Description:
Name: Zodiac Cloud
Nickname(s): Duckling (by parents), Black Swan (stage name)
Species/Gender: Pegasus-Chiropterasus/Male
Mark/Talent: A swan flying in front of a green sun. Represents his talent for performing, of being in the spotlight.
Personality: Shy, nervous. Excited and loud when comfortable, but that’s getting rare. Cries easily, both from negative and positive emotions. Very empathetic to others.
Important relationships:
* Lightning Strike (Dad): Light is the goofy dad with really bad jokes. Zodiac loved him to bits when he was younger, was extremely embarrased by him as a teen, and then grew closer to him again when Zodiac himself became a goofy adult.
* Northern Skies (Dad): Their relationship is comfortable. North is very calm and down to earth, so Zodiac finds him very easy to talk to. They often bond by Northern teaching about and sharing chiropterasi customs and culture with Zodiac, who loves to hear about his father's birthplace.
* Thundercloud Rainbowstorm (Aunt): Fun, but exhausting. He loves to spend time with her... as long as it's in limited doses. A big help in practising being in the center of attention, and setting up an iconic stage persona.
History:
He was born during the winter in Canterlot, and spent his first weeks of life being fussed over by medical professionals -Chiropterasi/Pegasi pairings were still very rare, which meant their children were even more so. So there was still very little history and information regarding any health problems which could occur, and everyone felt it was better to keep him under observation for a while just to be safe. While most pony hybrid children tend to fare well -the most common ones, mules and hinnies, actually tending to be hardier and more resistant to illnesses than either ponies or donkeys - here they were especially worried about how his wings would develop. Luckily it was unnecessary; Zodiac was healthy, with perfect pegasi-wings completely covered in downy feathers.
The start of his childhood was a fairly happy one -his dads’ were very loving, if a bit goofy, parents, and his aunt spoiled him rotten. Some of his classmates were a bit weary of him, but his fangs and eyes provided enough of an intimidation/”cool”-factor that no true bullying happened aside from a few stares. And he had some good and true friends, so those stares were easy to ignore.
Things went sour when he started secondary school -his friends were either placed in different classes from him, or didn’t even go to the same school. Suddenly being in a new environment with strangers made the usually outspoken and confident colt very shy and nervous. He was also an early bloomer, and shot up in height and gained spots well before any of his classmates, which made him even feel even more awkward and reluctant with his classmates. And on top of all of this, he was the only one in the class who hadn’t gotten his cutiemark yet. It was then the bullying started in earnest.
It took a little while until Light or North noticed anything was up -the bullying mainly took the form of excluding Zodiac from the group, rumors and giggling in groups while looking in his direction. Nothing the teachers really paid attention to, nor something which left any marks for his parents to see. He also didn’t say anything; partially because he felt embarrassed by it, and partially because he didn’t want to worry his dads. And when they did find out, there wasn’t much they could directly do -the school couldn’t force classmates to interact outside of schoolwork, and they couldn’t prove anyone participating in the rumors. Talking to the participant’s parents usually just ended with an offended mother or father proclaiming that their darling surely was not responsible.
In the end, North, Light and Zodiac decided the best course of action would be for him to switch schools. There were several secondary schools in Canterlot which offered the same or similar programs to the one Zodiac was currently in, but Light proposed another alternative. It was a bit difficult to get in, but he still had some strings back from when he was in the guard he could pull... The school in question offered Zodiac’s program at a more advanced level if he wanted, and it promoted cooperation and friendship; it had mandatory classes in both, and an on-site therapist, as well as many after school activities he could join to help him meet people. He would have to live on-campus, but it was close enough to Canterlot that he could come home on weekends if he wanted... oh, and did Light mention that the headmistress was the Princess of Friendship?
After much deliberation, Zodiac agreed. Hoping that he’ll find some friends in what has informally become nicknamed the “school of friendship”.
In the future, he will decide that this decision was one of the best ones he’d ever made. He’ll make friends again, and find that the stares lessen just a bit when your class also includes a griffon and a changeling. Eventually he’ll even gain back the confidence to join a band as a singer, and gains his mark during one of their performances. He'll believe the reason for the swan in his mark is from an old nickname, "Duckling", his dads gave him as a foal.
As an adult, he’ll be a singer... one famous enough to be stopped in the streets from people asking for autographs. Because of his cutie mark and that old nickname, he'll perform under the stage name the “Black Swan”. He’ll mainly focus on rock ballads, but will be infamous for having singles in completely different genres with varying success.
Trivia:
* Like with Midsummer and Kris, I included his adult form here so people wouldn’t be confused that his teenage version is him as an adult. But despite this, he is a teenager at the time most of my other cast are adults (when most of the stories in my nextgen verse takes place)
* Zodiacal light is a faint white glow that appears in the night sky, seemingly extending from the sun and along the zodiac. It’s caused by light being scattered by the zodiacal cloud, the name of the interplanetary dust in the solar system. So Lightning and North chose the name “Zodiac Cloud” after this, as it fit with both their families naming traditions. Light’s family is always named after weather phenomena, most often related to clouds: Lightning Strike, Thundercloud (Rainbowstorm was added by herself later), their mother Cirrus Cloud, their grandfather Cumulonimbus etc. So the zodiacal cloud fit semi-nicely. Northern Skies’ family have less of a concrete naming scheme, but it’s common that their children are named after their parents before they change it once they gain their cutie mark. Northern’s name used to be Gladiolus, after his mother Night Iris, until he got his mark and picked the name Northern Skies. So Zodiac Cloud works for this, both it and Northern Skies having to do with areas of the sky.
* His nickname “Duckling” comes from how fluffy and grey he was as a foal. North and Light thought Zodiac sounded so serious for a squeaky fluffball. It was only later they found out that it’s cygnets that are grey, ducklings are yellow and brown. At that point the nickname had stuck though.
* He’ll prefer to keep his stage persona, Black Swan, and his “normal” self a bit separate. As such, he’ll wear stage makeup, color illusions and contacts when performing. Black Swan is completely black, except for his white wing tips and red eyes. He usually wears a lot of makeup and glitter, as well as glittery necklaces and earrings.
* He’ll shave his head sometime in his late teens, as a teenage rebellion mixed with him wanting to symbolically remove that which kept him hidden from the world -he’ll be very dramatic. But he’ll find that he likes it, and keep the style into adulthood. By the time he’ll hit it big, it’s become such a big part of his brand that he’ll keep his head shaved for most of his adult life.
* Grows up really tall. Why? That’s what North and Lightning are asking; neither of them nor their families are known for being one the taller side. The current theory is that it has something to do with how he’s half pony, half chiropterasus -there is some precedent for the theory with some animal crosses growing larger than either parent species. (They’re wrong though -chiropterasi and ponies are the exact same species. They might not even be considered subspecies since there's so little genetic variation between them. Ponies don’t know this though, and just assume they’re more like zebras or donkeys in how related they are to ponies. So the actual reason for Zodiac’s height is just... him winning the genetic lottery in that department.)
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