Coagulation

The dry dust felt rough against her hooves.

The gentle taps of a filly’s steps against the dirt road were like the patter of raindrops that would never come. Her movement was constantly watched by unmoving sentinels, beasts clad in golden armour that her mother had always told her to stay away from. Their stares were hidden, but the only thing the filly thought of was how hot they must have been. The sun – Celestia’s sun, she recalled, though her mother despised the mention of that name – was beating down fiercely, turning the already crisp earth even whiter and making it kick up small puffs of dust whenever someone trod upon it.

The filly herself could not have been older than ten. Her mane was a mix of light and dark blue, styled in a ponytail that gently bounced with each step. Her bright blue, slitted eyes stayed focused on the beetle that she was following along the road, for there was not much else to do outside. Her tail gently whipped back and forth, the spade on the end sometimes impacting the ground and kicking up more dust.

The young mare hummed, as well. Her voice was quiet, but easily audible in the mostly silent town. The sun had just risen, it was just about 7 AM. The filly was full of energy though, and wasn’t about to let an early start dampen her mood. The low tune she hummed was without a name, but it didn’t need one. Nor did the filly, but she had one regardless. A light blue hoof ran through her mane, the almost gem-like surface meeting the rest of her pure white coloured body much like a fetlock.

“Gotcha!” The filly smiled gleefully, her hooves clasping around the beetle she had been chasing so stealthily. Unfortunately hooves weren’t meant for catching things, and she found the insect scuttling away as soon as she lessened the pressure slightly. “Mmh, whatever.” She stood back up, shaking herself off. She caught the eye of one of the guards – in many ways, these ponies looked like them. Most had white or grey coats, and some had wings as well. This one was different, with a horn poking out of his head, but there were plenty of those. “Hello!” She waved cheerfully. Her young innocence was like a poison, her mother had always said. Too trusting of anyone, even if they didn’t deserve it.

The guard, who had been standing still in that same spot for an hour, couldn’t help but crack a bit of a smile at the filly’s bubbly greeting. “Hi.” He cleared his throat, realizing how dry it is. He had a fairly standard coat for a guard. White fur, white horn, simple. His mane and tail, however, were a fiery mix of orange and yellow.

To his surprise, the filly didn’t keep hopping along. Instead, she trotted right up to him and grinned widely. Her head only reached the bottom of his chest. “Having a good morning, sir?”

“Wh- um…” The guard wasn’t sure what to say. He simply nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Morning’s just begun.”

“Mmhm!” The mare nodded in agreement. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, uh…” The stallion had very little experience with foals, so he wasn’t used to the rapid changes in topic. “It’s Flare. How about you…?”

“Lazuli!” She held out her hoof to shake.

Flare sighed. What the hell, he thought to himself, and shook the young Dracony’s hoof. “Nice to meet you, Lazuli. Are your parents around?”

“Nnnnnope! They always let me go for walks after breakfast. Burns off steam, my mama says!”

“Well, it’s not a bad idea.” Flare leaned down slowly. “But you really shouldn’t be out here alone. It’s really hot out, and you might get hurt.”

“Hurt? By what?” Lazuli glanced around. There was nothing, up and down the street. Just rows of dusty, rickety houses and a few Dracony smiths out working on gem cutting.

“It’s…” Flare sighed. “It’s not a safe place for a filly to be walking around alone.”

Lazuli tilted her head. “Then why’re you standing out here all alone, mister Flare?”

“Well, I’m here to guard the town.” He stood up straight again. “Can’t let anypony hurt anyone here.”

“Erm…but if you’re guarding, why’s it dangerous for me to walk ‘round?”

“…” Flare blinked. Did I just get outsmarted by a filly? “Well…I uh…”

“Mhm!” Lazuli was already skipping away before he could continue. “Seeya, mister Flare!”

The Dracony filly skipped all the way back home with nary a problem. Her soft gaze didn’t stray from the road, but if it had, she would not have missed much. Every building practically looked the same, Draconies had only minor differences in shape, size and colour, and the only thing that didn’t look dull was the sun itself – but Lazuli had learned a long time ago not to look up at that.

