Fallout Equestria: Dracony Chronicles

Lazuli’s recovery was slow, but at the same time quicker than Crystal had expected of her. Draconies were clearly faster to heal than a normal pony. Within two days her mind was completely clear, though Crystal maintained that she shouldn’t be allowed to walk at that point. Not until she was certain that she was healed enough, and any sorts of hairline fractures along her spine had fixed themselves.

While the Dracony lay in her bed, staring idly at the ceiling above her, she heard a click and she sound of the door sliding open. She turned her head, a movement which made her wince almost immediately, expecting to see Tempest or Crystal.

Crystal was the first pony she saw, the white unicorn sporting the same cheery smile as always. Walking behind her, however, was Pearl Blossom.

Lazuli’s blank expression turned into a smile as wide as Crystal’s, her eyes lighting up. “Pearl!” It occurred to her that she hadn’t seen the young – or, she supposed she didn’t know how old Pearl was – filly in two days. Pearl wordlessly ran over to the bed, hopping up on her hind legs and wrapping her hooves around Lazuli. Crystal opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself and gently shut the door behind her as she walked over to the other side of the bed.

“You been okay, Pearl?” Lazuli asked, putting her hooves on either side of the filly’s head and turning it from side to side, examining her. “No more damage?”

“I’m fine, miss Lazuli…” Pearl hugged the Dracony tighter, burying her face in her chest.

Laz tilted her head, jostling the bandage wrapped around it slightly. Crystal’s light blue magic fixed it. “Something wrong, Pearl?”

Pearl didn’t say anything for a few seconds, simply nuzzling into Lazuli’s chest. “I was scared you died…”

Lazuli winced. “Oh, come on Pearl…” She hoisted the filly up onto the bed, letting the synthetic pony lie on her chest. “I’m fine. See? Just a bump on the head.” She tapped the bandage.

“But…” Pearl mumbled, burrowing deeper into the fluff of Lazuli’s chest. “I was scared…that if you…if you didn’t come back…they’d hurt me…”

A frown came to Lazuli’s lips, and she gently pulled Pearl a bit closer. “Pearl…that’s not gonna happen. Okay? I won’t let it happen. Don’t be silly.” She stroked a hoof down the filly’s back. She knew it was an optimistic promise, at best. She had no control over what happened to Pearl if she were to die, but she hoped that Tempest respected her enough that she wouldn’t let harm come to her.

“Mmph…” Pearl mumbled into Lazuli’s chest, holding her tightly for an amount of time that neither of them were counting.

“It will be fine, Pearl.” Crystal spoke, and when the filly’s head turned to her, she winced slightly. The synthetic’s left eye was still all kinds of odd, flickering and blinking like a computer screen with a virus. “Lazuli will be back on her hooves in no time.”

All Lazuli could do was nod, hugging Pearl tighter. “And as soon as I am, we’ll go outside for a walk or something, okay?” She squeezed Pearl, then let go.

“Oh, Lazuli.” Crystal said, her magic lifting up an earpiece. “The commander would like to speak with you. Erm, she says it is not urgent, but her robotic body is in use elsewhere. You can still communicate with her, though.”

“Oh, um…” Lazuli glanced down at Pearl, who seemed content to snuggle with her chest fluff. “Okay.” She flicked one of her ears upward, allowing Crystal to place the earpiece inside.

She tapped it a few times with her hoof, then cleared her throat. “Tempest?” She asked it.

“Laz!” Tempest sounded happy, which was good. Lazuli was worried it was bad news.

“Hey. You alright?” Lazuli gently patted Pearl’s back, the filly simply lying there with her ear resting against the Dracony’s chest, as if to make sure she was still alive.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine.” Tempest said. “Er…but…listen. I feel like um…” She paused for a second. “Okay. Lemme find the right way to say this. Sorry, I’m not usually this…flustered.”

If Tempest required breath, Lazuli imagined she would have taken a very deep one. “I can’t help but blame myself for this. I sent you out with a squad when you…really don’t have that much experience working in big groups. Or groups at all, really, aside from you and me…”

“You and I.” Lazuli corrected with a giggle.

