Coagulation

“The operation is very delicate.” The doctor’s voice was soft and withheld in the small, stark white hospital room. He sat gently upon a stool next to Lazuli’s bed. “I won’t lie to you and say we can work miracles with it, but…” He sighed. “We’ve actually never attempted something like this with something so…major. Reconnecting nerve endings in a wingtip or one tiny part of the skin or something is almost easier than doing it on such a large scale.”

“So…” Lazuli frowned. “You’re saying something could go wrong?”

“Well, the operative word is could. It’s very unlikely that it will make it any worse than it already is. Worst case scenario, you just have an extra few scars and not much to show for it.”

Lazuli tapped her hoof idly against her thigh – which she couldn’t feel. “Well…I’m willing to try anything.”

“There is something I should tell you though.” The doctor cleared his throat. “This is a very, very sensitive operation. And when I say that, I don’t mean it lightly. It is…extremely difficult.” He scratched the back of his head with a hoof. “And as I’ve said, we have never attempted it on this scale. So…I need you to be sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Your answer was awfully fast.”

“Doc, I’ve been here for months, I just want out. One way or another.”

The unicorn adjusted his glasses with a concerned expression. “Very well then. In that case, you’re scheduled for surgery tomorrow. I suggest you get some rest. And try not to eat too much. I’ll send the insurance papers to the Palace, since you’re…er…not covered.”

“Wh- oh, uh…right.”

The doctor stood next to her for a second, then sighed and trotted out of the room.

Lazuli laid her head back on her pillow, staring half at the ceiling and half at the wall. Seeing nothing else to do, she slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off into sleep.

When she opened her eyes, she knew she wasn’t awake. Mainly because she consciously felt her hind hooves moving under the bedsheets, and was able to swing herself around and stand up. It didn’t feel strange, and she was certain she hadn’t just been out for surgery and forgot about it.

Of course, it was also made obvious by the fact that Dusk Rider was standing in the corner of the room, forehooves crossed and her tail blade scraping along the ground. “You can’t even kill yourself right.”

“It took you long enough to see me.”

“Well it looks like tonight might be our last time together.”

“…and how do you figure that?”

Dusk slowly stepped forward, her blade slashing the curtains of the room open. It was pitch black outside. “You’re either going to get healed during surgery or stay the same way you are. Either way you’re leaving the hospital. And then we both know you’re not going back to Ponyville.”

“Well I’m not going to have an option besides going back if I can’t walk.”

“No, we know each other.” Dusk stopped in front of Lazuli. “You want to find Topaz, right? Well, I don’t.”

“You’re acting like I’m stupid.” Lazuli grimaced. “You want to find him too. You just act tough.”

“You created me.” Dusk stepped forward, backing Laz into the wall. “You used me as a shield. You made me to hide yourself from the mare you didn’t want to be. To protect yourself from feeling anything. So that’s what I am.”

“You’re surprisingly self-aware for a shield.”

Dusk snorted and turned around, her tail whipping past Lazuli’s face and cutting just a few hairs off the tip of her nose. “I could kill you.” She walked to the other side of the room, turning and staring at her counterpart. “If I did, you know what would happen.”

“I wake up crying and you stay in whatever part of my ass you’ve gone to?”

The assassin gritted her teeth. “No.” She flicked her tail gently from side to side. “I get our body back.”

“So do it, then.”

“…” Dusk’s eye twitched. “Just like that?”

“Yeah. You want to take control so badly, go ahead.”

“…you…” Her mirror image shook her head. “It’s not that simple.”

“You just said it was. You kill me and you win.”

Dusk let a small smirk cross her face, the walls of the hospital room slowly folding into the ground. The tiles beneath their hooves turned to dirt, and they found themselves standing in an endless expanse of dark red dirt and dust lit softly by moonlight. Both of their manes fluttered in the gentle wind. “It’s not that easy.” She repeated herself, but her voice was behind her ‘better’ self.

Lazuli’s eyes went wide and she tried to move out of the way, but even with her legs working she didn’t have the speed to outpace what she used to be. Dusk swung her tail down, the sharpened blade hitting Lazuli’s flesh like a hot iron rod. She howled in agony, her scream echoing through the vast swathe of nothingness as Dusk dug her blade right between Laz’s wings, the painful crackling and snapping sounds combined with the real, physical agony making Lazuli feel sick to her stomach.

Her hind legs slumped behind her, blood pouring out of her back. She could no longer feel her hindquarters – again, but now there were no painkillers to save her from the pain of the crippling wound itself.

