AN UNEVEN PRODIGY PERFORMANCE:
Despite being an “advanced student” in human schools (Sophie’s human education records indicate that she was considered “years ahead” of her other classmates), Sophie has struggled with many of her sessions at Foxfire. Particularly challenging subjects include PE, elementalism, and alchemy—the last being a session she didn’t technically pass. (Her Mentor’s notes list numerous fires and explosions.) In fact, Sophie was only able to advance to Level Three because the Council agreed to replace alchemy with an inflicting session mentored by Councillor Bronte. A linguistics session was also added to her Level Three schedule in light of Sophie manifesting as a Polyglot, and Lady Cadence was brought back to the Lost Cities (somewhat unwillingly) to be Sophie’s Mentor. Both new ability sessions required giving Sophie access to the Silver Tower—something that has never been granted to a Level Three before. And Sophie does excel at her telepathy session (mentored by Sir Tiergan and now including Fitz Vacker) and her elvin history and Universe sessions, where her photographic memory works in her favor. She’s also done fairly well at making friends and generally adapting to her new environment—though she has ended up in detention a significant number of times. It should be noted that Sophie’s numerous near-death experiences, as well as certain incidents involving the Council, have often hindered her attendance at Foxfire and forced her to miss key exams.
ACCIDENT-PRONE:
While living with humans, Sophie was hospitalized at least twice—once when she was five human years old, after she fell and hit her head (which was also when Mr. Forkle triggered her telepathy), and once when she was nine human years old, after a severe allergic reaction to something the doctors could never identify. (The substance was later identified as limbium, which was given to her by the Black Swan.) And since arriving in the Lost Cities, Sophie has set a record for injuries, many of which were nearly fatal—though most can’t be considered her fault, since they were the direct result of attacks by the Neverseen. See Sophie’s medical record for more specifics.
A GIFT WITH ALICORNS:
Sophie’s unique telepathy allowed her to track the thoughts of what turned out to be an incredibly rare female alicorn—the only creature capable of resetting the Timeline to Extinction—and bring her safely to Havenfield. And since Sophie could communicate with the creature (the alicorn even informed Sophie that her name is Silveny), the Council opted to leave her in Sophie’s care, which allowed Sophie to discover Silveny’s ability to teleport. Unfortunately, Sophie also followed the Black Swan’s instructions and took Silveny to one of the Black Swan’s hideouts, where the Neverseen managed to track them down and stage an ambush. Silveny’s wing was broken during the attack, but Sophie used her teleporting to get herself, Keefe Sencen, and Silveny safely back to Havenfield. And Silveny’s injury did heal completely, much to everyone’s relief. Afterward, Sophie convinced Silveny to move to the Sanctuary, both for Silveny’s protection and to unite her with the male of her species (Greyfell). And Sophie discovered soon after that she was able to remain in contact with Silveny telepathically, despite the distance between them—which turned out to be a very good thing. The Neverseen tried numerous times to steal both alicorns from the Sanctuary, and when Sophie learned that Silveny was pregnant (which would surely make the Neverseen even more desperate to capture her), she convinced the Council that it would be safer to set the alicorns free so that no one would know where they were. She promised to maintain regular contact with Silveny and Greyfell and provide detailed reports on their safety and wellness—though Silveny made that promise difficult for Sophie to keep. She started ignoring Sophie when she reached out to her telepathically and refused to come to Havenfield for any medical checkups, all of which turned out to be some sort of protective instinct related to the fact that Silveny was pregnant with twins. But she did call on Sophie for help when she went into labor early. And Sophie relied on Vika and Stina Heks—as well as the trolls—to save both babies (a male named Wynn and a female named Luna) and ensure that Silveny survived the delivery. The alicorn family currently lives at Havenfield but is free to go whenever and wherever they want. Sophie remains their point of contact.
A MAGNET FOR TROUBLE:
Since Sophie’s arrival in the Lost Cities, she has had numerous—occasionally heated—interactions with the Council. She was tested by a committee of three (Councillor Oralie, Councillor Bronte, and Councillor Kenric) and granted provisional attendance to Foxfire—which she nearly lost due to poor performance in several of her sessions. But as of now, she maintains her standing at our prestigious academy. She has also faced Tribunals for accidentally bottling quintessence—and bringing the dangerous substance to school—as well as for illegally leaping to the human world to bottle a sample of their firestorm in order to prove the flames were Everblaze (a charge she was sentenced to “time already served” in light of her kidnapping). Several members of the Council also suspect that she has possession of an unregistered Spyball, but no proof has been found to support these theories. After her abilities were reset, Sophie requested permission from the Council to attempt a “healing” on Alden Vacker’s shattered mind, which turned out to be wonderfully successful. As a result, she was ordered to perform a healing on a former Councillor (Fintan Pyren) in the hope that she would be able to retrieve the secrets he’d protected during his memory break. Unfortunately, that healing resulted in Councillor Kenric’s death and Fintan’s escape, along with an inferno of Everblaze that destroyed half of Eternalia. And while Sophie was at Kenric’s planting, she attempted to read King Dimitar’s mind (she evidently considered him to be suspicious) and was nearly dragged away to an ogre work camp for violating the elvin-ogre treaty. But final punishment was left up to the Council, and the Councillors voted to constrain her abilities with a prototype “ability restrictor” designed by Dex Dizznee instead. The gadget appeared to cause Sophie some discomfort, but it also succeeded in limiting her power. And Sophie cooperated with the punishment—until she “lost” the ability restrictor through suspicious circumstances, right before illegally teleporting to the human world. She—and all of her friends—fled the Lost Cities not long after, hiding with the Black Swan until they were captured while attempting to liberate Prentice Endal from Exile. During the confrontation, Sophie revealed her possession of Councillor Kenric’s cache and bartered a deal for her and her friends’ freedom by agreeing to formal banishment and attendance at Exillium. Her group’s role in finding a cure for the gnomish plague restored their citizenship and admission to Foxfire. Sophie also convinced the Council to free Prentice from Exile and performed a healing on Prentice’s mind—but she was unable to recover any of his memories. She was also selected to participate in the ogre treaty renegotiations at Lumenaria, and her warnings during the Neverseen’s attack on the castle saved numerous lives, including the Councillors’. Despite that, her relationship with the Council has remained tenuous. Sophie often questions their authority and refuses to play by their rules—particularly after her human parents were captured by Vespera. Miss Foster’s desperate rescue led to the discovery of one of the Lost Cities’ more dangerous secrets, and she continues to advocate for that information to be made public, despite the chaos that would likely ensue. She and her friends have also become the “faces” of the revolution, both for saving Atlantis from flooding, and because they were broadcast standing up to the Neverseen during the troll attack that occurred at the most recent Celestial Festival. In light of Sophie’s growing support, the Council elected to begin working with her and appointed Sophie and several of her friends as Regents in the nobility, forming Team Valiant, which Sophie was assigned to lead. The team was sent to Loamnore to negotiate with King Enki, to mixed results—though King Enki has since been outed as a traitor, so it’s possible the lack of success was not Team Valiant’s fault. As of this writing, the Council remains committed to the project, but only time will tell if it will find true success, or whether Sophie will fall back into her ways of disobedience and rebellion and finally end up exiled.