Author's Note

Alright here's like a week of hard work! After writing another brief clopfic before, I consider this story a spiritual successor to Keeping You Safe. That one was a lot more clop heavy than this. This does have a few parts here and there, but it's more focused on the story and characters. DON"T LET THAT SCARE YOU AWAY. It's all for the best as I hope the pay off is worth it. Anyways enjoy!

Crushed Heart Mixed with Snow Flakes

“Just leave!” the mare yelled out and pointed out the door. Lightning Dust hung her head low and muscles refused to budge from the spot in the warm house. Krystal was her closet friend, and well…maybe her last friend.

If she was forced to move from her spot in her friends house she knew her heart would break, it would be left in Krystal’s house. Lightning
“I said get out now!” Krystal yelled and stomped her hoof on the ground.

There was nothing but spite in her voice now. Whatever friendship was left for Lightning Dust was now thrown out in the cold and soon so would Lightning Dust. Tears flowed from Lightning Dust’s eyes now, slowly her hoof raised in front of the other and she made her way toward the door.

Krystal could not have her out any faster and without checking to see if the pony had made it all the way out, she kicked the door with her hind legs with such force, that the door connected with Lightning Dust’s rump and caused her to go flying. She fell into the snow and her face was pushed into the white fluff.

Immediately her body began to shiver as the cold connected with her skin and her thin body offered no warmth for her, this was one of the times when her athletic body betrayed her. Her shivering did not stop the tears however as she pushed her face into the dirt even more to try and soften her sobbing.

Since her time being kicked out of the Wonderbolts academy, it had been extremely difficult to find other means to keep herself supported. She tried to look for jobs in weather departments, however because of the special magic in her wings it caused yellow particles powder down onto the clouds, thus being soaked into the rainwater and scattering glitter over towns and cities. The very thing that made her different and what she thought special, now only worked against her.

Unfortunately Lightning Dust did not have any other talents. She spent her whole life training her body and skills to become an athlete like a Wonderbolt, she didn’t consider trying to focus on studies or continue more advance schools for pegasi. When she couldn’t find any other work and eventually was going to be kicked out on the street, she began imposing herself on her friends from childhood.

She felt awful doing so and swore to herself the first time that she would find a way to support herself and move out. It didn’t work out that way and she also didn’t have her parent’s… around…anymore. Anyways, eventually her friend HoneyBun could not house her anymore and Lighting Dust moved on to the next one. Yet as this tread began she slowly saw friends disappearing and loosing contact.

She hated to do it, but she was eventually forced to ask her dearest friend Krystal to hold her up. Krystal with a heart of gold gladly took her in. Then as the days turned into weeks, Lightning Dust was loosing hope and motivation, and Krystal was loosing her patients. The scene earlier was Krystal finally running out and now Lightning Dust had nowhere to go.

The cold was setting in even faster as minutes went by and snow was eventually piling on top of her. Maybe this is what she deserved Lightning Dust thought. Maybe this is what she got for letting her ego get in her way and ruin the one thing she was actually good at.

This was her punishment for taking advantage of her friends. She thought of just lying there until the snow covered her completely and she died of frostbite. Suddenly an idea formed in her head, she remembered her ego got in her way. There was possibly one pony left in the entire world that might take her in, at least for a little. She stood up letting the snow fall off of her and she looked toward the sky. If there was any possibility at all it was rested in her.

She walked forward a bit, her movements slow and painful not only due to the cold, but also her heart was just not in her to continue on. Yet if there was one thing left she had it was will power, and it pulled her forward even more commanding her wings to spread open. Yet her wings were unresponsive and stayed glued to her body.

They were too frozen to even open, so she decided she’d have to begin walking toward her destination. While it wasn’t impossibly far, it wasn’t exactly close either. As she walked through the snow that nearly white washed the entire land she couldn’t stop thoughts from creeping in feeling sorry for herself. Even if she got through this, she didn’t know what she’d do. No place was willing to hire her and she wouldn’t keep a job long enough to get any real footing.

These thoughts continued as she trekked on and did nothing but weigh her down. After roughly three hours of walking she looked up and saw the house among the clouds that might save her. She looked at her wings and tried to open them once more, yet like before they were sealed shut to her body. She had to figure out a way to try and get them warm. Lightning Dust looked around and saw nothing that could provide any heat for her.

An idea came to mind and soon she was digging away the snow from the ground beneath her. The snow was stacked high and after three feet of digging she finally struck the frozen grass below. When her hoof attempted to touch the soft green material she was only met with a barrier of ice. Shit, she thought. However she’d gone this far and her will was still strong.

She began bucking the grass as hard as her frozen joints would let her to try and break the ice. Over and over again her legs bucked and bucked. She could feel her muscles starting to shut down and bruising starting to form on her legs, but she continued to fight through the pain. She heard a crack and saw that she made a giant slit in the ice.

Again and again she kicked at the edges of the break, chipping off sheets of ice little by little. She cleared enough of the way for her to start digging a hole in the ground. She dug and dug and eventually pain was coursing through her body now. She looked at her front hooves and saw they were cut and bleeding. She looked back down at her hole and saw the thing she needed most: dirt.

She flipped onto her backside and started rolling around rubbing her wings as rigorously as possible. While the dirt was still cold in itself if was more importantly dry, and if she could get her wings dry then she might be able to move them and warm them up. More and more she pounded her back against the ground removing the ice crystals that had formed.

Then she stood up and looked back at her wings once again and tried to move them. They were slow aching, but they were able to extended fully and this gave her a little hope.

Come on, come on!” she grunted as she flapped her wings slowly against the cold wind that threatened to shut them once again. Pain had enveloped her body, lactic acid was building up in her muscles and she did not have long before she’d pass out and be covered completely by the snow. Her wings gained momentum and soon she felt the slight propulsion upwards.

She flapped harder and harder and her mind was starting to get fuzzy and dizzy. Yet it was either now or never and she promised herself at that moment if she found a way out of this, then she’d do whatever it took to pay it back to the great angel that protected her. She bent down like a spring and flapped her wings has hard as she could force them to go. She said one last prayer in her head and in a crack of thunder and spark of dust she launched herself into the air like a cannonball.

The snow and ice pelted her face like bullets against her skin and she could barely open her eyes to steer. The winds were nearly forcing her off her course and send her crashing to the ground, but she knew at this height she’d fall to her death.

Lightning Dust’s momentum was swiftly draining, but her target was within reach, she needed a little more of a push. Her wings were nearly frozen once again, but she dug deep. Deep inside her soul, past her broken heart, past her dreams and past even her will to live.

She didn’t know what she had found deep deep inside her, but it was strong enough and she managed to make it onto the soft cloud that was supporting the home in the sky. The winds shifted and forced her straight into the door of the building. Lightning Dust hit her head straight against the door and she fell down looking up at the fierce storm contrasted by the sideways flowing rainbow fountain.

It was a funny thought that such chaos could stand next to such beauty. Lightning Dust’s mind was darkening and that this was it. She would die here at the door to salvations so close and yet so far, but how fitting it seemed as her whole life reflected that fact.

“Who could even be out here- Oh my Celestia!” she heard a faint voice say. It was too late, she closed her eyes and everything went dark.