Luckily this skirmish was keeping body warm enough so that I didn’t feel entirely frozen. Only my nose felt tender, and had started to complain about frigid temperatures by drooling a little. Sadly, I couldn’t help notice that my speed and endurance also seemed restrained as well, even with all this movement to help keep muscles toasty.

Limbs felt numbed almost, slower than normal.

Which that was frustrating, but at the same time it happened to be a blessing in disguise. Because, fighting in an environment that was out of my comfort zone made for a great lesson in adaptation, and would surely help me grow to be a better General. Pushing out the endurance I knew was within these bones, my memory flashed me an image of a previous fight that happened not so long ago.

A different soldier, same place. Sierra had chosen this barren world to be her battleground as well. As Note fell behind me, a plan began to form in honor of that flashback.

Instead of his breath along my rump, I catch in my peripheral vision the alarming sight of his hindquarters shifting to meet my ass with something more than teeth.

The faintest hint of a smile flicks my lips upward; this gentleman surely wasn’t going to disappoint, which meant….neither could I. Coal black forelimbs lock my knees together, swiftly readying the joints for a defensive strike. Just as my taller friend lifts butt to produce a damaging blow, my thighs sling hindlegs from earth in a full out buck. Neck and shoulders bunch up to absorb shock. Hope rests on my hooves hitting something other than naked sky.

Timing had been everything, and apparently I was a little off, because one foreign backhoof stings a path along the right side of my left hock. Golden hooves collide with hard ground once more, jarring wound a little and causing me to reflectively twitch. Head rises only to fall again and bring rear back up in a slightly lesser rebound. A warning halfbuck was all I gave him after the full. Struck leg stings a little, but features wouldn’t show this outwardly beyond the flinch; besides, a little scratch was really nothing to get worked up over.

It would seem his feet were sharp enough though.

If blood wasn’t rushing throughout my body before, it surely is now. Each wave is warming but also causing ears to ring when I land from the second rebound. Gathering balance with haste, my wings unfurl to start the first phase of plan A. The action is nearly regretted as barrel instantly cools and causes a wave of shivers to wash over this body. Resisting the urge to close them is perhaps the hardest challenge I've been faced with this morning. Unfortunately their blanketing warmth is useless when one wants to get to heaven.

Calling again on endurance learned from other battles, I leap forward to put some distance between myself and this looming beast of a man.

Strongly beating feathered appendages down in unison I am airborne just as Note begins to rise up. A cloud of loose snow and frost fly into the air, but it's angled in the wrong direction to be any good as an attack.

Thankfully my smaller size and compact body of muscle allows for an easy ascend. It would be much harder for a bulkier stud to take flight from ground so quickly

Perhaps I had caught him off-guard, and if I was lucky. This move would piss his frost loving head off.

Angling in a tight circle to face Note fully, I tried to use the eastern sun at my back to blind some of these next few movements. Body had only risen ten or so feet from ground, and I had to work hard to maintain the distance. Lips gaped open and forelimbs poised to strike. With rearlimbs tucked toward my groin, I lunged while pushing with every ounce of anger and pent up frustration that was within this soul. My aim was for his spine or rear with my hooves, while neck twisted in passing to catch a mouthful of mane.

OCC: Post (2/2)
Attack:
Defense:
Injuries: