It was like looking into her past, watching the ever powerful, yet graceful, purposeful form of her father teach a leggy, untested filly, a girl only just discovering her body's capabilities. Endless patience and gentleness, with just the right amount of firmness present to make sure the lesson stuck, he was a professional on the battlefield and in the field of teaching. Cirrus remembered when he would call his troops together and have them all train, she remembered joining in - it was all a game then, a wild and fun and energetic game that she simply could not get enough of.

Was it still a game now? Laughter continued to spill from her charred lips, and  energy was certainly high, and she was definitely having fun..

But what if Aithniel became someone she had to defeat in order to protect her home? What if, through some cruel twist of fate, she became something evil and dangerous, something the Great Lord above deemed in need of discipline, of extermination? The thought darkened her brow, as a frown creased the folds above her eyes for a mere moment. Cirrus was not one to linger too long on such thoughts - not any more, at least. Lingering thoughts were dangerous, particularly when they began with what if - Cirrus had learned (the hard way) that it was best to focus on what was rather than what could have been.

Wings took great sweeping gulps of air, each stroke giving her lithe, athletic body the lift and power needed to propel her through the air. The sky was her domain, it was writ across her very pelt, and she revelled in the long moments it took for her opponent to even find her. The cloud was glad, truly, that she had not harmed the other belle too severely, though she'd be lying if she told you she kind of wished to be able to win this scuffle in such a singular, swift motion. Alas, the firestarter was proving to be as determined as Cirrus, and the cloud could only admire and like her all the more for it.

With a tail like a rudder swinging out behind her, the cloud craned her skull around to spy the firestarter, tilting her visage so that electric blue orbs could cling to the pale, fire-rimmed miss and estimate her trajectory appropriately. The youth was fast, Cirrus could not deny, and even though the mare could almost predict what the firestarter was about to do, her own generous wingspan proved ungainly and somewhat slow in executing a counter move. "Hey!" the young mare barked out at her friend as hooves came flying at her retreating head, wings tilting her body so that it hung perpendicular to the ground below.

Aithniel's hooves came scarily close to the girl's own eyes, so much so that Cirrus shut them tightly, bracing for the blow that she was lucky enough to have just missed. But in that same instant of relief, came a hot, burning sensation, a bitter and charred scent - the cloud's forelock was on fire.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh," the sound of panic rose from her maw as the girl shook her head violently, that motion more than the flames rattling her, as she pushed herself forward again in the skies and allowed the wind to steal away the small cinders of flame that could have devoured her. "Not cool!" she shouted at Aithniel, though as always, Cirrus held a smile on her lips and a cunning, devious sparkle to her gaze.

Time to take care of any future flames, she thought, as she hurriedly called upon the magic of her soul to close in on them. It did nothing to take away the heat, but instead only increased it, as humidity rose sharply and cloud formed almost directly above them. They were heavy, dark and pregnant clouds, ready to drop their wet parcels on those below - and Cirrus only encouraged them to. As the atmosphere filled with the blurring and dampening effects of rainfall, Cirrus did her best to train her eyes upon the other, and gave chase hastily. Wanting to situate herself above and behind the firestarter, Cirrus then lashed out with teeth and forelegs, hoping once again, to leave a mark upon the younger one's seemingly perfect hide.