Coagulation

Lazuli didn’t know where she was, and she didn’t know where she was going. All she knew was that it was getting a lot colder, and winter was a lot harsher outside the Empire. She was shivering, shuffling along the side of the train tracks with virtually no idea what she was doing. Once already she had tried to hop onto a train, but she wasn’t strong enough. She could normally have flown on top and climbed in from there, but the wing that she had used to block the unicorn’s magic was out of commission. She could barely feel it, let alone move it properly.

She was walking down what she assumed would have been a lovely trail by the tracks, if it weren’t for the fact that temperatures were getting into the negatives and the trail was covered in a thin layer of ice. She was fine walking along it for the most part, but when she did slip it took an almost embarrassing amount of time to recover.

“F-fuck, it’s cold…” She shivered, speaking through chattering teeth. While she was more resilient to low temperatures than the average Dracony, her body was already starting to get sluggish. Every part of her aside from her rational mind was telling her to just lie down and sleep, and let somepony come to her.

But that wasn’t an option.

She knew she was being followed. It wasn’t exactly hidden. She had seen too many pegasi pass overhead, and had to duck behind bushes when someone walked by on hoof. She occasionally caught quick parts of their conversations – most of them mentioned ‘Dracony’ or her name directly more than once.

Her body wouldn’t last forever. She felt her breaths slowing, her heart already beating just a bit slower in turn as it prepared to go into hibernation. “Just…keep…going…” She told herself, her teeth still chattering and her whole body shaking.

She heard a voice coming from up ahead. Vision was obscured by blowing winds and snow, but she didn’t care who it was. She quickly ducked off to the side, hiding herself beside a snow bank and trying to calm her shaking muscles, while simultaneously willing herself to stay awake.

“Now I’ve told all of y’all to keep an eye out. You you’re tellin’ me you’ve gone up and down the entire track without findin’ a trace?” The voice sounded familiar, in some way. A stallion’s voice.

“W-well…yes, sir. The snow is making visibility a lot harder, and it doesn’t help that her fur is white…”

“So you’re tellin’ me she might have been out there and y’all just didn’t see her?!”

“…y-yes…sir.”

As the ponies came into view, Lazuli couldn’t help but growl. She was just glad that the wind masked it.

It was Blind Faith. His snow white coat was almost invisible until he came closer, but his blonde mane, red winter jacket and piercing green eyes were plain to see. “Well you do realize I can’t just let her go, right?” He snorted. “After this, the princesses’ll be doubling down on protecting her.”

“But…why exactly do you need her so much?”

“Because, cloud-for-brains.” The pony he was talking to was a pegasus, one with black fur and a white mane and tail. “If ponies know she’s alive, then they’ll start to lose faith in the princesses. It means that she either escaped her execution…or it was faked. The latter would send a ripple of outrage through Equestria, even for ponies who don’t know or care who she is.”

The Pegasus cleared his throat. “Er…right. Got it. So…find her, or you can’t uh…blackmail the princesses?”

“Exactly.” Blind Faith breathed in deeply, letting out a gentle sigh. “I was too caught up in my own desire to humiliate her before that I lost track of the big picture. But this time…I’m going to make it work.”

“Er, how come your slang southern words kinda disappear when you talk longer?”

“Go and find her.” He ignored the question. “And don’t think of coming back to me empty-hooved. Got it?” He wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck. “Gods, it’ll be much harder finding her in this blizzard, I must admit…but I’m confident you and the rest of my loyal servants can do it, right?”

The Pegasus swallowed. “…y-yes sir. Of course sir.” He flapped his wings and took off into the sky, vanishing from view.

“…why did I even come out here?” Faith muttered to himself, his eyes gently surveying the landscape before him. “Hrmh…it’s pretty, I suppose. I do love the weather those pegasi create…even when it’s quite chilly.”

His eyes moved from side to side, before focusing in on the bush that Lazuli was hiding behind. He squinted briefly, his eyes flashing a dull golden colour.

“…hrm.” His horn lit up with the same gold aura and he vanished in a flash, leaving Lazuli alone.

The Dracony stood up. Her muscles felt like stone. “F-fuck me…” She muttered, and started to gallop. It was a lopsided, painful gallop that stressed the creaking joints of her ice-coated braces, but she needed to move. Not just to keep warm, but to get out of here as fast as possible. If this was a blizzard, she wouldn’t last long. At the very least, she needed to find a warm place to stay.

She could swear she heard a bell chiming somewhere behind her, but turning her head, she realized it was in her mind.

There was something calming about a blizzard, Tempest thought.

She wasn’t sure what it was. The blistering winds, the snow smacking against one’s face, the constant slipping or threat thereof – it seemed like nothing could be enjoyable about it. Yet somehow she found herself enjoying her trek out into the elements. She supposed it had something to do with nature taking control, showing pony kind that even they and their Pegasus teams couldn’t reign in the unbridled fury of a winter storm.

