Pegasus Acclaim [Final]

[Dio]

Acclaim

There’s nothing quite like the rush of night ops. The high altitude drops, the frigid air, the sparkling starscape above. THIS is why I enlisted!

RP Type: Mane RP

Name: Sergeant Acclaim

Sex: Female

Age: Mare

Species: Pegasus

Acclaim with Lunar Guard armor. Dragon wings are a cosmetic spell as part of the uniform.

Coat colour: Citrine yellow (#E4D00A). Wings are also citrine with black pinion feathers. Night Guard armor has a cosmetic spell that changes her wings to appear like dragon wings. When wearing her armor, the "fingers" of the dragon wings are the same citrine colour as her coat. Webbing in the dragon wings is a dark umber (#635147) colour.

Mane/Tail colour & Style: Black mane with streaks of dark grey, kept trimmed to regulation. White forelock that is allowed to grow longer. Average-length tail is also black with a single streak of dark grey, usually kept tied at the root.

Eye colour: Blue

Cutie Mark: A black queen (chess piece silhouette) with two crossed lightning bolt silhouettes underneath it. Signifies both her tactical prowess and ability to think on her hooves.

Physique: Limber but tough as is typical of REA airborne troopers.

Origin: Cloudsdale. Moved to Canterlot as part of her assignment to the then newly-reformed Lunar Guard.

Occupation: REA Night Guard, recent transfer to III Order Honor Guard into a team specializing in night operations.

Motivation: Live her life well, keep her teams safe, and perhaps some day meet Luna in person. Winning.

Likes: Late nights, stargazing, sports (hoofball specifically), symphonic metal, classical music, dogs, piercings, breaking expectations

Dislikes: Waking up early, being talked down to, obviously flawed plans (to her), happenstance ruining her own plans, letting others down, reptiles

Character History

Acclaim has been many places and done many things. Born in Cloudsdale, she was raised in and around the highly competitive environment of flight academy, being exposed to both the Wonderbolts and the 45th Regiment of the REA that trained in the twin cities nearby. Almost every day she would find herself watching the Wonderbolts in conditioning and choreography or REA airborne soldiers on maneuvers.

Her deep appreciation for the hard work and physical prowess that was required of both soldiers and athletes led her to join a local hoofball league when she was old enough to do so. Playing both around Cloudsdale and Trottingham on earth and sky, Acclaim soon proved herself a capable leader and striker. Hoofball quickly taught her the value of teamwork, as a lone, unsupported forward would quickly fall victim to the superior numbers and stamina of the other team’s defenders.

Acclaim received her cutie mark during one of these hoofball games. With the score dead even at the start of the second half, Acclaim quickly realized that they did not have the stamina to match up against their opponent’s larger and stronger players. Calling a timeout, she quickly rewrote her team’s plan of attack, allowing them to break the tie without breaking their own defense. Suddenly, everything seemed to click. Acclaim didn’t just see her opponents, she knew them.

Acclaim continued calling the shots. Each time the opponent made a play, she had a counter-play to stop it. Each time her team possessed the ball, Acclaim found a weakness in their defense that left the enemy scrambling to keep up. Her team ended up going on to win the match, and as she reveled in her victory, she noticed a tingle on her flank. One glance down was all it took for her to jump for joy, as she finally had her cutie mark: a queen with two crossed lightning bolts underneath, representing her tactical prowess and her ability to think on her hooves under pressure.

Though she would continue to play hoofball well into her education, Acclaim would forever be enamored with the the ponies who ruled the air. She enlisted shortly after graduation, securing a spot in an airborne unit shortly thereafter. With the return of Princess Luna, volunteers were called to reform the Lunar Guard. Acclaim quickly jumped at the opportunity. A few years later, her faithful service netted her the rank of sergeant and gave her in-roads to III Order of the Honor Guard, with which she is now training.

Personality

While she enjoys the spirit of competition, Acclaim is still a team player. If she is in charge, she pushes her team to its limits in the interest of maximizing their performance. If she is a subordinate, she gives it her all. Working alone (especially on duty) is alien to Acclaim, though she is perfectly content to go for flights or do physical conditioning by herself-- things that allow her to improve herself without burdening others.

Acclaim excels at thinking on her feet, leveraging all of her experiences, senses, and knowledge of her allies and opponents to defeat any problem that is thrown her way. Her tactics are often unconventional and unorthodox, but she thoroughly enjoys successes that hinge on thinking out of the box and turning weakness into strength. This of course, is a double-edged sword at times.

While she is capable of great things when pushed to the limit, Acclaim has a tendency to rely too much on quick thinking and snap decisions. Even for things that require careful deliberation such as finances and education, she applies her “make decisions or die” mentality, sometimes with less than stellar results. She is passionate about what she does and may come off as a bit too intense for some ponies, especially when it comes to her physical prowess, the most recent rounds of REA wargames, or discussing the latest plays of the local hoofball team.

Because of her strategic talents and knack for pulling wins out of her flank, Acclaim does not take losses well. At the same time, her desire to be a strong leader and the expectations placed upon her by her parents and peers leads her to bottle up her feelings about it, only presenting the friendly, humble, and cheerful face to her platoon- and teammates; even more so for strangers. It is something of a constant existential debate for her. If her destiny is turning defeat into victory, then what is she to do when failure is inevitable?

Miscellaneous

• Acclaim was the vocalist for a symphonic power metal band out of Cloudsdale, Wing Power. From this, she proudly retains piercings in her right ear and a small stud in her nose. These are of course removed for duty.
  
• Acclaim has a soft spot for dogs. To her, every dog is a puppy. She would like to raise one some day, but is afraid that she has no time to do so because of her REA commitments. Her favorite breed is the akita.
  
• Acclaim is mildly claustrophobic, in spite of her affinity for dark places. Her home is the open night sky with clear air and a full star field, reveling in Luna’s night.
  

[Mojo]

Dio, I know you're a Mod, but I have to do my duty here and ask the question:

How is this application coming along?

[Dio]

Functionally, the application is complete, but I still feel like she's missing something. I'm going to get some more feedback for her before I decide to bump her to final. So yes, I'll be keeping her.

[Dio]

Did some tweaks to her personality and switched the application over to Mane RP. As ruled by the staff shortly after Luna Eclipsed aired, the dragon wings come from a cosmetic spell built into the armor of night guard pegasi. They are otherwise normal pegasi when not wearing their armor. Marked final, ready for evaluation.

[Mojo]

What can I say, Dio?

This app hits all the right points, is well written, and is definitely unique and original.

LOVED that line in the Motivation ... "Winning!"

That's SO Charlie Sheen! :D

Does she have 'tiger blood" too?

j/k

Another outstanding app!

[RarityDash]

I can't really find any reasons not to stamp this wonderful app... so: