Areion Glide Wing[READY]

[Harv0kz]

"What? I don't know who he is. Never heard of him, never seen him." ~ Glide Wing, being discretely pried for information, to no avail. That pony of course, had already been bagged and tagged.

Name: Glide Wing

Gender: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Areion (Bat Pony)

Eye colour: Black

Character colour: Navy Blue

Mane/Tail/Other: Darkish Grey

Physique: Not so pronounced as a soldier, but he has some conditioning behind him. A standard size for a Aerion for the most part, Glide's wings are slightly longer and broader. Given his activities and the amount of movement involved, stamina, dexterity and reflexes are high. Hand-eye coordination is very high

Residence: Nomadic, though he is currently the permanent owner of two studio-sized homes, one in Cloudsdale, and one in Canterlot. He has lost count of the number of safehouses he has scattered throughout Equestria, and possibly Aquellia.

Occupation: Intelligence Field agent/Reconnaissance under service to Luna ("That's classified."), Explorer/Cartographer as a second income and cover job.

Cutie Mark: A drawing compass silhouette with three five pronged stars arranged in a triangular pattern, where the triangle is inverted. So in effect, it looks like a six pointed star. The compass representing his attention to record and detail, while the stars his talent for astronomy and astronavigation. Overall it convey's his sense of navigational precision, given that with a good map and the knowledge of the stars will get you where-ever you need to go. Although that precision also extends to his other skills.

Unique Traits:

Spycraft (Ie, the art of running around and not getting caught):

• Disguise and Concealment
  
• Infiltration using discrete methods (eg. Lockpicks)
  
• ​Surveillance and observation
  
• Discrete communications ("Dead-drops", encoding, alternative methods of sending messages)
  
• Gadgets and gizmos to make his life easier (eg. Smoke bombs)
  

​Enough combat training to match a nameless in ability (Think, the nameless Redshirts of Star Trek, the nameless Security officers from Bablyon 5, the nameless <insertsoldier> of <insertshowwithsoldiers>. Not enough to end the fight with a trained fighter, but enough to ward off a bunch of nameless goons or a pony with zero training).

In short, the second Glide Wing has become compromised, he is effectively done for, with little or next to none chances of escaping unless an opportunity presents itself. And in even shorter terms, fighty fighty bad. Also has a slight sense of paranoia that can give him away, due to observational training, mainly because one of his instructors decided to drill the concept of "no corner is safe" into his mind.

History:

In his early life, Glide Wing spent his time mostly playing around in the Forest of Leota. The foliage offered him the best place to play hide and seek, a game which he grew to be naturally good at, much to the chargin of his friends. And when night fell, he would try to find a clearing, or a place where the skies were clear, and stare into the night skies, the stars and constellations would provoke imagination within his mind. He would delight in studying the maps of his dad, whenever he came back from his exploratory thrusts into "uncharted" territory. His persistence into studies of cartography, astronomy, and geology brought him much success, but as he became more of a bookworm, his aptitude for retention of knowledge helped him in education.

But spycraft fascinated him. All the heroes in the comics and books, the ponies who could sneak in and out of places like shadows, the ponies who had fancy gadgets and smooth skills. Oh, and of course, the fact that they could win all the mares. He tried really, to begin work as a spy. His appearance as a bookworm didn't give much, and it was hard and long road, but he finally, even the most popular came to him for advice. Secretly. The only thing he never divulged were tests and academic knowledge. It didn't seem right that people would want to know what the next question was on the test, or the next assignment. But the information to make a pony's day go from good to worse, he had no qualms about it.

But it was not spying and gossip that brought him his cutie mark, but rather his knowledge. On one of his forays into the Forest of Leota, he became lost. Well, lost was an understatement. He was in one of the lesser known bits of the forest. With only little navigation material, and a bunch of crayon drawn maps, and of course, the stars of the night when it was finally apparent that he could not find his way back. He decided to find shelter, but what he found amazed him. He came across a great big tree with a slight opening. He went inside quickly, fearing the monsters of the night, and inside, he found a large hollow tree, filled with the low light of glowing mushrooms. In his tiredness he fell asleep. And when morning came, he marked the location, and went home, only to find that there was something different about him. He had his Cutie Mark. After that, it was only one month before his colony decided to become nomadic, and left the Forest. To this day it's still used as a stash.

