Tufani

By Kay Dreamer

• May 26, 2014




Age: Young Adult Mare

Gender: Female

Species: Pegasus

Appearance: An athletic Zebra mare with black-tipped wings and an untameably kinky main and tail. She won't say whether they're caused by genetics or the constant lightning strikes and static caused by her job as a Storm Chaser. Both her mane and tail have a white streak through the middle. Her legs are mostly black, while her hooves are white. She has sea-green eyes.

Cutie Mark: A swirling cloud with forked lightning radiating from the bottom. Similar to the way Zecora's cutie mark is the same colour as her stripes, Tufani's is also monochromatic, like a tribal tattoo.

Personality: Tufani is a cheeky, cocky and self-confident mare. She has a rich accent and voice, and will occasionally pretend she doesn't speak Equestrian for her own amusement. She enjoys practical jokes, loves talking, and loves company. Tufani enjoys how curious Equestrian ponies are about Zebras, and finds endless humour in playing her 'foreignness' for laughs.<br /><br />Tufani is a horrendous flirt - toward both stallions AND mares - because she finds the reactions that causes completely hilarious. (Her friends soon learn it's all in good fun.) She won't tell anypony which gender, if any, she actually prefers.<br /><br />Tufani claims her name is a shortened version of a longer one which is unpronounceable by Equestrian ears. An observant pony will notice, however, that each time she demonstrates her 'name', it sounds completely different. (Tufani will deny this - she absolutely did NOT just claim to be Queen of Saddle Arabia in the language of Zwahili. How dare you insinuate this.)

Backstory: Tufani is what is known as a Dhoruba Mchungaji; 'Storm Shepherd' in Zwahili.<br /><br />The weather patterns in Zebrica are much wilder and fiercer than those in Equestria. Due that inherent untamed quality, the Pegasus Zebras can’t control the weather in the same way Equestrian Pegasi do. Instead, Pegasus Zebras will ‘herd’ storms from one place to the next, pushing the worst ones away from settled areas, and coaxing gentler rains toward parched lands which need the water. Tufani's speciality is managing the lightning inside storm clouds as they pass close to villages or along the routes of nomadic herds, lessening the risk of stray lightning bolts causing fires, damaging property and harming other Zebras. Her life is mostly nomadic; Storm Shepherds must travel constantly to where the worst of the weather is.<br /><br />Tufani was born a Pegasus foal to a pair of Earth Zebras in a small village. As a filly she loved to fly, and would often sneak out at night to watch the great storms which flashed and rumbled on the horizon. Tufani was fascinated by them, idolising the Storm Shepherds whenever they arrived in town. When a stray storm escaped and passed close to her home, Tufani joined the few other Pegasus Zebras in her village in their attempt to herd it onwards. She found herself extremely talented with lightning, racing between the dark clouds and directing it harmlessly out into the sky. When the storm finally passed, she was overjoyed to find the stripes on her hindquarters had twisted themselves into the shape of a lightning cloud.<br /><br />Tufani originally traveled to Equestria during the Zebrican dry season, hoping to learn from the Equestrian Pegasus Ponies how to better control the weather in Zebrica. When she saw first-hoof how inherently tame the nature of Equestrian weather was, she knew there was nothing she could learn that would be helpful in her native lands. Instead of returning home immediately, she decided to take the opportunity to wander and explore.<br /><br />The freedom and easy lifestyle Equestria offers is a welcome break from the strenuous nature of a Storm Shepherd's work. While Tufani does mean to return home eventually, she feels an extended holiday is well deserved.