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Seeing as two entire people showed interest in seeing the promised NorthernLight baby, I got pumped up and this jumped up in the queue of things I had planned to draw :)

The only problem is, I haven't actually picked a name for him yet. Normally, I'd wait to draw character introductions until I've settled on one I'm happy with, but I wanted to get this drawn and posted tonight -my vacation has ended and I'm returning to work tomorrow, so I'm gonna be pretty swamped for the forseeable future. Don't be suprised if I don't post stuff for a while.

(Oh, and, no suggestions please? A bit silly, but it feels important to me that I name my characters myself )

I've actually been trying to create and post him for a while now, but I've been stuck because there's parts of his story I just can't decide on. But I really wanted him out there to get him out of my head, so this description will be a bit vague -also, lampshading how he came to be for the time being, that's one of the parts I've yet to settle on =P Yes, it was definently alicorn magic, no more questions until you're older, alright?

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When he was born, he was really grey and kinda fluffy. So North and Light immedietly started calling him "Duckling" as a pet name… and then they went to the park and realised ducklings are yellow and brown, it's cygnets that are grey. At that point it was too late though, and the nickname stuck. He grows to hate it in his teens, so Light and North drop it for a while. Until he reaches adulthood and sheepishly asks if they can start with it again.

As a teenager, he's best described as shy and awkward. He hit puberty early, and was a tall mess of gangly limbs and acne before any of his classmates joined in his misery. So while he used to be, not popular per-se, at least 'cool' because of his eyes and fangs, he suddenly was very out of place and his classmates started making fun of him for it. By the time they also started to trip on their own hooves and get red spots on their muzzles, he was cemented as a target for teasing. He became very withdrawn and developed the habit of hiding behind his mane. His dads didn't know what was going on at first, and when they did there wasn't much they could do directly -the bullying was is the forms of rumors with no source and just staring and not interacting with him. So they opted to move schools, hopign that a fresh start would help. Luckily, in his case, it did.

His special talent is singing, but it wasn't until he got to the new school he grew confident enough to pursue it. He joined and left several bands, and started experimenting with different styles. He decided to cut of his mane right before gratuation, as a symbol of sorts of his new confidence. Light and North braided it and keep it in a box. Their son is used to their shenanigans, and isn't as creeped out by this as some others might be. Well, turns out maintaining a shaved head is so much easier than having a long mane, so he kept the style.

As and adult, he hit it big -as in, he is a household name, kinda big. He switches and tries different styles a lot, but gravitates back to and is most famous for singing rock ballads. Not everyone likes his music, but most ponies knows who he is. Light and North were a bit freaked out the first time someone rushed up to them and asked for their autograph because of who their son was. The've gotten used to it by then.

As an artist, he most well known under his stage name though the "Black Swan" (Having drawn inspiration from that old nickname) He's developed a bit of an alternate persona when he's performing, so he feels that having a separate name helps him distinguish that. When performing, he wears a lot of stage makeup, illusion magic, contact lenses and/or dyes, so that he's completely black with white wings-feathers and red eyes -all to appear closer to animal he called himself after. He also wear normal makeup and often glitter -he likes to look beautiful rather than handsome, if that makes any sense.

When not in his stage persona, he usually doesn't wear that much cosmetics though -they're a pain to apply when he doesn't have a team of ponies doing it for him. He's also a lot less serious and much louder and more open when not in character. Fans are often a bit suprised when they meet him on the street, since he acts so different from what they expect.

When most of the stories in my nextgen verse starts though, he's still a teenager; about the same age as Midsummer and Crystal Corolla. So at the age he switches schools, and stuck in a time when he always feels afraid and uncomfortable unless he's at home with his family :(


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Before I go, I can't help but draw attention to; despite me calling him a baby bat the last times I've mentioned him, I decided to give him feathered wings? This is partially because I just thought it looks good with the rest of him having chiropterasus-traits (ear-tufts, slitted pupils, fangs), and partially so that the idea I had for his adult version fits better Swans tend to have feathers =P

As for the shaved mane… this is explained in his backstory, but the main reason is that I just really like the way it looks, darnit. I want a character with no mane, just try to stop me.

Upvotes at import: 17 | Stars at import: 10
Posted previously at: 2020-08-02T23:35:18 | Posted previously by: zero two