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Artist's description from DA:

NOTE: Reuploaded because of the drastic changes to his design, I wasn't a big fan of his blue coat and white/yellow mane since it seemed a bit… basic? And I wanted to make the design a little more unique.
Now yeah I know his colors are somewhat similar to Sandbar and Terramar from the show, I tried to tweak them enough so that they could be considered unique enough and not seem like I've copied the colors. Though I didn't color drop anything and I used a handful of online color palettes found on Google that I frankensteined together to get a palette I liked. And it just happened to be similar to Terramar and Sandbar, so don't kill me please, I LOVE this color combination (beige and teal). ;-;

Plus, I don't think you should really be that nosey about "copied colors" anyway? I know on Instagram a handful of people said that Featherfall's colors were too similar to Spirit from the animated movie of the same name. But the thing is, Featherfall's a Mustang. They commonly have beige coats and brown manes, which is where I got his colors from. Yeah he's similar to Spirit but it's not a unique palette, lol. It's an actual horse that actually exists
The thing that makes a character "original" isn't just their physical looks, it's their backstory, personality, bio, how they act, walk, talk, where they're from, how they've been shaped by their story, their achievements and goals in life, and so on. Some people just doesn't like to see it that way and it just kinda bothers me. Though luckily, most people online are very reasonable and already knows this, which I'm thankful for c:

——————(old description copied from the original ref sheet lol)———————

Second redesign of one of the main characters of the comic! Windstrike got a design change just like Cipher (new ref right Here), cause I thought it was a bit bland. Before his design was a turquoise coat and yellow mane, which was way too similar to Zephyr Breeze and Lightning Dust. So I tried to make it a bit more original by mixing up the colors more and usign a color palette I personally like very much.
His cutiemark was changed to a hurricane warning symbol, like those you see on signs in areas where hurricanes are frequent. I'll explain why below!

Did my best to not make him seem too much like a Rainbow Dash rip-off, but some things will have to be similar unfortunately. Kinda sucks, but sometimes it's difficult to stay away from canon. THERE CAN BE MORE THAN ONE SASSY, SELFISH PEGASUS IN THE WORLD, GUYS

Quick note: "SEW" has been changed to HIVE, it's the same organisation, the name has just changed.

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Windstrike is an airborne delivery-pony who during the day works as a mailman. He's been praised for his fast deliveries, and often travels across large areas to reach his delivery-points. However during the later evenings and throughout the nights he switches to his nightshift working for H.I.V.E. While his friends are aware of his dayshift, his nightshifts go under the radar as he is not allowed to mention HIVE to anyone.
For HIVE, he works as a scout/messenger who scouts for nearby intruders or anomalies, plus keeps an eye on suspicious activities. (More than that I can't really share, unfortunately. His association with HIVE will be thoroughly explored in the comic.)

Winstrike's an adventurous, honorable and witty pegasus with a small build but a big heart. Despite to some he may come across as bratty and a bit immature, once you start tolerating his arrogant antics you'd find he's actually pretty reasonable and respectful. He doesn't like taking himself too seriously, however if he's put into a tense and/or serious situation or if he's done something wrong, he can quickly change his ways and be mature about it and apologize. He knows his own limits and the limits of others, and makes sure he doesn't step over the line.
He's very persistent and can come across as selfish, but would never intentionally put himself above others and hurt them in the process.


Cutiemark story
*Windstrike was one of the very few ponies to survive Hurricane Cosmos. Hurricane Cosmos was a category 4 hurricane that came from over Hailberg and North Luna ocean heading east over Seaward Shoals, Vanhoover and Tall Tale, continuing over Stratusburg and Cloudsdale before changing course up North. It eventually disbanded due to pegasi stormtamers before reaching the Crystal Empire. Devastating damage happened along the way, especially to Cloudsdale, and it took many painful hours to dispand the storm.
Windstrike was one of those unfortunate victims that got caught up in the eye when Cosmos was at its peak of strength. He was a young foal that hadn't gotten his cutiemark, simply heading over to school, when the hurricane swept in. It claimed many airborne lives in the span of minutes, but Windstrike pushed his wings to their limit and managed to escape through the eye of the storm. Many feathers had been ripped from his skin and debris had struck him all over his body, but using the last of his strength he found a safe place on a tiny cloud high up, where he collapsed.
Many hours later, he woke up in a hospital. Parts of his body had been bandaged up, everything felt sore. He was surrounded by nurses and two Stormtamers sitting by his side. They explained that after they had dispanded the hurricane, they went looking for survivors and found him unconcious and beaten. No other survivors from his area had been found.
After taking a few moments to process things, he noticed a new odd tingling feeling on his flank. Pulling the sheet away, he noticed a symbol. His cutiemark had appeared during his unconcious state, that had the shape of a hurricane warning symbol.
He felt scared. He was supposed to feel happy; he's wanted a cutiemark for so long and looked forward to seeing what it was. But this wasn't it. He had a mark that had the intention of showing ponies how he's a stormchaser and a strong flyer, even through hurricanes, but instead it felt like a permanent reminder of seeing pegasi bodies falling from the sky like rain, and how his family and friends had been stripped from their lives in a matter of minutes while he did nothing but run.

Even up until today, he's had a fear of storms. As soon as he hears warnings of strong winds or the crackling of thunder, he seeks shelter. He never really talks about his cutiemark or what it means, and mostly avoids the subject if it's brought up. He tends to use humor as a coping mechanism, cracking jokes and being witty and loud to avoid talking about it and to keep his mind off it. He flies quickly, which on one hand has gotten him promoted by his work as a delivery pony, but on the other hand is really just because he wants to spend as little time in the air as possible to avoid the winds.
Though throughout the years, that storm has always stuck with him. Not just because of the damage it had caused to him and his family, but because of how sudden it was. It appeared way too quickly, and it moved way too fast for a normal hurricane. It had taken the Stormtamers hours before they could dispand the hurricane, despite being professionals and also being pegasi; the race that control the weather itself. Why was this hurricane so different from the rest..?
Windstrike began thinking more and more about it, until he'd had enough. He knew something was off with that storm, that something else had a part of it other than natural causes. He had to find something, or someone that could help him find out what it was. He wanted to dig deeper and solve the mystery, so he could help prevent those storms from ever appearing again, to not only honor his cutiemark and overcome his disgust for it, but to prevent potential victims from falling to the storms like his family did.

And he did. He found something.

If he gave them the information and research he had on hurricane Cosmos, they promised to help him prevent those hurricanes in the future. All he had to do was to swear an oath he'd never mention them to anyone. All he had to do was to give up his voice.

H.I.V.E… what a weird acronym.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAND that's all I can share before I spoil everything! Don't worry though: in the comic, Windstrike will have his time to shine eventually, and his story will pick up and continue where it left off. His backstory will be explained in full, and will explore his ties with HIVE.
I'm very exited to see him in action in the comic! His first appearance will be in the epilogue of chapter 1 c:

Also as a note, the locations referenced in his cutiemark story (Hailberg, Seaward Shoals, Stratusburg) aren't present on the official map, but they are on the map that I've created for this AU and comic. That map can be found here!

Upvotes at import: 12 | Stars at import: 4
Posted previously at: 2019-11-30T00:10:36 | Posted previously by: Frustration in Excelsis