Persistent Patience (Btw)

By Tricksters Pride

• February 5, 2014

Age: 26

Gender: Female

Species: Pegasus

Appearance: (( the below is the base appearance, i'm adding modifications underneath it due to the radical change in backstory.))<br />Patience is a fairly tough mare and her military upbringing reflects in her appearance, with a fairly lean and muscled form on an about average build accompanied by a rough coat of copper fur and her gunmetal grey and dim green streaked tail being cut short... Though she does indulge herself by allowing her (Again gunmetal grey with dim green streaks) mane to grow out to a long length (She ties it up in a ponytail to compensate for it). She isn't too strong but she has allot more endurance in her than most. In addition her already impressive wingspan has been put through plenty of endurance testing and by now her wing-strength/speed is excellent, allowing her to carry more weight and fly farther than most other pegisi as well as use them to perform maneuvers in combat.<br /><br />(+) After her capture and subsequent escape Patience let her tail grow out a little longer... Her coat is also much rougher than before giving her an even rougher appearance and (Hopefully) making herself uninteresting to those around her.

Cutie Mark: Patience's Mark depicts a figure waiting for something in heavy cover during a storm, its an expression of her large capacity for patience as well as her militaristic background.

Personality: Patience is fairly laid back with a bit of a sarcastic streak, often confronting any hostility with little more than a sarcastic comment before trying to deflect the conflict (Though it has gotten her into trouble from time to time)... Though she much prefers never to get to that point in the first place as she dislikes hostility outside of a fight. In addition she enjoys teasing others when the opportunity presents itself especially when their acting 'too serious' about something that isn't real important. Her military upbringing shows through in her behavior as well as she is much rougher than one would expect from a mare. She can also seem a bit insensitive to others because of her unwillingness to show any more sensitive emotions...<br /><br />But sadly Patience has been worn down by a very bad turn of events. (Mainly her capture...) Resulting in her being very paranoid and suspicious and taking measures to protect herself from... Well everything her paranoid mind deems a threat. Shes far more observant, faster, and better prepared to defend herself should things go wrong. She also has a significant lack of trust and a paranoia about letting ponies get close to her, both of which are amplified when dealing with stallions and she won't let her guard down in the presence of one. ((Note that those events also significantly affect her personality... Its no longer a good judge of her actions as her paranoia tends to overwhelm her...))

Backstory: Patience was born in the capital city of a warring country named Germaney. Her mother had sadly died in childbirth and she was raised by her father (An older military (Air Corps) Officer who had been withdrawn from the field to train new recruits.) who brought her on base with him and schooled her with his recruits, as a result most of Patience's life was spent in the main military training facility of the country. <br /><br />As soon as she was old enough to help (Around 5) she started going to the mess hall to help the older ponies prepare food for those on site, participating in the regiment her father was in charge of's drills (Not really, they just gave her some small but seemingly similar tasks and let her do her own thing. XD), and helping her father with his papers (Again not really :P, she was really just a glorified and talkative paperweight... Though her father did slip in what schooling he could during these times.). <br /><br />Throughout her childhood she talked with the soldiers that came through the mess and those in her fathers regiment's and over time developed into a pretty rough mare with a carefree outlook on things, often giving sarcastic comments when the opportunity presented itself... And when she grew older she started to tease other ponies when given an opportunity, rather enjoying getting the military personnel around her to loosen up and live a little bit (Though it did get her into a bit of trouble at times.)<br /><br />She was eventually given a few more physical drills that she took rather seriously and became rather strong for her size, often focusing on her already large wings to strengthen them (Hoping to one day train as a Wingpony like her father and the recruits she'd met over the years.) and when she was 8 her father let her join in a few of the safer air drills. By the time she was 14 she was participating in every drill even some of the more risky ones and when she was old enough to actually apply for training (16) she was able to outfly, outmanuver, and outfight the rest of her years applicants.<br /><br />As a result of her already above average performance Patience was offered to be trained as a Wingleader (Sargent) as opposed to a Wingpony (MCPL and below.) which she accepted, her fathers encouragement only spurring her forward as she continued to excel with the training she was given. And after being deemed capable enough for command Patience was given a squad (Also recruits.) and merged with Black Knight Squadron as part of a new Wing. (18 at the time)<br /><br />After a few months (2-3) of settling into the squadron it was assigned to the front as part of a larger operation to defend from their southern neighbor, who was getting a bit aggressive at the time. It turned out to be the right decision because they attacked shortly after Black Knight Squadron and her counterparts where relocated. Patience's Wing came under pressure in defense of a smaller town on the border and while her squad didn't accomplish much they did distinguish themselves as fairly good combatants and where accepted by the squadron at large after that. (Though they did lose 2 of their own in the fighting.)<br /><br />Patience was affected pretty harshly by the fight but thankfully she pulled through without loosing much of herself (Or so it seemed.)... Her squad didn't do as well with their loses but Patience kept them going and after a few weeks she got them to pull back together, her crowning words being "They'd have done the same for you and i bet that Stars and Fed would want you to live in their place..." (OCC(Stars and Fed where the two that died.))<br /><br />After a few months, in which they had fought a dozen more times and lost one more, the aggressors withdrew and Black Knight Squadron was celebrated alongside most of her allies for a successful defense while receiving orders to make a counterattack in which they where sadly repulsed but managed very few losses while inflicting a decent number. (19)<br /><br />After being given most of the year to recuperate and replenish their ranks (20) Black Knight Squadron was tasked in an offensive along the eastern border and after successfully taking and defending their conquered territory long enough to merge it with Germaney's own (A year or so (21)) Black Knight Squadron was tasked in another offensive on the northern (and rather mountainous) Border...<br /><br />After a few successful battles and what looked to be an easy victory ahead of them Black Knight Squadron was ambushed by an additional reinforcement army and crushed between their opponents, resulting in a mass rout and a shattered army. (22) After their defeat Patience attempted to regroup with her squad and rout... But she never made it away from that battlefield.<br /><br />Regardless of what happened on the day of her capture and subsequent half-year in prison, Patience and the rest of the prisoners in the facility she was being kept in eventually attacked and overwhelmed the guards and after their escape to the neighboring Griffon Principalities the military prisoners banded together and formed a few different mercenary groups... Sadly the previous cohesion of her wing was worn down by habits picked up in the prison and betrayal was constant, as was infighting. Patience (Already unsettled by her capture...) was rarely able to get any peace and the combined experiences made her very different than she was before-hoof. (23)<br /><br />After a few years of working with a group of merks that she'd managed to press together from her days in prison and ensuring that they followed their contracts to the letter Patience's band was offered a contract for the Equestrian Guard. They'd suffered some sort of magical catastrophe at some point and where paying plenty of bits to bring in more support and while Patience's band hadn't fought anything quite like the creatures they'd been paid to fight before they where used to fighting anyway so after a few losses they figured out how best to kill them, hard and fast.<br /><br />But after a short period of fighting and no end in sight Patience got worried, from what she could tell there'd be no end to these things and while her 'allies' where ok with that Patience wanted something to spend her bits on not to mention an end to the contract. So when Patience came across a flier asking for aid to end the problem she only hesitated for a few moments before setting Shield and Dagger up as her bands temporary leaders in her absence, scrounging up some field supplies (Alongside the required bottle of Devils Cut Whisky.), putting on her armor/weaponry, and making her way to the meeting point to see what she could do... Not like she was trying to help anyone or anything, she just wanted to have a world to spend her bits in is all!... Maybe.