Treasure Trove

By Nom de Plume

• August 31, 2014

Age: 16 - 18

Gender: Female

Species: Earth Pony

Appearance: Treasure is a tad taller than the average mare, and a bit on the lean side as well. Her coat is a dark blue, and her sea-green eyes gleam with excitement at the thought of the open sea. Her golden-yellow mane and tail are windblown, permanently mussed by the salty wind. Her mane is bound back with a bright red bandanna, and dark freckles spatter her face like saltspray.

Cutie Mark: A red 'X' with a weaving dashed line, symbolizing her talent for finding lost items and treasures.

Personality: Always looking for a new experience, Treasure is bold, aggressive, and loud. She doesn't take orders well, and has a natural dislike of authority. Fiercely independent and firmly settled into the 'rebellious' phase of her life(Phase? Ha!)Treasure dreams of the day she'll have the ability to strike out on her own.<br /><br />Treasure can be a bit obtuse, especially when it comes to others' feelings, and often needs a direct message to realize she's upset someone. When she finally does get it, though, she's enormously apologetic, and won't stop trying to find some grand gesture to make it up to whoever she wronged, even when they tell her the apology is all they wanted. She keeps a small book full of people she has to mend fences with, along with the varying degrees of what needs to be done, crossing names out when she feels she's able to be forgiven.<br /><br />Treasure is full of snark when the situation calls for it. And when it doesn't, much to the irritation of her crewmates. She tends to puff up a little more in front of people who aren't part of her crew, put forth an aura of 'devil-may-care dashing pirate captain,' but at heart she's a big softie who likes to tease her friends now and again.<br /><br />She can be rather possessive of her friends, because she grew up with few other foals around, but loves it when her friends bring new ponies around; she views their social circles less as linked groups and more as extensions of her own.<br /><br />When she needs a moment of introspection, Treasure will often go for a swim. She's always felt just as at home in the sea as on the land, and chalks that up to her supposed maternal heritage. She loves to go swimming at night, watching the stars and moonlight making patterns on the waves and turning the foam to silver.<br /><br />Treasure's life goals are simple: Find her parents, go on wild, crazy adventures, make tons of money and get super-famous finding lost treasures and artifacts, then fade into the mists of legend. Freedom, Fortune, and Fame is her mantra, and she plans to have it all.

Backstory: Even as a child, Treasure knew where her path would lead. She would be a dashing swashbuckler one day, an unstoppable treasure-hunter famed across Equestria. Unfortunately, when you're small and don't know port from aft, you tend to get laughed off the deck. Her notion was proven, however, when a guest at the tavern lost a priceless bracelet. Treasure left no stone unturned, and finally located the jewelry in a magpie's nest. Upon returning the item to its proper owner, she gained her cutie mark -- a red X and dotted line, broadcasting her talent for treasure hunting to the whole world.<br /><br />Treasure grew up working in one of Horseshoe Bay's dockside taverns, known as 'The Rusty Tankard.' It wasn't a great place, but rates were low and the innkeep was an old friend of her father's. Her father was a sailor named Saltspray, who drifted in and out of her life with the turn of the tide. He always had a story or a little gift for his filly, though, whenever he'd come home, and she was completely enamored with him. Then, one day he sailed out to sea, and never came home. Treasure swore that day she'd follow in his hoofsteps, find him, and they'd sail across the world together.<br /><br />Shortly after Saltspray's disappearance, the Tankard changed hooves. Old Miss Hearthfire died of age, and her nephew took over. He worked Treasure hard, insisting on exacting every bit of energy she had in exchange for the 'free ride' she'd had under Hearthfire's watch. (She'd been working since she was old enough to help out properly, but he didn't listen.) He even went so far as to try and demand a portion of her earnings from her work as a treasure hunter, something her friends among the staff put a stop to immediately, threatening him with calling in the Town Guard for interfering with 'talent-related employment.'