Winter's come early

[Stardust Dragon]

Hey everypony,

Since SillyFillyStudios recently released their "Snowdrop" video, to heart-melting results with Bronies everywhere, I decided I might as well jump on the snow craze and introduce my ice-based OC, Winter Whisper.  As a note, I made her long before I ever knew about Snowdrop, but I apologize if it seems like I'm ripping elements right from her.  And in case you start wondering, no, Winter is not blind: I used those eyes because I thought they better suited her character than black pupils.

In any case, I like to think I'm open to constructive criticism and suggestions, so please feel free to bring anything to my attention; this includes the "wall of text" nature of my biographies, if it really bugs you.  I hope you enjoy!


Name: Winter Whisper

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Special Talent:  manipulating ice crystals and snow

Other skills: She is able to give her frosty creations a temporary personality extended from her own: she can mentally give them commands and coordinate them with a thought. 

Unusual notes: her core temperature is several degrees lower than any "natural" value, but this doesn't affect her body's functionality

Occupation: varies based on season

Born: Canterlot

Family: mother, father, older brother (moved out a year after she was born)

Living in: Ponyville

Strengths: vibrant personality, always good with a practical joke, loves to make others laugh, able to survive in frigid temperatures with no ill effects

Weaknesses: fearsome temper, doesn't always know when a joke goes too far, severe lack of heat resistance, attempting to control too much snow at once tires her out

Appearance:

Spoiler: show

Past:

Spoiler: show

Born to a family of Canterlot elite, Winter was spoiled as a filly.  Named after the season she was born in, she was raised given almost anything she wanted, but began to get impatient when her cutie mark refused to take shape.  Her parents were extremely worried about their position in Canterlot high-society circles, having only recently come into it via some fortunate money and moving to the city about a generation ago.  Hailing from just outside Las Pegasus (Assuming the climate is equitable to the United States), most of Winter's family is adapted to warmer climates, and found Canterlot winters to be nearly insufferable, spending almost all their time inside. 

Winter was forbidden to go outside in the snow, but on her seventh birthday she got curious enough and snuck out of the house.  Once outside her magic sparked for the first time, had it an unusual reaction with the surrounding white blanket.  Suddenly her parents opened the door to find an army of snowmen knocking on it.  Literally.  Winter had discovered that her special talent was manipulating the ice around her, and in the process that the cold weather her family was so afraid of was more her natural climate.  Her cutie mark appeared soon after she found herself naturally inclined to form and lob a snowball at her sudden army, causing a massive snowball fight to break out on her street, drawing fillies and colts from their homes to join in.  The result was a small squad of guards coming in to calm the "war" and every carriage in sight buried under a firm blanket of snow. 

Having been berated for disobeying orders to not go outside, and drawing unwelcome attention from the Royal Guard, Winter Whisper suddenly found herself at odds with her parents and, slowly but surely, noticed that they were less willing to present her with everything she desired.  She could tell that her parents still loved her, of course, but as she got older she began to realize that she was suddenly the black sheep of the family.  It didn't take her all that long to figure out why: with her parents so concerned with maintaining their status in Canterlot, a city famous for housing the Princess and God Empress of the Sun, they had begun to equate winter with a negative status, fearing the cold that was so opposite of the warm light created by the sun.  While the experience humbled her significantly, it also strained her relationship with her parents dangerously thin at points.  When she was finally old enough to move out, she did so with all haste, but made sure that her family understood that, despite the passive-aggressive distaste and the shunning at social events she'd endured those many years, she still loved them.  She continuously sends letters to them and keeps in touch, but it has been a while since she was actually home.

Winter traveled for about a year, trying her best to stay in the coolest weather possible.  While she loved the ice and snow, over the years she had also discovered that she could not take the heat her family had been so enamored with.  She'd taken to drinking gallons of ice water a day in the worst summer months, and always loved the opportunity to go to the beach, spending most of her time in the ocean.  It was during one of these trips to the beach that she discovered another unusual power attached to her magic: she could freeze water at will, and manipulate the shape into anything she could imagine.  She couldn't unfreeze her creations or manipulate them while they were still in water form, however, but she never let this bother her. 

In her travels, many other ponies noticed her oddities, namely that one could feel the cold radiating off of her coat as they passed by.  At least three times she was mistaken for the second coming of the Windigos, and chased out of one small town as a result.  Despite this poor treatment from some, Winter has a tendency to win over the townspeople with her ice tricks and her ironically fiery personality and quick wit.  She eventually found herself in Ponyville just as winter was ending, and decided to stay at least a year to see what it was like in her best season.  While waiting she became so attached to the general day-to-day actions in town and has decided to set down there.