“There.” Dusk brought her hoof down on Lazuli’s head, pushing her cheek into the dirt. “Now it’s more realistic, isn’t it?”

“G-ggh…rrgh…” Lazuli tried to speak. Her words came out as painful sputters, her teeth grinding together.

“What’s wrong, Laz? Can’t handle a bit of back pain?” Dusk ground her hoof down harder, pushing her counterpart’s face further into the dust. “Here, let me help you.”

Dusk brought her tail down to the ground and scooped up a pile of dust, flicking it through the air towards Lazuli’s wound. The weaker Dracony howled again, her front hooves clawing at the ground and her eyes welling up with fresh tears that dripped down, soaking the dry earth beneath them. “S-…s…sto…p…” She wheezed, her teeth clenched to tightly that her jaw felt ready to snap.

The assassin on top of her just laughed. “This is why it wasn’t as easy as killing you. If I kill you while you’re still defiant,” She lifted her hoof off and began circling the crippled mare. “You’ll just wake up a little unsure of yourself.” Lazuli felt the cold, blood-soaked blade press against her chin. “But if I do it while you’re begging for mercy…”

“Y-you…b-…bitch…” Lazuli managed to sputter.

Dusk raised an eyebrow. “Pfft.” She pulled the blade away. It was hard to tell if she had cut Lazuli’s chin or just smeared blood on it. “Doesn’t matter to me. I can do this all night.”

“I’m…” Lazuli placed her front hooves on the ground, trying to pull herself up, but a horrifying CRACK sent a wave of fresh hellfire through her. “FUCK!” She wailed, her body slumping back down. She wheezed and panted through locked jaws.

“I didn’t hear you.” Dusk brought up one of her hind legs and slammed it down on Lazuli’s wound, a few more sickening pops and crackles coming from her spine. “What was that again?”

Another blood-curdling shriek echoed through the wasteland that the two were standing in, but even if this weren’t a dream, nopony would hear it.

“Yeah, that’s it. I know you’ve got a lot of emotions pent up.” Dusk snickered. “Just let them all out…” She ground her hoof up and down Lazuli’s spine, the weaker mare sobbing and howling in pure, unbridled agony. She scratched at the ground, tearing up dirt as a stream of tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped steadily onto the ground below her.

“God, you scream like a bitch.” Dusk remarked, and took her hoof away.

Lazuli panted and gasped through her teeth, her eyes tightly shut and her hooves shaking as she attempted to clench up all of her muscles to reduce the pain. “Now…” Her assassin counterpart purred, her tail forcing Lazuli to lift her head and look her in the eye. “What do you have to say…?”

“P-please…s…s-s…” Lazuli stammered. “S-stop…”

“Aww…you poor thing…” Dusk frowned in a way that was wholly insincere. “I’d almost feel sorry for you if you weren’t such a pathetic attempt at mimicking me…”

Lazuli sobbed and wheezed, her breaths coming in and out in rapid, pained gasps. She wanted it to be over, but she didn’t want to be over herself. She glanced around frantically for something to help herself, but there was nothing. Just dirt, small pebbles and more dirt.

But out of the corner of her eye, there was something else. She couldn’t turn her head far enough to see it completely, but she recognized the familiar flowing mane that glimmered like the stars above…

She felt nothing but dread. Luna had come to watch her die. That was fine. She gritted her teeth painfully and let more tears drip onto the ground beneath. She hadn’t expected anything more of her, really.

Then a voice came.

“Hey!”

Lazuli recognized it. Dusk looked up and her expression went from cocky grin to blank-faced stare.

Lazuli couldn’t turn around, but she recognized Fizzlepop’s voice. She continued to cry, but now a smile began to form on her face. Trying to crane her head back to look again, she saw Luna was gone – but she could faintly see Fizzle in her peripheral vision, wearing her metal shoes and armour.

“Get away from her.” Fizzlepop – or Lazuli thought, perhaps Tempest was a more apt name for the way she was acting – glared right into Dusk’s eyes.

“Oh. You.” Dusk scoffed and stepped over Lazuli. The slimmer Dracony yelped in pain as her hoof pressed down near the wound, and she quite literally walked over her.

Tempest’s eyes remained narrow and unblinking. “I said get away from her.”

“I’ll oblige.” Dusk hooked her tail underneath Lazuli, and forcefully flicked her upwards. The crippled mare wheezed as her spine cracked again, her limp form flopping uselessly onto her stomach. “So how did you get here? Laz here conjured up some mare in shining armour to save her?”

