Dawn [Closed]

[Dio]

Equestrian mornings were always a thing of beauty. From grassy valley, across wheat-blanketed fields, sprawling apple orchards, and vast forest sweeps; from the lowest river plain to the highest mountaintop; from the expanses of the wild blue to the cloudy wisps at the dizzying reaches of the atmosphere, morning dawned. Fire kissed the horizon, a sultry red-orange glow that stretched its lucid rays across the earth, sea, sky, and aether.

A lone pegasus gingerly closed the locker door, hoofing the lock into place and giving the dial a twist. A blast of hot breath escaped her nostrils as she stepped out of the locker room. Freshly awakened muscles twitched beneath goldenrod-yellow fur while a jet black mane and tail ruffled softly in the wind. Stepping into the soft orange glow outside, the mare stretched her wings to their full extent, revealing black pinion tips, contrasting starkly with her subdued fur and plumage.

Sunrise was different from Cloudsdale. There was little dust or haze at altitude, allowing Sergeant Acclaim to enjoy a full unadulterated view of Celestia’s dawn. The sergeant was free of her usual regalia and appointments. No armor, saddle blankets, hoofguards, lances, tail or mane ties, or helms; only fur, feathers, and sinew. Acclaim smiled. This was was how a pegasus should live!

The sergeant stretched her legs and wings, working each appendage through its full range of motion and limbering each muscle as she reached it. She was back in the Twin Cities of Cloudsdale and Trottingham for R&R to be sure, but you could never quite take the army life out of a soldier. Endless PT routines drilled into her head a fixed waking time at “the flank crack of dawn” as civilians would put it. So there she stood, her hooves on the outermost ring of Cloudsdale’s famous Cloudeseum, the sky above, the sunrise below, and horizon before her.

Her warm up complete, Acclaim took a deep breath and leaped forward into the blue.

[Apolline Allura]

They zigzagged through piles of white, kicking and punching at anything in their way so long as it weren't other pegasi. Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash. An unstoppable team. Flying faster than the speed of sound and in sync with one another. The pair exchanged twin grins as the shook the competition and showed everypony how the job was done. Lightning Dust couldn't have been happier. She had a teammate, a rival and a new friend all in one. Sure she was a little goody-four-hooves around the edges, but that didn't make her any less hardcore. This partnership was the best idea she had ever been a part of.

Spitfire's judgement had seemed sound enough. She kicked pretty much everyone's flanks when it came to the academy records. And she had the right idea when it came to the exercises of how best to tackle them. Sure it cost Rainbow Dash a wing, but that was a booboo by Lightning's standards! The turquiose pegasus had endured worse in her own training, being the ardent risk-taker that she was. And what was that look on her face when Lightning had been promoted to lead pony? Yeah it sucked to lose out on some things, but Dash was her equal, sorta! What could possibly drive her and her ace, her flying buddy apart?

Lightning Dust pondered the answer as she soared high above the Cloudsdale Cloudeseum. Not that she had much pondering to do. Dash's friends had kind of been in danger at the time and it didn't help that it was Lightning's fault. She sighed. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't stop thinking about it. The more she couldn't stop thinking about it, the more she began to feel...responsible. For what had happened.

But that wasn't the case! Like Darwing said, the strong survived! The weak...not so much!

[colour=#40e0d0]'Darwing was kind of a jerk though...' [/colour]reflected Lightning as she came down, noticing a speck at the edge of the outer ring. She approached the lemonish pegasus, sizing her up from above.

Just about as toned as hers. She wouldn't have been surprised if they had weighed the same, pound for pound either.

Lightning Dust loved a good challenge. If the pegasus near her was anything like her, she'd take the bait Lightning was about to dish out. She flew up to where she'd be beside her if she dived, and tucked her limbs close. Freefalling was another of her favorite little tactics. Though it wasn't hers, as much as she'd like that, Lightning could do it from almost any height and orient herself to take advantage of the momentum easily enough. Speeding through the air in a straight shot downward was like riding an elevator. Lightning Dust could feel her organs rising in her chest. Getting close, she adjusted herself head down and opened her wings slightly.

In seconds she was next to the yellow mare, winking at her with a smirk before dropping a bit further in altitude.