Down to the last detail · 11:11am May 22nd, 2018
I'm still returning to reality after Everfree Northwest. It was awesome. I'm not even going to try to list everyone I met because I know I'd leave someone out and then feel bad, but hopefully that's all right. Know that if I ran into you and we said hi, I probably think you're awesome, too.
I also ran into several people who actually read my stuff, which is somehow still surreal to me despite the fact that I've been doing this horsewords thing for nearly two years now. And over the course of several discussions, several questions came up: a few matters of pronunciation (Valey is Vay-lee, and I really don't even know on Howe), but there was also a request for some more precise descriptions of some of The Olden World's OCs, and that's what this blog is for because I figure those should be available for everyone without having to dig through hundreds of chapters. So, as specific as I can get, here's all the most important ones! I can edit more in if anyone requests them in the comments, and plot-sensitive details are spoilered just in case.
Filly Starlight
She's not an OC, but due to sufficient amounts of AU probably deserves a spot here. She's blank, the same size as the CMC, and her age is an in-world mystery that most characters guess is between eight and twelve. Her magic is teal, as are her summoned crystals, and her colorations all match canon. At the story's start, her mane is very scruffy with a month's worth of uneven growth, not quite shoulder-length when dry but long enough to get in her eyes. After she gets it fixed in Riverfall, the front is an even bang parted around her horn like in the show, and the back is done in a single ponytail by Maple's insistence. At some point around Ironridge Night 1, Maple gives up and it goes back to being scruffy, untied and uncombed. Her teal streaks are a lot less noticeable when her mane is messed up, but still there. Post-Season Five material regarding her hometown, upbringing, family or whatever isn't taken into account.
Maple
Maple is a twenty-five-year-old earth pony mare of average size with a dusty-tan coat, reddish-brown mane and tail and ruby eyes (the same color as Rainbow Dash). Her eyes turn to bright pink early in Ironridge Night 3. The closest canon pony mane and tail to hers is Sugar Belle, though Maple's ties don't have beads on and her mane is very loosely braided before being tied. The forelock and tail are mostly similar though; she shares the large curl over her forehead and tied-but-uncombed appearance. Her cutie mark is a box (looks like cardboard, but I don't know if they have that in Riverfall) with the top flaps open, and possibly things being put in. Maybe it would be cool if the box visual changed slightly depending on how much she was carrying? I haven't given it too much thought. During Ironridge Night 3, her cutie mark becomes covered in a spider web of cracks, which slowly heals over the next few days.
Amber
Amber is a twenty-three-year-old earth pony mare who is slightly small (about the size Rainbow Dash is usually portrayed as in fanfiction). She has the same coat color as Lemon Hearts and a darker orange mane - think a less-pastel version of Spitfire's colors. I haven't given too much thought to her manestyle, but it's probably mid-length, fluffy enough to fan out when she's not right-side-up and retain its general style afterward, and might or might not have a second shade of orange as a secondary color, but I don't know if it would be striped or change at the tips or what. Maybe it's two-tone like Minuette? Either way, that's something you can decide. The only mention of her cutie mark has Starlight describe it as looking "like honey on the end of a board." Though this isn't in the story as of now, she got it getting herself stuck to a wall while gluing together wood for an amateur boat, if that adds context. Her appearance doesn't change much throughout the story, though she's frequently either soaked or covered in grease. I don't think her eye color is mentioned, but if it is, feel free to correct me. Green might look nice on her, if it isn't.
Willow and White Chocolate
Since these two look so similar, they get to share a section. Both are markless earth pony mares with light blue eyes, twenty-nine, who are a head to half a head larger than average but still normally proportioned. They have silvery coats - think Marble Pie, but shinier - and two-tone dark gray manes and tails. Willow's isn't quite long enough to reach the ground, styled like a flatter version of Fluttershy's by her head but straight instead of curled towards the ends. White Chocolate's is similar toward the top, but shorter, with an even diagonal cut on each strand that hangs down (sort of like Twilight's tail, only applied multiple times to a mane). White Chocolate's also covers one eye (it's not mentioned, but should be her left). The covered eye has an eyepatch when she first appears, though it's later removed and the eye is completely normal. Months prior to her appearance in the story, White Chocolate has a cutie mark of a single snowflake, and her left eye is darker blue. White Chocolate is also pregnant, but frequently wears a large blue-and-gray bathrobe to try and hide it.