“No.” Tempest replied sharply, her front hooves splayed out and her horn crackling angrily.

“Hm. Dreamscape mingling? That’s a bold move for Luna. Plus I was fairly sure she didn’t care anymore…”

“She cares enough to let me help.”

Dusk just chuckled as she walked forward, her hooves kicking up small clouds of dust with each step. “You used to be really cool, you know that?” She shook her head. “Seeing you wearing that armour is almost like an insult.”

“I couldn’t give less of a damn what you think.” Tempest crouched low, snarling in an almost cat-like way. “You’re not hurting Laz anymore.”

“Uh-huh. Okay.” Dusk raised her tail over her head. “I dunno about you, but I’m excited to see how badly it breaks your mind to die in someone else’s dream…”

“…you’ll be dying in someone else’s dream too.” Tempest replied.

Dusk’s eye briefly twitched and she decided to cut the small talk. She dashed forward, her dexterous hooves allowing her to run back and forth in a zig-zag pattern. When Tempest’s horn spewed forth its magical electricity, the assassin lifted her tail and reflected some of it with her blade. The rest was absorbed into her body.

“Your fireworks aren’t gonna work.” She said. “I hope that’s not the only party trick you have.”

Tempest didn’t speak, instead electing to focus on Dusk’s movements. When the Dracony came too close, she jumped back or used her electricity to keep her at bay.

“Come on, you’re prolonging the inevitable.” Dusk groaned. “You’re like one of the most annoying types of targets. The ones who don’t know when to quit.” She found an opening in Tempest’s defense and slid forward.

But she didn’t make it close enough to hit.

Tempest lashed her head forward, a magical strand of energy flaring out of her broken horn and hitting Dusk across the face like a whip. The Dracony felt part of her fur singe off of her cheek, leaving a stinging red welt, but the whip continued around her neck and wrapped tight. “What the fuck is this?!” She tried to grab hold of it, but it sent a surge of energy through her hooves that her body simply didn’t want to absorb.

Tempest didn’t speak. Instead she leapt into the air, flipping herself around and jerking her head down. Dusk gagged as the magical whip tightened around her throat, and felt a quick shot of pain surge through her body as she slammed into the ground. The whip disappeared, and she barely managed to roll out of the way when Tempest came down and tried to slam into her.

“…okay, wasn’t expecting that.” Dusk was panting, tugging at the collar of her suit. She narrowly dodged another whip crack, Tempest beginning to spin her body around and swing her head in the direction she anticipated the assassin to go.

Dusk kept leaping and dodging, but she couldn’t get near – and Tempest was clearly analyzing her dodging patterns. Twice she felt the whip graze her suit, the magic sizzling against its fabric surface. “Fuck me…” She muttered to herself, ducking under another swing and cursing again as it singed her hair. “You’re just making it harder for yourself!” She yelled at Tempest, but her momentary stop to speak was a poor decision.

Tempest swung her head forward and the whip wrapped around one of Dusk’s outstretched wings. The assassin’s eyes widened and she barely had time to jump off the ground before the magical strand tightened – and in one burning motion, sliced it clean off.

“GAH!” Dusk’s cry bounced off the ground just as she landed back on it. Tempest didn’t let up in the slightest – the counterpart to Lazuli was forced to continue dodging, trying to keep her movements unpredictable but the pain was hard to see through. Each time the whip cracked it came closer to her, until she felt the searing hot rope-like magic wrap around her front hoof. She tried to use it to her advantage, rearing up on her hind legs and yanking Tempest forward, but it didn’t work at all.

The purple unicorn snarled and reared up herself, throwing her head back. Dusk was pulled through the air, her hooves briefly skidding on the dirt. Tempest ducked low, lifting a hind leg and slamming it right into the armed Dracony’s stomach. She let her hooves hit the floor, then spun herself around, sweeping Dusk’s legs out from under her. She dispelled her magical whip, ducking underneath the assassin and biting down on the bladed tail.

With a kick of her hind legs and a flick of her neck she leapt into the air again, doing a full front flip and letting go of Dusk’s tail. The Dracony went flying, slamming into the ground twice as hard as the previous time – this time she was sprawled on her back, her head spinning and her vision too blurry to allow her to stand up. “F-f…fuck…” She wheezed.

Tempest landed right on Dusk’s chest. Her armoured hoof slammed down on her, the sickening snap of several ribs breaking making Lazuli wince as she watched from the sidelines.

