#scrapwing

Hi there!

Aw yay, I'm so glad you've found my blog :)

A terror bird themed pegasi would be a Kingwing - a mythical pegasus in the world of Sky Cowboys who's basically the bigfoot of pegasi. They're huge, destructive, and constantly need to feed (usually on people).

Flightless birds like ostriches, emus, and cassowaries fall into the scrapwing category. These are small, feral, flightless pegasi that can't be domesticated. Their horse component are zebras, wild ass, and donkeys. They're found throughout the Wild Winds and are highly specialized to the specific island they live on. They're a staple prey for bushcats, wolves, and scavengers....if the predator can handle the scrapwing's "I-will-fight-God" attitude.

This one is quagga/dodo flavor.

~ Larn

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Here's a little guide to the main classes of pegasi in the Sky Cowboys world!

Sky Cowboys pegasi generally follow these "rules" -

They have beaks - most are similar to raptor or seabird beaks. Used for opening nuts and snapping up small prey. They do still graze on long-stalk grasses.

Coat colors stay within the equine range, but feathers can be any color.

They have horse-like brains and so are trainable similarly to horses.

They cannot speak like some birds can.

The standard flight range per day is 150 miles. It's called a "hop".

Broadwing Pegasi

These are the main workhorses of the world. They're hardy, agile, and tend to have solid temperaments. Most pilots fly these for all sorts of jobs and have been bred into many unique breeds.

Quick visual - Quarter horses or mustangs with eagle or kite wings.

Longwing Pegasi

Longwings have as much attitude as they do wing surface, but they make up for it with sheer endurance. These pegasi can stay aloft for weeks, diving into the sea for fish or ocean plants to eat.

Quick visual - Thoroughbreds or arabians with seabird wings.

Shortwing Pegasi

Calm and huggable, shortwings are the draft horses of the Sky Cowboys world. These are flightless pegasi (since their wings are so small), but are still very useful on the ground like for all sorts of things from riding to pulling wagons to working in farm fields.

Shortwings tend to have colorful/fancy plumage.

Quick visual - Percherons or clydesdales with songbird wings.

Scrapwings

These little guys are feral - no one has really domesticated them. Partly because they're difficult to work with and partially because no one really sees a point. They're all-around too small to be useful and tend to just get into stuff. At least they're cute!

Quick visual - Zebra/quagga or donkey with dodo wings.

And there you have it! What would your SC pegasus look like?

If you want to learn more about my pegasi, I have an art/lore book on Kickstarter! Also there's lots here on my blog, it's just not as organized :)

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Hi!

So, the "donkey" equivalent of a pegasus is far less useful than an actual donkey. I call them "scrapwings". They're about the same size but unlike donkeys, they're basically impossible to tame.

Typically, breeders don't see a good reason to cross these ornery little bundles of feral sass with a perfectly good pegasus, BUT if it's mule ears and some classic stubbornness you're looking for, longwings have you covered. Long ears and their...uh...disagreeable temperaments are two of their defining features (you know, besides the wing shape):

Longwings are known for their ability to fly incredible distances without landing so breeders do cross longwings and broadwings to try and get some of the more agreeable broadwing temperament into a longer-range offspring. Usually you get a sort of gangly looking medium-range pegasus with long ears. They tend to be able to fly a longer distance at once than a broadwing and can carry more than both a longwing or a broadwing. They're super useful, but often take on at least some of the fiery attitude of their longwing side.

I haven't drawn any of them and the cross doesn't have an official name yet. I'll have to add them to the list of new worldbuilding stuff to flesh out! Once the book is wrapped (one more painting to go!) I can get back to the comic and more regular lore brainstorming.

Good morning!

Yep! The main one is a scrapwing - small scrubby donkey-like pegasi with vestigial wings. The common temperate plains breed stands no taller than 12-13 hands and is famously stubborn, but was domesticated. This design is pretty old so they're due for a redesign, but they look something like this -

I do have a savanna breed, which are decidedly more cute but like zebras haven't been domesticated -

I did sketch a proper zebra pegasus but they aren't canon :)

No one in the SC world has bothered crossing a scrapwing and a regular pegasus.

Scrapwing is a city pigeon who often works out deals with shady people for the benefit of human tech, which is largely inaccessible for other birdformers.

I can't stop with these lil dudes. I decided to make them canon!

These little Savanna Scrapwings have more flair than their northwesterly plains cousins, but are just as hardy. They live in the grasslands that skirt the Sentomia Desert, and travel in small ever-moving herds. They feature a somewhat strange bulbous beak and an equally strange combo of stripes along their crest and dappled spots on their hindquarters.

They rarely stand taller than 13 hands and are seen as a cute curiosity by those unfamiliar with the animals in the desert regions. 

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