Name: Astral Gleam
Species: Crystal Pony (Unicorn)
Age: ?

Source: MLP

Appearance Description: Astral's cutie mark depicts a stylized nebula. It's a rather fitting representation of his field of astronomy, but also his obsession with mystery and puzzles, as nebula's are very mysterious space phenomena.

Personality: Very studious and seemingly a cynic, but that's really only the surface. Around friends or those he is close to, Astral is very a kind and friendly pony, par for the course for his kind really. His main issue is having a bit of an obsessive personality, particularly with puzzles and riddles. He views everything as just another question to answer, or another puzzle to solve, and that typically means treating people or ponies like a chess player treats his game pieces. This rubs most ponies the wrong way, many not wishing to stick around someone so controlling or hard to work with. There is a nicer side, it's just buried underneath a thick layer of ice and thorns.

Backstory: Astral's personal history is a little strange. Like most Crystal Ponies, he was actually born over a thousand years ago during the reign of Princess Amore. As for any any Non-Alicorn pony could live for so long, well he actually has King Sombra to thank for that. A unicorn named Sombra embraced dark magic and used its power to usurp the throne of the Crystal Empire from Amore. Amore's fate to this day remains unknown, but before Sombra could turn his attention to the rest of Equestria he was defeated by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Unknown to them at the time, Sombra put a curse on the Crystal Empire that caused it and its citizens to vanish right along with him. The Empire didn't reappear again until a thousand years later. When it did, Sombra reawakened along with it, and he tried to regain his grasp over the Empire and the Crystal Ponies. Thankfully, the Empire was saved by Princess Twilight Sparkle, though she wasn't a Princess yet at the time. Her efforts, or more specifically those of her assistant Spike, allowed for the resurrection of the Crystal Heart which destroyed King Sombra once and for wall. After this, the Crystal Empire was then ruled by Amore's descdent, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or Cadence for short; along with her husband Shining Armor.

It was the experience of Sombra's curse that perhaps turned Astral Gleam into the cynic he is now known for being. Enslavement on top of find oneself a thousand years out of time is understandably a traumatic experience. Really it's a miracle that more of the Crystal Ponies didn't turn out the way Astral did. But that experience has caused the Crystal Unicorn to live like a recluse more than most of his peers and colleagues. He was still quite brilliant in his field, but Astral's eccentric and often controlling behavior made him near impossible to work with. Also thanks to Sombra's curse, Astral can barely even recall how he got his cutie mark. He remembered it being at night, and that was he was star-gazing while also studying the Crystal Heart, but the rest is a haze. Not that it really matters anymore, Astral knew even a thousand years later that his passion was space and solving the mysteries that lie beyond the stars.



Skills: Astral is an avid star-gazer, not surprising for one within his chosen professional field. He is quite knowledgeable of constellations, the stars themselves being what fascinates him more than anything else. After all, the Sun and Moon are functionally controlled by the Royal Sisters and so there isn't much to be learned about them. The stars? They simply are just there, and so far no pony has discovered any kind of explanation for them, magical or otherwise. Other celestial bodies too, such as comets, asteroids, or meteors, are also steeped in mystery and do not appear to be linked to any form of magic like the Sun and Moon are.

Traits: Astral has an eye for little details, quite useful for someone who's job involves watching the night sky and actively looking for any strange phenomena. This sometimes also translates to reading facial expressions and spotting little tells that someone maybe lying or hiding something.

Powers: Apart from the basic Unicorn magic, Astral has practiced some of the more advanced spells such as teleportation, though he will freely admit that his mastery of such spells are a bit lacking. Although there is one particular spell he quite fond of, a projection spell that allows him to generate virtually any kind of scenery within a room. They are just illusions, and the content is generally tied to his own knowledge of whatever it is he is projecting, but it is quite useful for creating visual aids when giving a lecture or similar scenario.

Equipment: Spellbook, a handful of Astronomy books, a handheld telescope, and a quill and several notebooks for recording notes and other such research entries.

Name:
'Jester' Shael'Sallatha

Species:
Sel'Ebon

Age:
63

Source:
Original

Appearance Description:
Standing at a tall, graceful 6'5, Shael is fairly average as far as her own species goes. Weighing in at just 100lbs even, Shael is a lanky, but graceful if not physically adept creature. Though hardly ever seen, her skin is the color of obsidian, with bright blue eyes. Normally seen wearing simple, regal clothing reminiscent of what one might call a 'jester'. She has long, unusually styled white hair with ornaments braided into it. It's hard to tell where her clothing ends and the skin begins.

Personality:
Evasively playful, and needlessly wordy would be a good way to describe Shael upon first impression. Indeed, she does her job of being a jester well, often replying with witty and mildly sarcastic remarks, poking fun at others and herself. Otherwise friendly and chatty though, she'll always be up for idle banter and doesn't take things too seriously.

Like most of the Ebon Consortium, she is always looking for information, understanding mysteries, and other academic and scholarly pursuits. She has a healthy curiosity about her and loves learning about almost anything, no matter what it is. This can often get her into some odd or otherwise not exactly helpful situations as she has a tendency to do whatever she wants.