“And one more thing.” Tempest didn’t even look angry – her face simply expressed neutrality. “You’re not going to be bothering Lazuli anymore.”

“F…fuck…you…” Dusk groaned, her head throbbing. “You’re…not in control…”

“And neither are you.” Tempest lunged her head forward and jammed it right against Dusk’s forehead.

The Dracony assassin started writhing and howling in discomfort and pain as uncontrolled magic surged through her. Her hooves pushed at the metal-clad chest of the unicorn, but she couldn’t do anything to stop her. The electricity flowed through her body, locking up her muscles, preventing her from fighting back. Her organs shut down, her brain overloaded, and her heart stopped beating – all while Tempest maintained her cold, unfeeling glare.

When Dusk finally fell limp, Tempest-…no, Fizzle, Lazuli reminded herself - lifted her hoof off of her chest. She pursed her lips before spitting on the body under her, slowly turning herself around to face Lazuli. “You okay?”

“I’m…” Lazuli groaned. “It’s…just a dream…I’ll be…okay…”

“You’ll be waking up soon.”

“…y-yeah…”

“I hope the surgery goes well.”

“I-…” The injured Dracony nodded. “Th-thank you. And…I’ll see you soon, I hope.”

Fizzle cracked a smile, her eyes opening properly again. “Yeah. I’ll see you. We’ll make sure you’ve got a big party waiting, okay?”

Tears were still rolling down Lazuli’s cheeks as Fizzle walked over and put her hoof on her shoulder. “Y-yeah…thank you.” She wiped her eyes with a foreleg. “You…were super badass there, b-by the way.”

“Thanks. I dunno if I could still do that in real life…”

“…maybe we need to spar for real some time.”

“Pfft. Maybe.”

Lazuli’s vision began to fade, and she was glad that the last thing she saw was Fizzlepop’s smiling face.

Lazuli had no regrets as she was wheeled into the operating room. Even as she felt the needle slide into her foreleg, attached to a pump that would keep her unconscious, she didn’t care what would happen. Of course, she preferred that she would live. And she even moreso preferred that she would regain some control of her legs, even if it wasn’t full. She wanted her tail back, the most…

The operation lasted for fifteen hours. It was delicate, and nothing could be allowed to go wrong. Of course, the use of unicorn magic ensured that nothing would, but even a unicorn’s concentration can wane at times.

Incisions were made. Bones were carefully moved and replaced. Nerve endings were tentatively joined together with experimental magic that wasn’t even guaranteed to work. Lazuli’s spine was mostly intact, it was only one vertebrae that was damaged beyond repair, but the surgeon did his damnedest to make it work.

But there was only so much that could be done. After a time, that point was reached. The surgeon had done everything he could, and couldn’t find anything else that was able to be fixed with the abilities he had. They would have to wait and see.

Lazuli’s back was sutured up, and she was wheeled out of the operating room in stable condition. At the very least, she was okay.

When Velvet Rose heard Lazuli groan, she told herself not to get too excited. She gently drew an ‘x’ in the air over her own chest.

“Nngh…” The Dracony’s eyes fluttered open, and she winced. “F-fuck…my back…”

“Hey, Laz.” Velvet leaned on the bed, which was back in its place in her room. “Careful now. The surgeon said you should be fine to move, but nothing too drastic.”

“Ugh…he didn’t shave my back, did he…?”

“Well he kind of had to, darling.”

“Aaaaahhh…” Lazuli whined.

Velvet suppressed a giggle. “Come on now. One small movement at a time. Move your front hooves.”

Lazuli abided, and wiggled her front legs.

“Now your wings.”

She shuffled her wings at her sides.

“Now…” Velvet took a deep breath. “Try moving your hinds.”

At first Lazuli couldn’t feel her legs, but as she kept willing the muscles to move in the right places, she saw the sheets wiggle. “H-holy…”

Velvet visibly brightened, her ears shooting straight up. The doctor, who was standing in the corner, brightened a bit as well. “Sweet Celestia, Laz!” Velvet wrapped her hooves tightly around the Dracony, hugging her.

“Now calm down, Nurse Velvet.” The doctor warned. “She’s still only gotten out of surgery a few hours ago, remember.”

“R-right…sorry…” She relaxed her grip, but still nuzzled Lazuli’s cheek.

Lazuli kept testing her legs, slowly sitting herself up. “…should…should I try to…”

“Go ahead.” The doctor nodded in affirmation. “Just be careful. Don’t move too fast.”