But she couldn’t dwell on her enjoyment of the weather. Lazuli was out there somewhere, and for all she knew, she was freezing to death.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Fizzlepop?” Twilight’s voice was uncertain, a scarf wrapped tightly around her neck and blowing in the wind.

“I’ve had my fair share of experience in the cold, Twilight.” Tempest frowned, her own scarf – a magenta one that matched her mane – billowing around her much like the Princess’s. “You need to tend to the town. Ponies weren’t prepared for a blizzard this soon. But Lazuli’s out there somewhere, and I’m not letting her die out there while we all sit warm and cozy.”

“Be safe out there, at least.” Twilight clearly wasn’t happy with Tempest’s decision, but she also couldn’t stop her.

“Of course.”

Tempest turned away, and Twilight headed away from the train station to help make sure ponies were secure. Tempest’s horn crackled gently, her chest twinging slightly.

Please be okay…she thought to herself, and quickly started down the train tracks.

Cold, cold, colder. That was all that Lazuli could describe her experience as, thus far. Oh hey, this snow’s a little warmer. She tapped her hoof against it, then kept walking. At this point, she could barely see. She was fairly sure she heard pegasi flying overhead, but she hadn’t the energy to do anything anymore. Her brain was muddled, and her vision blurred. Fuck…she thought, her teeth chattering at a rate that she swore would make them shatter. Sweet Faust, I can’t even feel anything…

Even though her whole body was shaking, she felt almost warm. Her body had lost sensation in all but her core, and even that was freezing over.

But finally, her hours (or what felt like it) of walking was rewarded with shelter. It was nothing special, and to a pony with the option, they’d never stay there during a blizzard. A cabin, that looked just about ready to fall over already, but it was the best Lazuli would find for a while. She diverted off the trail, pushing open the door. She could tell it was abandoned.

It didn’t provide a lot of cover, but it would be enough. The windows were intact, the walls were…mostly standing, and the roof only had a few holes. The door actually closed and stayed that way, so that was good.

Nothing was there, though. Just a dirt floor and some ice covering one end of the room. She huddled herself up, far away from any of the windows, and curled up in a tight ball. She wrapped her one good wing around herself, her tail curling around her neck as a sort of makeshift scarf. Please don’t let me die out here…she thought, clenching her eyes shut and exhaling softly.

Tempest was beginning to think this was a horrible idea.

She had no real problem walking in such cold. The Storm King’s lands were like this a lot of the time, so she really didn’t feel too uncomfortable. Even so, she knew this was a search that was nearly impossible to do alone – she had hundreds of kilometres to cover, and that was if Lazuli was even along the train tracks. For all she knew the Dracony might have been back at the Crystal Empire sipping tea.

“Lazuli!” She called, but her voice was lost in the wind. It was almost not even worth spending the energy to yell, for it only carried a few feet before being swept up in the blizzard.

“Hey! You!” A voice called back, but it was distinctly male.

Out of the white wall of snow came a unicorn stallion. He was blue, with a light green mane, and bundled up in a coat and scarf. “Who are you?” Tempest asked, glaring at him with a level of suspicion that probably wasn’t justified.

“Is this really the time for names?!” He squinted to look at Tempest. “Listen, have you seen my friend around here? She’s hard to see. White coat, blue mane, got a sort of weird tail and bat wings?”

“…” Tempest’s stare turned into a scowl, her horn starting to crackle again. “Her name?”

“Er, Lazuli. Why?”

Tempest ran forward and tackled the stallion to the ground, her metal-clad hooves landing on his chest. Her horn fizzled and sparked, teeth clenched tightly together and her bright eyes staring right into his. “Who told you to look for her?!”

“H-hey! Get off me, what in Tartarus is your problem?!” He struggled, only to yowl in pain as a sharp jolt of electricity rippled through him. Her hoof pressed against his throat, the cold metal feeling not too different from a knife.

“Talk. Now. Or the next shock’ll be enough to paralyze you and leave you out here to freeze.”

“O-okay, okay!” The stallion held up his hooves. “N-none of that! Fine! I-it was my boss. Sanctuary. He needs her for something.”

Tempest roared, both of her front hooves rearing back and slamming down on the unicorn’s chest. He wheezed and coughed as the wind was knocked out of him, a few ribs shattering under her strike. “L-let me go! F-fucking Celestia, let me go!”

The mare stood back up, delivering a harsh kick to the stallion’s side and throwing him into the bushes nearby. She took off into a gallop.

“LAZULI!” She howled into the wind, and the blizzard howled right back at her.

When the Dracony woke up again, she wasn’t cold. She wasn’t even in the cabin. In fact, she wasn’t awake.