“Wh- is it you and I? I thought in that context it was you and m- er, anyway, that’s not the point. The point is…I jumped the gun a little. There was a vacancy in that squad and I tried to fill it with you, but it was a bad decision. I’m sorry.”

“Well…it did kinda confuse me, yeah, but we all make mistakes.” Lazuli smiled softly. “Besides, I liked it. The only real problem was me getting careless…”

Tempest shrugged – or at least, Lazuli assumed she would have. “I’m sure.” She said, earning a giggle from them both. “But…I don’t know if it’s the best idea for you to be in such a big group just yet. I do have another idea set aside…they’re just a lone trainer right now, but I feel like you’d work well with them.”

“This is a lot of names to remember, Temp.”

“I-…” Tempest cut herself off. “Mmh…yeah…I’m changing things around way too much, aren’t I?”

“Well, I don’t mind it…if this is the last time.” Lazuli snickered.

Tempest sighed with relief. “Okay, good. Um…one other thing about it.” She said, her voice a bit more secretive than before.

“…Yeah?”

“Well, er…they’re not really…an outside-work kind of squad. Your last one was a task force. This one is just a…um…trainer.”

“…Trainer?”

“Yeah.”

“As in, teaching uh…fighting and stuff?”

“…Yeah.”

Lazuli stayed quiet for a second, running through it in her head. Tempest was essentially asking her to stay inside, or at least around the compound, for an indeterminable amount of time. “…So…I…” She rubbed her forehead with a hoof. In every way, it really made sense. She was injured, and even when she recovered it was probably extremely difficult for Tempest to send her back into the field so quickly. “Mmh…I’ll need to meet them first…”

“Oh, yeah of course. But…” Tempest said nervously. “Lazuli, what I’m basically trying to say is…I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go outside.”

“Yeah, I picked up on that.” She gently stroked Pearl’s mane. “And I guess you’re…kind of right. Might be nice to be able to settle down and not move around so much, for once…”

Tempest seemed even more relieved by that. “I’m really glad you’re okay with it, Lazuli. I know that I really wouldn’t have much say in whether or not you go outside, but…I think it’s for the best, really. At least for a bit.”

“Hmmh…yeah…” Lazuli sighed and stretched out a bit, looking down and noticing that Pearl had fallen fast asleep on her chest. Geez, she’s an easy sleeper…she thought to herself, trying to shift herself carefully so that she wouldn’t wake her.

“Well, hope you get better soon, Laz. I’ll be there to see you in pony later.” The earpiece clicked, and Lazuli looked over at Crystal, who was standing near the window and staring out into the Wasteland.

The unicorn gently removed the earpiece from Lazuli’s ear. “Erm…would you like me to…” She nodded towards Pearl, who whined and snuggled her nose into Lazuli’s chest in her sleep.

“No…I think it’s fine.” Lazuli continued to stroke Pearl’s mane. “I mean…if that’s allowed.”

“Of course.” Crystal bowed her head slightly. “Can I get you anything else, or would you like to rest for now?”

“I’ll just rest, yeah…thanks, Crystal.”

The nurse bowed her head again, and exited the room in a slow trot. As the door slid shut behind her, Lazuli let her head press back into the pillows and shut her eyes, holding Pearl tightly against her.

It wasn’t until a day later that Lazuli was finally given the chance to meet the pony Tempest wanted her to work with. She walked in with a disciplined gait, and Lazuli watched her approach the bed.

She was a green unicorn mare with a mane and tail that Lazuli would have to describe as amber-chocolate. She wasn’t quite sure what the colour was. Auburn was too red, but chocolate was too brown. It was a healthy in-between, and looked quite nice, especially with how it was cut short and styled. Her eyes were a bright, stunning amber, almost yellow, matching the colour of her magic. When she stepped far enough inside, Lazuli could see that her cutie mark was a yellow sheriff’s badge surrounded by a golden circle, with a revolver emblazoned in the very center. It was plain to see why, since she had two revolvers holstered on either side of her hip. She wore a black cowpony hat on her head and a matching black coat to cover the rest of her, a long one that trailed behind her slightly.