The Dracony breathed in gently, sliding herself off the bed. Velvet helped her lay her front hooves on the tile floor, her hind legs still supported by her tail – which she found was mobile as well.

“…okay…let go.” She said slowly.

Velvet released her grip as gently as possible. Lazuli let her weight hang back on her hind legs.

They wobbled, and she tried to take a step forward. While she could move them, her legs just hadn’t been exercised at all. They collapsed out from under her and her chin nearly hit the floor. “Gah…f-fuck…”

“It’s okay, that’s okay!” Velvet smiled warmly. “This…this is good! You can move them, all you need is some physical therapy. You’ll have to wear some leg braces for a bit, but…”

Lazuli just sighed. It was a sigh of relief mixed with worry. “Yeah…this…this is amazing.” She pushed herself up, her hind legs wobbling again, but she managed to stand. “I…s-sorry I can’t express myself properly, just…” She swished her tail behind her, forcefully bumping it against the bed. “Being able to feel that…gosh…”

“Well, we will have to keep you here for about a week just to ensure there aren’t any complications.” The doctor said. “But after that, you’ll be dispatched, and allowed to return home.”

Lazuli pushed herself back onto the bed, sitting on the edge and gently swinging her hind legs back and forth. It was childish, but it felt amazing. “Sweet Celestia…” She breathed deeply, closing her eyes and flopping backwards on the bed. She hadn’t even realized she referred to Princess Celestia in a way that implied her to be greater. “This is…thank Faust…”

Velvet and the doctor did a few tests to see what kind of therapy would be best for her, and then sent a letter ahead to the Ponyville hospital. She’d be fitted with leg braces in the Crystal Empire, and somepony would come to escort her on the train ride back.

When they left, Lazuli was alone. She leaned back in the bed and exhaled heavily, her eyes closing as she relaxed. “I’m not letting this chance go to waste…” She muttered, and let herself again drift off to sleep.

As the doctor had told her, she was fitted with a pair of braces for her hind legs. They looked weird – deformed, even. Three rings of metal clamped onto her legs the whole way up, secured by hinged metal rods that flexed and bent with each movement she made. The doctor, aware of her past and her tendencies, told her that the braces were not suitable for combat in any way, shape, or form. They could handle galloping, maybe, but that was it.

For the week that she was forced to stay, she also kept exercising her legs. The injury had made it so they would never be able to get any stronger than they were before. In fact, the doctor said it was possible they would be weaker than they used to be, even after therapy. With a few days of movement and exercise, however, they were at least used to enough movement that the braces could properly support her for walking, albeit of the shaky variety.

By the time the weak was up, she was mobile. It wasn’t the most comfortable type of mobility, but it was something. She walked like a dog with a limp, but she could at least handle doing it for a few minutes at a time before her muscles ached. She was on painkillers, but even so, they didn’t get rid of everything.

Her back was still unattractive. Between and around her wings, her fur was only just starting to come back. It looked like a freshly shorn sheep, contrasting with the longer and properly groomed fur all over the rest of her.

But still, she was glad to be leaving.

She had been officially discharged from the hospital an hour ago, but only now was she exiting the building.

It felt amazing, really. She hadn’t been outside in almost three months…or…was it more than that? She couldn’t remember. The Crystal Empire was in the process of preparing for Hearth’s Warming Eve, which was approaching quite quickly. The last time Lazuli had been outside, it was autumn. Well…technically the last time she was outside, she had been freezing to death, but still.

Even to her cold-blooded body the brisk wind felt nice. Little flakes of snow alighted on her nose and she couldn’t help but giggle, looking around for the pony who was supposed to escort her back to Ponyville. As far as she knew, he was an Honour Guard, so it wouldn’t be too hard to find him.

A voice called from behind her, but it wasn’t male. “Lazuli!”

She recognized it, but even so she turned around with a bit of a glare. She saw princess Cadence walking towards her with a wide smile on her face. The Dracony’s chest heaved just a bit at how friendly the mare looked – it was hard not to be happy with the princess of love smiling at you. “Oh, er…” She broke into a small smile herself. “Hey.”

Cadence had a sky-blue scarf wrapped around her neck. “I was just coming to visit, I’m glad I caught you before you left. I wanted to give you something.”

“I…really don’t need a gift, or anything, I’m sure…”

“No, I insist. Shining said you left it at the guard barracks years ago…”

“…W-…” Lazuli frowned and tilted her head. “…What is it…?”

Cadence’s horn lit up in its shimmering blue way and a small object levitated itself out of the bag hanging around her side.

