Little Horse on the Prairie: Shovelbum

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Shovelbum (Earth Pony)

Basic Information

Age:	Pony
Eyes:	Brown
Mane:	Black
Coat:	Bay (reddish brown w/ black legs)

Cutie Mark:

• A shovel and bindle

Special Talent:

• Uncovering the past

I am Good At:

• Organization and correlation

I am Bad At:

• Having faith in myself

Special Powers (Earth Pony):

• Extremely Skilled
• Inner Strength
• Tough as Nails

Attributes

Friendship:	●
Body:	●●●
Mind:	●●●●●
Heart:	●●●●

Skills

Academics:	●●●●●	Specialization:	Folklore
Acrobatics:
Animal Kin:	●
Athletics:	●●●●	Specialization:	Excavation
Awareness:	●●●●
Crafting	●
Diplomacy:	●
Medicine:	●
Performance:	●
Sneaking:

Linguistics: Nuuban

Advancement

26 XP awarded
5 spent for 1 point of Heart
2 spent for 1 point of Animal Kin
5 spent for 1 point of Mind
2 spent for 1 point of Awareness
5 spent for 1 point of Heart
2 spent for 1 point of Academics
2 spent for 1 point of Awareness
2 spent for 1 point of Diplomacy
1 XP remaining.

Background

The pony who would be Shovelbum was born in the Canterville neighborhood of Baltimare to Try Square (a master carpenter) and T-Square (an architect). He has an older sister, Set Square, who has followed in her mother's hoofprints. Many other members of the family are also in various building trades. The family business is known as Builder's Square.

From foalhood, Blacklegs (I assume that most ponies change their names to something appropriate after they get their cutie mark) tried to help his family at their jobs. While his talent for organization made him a sometimes useful assistant, he had no knack for actually making anything (the less said about the bookshelf, the better). From his first trip to the beach at Cavalry Cliffs, he was fascinated by what could be uncovered by digging. He became interested in fossils after finding some in the aforementioned cliffs.

He was outgoing at first, but so socially awkward that he came across as strange rather than friendly. He spent more and more of his time reading, mostly about fossils, until the day he read his first Daring Do story. Not long after, while he was still working his way through the books, he visited a building site with his family. He noticed workers digging through a layer of ash, and saw odd shapes in the dirt, which turned out to be glass and ceramic pieces, fire-twisted silverware, barrel hoops, and such. He set about figuring out where each type of debris was coming from, and Buster, the head digger, recognized the layout of a tavern when he heard one. He had also heard of the Great Fire of 904, which had so thoroughly razed the area that when it was rebuilt, the location of the old buildings were lost.

It turned out to be the site of a famous tavern. Contemporary descriptions had established where other lost buildings were in relation to the tavern, so once it was found, the Baltimare Historical Society was able to locate them as well. There are commemorative plaques in downtown Baltimare today based on the find. Blacklegs' discovery postponed the construction, but it earned him a cutie mark symbolic of the ponies who uncover the past. After that day, Shovelbum realized that, while he enjoyed the action in the Daring Do novels as much as the next pony, it was the smattering of actual archaeology sprinkled into the stories that interested him the most. He didn't identify with Daring, but with her assistant Herpy.

He felt bad about not living up to the family trade, but they didn't push him - they were happy for him to follow his own path. He took whatever courses interested him in college, and ended up with a degree in history. He audited some archaeology classes, and came to the attention of Professor Adamant, a formidable griffon. When he graduated, he did not pursue archaeology, although he had offers. He considered it a hobby and didn't think he would be any good at it. Having gone to college because he was expected to, he went back home to do menial jobs for his family. In the evenings, he frequented a nearby Lyrish pub, and found himself pressed into service as a bodhrán player. He is strictly an accompanist, beating in time to the other musicians.

Through some set of circumstances he doesn't understand, he has been chosen as an assistant to an architect from a family of unicorns who sometimes hires Builder's Square for local jobs. He now finds himself on a train to the frontier town of Trot Ridge to assist in building the Town Hall.

Equipment

Saddlebags
Excavation tools
Camping Gear
Some Daring Do novels (the complete collection is back home)
Bodhrán (Lyrish frame drum)

Images

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