“Howdy!” The mare said cheerily, then quickly snapped to attention. “Er, I mean…afternoon, Cap’n. Name’s Copper Star. Commander Tempest was tellin’ me I’ll be workin’ with you, and well…is it outta line to say I’m super excited for it?” The mare squee’d, a wide smile crossing her lips. Her Southern accent was quite endearing, Lazuli had to say, and definitely came across in her speech.

“Oh, er, nice to meet you. You can drop the formalities, really…I’m the one who’s new here, anyway.”

Copper trotted up to the side of the bed. “Sorry, Cap’n. I get uh…just…goddesses, it’s so cool to be workin’ with you…”

“Uh…well, I’m still stuck in bed here for now.” Lazuli giggled, sitting up so she could at least be at eye level with the unicorn. “So…you’re a trainer? No offense, but you’re not really geared up like one.”

“Oh!” Copper removed her hat with her magic, placing it on the table and shaking out her mane a bit. “Sorry, Cap-“

“Er, just call me Lazuli.” The Dracony smiled.

“Oh, uh…sorry, Lazuli. Came right from the barracks, wasn’t on duty today.”

Lazuli nodded slowly. “Right. Well…it’s good to meet you too.” She reached out with a hoof, surprised by how strong Copper was once she grabbed hold and shook it.

“I’ve heard so much about ya!” Copper said cheerfully. “Commander never stops talkin’ about you, ‘specially after you came back. I had no idea you were still alive, though…”

“Well…same with me, but uh…for Tempest.” Lazuli cringed inwardly. That was a horrible way to put it. She tried to change the subject as Copper sat down next to the bed. “So…what do you do every day, as a trainer?”

Copper shrugged, adjusting her coat. “Ahh, nothin’ much. Teach some ‘a the newer recruits how to shoot, li’l bit of self defense…but I’m sure y’all would be a lot better at that bit.”

Lazuli looked back up at Copper. “So, just…working with teaching new recruits, that’s all?”

“Yeeeeah…” Copper shrugged again. “’S not super interestin’ I guess, but it’s somethin’. I’m hopin’ one day I can get to go out on a real mission…heck, maybe with you.” She gently nudged Lazuli’s shoulder with an elbow, then quickly pulled back. “Er, sorry, ponies keep tellin’ me I’m too chummy…”

Something about Copper’s demeanor made it impossible for Lazuli not to smile. “Hey, it’s fine. I’m already ‘chummy’ with Tempest, so there’s no problem.” She elbowed Copper back. “Besides, I think we can get along, especially if we’re gonna be spending so much time together, huh?”

Copper gave a small noise that sounded like a snicker. “Well yeah, I guess so.” She leaned against the bed, sighing. “Sorry your welcome’s been so…confusin’, too. Just when ya get back in action, you’re stuck in a bed, huh?”

“Eh, it’s nothing.” Lazuli waved her hoof. “I’ve had worse.”

“Them wings of yours’re really neat, by the way.” Copper said, glancing down to watch as the metal appendages shifted beneath Lazuli.

“Oh, thanks. I got them pretty recently, actually…” She stretched out one of them, letting it glint in the light shining down from above.

Copper watched as the metal wing shifted, clicked and whirred in the air. The two of them stayed quiet for a few minutes, but Copper was the one to break the silence. “I’m really lookin’ forward to workin’ with ya, Lazuli.” She said, her bright smile returning as she stood up.

“Same here, though it’ll probably be a week…maybe more.” She smiled back sheepishly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back at it soon enough.”

“Should hope so.” Copper stood at attention and saluted, trying to suppress her giddiness. “I’ll come visit ya when I can, Cap’n.” She slowly turned around, and began to walk out the door.

As the door slid shut, neither one of them heard the mechanical clicking from behind the window. Before Lazuli could hear it, it was already gone.