although it's not lethal for ponies and any large animals really. Still, a cause for concern since she has the same venom as the aforementioned viper. Even though she has nostrils, her sense of smell in conventional sense is nonexistent as she depends on her forked tongue like normal snakes do.

Cutie Mark: None, she's a lamia.

Personality: The "Black Adder", for she wants to be known as such, is a curious case. For once, she's a predatory snake, no doubt about it. Her personality reflects that, since she's a sneaky type, preferring to coil up somewhere and seemingly wait for the prey to come within biting range. On the other hoof, yhh, coil(?), she lived with a pony nearly all her life, being brought home by an excentric adventurer who found her as a hatchling. Having a pony "foster parent" allowed her to actually learn how to behave like a pony, and tilted her mindset towards sociability and cooperation rather than biting on sight. She was even taught to eat pre-killed prey, and experimented with eating meals rather than hunting like a normal snake, but she prefers the "traditional way". Eating habits aside, The Black Adder is a really silly snake, always coming with "cunning plans" that often fail horribly, but in a hilarious way. Thankfully, she's an eternal optimist and not even several murder attempts by heroic "slay the beast" types changed that. She's rather trusting, if the other party gives her reason to, otherwise prefers to hide and wait out the danger. Or hypnotise her assailant to go away, whatever works. Still, she IS a predator and knows how to take care of business. Likes: - warmth, sunlight (even if she stays in temperate climate), - creature comforts (brushes, soft bedding, clean spaces), - fresh caught prey, - "shinies" (anything that shines really), - mirrors - a subtype of shinies, anything that allows her to see her reflection is a keeper. Dislikes: - cold, especially cold mornings, - "big frakking heroesssssss" who want to kill her, simply because she's a "monster, - when something interrups her while she coils up after a meal, - being called a monster, obviously.

Backstory: Brought to a cabin in Hayseed Swamps as a hatchling, the "Black Adder", for she chose this peculiar handle to try and scare any would-be asassins, grew up under care of an excentric adventurer/treasure hunter, self proclaimed "Professor" Dusty Tome. The earth pony stallion lived in solitude and was in his forties when he brought the lamia home, having thought she would be a companion, and a guard of his "treasure" when he was out on adventures. He taught her everything her instinct did not - speaking equestrian, reading and writing, proper behaviour as if she was just another pony. For fifteen years, she thought she's just another type of pony, and that there was nothing "wrong" with her - the stallion was like a father for her and never mentioned that she should be weary of other ponies. Until he was out on another adventure and a small group of lost ponies saw the lights in the cabin, and decided to seek shelter. The poor lamia pony was so weirded out by their violent behaviour that she fled to her winter lair deep under the small house, and didn't come out till her "father" came back. Suddenly realising that she's not "just" a snake pony, the Black Adder had a hard pill to swallow, but with help of her pony mentor, she found ways of avoiding conflict with ponies who sometimes wandered to their home - lamia hypnosis, mostly. It wasn't perfect, and there were a few times when she took it too far for her own amusement, but, all in all, it was better than bloodshed, right? Unfortunately some proved resistant to her stare, and once, things ended badly. Suffice to say she had a big meal, and some shinies to decorate her lair with. Now, when she was 24, she saw Dusty Tome for the last time. He went to the Everfree Forest to search for the long lost relics from the castle of the two sisters. The lamia waited for his return, until the bad ponies started showing up to get his "treasure" - something the stallion made a legend of, but in reality, all there was were rows of old books with scribbled notes in them, and some baubles of no real worth. The cabin burned to the ground after one of such "visits", and he Black Adder had to look for a new home... She settled in an old stone tower of sorts, and even tried to restore it, with mixed results. At least the roof is whole and the fireplace works, so that's something in the humid swampy land. She had help from an occasional hypnotised adventurer who found her, and a friend of sorts, an earth pony mare that drops in every now and the to check in on her.