Tourmaline Quartz

"You shine like a diamond, honey, never forget that!"

Parents: Harpschicord and Rarity

Species: Unicorn/Male

Special Talents: Jeweler, making jewelry/playing the drums and singing

Nicknames: Tom, Tommy, Quartz, Tourmaline

Significant Other: Prism Storm

Siblings: Splendor (half-sister)

Voice Actor: Jim Pasons

Bio:
Tourmaline "Tommy" Quartz is the simply fabulous son of fashionista Rarity and journalist Harpschicord "Happy" Pants. He is a chipper, energetic colt, and has inherited the soul of an artist from his rather-famous mother. She taught him the lesson of generosity from a very young age, and he truly has a heart of gold. Tommy is a very social pony and is ever-eager to insert himself into any sort of lively conversation. He is articulate and isn't afraid to show off his rather vast array of knowledge on fashion, jewelry, comic books, music, journalism, ecetera. Tom acts as a bright, shining light in his (rather large) social circle and always offers forward enthusiastic words of encouragement. Much like both of his parents, Tom is a highly passionate creature and is highly in love with creativity. This slim stallion grew up helping his mother in her many shops, showing his competence in a professional setting quite young. From helping fold dresses in the back room (which provided great practice using his magic) to running the cash register, Tom became a common face amongst Rarity's employees. He was only about seven or so when he began to experiment more and more with Mother's gemstone collection. He was fascinated by the rich colors in each stone, the shapes they formed, the depths that seemed to go on forever. And the utter pieces of art that made up the jewelry Rarity wore. More than once, Tom was caught trying on her Fire ruby pendant (and no, he totally wasn't admiring himself in the mirror). Thus, his dearest mother began to take him along on her personal excursions to the meadows and caverns of Ponyville, wondering if he inherited her talent for finding gems. His first few trips certainly…left something to be desired. He dug up more dirt than gems those days. Nevertheless, his parents didn't have to wait long to discover where his actual talent lay — after borrowing some wire and tools from his best friend Mellow Vibes, he began to create. And create he did. It wasn't long before ponies were asking to buy the jewelry Rarity proudly boasted during her days in the shop. Tourmaline Quartz eventually began to solidify his place in the local workshop classes, his designs becoming ever more elaborate. He is becoming more-and-more well-known for his ever-creative, fantastic necklace, ring, and bracelet designs (especially after Princess Cadence herself purchased a rather festive snowflake circlet). But Tom has another half to him. One that throws just a little bit of conflict into the equation. His other best friend and stallion he's known since birth, Jetstream, began to obsess over music when his Uncle Ash gifted him with a beautiful guitar. He was eager to share his new passion with Tom (though the unicorn wasn't hesitant to critique his rather-harsh first notes), and eventually dragged him to their first rock concert (rather, he begged their mothers to allow them to sit in the front by themselves while Dash supervised from afar). Tom could always clearly recall the beautiful vibrations in his very chest from the instruments as the notes enveloped his very body. Mel would later identify this as a "spiritual experience" and that Tommy was very blessed to have had such. From then on, Tom fell in love with music as hard as his companion. A brand-new, sparkling drum set appeared on his following birthday, courtesy of his very-proud father Happy. His attention became divided between creating music and creating jewelry. Rarity grew worried that he was losing sight of his true destiny and began to slightly urge the young unicorn back towards her shops, and his workstations. Tom continued to sneak back to his drumset, unable to keep away from the feel the strong pieces of wood creating what he could only describe as sheer emotion as he spent more and more time practicing. Before long, he and Jet formed the two-stallion (locally) known as RazorWingz. Tom pours his heart and soul into the town concerts they put on during celebrations, Aunt Pinkie's holidays, and too-quiet Sundays. While she has tiny doubts lingering at the back of her mind, Rarity has to admit, her son is incredibly talented up on that stage of his…

Relationships:
Tourmaline Quartz is an easygoing, social pony — much like his mother. He is his parents' pride and joy (and Rarity's baby boy, no matter how old he gets or how much he protests) and they ensured their children had the absolute best growing up. Tom gets along well with his parents, though he can butt heads with Rarity at times when she encourages him to focus more on his jewelry-making instead of his next song. Tom argues that a pony can have two special talents, and maybe he isn't better at one than the other. Happy just wants his son to be…well, happy, in whatever he decides to do. He quite enjoys Tom's creations, both musical and non, but does wonder what his son will eventually decide to settle upon to build his future. Although they are prone to spats, as any siblings are, Tom adores his older half-sister Splendor. She has always been fond of her baby brother, and he has admired her kindness and skill since a very young age, looking up to the talented unicorn. Until he was six, Tom had simply no idea that he and Dora were slightly different. However, Canterlot unfortunately is not devoid of the occasional spoilt colt, and it didn't take long for somepony to start asking him how it felt to only have half a sister. How embarrassing! Confused, he questioned his mummy later on that evening. Rarity and Happy sat little Tom down and explained that Dora had a different mommy that wasn't Rarity, and that she was gone now and Rarity was Dora's mommy now. Since then, their relationship has gotten nothing but strong, the colt feeling no difference in their bond since knowing the truth. He often defends it against the elite population, declaring Splendor as his sister and nothing more. As previously mentioned, Tom's social circle is quite large. He is very close to Jetstream and Mellow Vibes, and is usually seen hanging around with them. However, as time went on, he found himself spending more and more time with Jet's little brother, Prism Storm. There was just something ever-so fascinating about the hotheaded pegasus. He certainly shares the trait with his older brother, but Prism's never-wavering determination and his talent in the skies has certainly caught his eye. However, the times he cherishes most are when its just the two of them, geeking out over the newest issue of Iron Stallion and Captain Equestria. After Tourmaline managed to sneak the first kiss in after Prism's first "Junior Wonderbolts" show, that was all she wrote.



And finally here we have the prodigal son himself, Tourmaline Quartz! He was actually two different characters at one point — Tommy the jeweler, and an unnamed stallion that was going to be the son of Applejack that was Jetstream's best friend. When I decided on Juniper Berry to be AJ's daughter, and working the story around that, Tom and AJ's phantom son got combined into one character, and I am quite pleased with the result. A good majority of Tom's personality was indeed lifted from a coworker (also named AJ) who was a former-jeweler and has one of the best snappish personalities I've ever come across.

And, of course, Tourmaline's nickname came from none other than "HERE COMES TOM" himself.

Rarity chose Tourmaline's name for his stunningly-colored mane and tail. Happy, while holding his son for the first time, laughingly told his wife that the name is quite a mouthful. He worked through a couple of different nicknames (including Ma-Ma and Linny) he finally settled upon Tom, only for Rarity to promptly face-hoof.


I hope you enjoy this lad! More work featuring him will be coming soon!