Granite Wing

By Convergence

• January 19, 2014

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Species: Pegasus

Appearance: A very large stallion of a dark shade of red with a short black mane.

Cutie Mark: A red cross superimposed above a heart broken down the centre with one half missing. This Cutie mark displays Granite Wing’s ability at first aide and search and rescue. It also hints that he himself is broken emotionally.

Personality: Bold and aggressive, Granite Wing is not the type of pony you want to anger. In his eyes, the letter of the law is infallible and if one transgresses its boundaries he will use the sheer mass of his body to bring them to justice. While cynical and vicious towards strangers, he will grow inseparable from ponies that accept him for who he is. There is only one goal in his life, to rescue those who are too weak for save themselves. Granite Wing is a defender, a fighter, a lifesaver and a beast that needs to be kept muzzled by his friends.

Backstory: Normal backstory coming soon.<br /><br />Shifted backstory <br /><br />It has been years since Brendan had felt joy. He can barely recall the carefree man that always had a smile on his face. It is almost as if that man was just a dream that the harder he tried to remember the more he forgot. He yearns for the innocence of his childhood and the caring embrace of his former family. A place he could no longer return.<br /><br /><br />Brendan was the only child of a middleclass family. Monica, his mother, was a high school teacher and his father, Peter a community councillor. Naturally, they showered Brendan with attention and spoiled him with extravagant gifts. There was nothing he wanted and didn’t have, within reason of course. Coming from an educated family, Brendan was encouraged fiercely to achieve high grades and to pursue a higher education. School was never a good a place for Brendan. <br /><br />The students of the prestigious Xavier High School were not encouraged into excellence, it was demanded from them. The advanced lesson plans instructed by top tier teachers would be just too complex for Brendan to follow. The further he fell behind, the faster the class seemed to progress. This lead him to become increasingly frustrated, and when he became frustrated he acted out. It began with minor class disruptions but progressed to vandalism and bullying as Brendan grew older.<br /><br />It did not help that during high school Brendan blossomed into adulthood. By grade twelve he was fully grown at 6’5 and 230 pounds. With his intimidating size and delinquent behavior Brendan became feared around the school grounds. The average day for Brendan was school, then detention and then to return home where he was perpetually grounded. His behavior only grew worse.<br /><br />After Brendan graduated high school, with just above failing grades, his parents were left with a son that could not attend postsecondary education and that had sever behavioral problems. Brendan’s parents could only see one solution, he was enlisted into the Coast Guard where he would be taught discipline and where his parents no longer had to deal with him. <br /><br />Brendan excelled in his training. His massive size and sheer strength allowed him to bulldoze through most challenges thrown against him. Although he was slow nowhere near agile, he moved liked a freight train. Once he began running, it seemed as if nothing could stop him. And yes, Brendan was also taught discipline; actually he was beaten over the head with discipline until it stuck. When he graduated from training, Brendan had become a strong, determined and loyal man.<br /><br />He quickly rose through the ranks until his leadership was tested. His confidence and bravado could inspire men into action, but he was by no means a leader. He proved to be unable to encourage his men and to be grossly inadequate at strategizing and issuing commands. <br /><br />The coastguard placed Brendan onto a search and rescue team. The team consisted of four men and a helicopter. Two to pilot the plane and two to jump in the water to rescue those in peril. Initially Brendan was a rescuer, but eventually he received flight training and proved to be an exceptional pilot. He was quickly promoted to head pilot and navigated the plane through extreme weather conditions<br /><br />During this time, Brendan was happier than he had ever been before. He was always laughing and smiling, and became good friends with all the members on his team. In particular his co-pilot, Troy, became his best friend. Troy was the brother Brendan never had, and the two became inseparable. Though these were good days, they had their darker sides. Brendan saw sights that no man should ever have to see. Horribly injured people they had rescued, the good men and friends that had died in the call of duty, and those that they were too late to rescue. One individual had even died in Brendan’s arms. But still, seeing the survival of those they were able to rescue, and the thank you that would inevitably come from their families made it all worthwhile.<br /><br />Brendan loved his life and his job, until one day. Five adults and a child were stranded on a sinking boat and Brendan’s team was called on to rescue them. Brendan flew the plane steady and threw down a rope from the plane. Troy jumped from the plane into the near freezing water, and ensured that each person on that boat was hauled up the rope and into the plane. Troy never made it though. He died of hypothermia after the last person was rescued. Knowing that this was the way Troy had wanted to die, in order to save others, was no consolation for Brendan.<br /><br />Everyday Brendan grew angrier and more violent. His friends were the only people that could console him. His new fierce and confrontational disposition scared others away though, and made it difficult for Brendan to make new friends. He was still devoted to his duty, but he was filled with a contempt for each person he helped rescue. Yet he continued, after all it was his duty to save those who were too weak to save themselves.<br /><br />One night, a thick storm was brewing and Brendan’s team received a call. Supposedly a couple of people were knocked out of a boat by a giant wave. It began like any other rescue, but on the way lightning struck the helicopter’s propeller, and was sent into a nosedive. The plane could not be controlled. It was all Brendan could do was to stall the descent so his team could parachute out of the plane. Brendan himself could not make it in time. He placed a hand over his heart and waited for the collision that would kill him. As soon as the nose of the helicopter hit water, a strange white rift opened at the front of the aircraft and Brendan was sent crashing through it. <br /><br />His life had changed forever. <br />