Backstory:
Born and raised on the Solar Synchronous planet of Sal'Xanits, within the territory of the Ebon Consortium, Shael has never been anything special compared to the rest of the Ebon. But perhaps that's what makes her more useful or rather, more skillful than her kin to have once attained the position of Adviser to the President. She has trained most of her life in matters of diplomacy, state affairs, and even military tactics, but her main role has always been as always, to study, advise, and ensure the Presidents well being - until she quit.

It wasn't until a group of human explorers came to their planet did they themselves gain an interest in the stars. After a brief, but otherwise successful exchange and quelling of a rebellion by two other species that inhabit the planet, they built their own star ship and set off to explore. Enthralled by the humans technology and with a thirst for knowledge, Shael left the Presidents side and with command of her own ship, was ordered to catalog anything she came across in the galaxy.



Skills:
Academic:
A wide type skill that encompasses many academic, scientific, and scholarly pursuits. Shael has studied everything from physics, biology, and other similar scientific pursuits. Can reasonably understand and figure out most physical phenomena, even those relating to magical 'sciences'. As after all, magic is just phenomena not yet documented or understood by science.

Diplomat/Negotiator:
Oddly charismatic, Shael has a tendency to say what is needed to both get a point across and allow two different parties to come to a mutual understanding. After all, violence is not conducive to proper scientific study...save for when it is.

Sel'Ebon Arts:
While not really suited to fighting, the Ebon do have some forms of martial arts for self defense. It focuses more on quick, elegant moves, acrobatic maneuvers and avoiding physical confrontations. The Ebon are naturally flexible and while physically frail, are quick witted and not entirely pushovers as one might expect. However, even so, their physical strength is still lacking and rely on their more 'magical' abilities to win confrontations.

Otherworldly Chef:
Was a skilled cook. However, she is not used to human ingredients, and as such, you should likely not eat anything she makes with them.

Traits:
Flexibility & Agility:
At times, it can seem like the Sel'Ebon have no bones, with how gracefully and how unnaturally they can seem to move with impossible feats of acrobatics. It stems from a natural flexibility, and a bone structure that is incredibly light and has more joints and muscles designed for agility than the human skeleton.

Mental Fortitude:
Although many times it can seem as though Shael is not taking things seriously or focused, one should keep in mind she was the Presidents adviser and isn't easily manipulated and will not crack under pressure. Most Sel'Ebon share this trait, as their inherent physical weakness means most choose to sharpen their minds.

Physical Weakness:
To put simply, she's not a bastion of physical strength. The Ebon are not a physically inclined species, always relying on their more esoteric, mental, and negotiating skills to solve problems. She can barely lift 20lbs without straining herself. Likewise, her bone structure is not designed to take any sort of extreme trauma and she could be injured fairly easily.

Quick Learner:
All Sel'Ebon have a natural capacity to understand many things ranging from math, science, philosophies - you can always expect one to pick up on new information presented to the quite easily.

Powers:
Crepusculum Codex:
The planet Sal'Xanits is a curious thing full of many rare happenstances that most planets would only have one of. Solar Synchronous orbit. Three different, yet similar forms of sentient and intelligent life. An abundance of a rare otherworldly mineral that allows these almost ethereal, fey like people to live comfortably. All forms of life on this planet can tap into this natural energy in some way. The Sel'Ebon call theirs the 'Twilight Codex'. A book of skills and otherworldly effects that can be performed by drawing on this power.



Equipment:
N/A

Ship name:
Eventide

Origin:
Ebon Consortium

Captain:
Jester Shael'Sallatha

Size:
Corvette - recon class.

Source of Long range Travel:
Standard Magitech wormhole tunnel. Creates a wormhole to jump from point A to point B.

Offensive Modules:
Several magitech laser batteries and a smaller Railgun.

Defensive Modules:
Like their creators, they are designed to be sleek and fast, with an emphasis on maneuverability. While its physical structure is lacking, it makes up for it in some fairly durable magic-assisted shielding. Has a chameleon camouflage, but requires the ship to move slowly to be effective, as well as the shields can be used to deflect traditional radars from detecting it at cost of effectiveness.

Original Crew:
25

How any Crew remain:
13, including Shael.

Name:
Ebon Consortium

Origin:
Sal'Xanits, Ebon Consortium

Population:
13 left of the Eventide

Important Members:
Jester Shael'Sallatha

Available Gear:
- Energy Rifles, carried by every crew member. Some destroyed in crash, perhaps salvageable.
- Military Grade 3D Printer. Put raw materials and blueprints in, completed product comes out. Slightly damage, but still usable.
- 5 Obsidian-grade military suits.

Resources:
- Various scientific and research equipment of physical and magical nature.
- Stores of food for a few months. Most were saved from harm during the crash.
- munition for rifles

Knowledge:
A plethora of intact databases on the ship regarding many scientific topics.
The ability to both teach and refine magical things, should one have capacity for it
The ability to read and interact with otherwise magical things