As she pushed the door open and stepped inside, she looked around. The lights were out, but during the day that was common. “Mama?” She called.

“Lazzy!” A motherly voice responded. “I’m just upstairs, sweetie. Just wait in the living room!”

Slowly the young mare trotted into the living room. It was truly nothing to behold – a couch sat in the middle, with some toys strewn on the floor in front of it. Against the wall in front of the couch was a large window that was currently covered, and let only faint rays of sunshine glimmer through. Particles of dust floated in the small rays, and when Lazuli blew at them it made her giggle.

“Laz-razz?” Her mother’s voice called from the stairs.

“Yeah, mom?”

“Lazuli!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Laz…?”

Slowly the world around the filly began to deteriorate. Walls cascaded away from her, folding in like paper. The floor disappeared and left her floating in a vast expanse of unending, inky blackness.

“Laz!”

The echo of the voice in the Dracony’s ears went completely unacknowledged. Lazuli stood behind the castle in Ponyville, staring blankly at what must have been a particularly interesting bush.

“Hey!” The clapping of hooves shocked her out of her stupor, her eyes fluttering. Her head slowly turned from side to side, as if to figure out where she was.

“…wha…”

“Hey, you okay?”

“What’s…what…?”

“Calm down.” Fizzlepop slowly walked towards her, putting a hoof on her back. “Are you okay? You’ve been staring at that bush for like, half an hour.”

“What…bush…wh…”

“…Laz…?” The dark purple unicorn gently rubbed her shoulder. “You okay?”

“How…how did…where did…”

Fizzle noticed the signs of Lazuli’s condition and gently pulled the Dracony into a sitting position. “Hey. Hey. Calm down.” She held her closer, both hooves on Lazuli’s shoulders. “It’s me, Fizzle. You just drifted off for a bit there. You’re in Ponyville, remember?”

“Pony…” She shook her head, holding one hoof up to her temple. “Nngh…ow…”

“Just relax.” Fizzle had a look of concern on her face. “Deep breaths.”

Lazuli’s head gently heaved and relaxed a few times. “What…happened…?” She was shaking slightly, her muscles twitching.

“Hey, hey.” Fizzle gently pulled Lazuli closer. “Just relax. You’re fine. You had a little daydream, it’s fine.”

The Dracony’s breaths stayed level, her chin gently resting on Fizzle’s shoulder. “F-fuck…” She swallowed nervously. “That…that didn’t feel right.”

“It’s okay.” Lazuli felt Fizzle’s hoof gently stroking her back. “You’re back now. What was that about?”

“I…” She paused, then slowly took her head off Fizzle’s shoulder and shook it from side to side. “I…don’t…remember.”

“I find that hard to believe. You know what we talked about…no lies.”

“I…I’m serious.” She rubbed her head with a hoof. She briefly had a grasp on what her trance-like daydream had been about, but it was gone. “I can’t…I don’t…was I saying anything?”

Fizzle shook her head. “Er…not much. I think you said something about ‘Flare’ or something.”

“…Flare…?” Lazuli shook her head. “I…I dunno. Nevermind.”

“What were you doing out here, anyway?”

“I was doing some training. Not like, combat, but just working out.”

“Huh…”

The two of them slowly stood up. “It’s just about lunch time. You wanna go out to eat?”

“Heh, with what money?”

“Wh-…uh, don’t you remember? Applejack said we were welcome at Sweet Apple Acres for lunch today if we wanted. I think Rainbow and Twilight were going to be there, too.”

“…uh…was…was I there when she said that?”

“Oh…right. You were talking to Fluttershy. Nevermind.” Fizzle snickered. “Still, wanna go?”

“Well, I don’t see any reason to say no.”

Slowly Lazuli turned around to head to the front of the castle. Briefly, she saw a glint of blonde hair disappearing around the corner, but she thought nothing of it.

It was nearly sundown on the same day that the two had gone to Sweet Apple Acres. Lazuli sat beneath the trees of the orchard, far enough away from the group that she wasn’t visible. While the original plan had been to have lunch, Applejack ended up needing help with the food, which turned it into an early dinner. Now, sitting on a small hill against a tree, she got to watch the sun as it slowly sank below the horizon.