Personality/Present:

Spoiler: show

On a normal day, Winter Whisper is a kind and playful pony, more than willing to be on the receiving end of a joke and dish them out in turn.  Be warned if you anger her, however, for her temper can flare dramatically and cause fierce snowstorms, either localized to a single pony or, if extremely angered, one capable of covering half of Canterlot.  It was such an incident as this that got her mistaken for Windigoes and thrown out of a small town that was overly paranoid about ancient evils.  She finds it tough to forgive somepony if they have really angered her, but more often than not will come out and accept any apology that comes her way.  Winter is very quick to make friends, so long as no one makes her angry, and stays very close to those she knows best.  While she is generally uncomfortable with hugging other ponies or any kind of close contact, due to her unusually low core temperature making everypony else physically warmer than her, she is more than willing to give her affection to any of her friends.  At least once she's admitted she is a bit afraid of losing her friends, likely due to her experience as a filly of being snubbed for her true self, but she generally is able to look past this and can properly enjoy her time with friends.

Winter scarcely remembers her older brother, him having gone off in the Equestrian peace corps when she was still very young, spending much of his time in Saddle Arabia aiding the less-fortunate.  While she cannot bring herself to go overseas to such an arid climate, she communicates constantly with him, after finding an address that works frequently enough to send messages to, and hopes that one day he will be able to come back overseas to meet face to face at last.  She admits that she is slightly bitter about how her relations with her family have gone, but she agreed with her brother that, if he can come back to visit her, she would take the time to go and visit her parents with him.  She honestly has no hatred in her heart for any of her family, but simply does not think she's emotionally equipped to handle the stress of her family relations.

During the winter time, Whisper can generally be playing with the fillies in town, teaching them how to pack snow best for a snow fort, building snowponies, teaching them to ice skate etcetera.  As the natural snow begins to thaw, however, she usually retreats into her home, enchanted with a constant cold charm that allows her to remain comfortable even in the worst summer heat.  She rents her living room out on occasion for a summer party, which always nets her sufficient bits to pay for the renewal of the charm and then some.  During the summer she is either running a shaved-ice stand when she can stand to go outside, or she is at the beach cooling off in the ocean.   She is also a renowned ice-sculptor, frequently finding work for weddings and extravagant birthdays and cute-ceañeras. 

[Gracie Sky]

I must admit my skepticism about this pony's abilities with snow and ice and her perpetually cold aura. It sounds like she doesn't have any control over her magic, which is always a dangerous thing made even more dangerous since she uses her magic to retaliate against ponies that make her upset.

I'd almost not classify her as a pony more than I'd classify her as an elemental with the shape of a pony, since she apparently has a lower body temperature that would probably be unhealthy for a normal pony and the fact that coldness just radiates out of her constantly. One must ask how she acquired all these powers, since it doesn't seem that she actually did an training for this and it also doesn't seem hereditary, considering her family came from a warmer climate.

I'd even question her name, but she was born in winter. Still... following that logic, everypony would have Winter, Spring, Fall, or Summer in their names.

[Stardust Dragon]

I must admit my skepticism about this pony's abilities with snow and ice and her perpetually cold aura. It sounds like she doesn't have any control over her magic, which is always a dangerous thing made even more dangerous since she uses her magic to retaliate against ponies that make her upset.

I'd almost not classify her as a pony more than I'd classify her as an elemental with the shape of a pony, since she apparently has a lower body temperature that would probably be unhealthy for a normal pony and the fact that coldness just radiates out of her constantly. One must ask how she acquired all these powers, since it doesn't seem that she actually did an training for this and it also doesn't seem hereditary, considering her family came from a warmer climate.

I'd even question her name, but she was born in winter. Still... following that logic, everypony would have Winter, Spring, Fall, or Summer in their names.

I see your point about control over her magic.  Yeah, its dangerous when she loses her temper, but I had considered the cold aura to be a side effect of her power that she couldn't shut off if she wanted to.  I'm also new to writing characters with magical influences, so I took the idea that she has good control unless angered, which I figured was a pretty natural thing.

I actually was thinking elemental when I made her, but I was worried it made her too strong.  I'm very new to putting writing out for others to see, so I'm trying hard not to go Mary-Sue on something.  And yeah, the reason behind her name was a distinct afterthought in her backstory.  I'll try and figure out a better reason for it, and where her powers came from.

Thanks for taking the time to read this all, and for your notes!