Lavender the Inadequate Flier

by SketchyDrunkard

Pineapple?

The ongoing storm caused the lights in my house to flicker. I even felt the earth below me shudder with each clap of thunder, all the way in the apartment above the shop. I dialed up the Slice Family shop and ordered something a bit different than my usual. I decided on pineapple pizza. Not even 15 minute later, Pizza Slice arrived, looking rather concerned.

“Pineapple? Really? Lavender, are you okay?” He queried.

“Yeah.” I sighed. I finally looked up, and noticed his coat, mane, hat and all were drenched. “Oh, uh, come inside!”

“Thanks!” he relieved. He stepped into the empty shop and studies the deserted shelves. “I’ve only been in here once, when my dad asked me to pick up some notepads some years back.”

“Yeah…”

“Sorry. I didn't mean-”

“No, it's fine.” I shuffled over to my wallet. “How much for the extra topping?”

“Nuh-uh. This one’s on me.”

“What?” I asked. He placed the pizza down on the empty counter with his magic and waved a hoof.

“Don't sweat it. You're having a rough time, I can tell. It's the least I can do.”

“Th-thank you, Slice.” I pulled him in for a hug. He stood a bit awkwardly in my embrace and after a second he patted me on the back.

“Anything for our number one customer.” When I pulled away, a blush shone through his gray coat on his cheeks.

Leaning against the door was an umbrella, which I hadn't used very often. I offered it to him to use for the rest of his deliveries. He thanked me, and made his way outside. “Oh, wait!” I called out before closing the door. “Are you free this weekend?”

“Uh… yeah? Would you like to hang out or something?”

“That would be perfect.” I smiled. I waved him a small goodbye and closed the door. Some warmth began to resonate within my soul after the ordeal. I didn’t even notice I had fallen asleep in my bed with a smile, and the warmth remained well into the morning after.

I was awoken by a frantic knock at my door at what couldn't be any earlier than 3 AM. I stumbled downstairs and was met by Screech at my front door. It was unusual for him to walk all the way to my house from the Everfree. But I noticed he was clutching his side with a single hoof. His torso was wrapped in bandages stained red. “Oh my goodness,” I gasped. “Screech!”

“Lavender,” he wheezed. “May I please come in?”

“Screech. What happened? We need to get you to a hospital!”

“It won’t… help.” I hardly paid any mind as I helped him swing one leg over my neck and shuffled downtown to the hospital. His breathing was becoming raspy and slowed. It wasn't too long before the front doors of the hospital came into view. The few ponies in the waiting room all twisted their necks to see the groaning stallion over my shoulder.

A few nurses rushed over to me and asked what happened as they helped him walk to the big pair of doors into a hallway of rooms. I told them merely what I remembered and they nodded, and I was left in the waiting room with a few blotches of blood on my coat and other ponies staring at me. I waited for what seemed like hours, until a nurse came out and guided me to a room with the curtain closed. She drew the curtain and he lied there in bed, eyes closed tight.

“We did what we could with the wound,” a nurse with a green coat in the corner spoke. “But we noticed some sort of infection in his system. We’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Is he gonna be okay?” I asked.

“We’re not sure… it seems to be damaging him at an alarming rate.”

“Lavender…” He groaned.

“Yes?” I answered.

“Nurse, can you leave us alone for a minute?” He turned to the nurses. They hesitantly nodded and left. “Lav… I was attacked…”

“By who?”

“I made a deal with-” he stopped talking and coughed heftily. “- a deal with some very bad people in my time. I couldn’t hold up my end of the deal… and He found me after all these years. The thing is, Lavender-” he coughed again “-Once I’m gone… the town will be in grave danger…”

“What was the deal?” I asked. I scanned his unsure face, noticing now the lesions that had taken form on his legs and face.

“I asked him for merely knowledge. It was a foolish thing to ask a dark force for such a thing.”

“What did ‘he’ want in return?” After I had asked this, he was silent. Then he spoke.

“A sacrifice.”

“Screech!” I cried.

“I told you, I couldn’t do it… but now my cowardice will let the whole town die… maybe even all of Equestria.”

“...what kind of sacrifice?”

“...my faithful student.”

“Scarlet?”

“Lav… you… can’t let everyone die for my mistakes. Do… what you have to…” His sentences were stretched by his breathing becoming heavier and heavier. He extended a hoof, which held a crumpled up piece of parchment. He then began to cough excessively, and he was left wheezing, his head falling into the pillow.

“Screech!” I cried. I turned my neck to the hall. “Nurse!”

Author's Note:

Ayyy it's the second chapter one day later! Will my updating schedule always be this precise? Most definitely not!
-Fin