Her eyes slowly followed the sinking sphere, the light of which she couldn’t directly stare at. She stared as the moon slowly rose in its place.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A voice came from behind her. It was deep, soft, and carried a slight Southern lilt.

Lazuli didn’t even need to turn around to see who it was. He came to sit next to her anyway. The bright white unicorn smiled down at her. “What do you want?” She asked, brushing her mane out her eye with a hoof.

“My my, why the hostility?” Blind Faith frowned. “I’m just enjoying the evening, same as you, darling.”

“You wouldn’t have picked the same spot as me if you didn’t want something.”

“On the contrary, hon.” He chuckled and leaned back against the tree with her. “This is one of the best hills to watch, from what I’ve seen. But you’re right about one thing…I did pick the same spot as you for a reason.”

“Are you hitting on me?”

“Might be.” He smirked and levitated a blade of grass to his lips, gently nibbling on it. “Is it a problem?”

Lazuli rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Keep trying, it’s not gonna work.” She glanced at Faith, noting his slight frown as he turned his gaze back to the moon.

“Well, still. I have to admit…I much prefer the moon over that blinding sun, you know?”

“I guess.”

“It’s just so much calmer. So much more soothing. And Luna is just the better princess, anyway.”

“…sure?”

“I’m sorry. I must be bothering you something fierce.” He sighed, bringing his hooves up behind his head and shaking it from side to side. “I do get talkative around beautiful mares.”

The Dracony started to stand up. “Yeah, okay. I need to get back to the castle anyway.”

“Well hold on, now.” Faith put a hoof on her back after standing up himself. “We’re both headin’ that way, aren’t we?”

“…mhm…”

“Gah, my apologies.” He shook his head. “I’m a bit of a fool for coming on this strong.” He ran a hoof down his suit jacket, gently patting one of the pockets, though it seemed to be irrelevant to what he was saying. “But, may I ask you something, my darling?”

“Please stop calling me that.” Lazuli turned to face him.

“Ah, sorry about that. Force of habit.” His horn gently lit up, the golden aura pulling an object out of his pocket. It looked like some kind of leather strap. “Now, I want to give you something. Don’t worry, it’s nothing like me trying to court you or whatever, but I’ve heard a lot about you.” He levitated the object towards Lazuli, who slowly held out her hoof and took it. She glanced down at it. “It’s nothin’ too special.” He said flatly. “Just something an old worker of mine used to wear…I thought it might suit you.”

Lazuli looked down at the strap, a solid leather collar. It was wrapped around a golden metal object, and when she gave it a shake, she heard a bell jingle. “Is…this some kind of joke?” She looked up at him, then back down at the collar. “It’s a fucking bell collar, who do you think I am?”

“No offense is intended of course, darling. It’s just…” His horn lit up again. Lazuli felt the collar lift from her hoof…and before she could react, it wrapped tight around her throat. She gasped, her hooves shooting up to grab it, but his magic fastened it snugly around her neck, the bell gently jingling each time she moved. “It looks so adorable on Draconies~”

Lazuli clawed at the collar, then started to lunge forward at Faith. Something stopped her, though. Her body fell to the ground, her muscles twitching slightly and her eyes fluttering. “Wh-what…th-the fuck is this thing…”

“Well, I know you hybrids are awful resistant to magic.” He glowered down at her, his bright green eyes boring into hers. “But I thought to myself, there’s no way you’re totally immune. There has to be some way to make it affect you…and I’m quite lucky Princess Twilight was so willing to share her results with me~”

The Dracony’s muscles were moving on their own, her eyes glazing over with a dull golden sheen above their natural blue. She slowly stood up, her teeth gritted. “Y-you…fucking…s-son of a…”

“Sshhhh.” Faith put a hoof to her lips, and Lazuli found herself inexplicably obeying. “Hush now, darling. You don’t need to do anything except follow me. Got it?~” He began to walk. Lazuli’s mind was screaming, telling her to run and get this thing off, but she found herself following him and matching his pace. She had no control…she couldn’t even speak on her own terms. Her lips held a wide, happy smile, while inside she was in a state of terror.