Then came adult life, following in the footsteps of his parents, Glide Wing became a explorer and cartographer for the frontiers of Equestria, expanding the knowledge of their lands bit by bit. Of course, the amount of travelling allowed Glide WIng to dabble away with gossip, intelligence, and any form of information. Chances were that if he said he was exploring some area, he was actually delivering information to another pony around there. This was dangerous, as well, so he learned to used to fight, incase anything ever went hooves up. After a few years of success, Glide Wing was in very deep, and even considered wanted in some places. A price to pay for his actions that brought him profit. And his parents were none the wiser.

Eventually, it all caught up with him. During a infiltration into a warehouse, which he was lead to believe was a rival gang's storage facility, Glide Wing managed to sneak in under the cover of night, however, when he inspected the boxes, they had the emblems of the Royal Guard on them. Worried, he continued to peruse the other boxes. Standard issue weapons and armour. Fearing a trap, he decided to slip away, only to fine that a spear had gently poked him in the back. Turning around, he saw two guards, and knew that it was over, so everything went to black when he was knocked unconscious.

When he next regained conciousness, he found himself in a dark dungeon room, tied to a chair, with a single light above. Infront was a table, and another occupied chair. Another Areion. But he had the marks of Luna's guards, not Celestia's. After a few minutes of "formal" interrogation, Glide Wing was given two choices:

Use his connections to help them, and unconditionally work for them, and this incident, and all others, would be wiped. Glide Wing could keep his cover job, have a steady income, and the assurance that the Guards would back him up. Mostly.

Or, spend eternity locked in the dungeons for things he know. And nopony would be the wiser. Missing reports could be faked, disappearances made, and his presence wiped.

The threat obvious, Glide Wing quickly took up on the first offer. And after a quick year off to refine his skills and introduce him into the world of proper spycraft, and another to train him in the more restricted weapons, he was finally ready. His first year taught him much, and laid in the ground work for his "rules of life." He is still in service by unconditional oath to this day to the more deniable parts of Equestria's intelligence, but he wouldn't have it any other way. The friend's he'd made, the missions he went on, the side-perks of being a dashing spy.

Some would say he found his childhood dream job.

Character Summary:

Glide Wing, at a first glance, is a approachable, semi-social, adventurous pony with an ego to match some of the more famous explorers in Equestrian history. His extensive knowledge of the world and personal opinions of certain places and phenomena he's heard of lead him to interject in most conversations with the relevant topics. Aggressive and adamant about his views, it can appear to be annoying, even more so when he presents evidence. Ponies who know him by trade usually ask him to retrieve objects and explore ruins to determine their viability and safety for study, a job that pays well occasionally, but when the lack of new places to explore, his profit margins have begun to shrunk.

Socially, he's the kind of pony that sits at a bar and strikes random conversations, or has conversations struck up with him. Sure, he eyes the figure of a mare now and then, and maybe strike up a little chat, but nothing ever prolonged. He also usually brings the party tricks and can sometimes, if out of money, be seen helping the staff around, out of a gesture of good faith and to pay off the bills, although primarily to catch of a glimpse of his mark. Did I also say that usually goes for hay fries and a haybuger, with a pint of cider to drown it all down, keeps his food costs down, and it's quick and dirty. Useful for someone with no cooking skill and a "on-demand" job.

This is where his main job comes in. As a field agent, and a deniable asset, Glide Wing is free to roam pretty much anywhere around Equestria, and beyond, having gone to Aquellia once or twice in the guise of another. Not being much of an actor despite the crash course on spying, the agency finds it difficult to find identities which don't give him away, aside from using his already strong cover story. Which is why they usually send him on full-blown infiltration and sabotage missions, something Glide WIng excels at. This is his "lets put on out spy caps" mode, where he becomes more serious, calmer, and less outspoken. To someponies, this can be seen as creepy, but Glide Wing wouldn't have it any other way.

A list of life rules he lives by is memorised in his head. He can often be heard reciting them as if he was a philosophical figure, even though others may not pay heed to his words, Glide Wind considers them to be words to live by. Breaking these rules is considered painful for him, and possible nonsensical to others in certain situations. But if the rule exists, it's mainly because if some event in Glide Wing's life that was enough to make him stumble and fall metaphorically, it merit's attention. Because of this, mistakes are a source of annoyance for the bat pony.

