[AW] i like myself (most of the time)

[Ismene]

to be upside down is a fine way to be Ismene liked to play games, even if it was with her own life. The frigid winter winds had whipped the ocean's waves into a frenzy. Whitecaps crashed on the sands, each one louder than the last. The small pegasus stared out over the waves with keen yellow eyes - the cold winds sliced right through her winter coat and even split some of her smaller feathers. Her breath came out in great clouds. For a moment she was astounded that her lungs could hold all that steam before it was snatched away by the wind. She'd been running her own private "tests" for a while now, ever since her father had passed away. It was borderline madness. It was suicidal.  The Halcyon, her heart chittering somewhere between her mouth and ribcage, took to the skies. Easy, easy, easy... Flying was second nature to the unit. They prized calm in difficult situations. They were unshakable.  Ismene hovered a few feet above the waves, flapping her wings gracelessly every few moments to stay aloft. She was trying to fly against the breeze - probably more foolish than anything else she was about to attempt, especially for a weakling like herself. Which was why she needed to train. Harsh conditions, stress, dangerous gambits: a regular Halcyon could fly in all conditions. Exhaling another cloud of breath, Ismene struck out across the shallow water. She soared low over the waves, her rear hooves occasionally grazing the water and cutting a small wake. Just as she was about to turn back towards shore, satisfied with her small progress, the wind picked up. It dragged on her wings and blew her backwards. Further out to sea now than she'd ever intended, Izzie's eyes widened in her terror. No, no, no-no-no-fuck! With a final burst of strength and fluttering-flapping-artless flying, she managed to close in on the shoreline just before her wings - and then her legs - locked up.  Only a few feet above the shallow water wasn't a particularly long way to fall but it felt like an eternity while she was stuck in her own mind. The episode only lasted until she hit the water, but by the time the cold ocean enveloped her, her wings were waterlogged and difficult to manage. She had landed just shy of where she would have been able to grab purchase with her hooves. Ismene floundered in the shallow water doing her very best impression of the world's worst shorebird. Swallowing her pride, unwilling to call for help, she resigned herself to death. That's what she deserved for straying so far to practice in secret - it was a big idiot move. Which you are. Idiot. And now you're going to be a dead idiot, idiot.