Asteria Stillheart
Gender: Female
Species: Unicorn
Mane: Asteria has a scarlet mane that is kept short and utilitarian.
Tail: Her tail is a matching red and usually kept manageable.
Eyes: She has calm crimson eyes.
Body: Asteria has a jet black coat and is relatively tall for a mare, able to look most stallions in the eyes without having to look up. She is extremely toned to the state of a marathon runner. Her muscles are not large, but they are well trained and she keeps herself at the minimum healthy weight for someone of her stature.
Cutie Mark: A silver package that denotes her abilities as a courier. It is usually kept hidden under her full bodied dark cloak to prevent strangers from easily identifying her as someone who transports and retrieves things.
Age (Baby,adult): Adult Mare
Personality: At first glance, Asteria appears to be a very melancholy, if not completely apathetic pony. She is very secretive and never goes out of her way to reveal anything about herself. She always appears to be completely stoic, masking her thoughts behind an unflinching expression. Asteria is not a recluse though and understands that extremely suspicious activity would be counter productive to her goals. If approached, she will speak in the most polite of ways possible, and answer questions to the best of her ability while being as vague as possible about specifics about herself. She is prone to being too trustworthy with new strangers, almost refusing to judge others based on their immediate actions.
Current Residence: Asteria does not have an official home, finding such a thing pointless for someone who is always traveling. That being said, her base of operations is in Canterlot. She has been sent off to all the major cities across Equestria, and a few obscure locations of importance. In Canterlot, she lives in a room of her parent's manor, the unicorn residing in hotels while abroad.
Job: Asteria works as a courier who retrieves and delivers high profile items for equally important people. She works for the highest bidder, and often finds herself working for non-ponies. Asteria rationalizes that such clients are more willing to pay premium prices for her services and she can use that to pursue her goals further. Although she is not as fast as a pegasus, she delivers items in secret, using her profile as a unicorn to keep packages hidden and safe. When work is slow, she can sometimes be seen delivering normal items across short distances. The mare uses her talents to raise as much capital as possible for her investments in charities and organizations that support unfortunate and misunderstood ponies, and non-ponies across Equestria.
Mother: Elegant Star, a theater actress and former model in Canterlot.
Father: Stern Gavel, a judge of high esteem in Canterlot, well known to anyone in that circle.
Likes: Asteria comes off as apathetic to almost everything at first glance. Of course that isn't completely true because she does appreciate many things. She likes those who hold true to their ideals, especially those who refuse to lie. She appreciates those who are selfless enough to sacrifice their time and resources to help others that are less fortunate. Asteria likes to read while on travels and often finds herself learning things, cultural differences in particular, as she crosses Equestria.
Dislikes: Asteria tries to be open minded about everyone and everything. She does not like judging others, especially with limited information. The unicorn does not like people who nonchalantly lie and go out of their way to deceive others. She will usually not express her opinions, unless specifically asked to, because she feels that she could unfairly bias the opinions of others.
Backstory: Asteria was a strangely agreeable filly in her youth, the peculiar pony always looking to help and please her classmates. She never seemed to get flustered when playing with her classmates, the youth seeming well versed in maintaining her composure. Her last name, Stillheart, represents her calm demeanor that she slowly gained over time. The unicorn learned to rationalize the reasoning of others and learned that problems could be addressed by being impartial and understanding the motivation of all parties involved. She is a pony who always seeks to avoid conflict. If she angers someone, she will always apologize and seek a way to make amends with irritated parties. She earned her cutie mark when she delivered the work of a sick classmate to her teacher, the young pony learning she could help others by simply donating her time. After objectively thinking things over, she quickly came to the conclusion that some residents of Equestria, dragons and griffons in particular, tend to scare off delivery ponies with their presence. She also realized that nobody would expect a unicorn to be a courier, that profession normally reserved for pegasi. This allowed her to also deliver important items safely, most people not suspecting a unicorn to be a secret courier. Her father, a judge, was disappointed to find that his daughter took to a life of delivering items for shady characters, but Asteria was not one to irrationally forget her abilities. She took it upon herself to prove to her father that delivering important items for misunderstood characters could be a fulfilling career. Her first name, Asteria, is a play on the word hysteria, the very thing that the presence of her clients tend to bring on fearful ponies. After returning a dragon's gem that was stolen from him by burglars, her father begrudgingly accepted his daughter's career, admitting that there are individuals and items that need help, even if they are a scary dragon or
a threatening griffon.
Strengths: Asteria is about as physically fit as a unicorn can manage, her constant travel across Equestria giving her the physique of a marathon runner. She is always open to hear the words of anyone she meets, be they a pony, dragon or some other creature. She is well versed in the customs of griffons and other creatures, speaking with them in a manner that respects their culture. She is aware and reliable, always focusing on her work and never letting it slip her mind.
Weaknesses/Flaws: Asteria's biggest weakness is her refusal to judge others without appropriate information on them. She can be very gullible about claims made by others because she always hopes for the best in others. She is very slow to make friends because she has a tendency to put her work above everything else. Asteria is able to think through situations thoroughly and objectively, but suffers from being very literal minded. She often misinterprets figures of speech and many metaphors, unintentionally misunderstanding the words of others. She doesn't tend to hold these understandings against others, somewhat aware of her odd disconnect.
Fears: Asteria prefers to go through things logically, and she deems that fear is irrational, causing others to make poor decisions. When put into a dangerous situation, she simply consolidates her position and tries to examine what is going on. While she isn't afraid of anything in particular, she often worries about certain things. She is always concerned about the task she is assigned to and hopes to not ruin her reputation by botching a job. Asteria is also wary that her efforts might not cause the desired positive effect and that her actions might prove her critics correct.
Roleplay sample:
Asteria's crimson eyes winced as she stepped out of her Canterlot home and into bright sun of the city streets of a winter afternoon. The pony capital was bustling as usual, ponies herding through the crowded streets as they tried to reach their destinations before being scooped up in the icy clutches of the cold morning air. The composed courier took one last moment to adjust her heavy cloak and slide on her hood that hid her face while perpetually struggling against her long black horn.
She had decided on a trip to her office in town to collect her next set of deliveries for the day, the unicorn making it a habit to do as much work in a day as her body and prior commitments would allow. As quickly as she had ventured into the writhing mass of ponies in the street, the aloof unicorn whisked herself away into one of the derelict alleyways of the city as she sought a modicum of peace and freedom on her journey to work. As soon as she had torn herself free of the crowd, the dark unicorn's ear twitched as she heard the wailing of a lost foal at the edge of the street behind her. She blinked her fiery red eyes and carefully approached the young child. "Hello stranger, have you been separated from your parents? It is unsafe to be alone on the streets at such a young age. Do you know the location of your residence, if not I will be required to take you to the closest guard pony station while the authorities search for your mother," she calmly explained in a voice that showed patience and a lack of urgency.
When her questions were answered with a hysterical set of cries, the black unicorn blinked her eyes a second time and gently enveloped the child in her crimson magic aura. She gently lifted the foal off the ground and placed it on the back of her neck, the most comfortable place for the foal that would keep it safe from any bumping. Her morning plans were tossed out immediately as she found herself couriering a young pony to more qualified child care individuals than herself.
Acceptance
Subject: Asteria Stillheart 
Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:13 pm