Glide Wing prefers to fight with two weapons, confident that should one fail, another would be there to hold off the assailant until he can find another. His current favourite is a pair of twin revolvers he affectionately names "Gemini". Starting out strong, if his opponent isn't down in around five minutes, he starts to battle with a more analytical approach, a reinforced approach to all his problems thanks to the spy life. He isn't afraid to think radically in order to beat his opponents, and sometimes shamelessly runs away in order to get an advantage or avoid a fight. Oh, did we mention that he can have more than one throw-able weapon? Knives, smoke bombs, distractions, you name it, he probably has it.

To sum up, Glide Wing is a deniable asset, a "go-to" pony for black operations which he commits to with a serious and a loyal attitude, a laid back stallion who thinks knows he's living a colt's dream of the dangerous and dark world of spies.

Miscellaneous:

Below is a list of Glide WIng's notable gear. Name and modelled weapons based on Sharp Bolt's inventory list (I own the character, by the way.) :

"Gemeni" - x2 45 Celeston Special Issue combat revolver "Twilight" model - A pair of the exact same revolvers, each consists of a six round ammo count and a slew of modifications to make it practical for a spy and for duel-wield. All forms of identification have been removed from the weapon, given the nature of it's user.

A pair of Equestrian MKIV Combat Daggers - Slightly bigger than the regular combat knives, the Combat Daggers can be used as a primary weapon in combat, This allows Glide Wings to use both a melee and a ranged in combat, or double of either, increasing his flexibility. Again, serials and identification are removed given nature of user.

Among other items - Glide Wing possesses a number of tools, such as picklocks, smoke bombs, and a large number of throwing knives in hidden on various parts of his body, concealed by both fur and hidden pockets.

Glide Wing's clothing is usually dependant of his task, but he prefers a loose fitting explorer's jacket and cap when casually walking around town, both his cover, disguise, and looking the part for an explorer's job.

[Armony]

How is this application coming along?

[Harv0kz]

Just getting some draftwork work, plus wrapping up any immediate uni stuff. Will complete soon.

[Bellosh]

What progress have you made on this app?

[Harv0kz]

Much, and we're still rolling

[Bellosh]

How's the rolling coming along?

[Harv0kz]

It's not the day I've waited for yet, that's for sure.

[Armony]

Things still coming along?

[Harv0kz]

I'm still working on it, It's almost ready, but then I got to move house on Friday. Hopefully done by then, and if not... well, don't expect to see me online for awhile.

[Harv0kz]

This is very the day we've waited for, this is the day of character completion.

[Bellosh]

Overall it convey's a sense of.....

This sentence in the CM Story is left unfinished. You ought to fix that.

[Harv0kz]

Finished it off, back to next week's review roster.

[Bellosh]

Right, my colleagues had a brief chat about your app, and they agree that the unique traits of your OC are way too overpowered. It's not fun for other RPers if your character can get out of any sort of trouble with ease. If you intend for your OC to be a spy should be geared towards being sneaky for the sake of entertaining RP. Combat should not be a thing he can be elite at, and always used as a last resort because other enemies need to have a chance to outfight him. Always keep in mind that Canterlot Chronicles OCs should not powergame and hog all the glory, but instead function as part of a cohesive group who can make up for his weaknesses in one ability or another.

[Harv0kz]

Removed the word "advanced" from them. It would still make sense that training included a way (even if he's just taught to hoof-smack them) to fight out of tough situations, in case things went from bad to worse.

[Bellosh]

We still don't find that enough to reassure us. Hmmm, I think it's best if you rewrite the Unique Traits field in paragraph format. Instead of providing us with a basic list, you can better describe in great detail the strengths and weaknesses of your OC. Without knowing the abilities he isn't good at, your areion comes off as too overpowered who can't be beaten in an adventurer/thriller RP.

[Harv0kz]

I'm pretty sure if I wanted to get caught almost every single thread (an exaggeration) and portray and amateur spy, I would've done so.. But I've laid down the elaborations regardless.

[Bellosh]

Note: just because we tell someone that their OC is overpowered doesn't mean we want to turn them into a novice. We just want to make sure that Canterlot Chronicles doesn't get saturated with Mary Sues who face no challenges, who powergame to the detriment of users who appreciate good storytelling over proving how awesome their character is. Sometimes, good storytelling means letting your character lose.

By the way, your definition of "amateur spy" would include such famous characters like James Bond, who gets captured in practically every one of his stories. But that's also part of the reason why readers and movie audiences are willing to like Bond; because they're never sure whether he'll be outmatched in a particular situation or not.

Needless to say, if someone tries to make a spy character that can "outawesome" James Bond, they don't know a thing about how fictional characters become endearing to others.

[starswirlthebearded]