Birthplace/Family/History: Amaris was born and grew up in Rin Caad, her father a prominent local artist and toymaker, and her mother a low level herbal healer who worked mainly in the wealthy neighborhoods. Since her father worked at home, young Amaris spent her days in his workshop watching him fiddle with his toys and paint and helping attend to the customers who came in to his shop. She learned quickly how to deal with people, though she preferred helping her father *create* to helping him peddle his creations.

Her parents, though never really close with anyone outside of the family, often entertained other artists, philosophers, poets, and thinkers and Amaris was exposed to the intellectual elite that Rin Caad is so well known for at an early age. She became very interested in ethics and civil rights, though she had never actually known a poor person before and didn't really care much for people in general, in fact, she didn't really have any friends outside of her parents and didn't care to expand that circle. But ethics, justice... there was just so much that was wrong with the world and even at a very young age she felt an overwhelming sense of duty to make it right.

When she was eleven her parents sent her to live with her aunt and uncle in Lake Briston for the summer, and that was where she saw her first Roug in action. There had always been Roug around her neighborhood in Rin Caad, but she had never actually seen them *do* anything. Amaris had none of those unicorn fantasies that the other little girls on her block entertained; she was far too practical. Being a Roug meant lots of hard work, she knew that; nothing was all fun and games. Still, when she saw a team of Roug disband a band of robbers and rescue a young boy from a barn they had torched, it was as if a flame has somehow caught *her* on fire (in the most metaphoric sense, of course). When you're eleven years old and have no friends and have had your innocence replaced with philosophic cynicism, there is really nothing to cling to but the hope that it is within your power to somehow reset the balance in the Light's favor.

Amaris decided she wanted to be a Roug.

She enrolled at the Academy in the fall of that year and became a voracious student: her studies were her only friend. Still, she still enjoyed to paint and write poetry, so one day she enrolled in one of the art classes offfered after school. It was one of the best decisions she ever made. For the first time she felt like she was a part of something - the kids in her class were so kind to her and really respected what she had to say. She began to go out, to gossip, to act like a "normal kid". That is, she was still herself: she still abhorred pranks and off-color jokes and talked like a forty-five year old school marm, but for the first time she cared about something other than school and felt the warmth of friendship over academics, people over principles. She met people from all classes and backgrounds in that class, and the experience gave backbone to her ethics.

She Bonded that summer to Starlight, the fourth youngest student ever to Bond in the history of the Academy.

Talents/Weaknesses: Amaris is a decent, though not gifted painter and a pedestrian poet, though she still does both as a form of personal therapy. She's better at problem solving and debate, and truly gifted with diplomatic and leadership skills. She lacks a developed sense of humor. A talented rider and competant archer, Amaris's strength is definitely *not* athletics. In fact, the only class she ever got poor marks in was Combat Training.

Personality: Intelligent but opinionated, Amaris's inner self is a closed book to everyone but Starlight at the moment, though of course outwardly she is quite friendly. It's the friendliness of one who is used to dealing with people and one who holds them in esteem, but still at an arm's length. Her confidence and strength coupled with a sound judgement and deep respect for others, naturally draws people to her for guidance. She is cool, however, with those who try to get too close to her for comfort and she has a strong distaste for ignorance or vulgarity of any kind. In fact, she doesn't have much of a sense of humor - which is not to say that she doesn't laugh from time to time, she simply can't find humor in off-color subjects, "infantile" pranks, or the like. Alcohol, too, she abhors...she can't stand to not be in control of her own faculties. In fact, lack of control is her greatest fear.

She has a surprisigly strong desire to explore uncharted territory, be it geographic or academic. She loves the outdoors, and has no fear when it comes to classical "adventure". She also naturally ambitious, has exquisite taste, and loves beauty of any kind. Most of all, though, she enjoys, even *craves*, time alone...as long as Starlight is not far away. He is the only thing she truly loves with abandon. Otherwise, recklessness
is not in her nature.

[Please note that the Amaris of 110 is a lot warmer and more relaxed than the Amaris in 100...it took many years for her to trust others as she trusted herself, and she still has trouble letting others in, even in 110]

Bonded: Starlight

Birthdate/Age: born 14 Spring Thaw 92; aged 8 in 100 ADT

Bonded's physical description: Pale grey, almost white with a darker grey mane & tail; no markings. Starlight is a small stallion, standing just under 15.1 hands, but he is well built - muscular and graceful.

Family/History: (Snowfall x Sparkle, Redhawk)

Starlight is a direct descendant of Dark Time heroine, Blaze, through his mother's line and Starfall's "uncle"; Starlight's full sister is Starfall's dam. Starlight was born at the Academy and lived an uneventful life there with the exception of his rare early Bonding with Amaris on the 26 of Summer, 94 ADT. He was two years old at the time.

Talents/Weaknesses: Starlight's talent is dream prophecy, which allows him to see bits of the future, though often encoded in symbolism, through dreams and visions. In 100 his dreams are often very vague in their prophecy and he has trouble interpretting their meaning. In fact, his nights are often troubled as he lacks complete control over his powers and many times he is so overwhelmed with otherworldly images that his body struggles to function.

He has a warm, gentle sense of humor and shares Amaris's problem solving abilities and creativity, though he lacks the confidence to be quite as effective a leader and the skills to really translate his creativity into anything but his dreams, though he has shown a penchant for storytelling.  A mediocre fighter, but a brilliant tactician. Starlight also has a mind like an encyclopedia when it comes to history. In fact, sometimes he feels like he's lived hundreds of other lives and history is just a collection of old memories, rather than stored fact.

Personality: Somewhat shy and introverted, Starlight was very awkward and insecure as a colt, not at all the type one would think of as the type to become the eventual Commander's Bonded. He's a very kind, gentle sort, however, who loves and respects all creatures as if they were his own brethren. He just has trouble interacting with the more verbal ones, and his shyness is often misinterpretted as anti-social behavior. Intelligent, though certainly not intellectual, Starlight is a brilliant tactician and problem solver whose true colors manifest themselves gloriously in a pinch. Still, he tends towards the nervous and insecure unless he is absolutely needed, and even in 110 he remains somewhat softspoken...a push-over unless pushed *too* hard.

Starlight is often as emotional as Amaris is unemotional, and his genuine enthusiasm for life is a direct foil of Amaris's reluctant but thus far unshakable cynicism. And though he loves easily, his love for his Bonded is far deeper and more complete than anything he has ever experienced.