This dream thing is getting old…she said to herself, but stood up anyway. The braces on her hooves were still there, and she still ached. Though, at least she was standing in a warm room, complete with cozy hardwood floors and a crackling fire.

And sitting in front of the fire was Luna.

“So she sent my letter?” Lazuli was the first to speak, for once.

“Indeed.” Luna turned to face the Dracony, a sad look on her face. “You seem to have interpreted a dream poorly, Lazuli.”

“Ah, I wrote that letter months ago.” She waved a hoof. “Back when I first arrived in Ponyville, actually.”

“Wha- but, surely it was about the horrible dream you had with us?”

“Not really. I got the feeling you didn’t like me from the beginning.”

Luna slowly stood up, trotting towards Lazuli. “Whatever gave you that idea? I suppose it could explain why your dream was so bleak, but…”

“…wait, that wasn’t you?”

“Of course not. We- er…I do care about you. Your dream was a manifestation of your own mind…and now I can see why.”

“So…I made that all up in my head then, huh?”

“It would appear so.” Luna gestured for Lazuli to sit, and they both did.

Lazuli stared at the fire, then looked to the side. “So…you do like me?”

“Well, in a purely platonic way at most, yes.”

“…oh.”

“What gave you the idea that I did not?”

“I dunno. You kinda…stopped being so friendly after I did what you wanted me to.”

“Lazuli, you spoke to me after a day in which I had not slept. Working all night on dreams and staying awake all day to ensure that nothing went wrong after your mission was tiring. I cannot appear all friendly and loving at all times…”

The Dracony slowly looked down at the floor. She almost felt…petty. “So…gods…I formed all of that in my head, and nearly…” She couldn’t suppress a bit of a giggle. “And nearly killed myself over it.”

“Oh, Lazuli…” Luna shook her head. “I do apologize for never replying to your letters. Simply put, I let them get away from me…and that isn’t excusable. But you must understand that I am a very busy mare.”

“Yeah, I uh…” She rubbed the back of her head and sighed. “I guess I’m a bit stupid. Thinking I was the center of attention and all. Thinking you should give me some kind of special treatment when you already pulled so many strings…”

“I do apologize, regardless.” Luna set her hoof on Lazuli’s. “Of course I care about you. And I intend to be more attentive. I will try to visit your dreams as often as I can, how does that sound?”

Lazuli snickered. “Alright, now you’re talking to me like a foal. I get it, okay? You don’t have to make a point of visiting my dreams.”

“I will anyway.” Luna smiled, but it was quickly overtaken by a look of concern. “That is…if you manage to get back to Ponyville safely. We would send guards out looking for you, but…none of them can fly in this blizzard anymore. I hope this means that your assailants can also no longer find you.”

“Yeah…” Lazuli suddenly jerked her head up. “Blind Faith. Sanctuary. Wait. He…he said something. He said that- he said he wanted to capture me to blackmail you and Celestia.”

Luna frowned. “I had suspected somepony would attempt such a thing. A wanted criminal known to be executed, showing up alive…this would definitely undermine much of the royalty’s credibility.”

“Luna…I’m uh…” Her demeanor had changed entirely. “I’m really scared.”

“What?” Luna blinked and put an arm around Lazuli. “Scared? You? Why?”

“Draconies…we aren’t meant for the cold. I dunno if I’ll even be able to move when I wake up.”

“My sister tells me that Twilight Sparkle sent a letter. She says that Tempest Shadow – or I suppose Fizzlepop Berrytwist, as you know her – is out there looking for you.”

“Wh…Fizzle? Really?”

Luna nodded slowly. “You mustn’t let this…Sanctuary’s workers find you. But you also must ensure that Fizzlepop finds you, or it might be too late…”

“I…but how do I do that?”

“I do not know. Fizzlepop will be unlikely to sleep, so I cannot contact her through her dreams…and without a proper working horn, sending letters via magic will not work either. I’m afraid you will just have to hope she finds you in time…”

Lazuli nodded. “Right. I’ll…I dunno, maybe I’ll go out and wait, or-“ she paused as Luna suddenly disappeared. It wasn’t with a flash, a change of scenery or any kind of theatrics. She simply popped out of existence.

And then she woke up.

Her eyes flew open and she attempted to sit up, but felt a weight pressing on her chest. Her blurry vision couldn’t decipher exactly what it was, but it was obviously a pony.

“She’s here, I found her!” Yelled a gruff female voice. A unicorn leaned down towards her with an evil smirk and a golden glint in her eye. “Nap time’s over, Dracony.”

“That doesn’t even work, Grimm. We’re knocking her out anyway.” Replied a voice from nearby.

“Pfft. Whatever.”

Lazuli tried to move, but the cold had sapped any strength she had left. She watched the unicorn’s horn glow a dull orange, and then everything went black. Again.