Admiral Valey
Valey is a batpony mare of indeterminate age, though she appears to be in her late teens or early twenties, and is in excellent shape but also very well-fed. Her coat is gray, just dark enough to be described as black, and her eyes and mane/tail are both emerald. Her mane has no set style; she wears a black beret with gold trim that she tries to use to hold it in place, but the forelock can either look like Cloud Kicker's or Rainbow Dash's depending on which way she pushed it aside last (it often gets in her eyes). The back is naturally straight and tends to be matted and unbrushed without reaching the point of being unhygenic or dirty, and is slightly longer than shoulder length. If she's standing still or trying to look good, it will split around her neck with some on either side in natural twin tails. If she ever took care of it, it would have a thick, slightly darker green stripe in the middle, but that blends in most of the time the same way Starlight's teal does, leaving her mane usually monochrome. During Ironridge Night 3, she gets a decent chunk of it cut off, and her style is currently very unbalanced. Her cutie mark is a boxing glove, probably red or reddish-brown, and I'll leave it up to you what the pony version of that looks like. Early in Ironridge Night 3, she gets a pendant that looks like a less-ornate Element of Harmony with a black stone in the center and never takes it off. For details on her transformation when using it, see the start of Chapter 287 (don't click that if you're not there yet!).
Shinespark
Shinespark is a nineteen-year-old blank unicorn mare. Her coat is orange, and her mane and tail are vivid red with a single teal streak. She has a short, spiky, roundish manestyle with no part, a jagged bang and a swept-back back that looks like it belongs on a pegasus, and her tail is somewhat short and spiky as well. Between being a young unicorn, the teal streak and short manestyle, she's commented on her physical similarities to Starlight. Her eyes and telekinesis are both sapphire blue. During Ironridge Night 3, she gets her cutie mark back, but probably best not to include that in any art because it would be a really big spoiler and totally not because I can't find a specific text reference to make sure I get an accurate description here.
Howe
Howe is a lavender pegasus stallion somewhere in his twenties. He has a goatee and mane that are very flagrantly dyed red and black, so go nuts with garish fashion senses and stuff. Maybe add some jagged lightning-bolt patterns. On the goatee. He'd totally do that. Think "insane cult leader/sorcerer with no sense of shame." I never mentioned him wearing clothes in the story, but he's also the type who would do that just for fun. His cutie mark is a red megaphone, and lets him summon one at will, so he might be carrying one of those. I don't remember if his eyes were mentioned, but they might as well be gray.
Gerardo Guillaume, griffon adventurer extraordinaire aka Birdo
Gerardo is a griffon in his late twenties or early thirties. He has a dark blue coat and white markings along one talon, and always wears a black suit that's somewhere between a fancy military uniform and a durable tuxedo. He carries a sash for weapons and sheathes and fights using a straight, double-edged black sword with a triangular hole in the hilt and a handle designed for talons, claws or hands.
Jamjars
Jamjars is a blank pastel yellow unicorn filly who said she was seven, but was probably lying. She has orange eyes and magic, and an incredibly poofy Adagio Dazzle-tier mane that's raspberry-red with two or three darker vertical stripes (or are the stripes blue? I can't remember). She can use her magic to camouflage herself and loves sneaking, stalking, and cheshire grins.
That's all I can think of for now that have important-enough appearances to merit more than a one-line description. Maybe Arambai, Matryona, Selma, Herman, Sharpie, Elise... Okay, there are a lot. But it's 4am, so while I could do more, I'd really rather wait until later. As mentioned above, though, say something in the comments and I can edit any other character(s) in!
Oh, hey! I actually had Valey's name right in my head! For Howe I just assumed it's like "how" with a silent e. Like Elias Howe who invented the sewing machine. Though could be similar to Rob Lowe as well.
And thanks for the descriptions too. I've started to ask for just such a list several times but never got around to it. I'm no artist myself but I've been wanting to commission some fan art of Valey. Not sure when I might get to do it. Also I had missed that Gerardo is blue - had him looking like Gilda in my head.
Mfw its not admiral valley.
Even tho its been pointed out to me before