Lazuli blinked a few times. It was a stuffed doll – a phoenix. It was crude, the stitches quite obvious and the cloth somewhat tattered. “I…think he might’ve been mistaken.” She lifted one front hoof and let Cadence lower the doll onto it, flipping it over. On the back, there was some writing crudely stitched into the fabric.

From a loving mother and father, to their one and only daughter.

The princess frowned. “Oh. Are you sure? Well…” She looked up, noting that Lazuli hadn’t taken her eyes off the doll, and wasn’t moving. “Uh…are you okay?”

Lazuli didn’t respond. She held the phoenix there, staring at it, her eyes constantly moving from left to right, then back to left as she read the inscription over and over.

“…Lazuli?” Cadence waved a hoof.

The Dracony didn’t respond. Her mouth was slightly open.

“…Hello? Lazuli?” She waved her hoof again, this time in front of her face.

The mare gasped, realizing she hadn’t breathed in almost a full minute. “Wha- oh, um…” She cleared her throat. “This…uh…” She looked back up at Cadence. “Where did he find this…?”

“In the guard barracks, he says. He’d forgotten about it until today.”

“…I…” She gulped and slowly slipped the doll into the single saddlebag hanging at her side. “Tell him that I said thank you.”

Cadence was about to ask something, but held her tongue and smiled. “I will.” She nodded. “Is your escort not here yet? He should have been here an hour ago…”

“Yeah, I know.” Lazuli frowned. “Should I just go on my own?”

“Not an option.” Cadence shook her head. “You’re not well enough.”

“Oh, come on. It’s a train. A train that I’m not getting off of until Ponyville. Even if something happened, there would be plenty of ponies around to help.”

“You’re still a wanted mare, if any pony recognized you.”

“I’m a dead mare, remember?” Lazuli smiled softly. “It’s been…gosh, a long time since my ‘execution’. The only ones who recognize me now are the ones who want to.”

Cadence bit her lip. “Well…it’s been an hour…and I guess…we do want you to be home before nighttime…” She weighed the options in her head for a minute. “Do you really think you’d be safe?”

“Princess, I might not have my legs working properly, but I can handle myself. Trust me.”

“I just…” Cadence nibbled on her lip, then sighed deeply. “Well…alright. Your train is leaving in half an hour anyway, we can’t wait.”

“Thank you.” Lazuli nodded her head. “And I’ll be fine, okay?”

“I hope so…”

The two of them stood there for a moment, and Lazuli’s eyes properly met Cadence’s.

“I wanted to ask you something.” Cadence said quickly.

“…okay, shoot.”

“Did uh…” She took a deep breath in. “Did you and Shining ever…you know…”

“No.” Lazuli replied almost immediately with a shake of her head. “Never.”

“Are you…sure?”

“I’m positive. As much as he might make it seem like we used to be an item, we were close friends at best. Sure, we might have shared some mutual feelings…” Her eyes drifted towards the palace. “But nothing else.”

Cadence sighed again and groaned. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out rudely, it just…” She gritted her teeth. “It’s been bothering me, ever since he told me about you two.”

“Well I can assure you, I never got anywhere physical with him. Not past a kiss.”

“You uh…you two kissed?”

“A few times.”

“…and…you don’t feel anything for him anymore, right?”

“A bit of anger, that’s all.” Lazuli nodded. “Definitely not anything friendly.”

The wind blew coldly between them, their manes both fluttering a bit in its gusts.

“I um…you should get going, I guess.” Cadence smiled warmly.

“Yeah. Sorry.” Lazuli turned away and started shuffling towards the train station. Her braced hooves clanked noisily against the road.

“Er, wait.” Cadence said softly.

“Hm?” The Dracony glanced over her shoulder and stopped again.

“I just…something…something doesn’t feel right. I don’t like you leaving on your own.”

Lazuli paused. “…” She thought about it. If something did go wrong, she wouldn’t be able to do anything and she knew it. But at the same time, if she missed this train, she’d probably miss the welcome party that everyone was no doubt planning, and she’d be letting them down.

“I’ll be fine.” Lazuli smiled at the princess. “Trust me. I’ve been in worse bonds than these and gotten out just fine.” She wiggled her hind leg, making it clank and wobble. “Stop worrying. You’ve got a baby to look after, right?”

“…yeah…” Cadence returned the smile, her teeth showing slightly and her expression brightening. “Twilight worries about you, you know.”

But Lazuli didn’t hear the last part. She had already started walking away again, and after a moment, Cadence did the same.