Lavender the Inadequate Flier

by SketchyDrunkard

The Journey Begins

We arrived at the train station as the sky turned into a spectrum of warm colors. A train set for Las Pegasus sat with its engine steaming smoke into the air. Twilight and Starlight showed up not too soon after. Twilight walked up to the ticket booth and asked the pony for 3 train tickets. I was about to stop her from paying for all of us, but, I mean, I didn't wanna pass up the opportunity for a free ticket. It's not like you can blame me; I hardly had enough bits in my pocket to adequately feed myself a proper meal every night.

"Hey, Starlight?" I piped up.

"Hmm?" she mumbled.

"Uhh... I appreciate you coming with us. I've heard about your... 'indulgences'... and just wanted to let you know it's gonna have someone as adept to magic, such as yourself!"

"Gee, thanks." she sighed. Stupid! Stupid Lavender! I internalized. Before I could embarrass myself anymore, Slice stepped into the conversation.

"What're you trying to say about my magic skills, Lav?" he pried jokingly. A genuine chuckle erupted from Starlight, taking the edge off of some of my anxiety.

"Here's a ticket for each of you!" Twilight sounded from behind me. She levitated a ticket in front of each of us. While the other two took it in their own magic, I pulled it from the air into my teeth.

"Oh, you didn't have to pay!" I tried to say convincingly through my clenched teeth.

"It's fine. Now, you three go off and save Equestria!" She nodded confidently. She pulled Starlight in for a hug. "Good luck, you three."

We boarded the train and Starlight took a seat facing towards the platform, where Twilight stood, waving at us. Slice took up a seat and almost immediately fell asleep. I took up the seat next to Starlight. Not a word was said as other ponies boarded. Eventually, they stopped flowing on and the train jolted to a start. Slowly we pulled away from the station, and somewhere in the distant rooftops of the homes and shops of Ponyville was my home. My heart sank and anxiety sunk its unforgiving fangs into my lungs as the remnants of familiarity settled into the horizon behind me.

I awoke the morning later in the seat across from Starlight with a blanket I don't remember draped snugly around me. I sat up and stretched and a horrible cracking sound rattled from my spine. I find what had awoken me was the train coming to a stop. Outside was a sign that was hard to read as the sun rose behind it, obscuring my vision. However, against the blinding light, I could make out the words Las Pegasus in big bold text.

"Starlight, wake up." I said, nudging her awake with my hoof. Her eyes opened slowly, blinking away at the painful light coming through the window. "Did you do this?" I asked, gesturing to the blanket wrapped around me.

"Huh?" she yawned. "Oh... yeah. You fell asleep but you didn't look very comfortable."

"Oh. Well, thanks. I appreciate it." I swung the blanket off of me and Starlight took it in her magic and folded it. I trudged towards Slice and shook him awake, less gently than I did Starlight.

"Huh?!" He stammered, waking up.

"We're here, Slice."

"W-Where-?"

"Las Pegasus. Next stop: the ferry."

Well, we were at least underneath Las Pegasus. The cloud city floated thousands of feet in the air above the gravel road we had traveled. An alternative path would have led to a tower that connected the city to the ground, allowing access to non-pegasi. Underneath the vast city was dark and murky. Fog sifted through the area and flooded our vision. There were no forks in the road, as far as we had traveled. It was just one straight path. Both Starlight and Slice had to illuminate the fog around us with their magic. Eventually, very dim, orange street lamps could guide us to a dock where the sky was a bit brighter.

Benched lined the ticket booth, where a few ponies sat waiting. This time, we each paid for our tickets this time. The pony in the booth gave us a raised eyebrow when I mentioned that we'd be stopping at an island in the middle of the South Luna Ocean, but continued ringing up the fare.

I couldn't believe it. We were more than halfway there. I sat on a bench when something caught my eye. A gorgeous pink earth pony sat reading a book in front of her. Her curly magenta hair was held up behind a golden headband. Her ears were decorated with silver earrings and her neck was lined with a golden choker with a purple stone encrusted in the middle. What caught me most off-guard was her beautiful blue eyes that shined like diamonds.

It was a few seconds before I realized she had caught me staring. She furrowed her brow in confusion. I felt the warmth of a blush creep across my face. Her frown turned into a grin and she turned back to her book. I moved from my bench to a spot right next to her.

"Uh... hi!" I stammered.

"Hello." She chuckled.

"I'm Lavender, and you?"

"Uhm... Dew... Drop."

"So... what're you reading?" We chatted while we waited for the ferry. The book was about insects and she was apparently a travelling sales-pony. She pointed to her wagon tied to a nearby tree. Dew had been looking for a new route, as she had been tired of her rounds in Equestria.

But as long as she was talking, I couldn't shake the feeling of a piercing gaze from behind me. I sneaked a few looks to see an angry looking green unicorn with a maroon mane sitting atop a large wooden crate with his pegasus acquaintance. The pegasus was a light blue and his mane was black, and he couldn't sit still. No matter how many times I looked back, he shook like a jumping bean. The unicorn snapped at him every so often to get him to stop for one second.

Finally, our conversation was cut short when the horn of the ship blared from the dock. She went to the loading deck and I didn't see her much after that.

"Who was that?" Starlight asked teasingly.

"Oh, nopony." I sighed. I watched as a ship hand helped the angry green unicorn load his crate onto the boat. He gently levitated a hefty bag of bits to the hand in exchange for a trolley to put the crate onto.

"You been watching him too?" Slice asked, both him and Starlight looking concerned. I nodded.

"What do you think is so important in that crate?" I asked.

"Whatever it is, I think it's alive."

"What? How?"

"Lav," he insisted. "There were breathing holes drilled into the sides. Couldn't you see?"

Author's Note:

pushing out a second chapter at 3 am!!!!!
- Fin