As Sweet As Lavender

Chapters

A New Beginning
Famous First Words
Sweet Sweet Lavender
School's In Session
Try To Make Friends
Day With Daddy
Welcome to the Group
New Era
Birthday Dragon?
Taking After Mommy
A Mother's Attempt at Bonding
As Unstable as Lavender
Just Ask Her
The [Im]Perfect Gathering

A New Beginning

The radiant sun was setting down in Ponyville, the golden orange rays cascading down in a beautiful splendor of light. It was the perfect setting for couples to sit and admire the natural beauty of a sunset, as well as the beauty of each other.

However, one happily married couple was returning to the town’s boutique, which also served as their home. A long lanky dragon escorted a white coated pony inside, who was straining slightly with each movement.

“You alright, Rares?” The dragon asked with concern in his eyes. He kept an arm around her to make sure his wife didn’t fall and hurt herself.

“I’ll be fine, Spike,” Rarity smiled at her husband, reassuring him. “I just need to sit down for a while, that’s all.”

“Well, let’s get you two seated,” Spike said, slowly walking alongside his wife to the maroon divan that they kept in the living room. “That alright for now?”

"That will do nicely,” she replied, allowing her husband to help her get seated. He then hoisted her up onto the divan, being extra careful not to let Rarity fall.

“Is this comfortable enough?” Spike asked again to make sure that nothing was troubling his alabaster goddess.

“I’m perfectly alright,” she responded, smiling softly while slowly rubbing her belly with a free hoof. “I simply cannot wait to see how our child’s going to turn out.”

“Me neither,” Spike replied unenthusiastically.

“Is something wrong, Spike?” Rarity asked, slightly worried at her husband’s tone. “You were ecstatic about it before, and now that we’re no more than a few weeks away before she’s due you start acting rather skeptical.”

“I know, I know…” he sighed as he sat down next to his lovely wife. “I’m just a little uncertain about a few things.”

Rarity playfully rolled her eyes. “Oh, I see. You’re still worried about what others will think of our child. Need I remind you that all our friends and family have our support. To Tartarus what anyone else thinks about us.”

“It’s not just that,” Spike continued, “What if I’m not a good father? What if I do a terrible job at being a parent?”

Rarity leaned into Spike and lightly kissed his cheek. “I know you’ll be a great father, because you’re already a wonderful husband.”

The dragon’s purple scales began to turn a shade of red. Even after finally marrying the mare of his dreams, Rarity still had the same effect on him.

"You have nothing to worry about. Me, on the other hoof, well, don’t even get me started!” Rarity pouted, eliciting a chuckle from her husband. “Even after our child is born, there’s still the matter of the extra body weight I've managed to gain, not to mention curbing the eating habits that have plagued me for the past few months.” She looked at her body and wailed dramatically. "My curvy physique is gone from me forever! Now I’ll be nothing more than an overweight sow!”

“Well whose fault is it for eating eight containers of pickles? Not to mention all that chocolate and cheese dip…” Spike teased as his wife shot daggers at him.

“You promised to never speak of that again,” she gritted through her teeth.

“I don’t see why it’s a big deal,” Spike stated as he propped himself down to the edge of the divan. “I personally like you like this. You’re my squishy little marshmallow and I’m okay with that.”

Rarity smiled at her husband’s playful antics, a small blush forming on her cheeks.

“Besides, our kid needs a little room in there to move around, isn't that right cutie?” He pressed his nose against Rarity’s soft belly, rubbing against the soft carrier of their baby.

“Do you like mommy being pudgy, too?”

Spike felt a slight kick inside Rarity’s stomach. He grinned at this and looked up to his wife.

“See, even our baby likes you better this way!”

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle. “And you say you’ll be a terrible father.”

“Hold that thought Rares, I’m going to ask another question; sweetie, was it necessary for mommy to eat all the pickles out of the fridge?”

There was no kick or movement of any kind; a devious smile formed across Spike’s face.

“Well looks like our kid is a pretty smart cookie! She knows how to keep her mouth closed.”

“Jerk,” Rarity harrumphed, playfully bucking Spike in the face with one of her back hooves. He dramatically fell back and feigned death, causing the two to laugh. The purple drake got up and joined his wife on the divan, wrapping his arms around her delicate frame.

“In a few weeks, we’ll be a family,” Spike began. “You, me, and… um… what are we going to name our kid?”

“Well, I’m not quite sure.” Rarity said, putting a hoof to her chin. “I've thought of names like Gem or Sapphire, but those seemed unfitting. What about you? Have you come up with any potential names?”

“I think I’d rather have the creative one here come up with a name,” Spike laughed awkwardly.

“I’m certain you can come up with a fitting name,” she warmly encouraged him.

“Alright, lemme try then.” Spike thought really hard trying to think of a good name for their offspring. “How about… Bubble Bottom?”

“As cute as that effort was,” Rarity began, mentally face palming at his suggestion, “maybe I should be the one to decide the name. It’ll come to me eventually.”

“Sounds good to me, milady,” Spike playfully bowed to his wife before embracing one another. They sat in the dim sunset, enjoying the silence and touch of each other.

“Whatever the name, I’m sure it’ll be a beautiful name. Although it won’t be nearly as beautiful as you.” Spike stated, his effort rewarded with a soft kiss on the lips.

“You’re dreadfully cheesy sometimes, darling.” Rarity smiled. “But that’s what I love about you.”

***

Spike frantically paced around the waiting room, biting down on his claws nervously. Rarity’s five closest friends sat around watching the purple dragon loop around and around the room.

“What’s taking them so long?” Spike asked to no one in particular. “It’s been nearly two hours and not a single word!”

“I know you’re anxious and all, but could you shut up and just sit down like the rest of us?” Rainbow Dash called out. “You’re starting to get me nervous!”

“Ah agree, sugarcube,” Applejack commented. “Y’all is antsier than a pig in a chicken coop.”

“And I shouldn’t be? My wife is in there giving birth, and I’m out here waiting for something to happen!”

“Maybe you would have stayed in there longer if you weren’t distracting the doctor with your panicking,” Twilight stated.

“Well what was I supposed to do, just sit there and watch the love of my life be in pain!?”

“Um, you could have sat there and supported her instead of freaking out at every little groan Rarity made,” Twilight answered sharply.

“Well I’m sorry,” he said. “But to just sit there while Rarity was writhing in agony… and those doctors! They didn’t give her any painkillers, and… and…”

“Spike,” Fluttershy began softly. “I know this is a very troublesome time, but stressing yourself out isn't going to help anypony. Just take a deep breath, calm down, sit with us and wait patiently. If not for any of us, then for Rarity. I’m sure she wouldn’t want you panicking.”

Spike and the others looked at the timid pegasus, surprised that their friend made such an outspoken claim.

“B-but if you want to panic some more, that’s fine too…”

Spike sighed and sat next to Twilight. He put his hands on his cheeks and waited with bated breath. His adoptive sister put a comforting hoof on his back.

“I’m sure everything will be alright, Spike,” she reassured, a warm smile forming on her lips. He returned the smile but kept his eyes glued to the clock.

Some time passed. Pinkie tried to keep the others entertained, and for the most part she did a good job keeping the five ponies amused while they waited for their friends results. Spike however never averted his gaze away from the clock, counting down every second that passed.

After what had felt like an eternity, one of the doctors finally entered the guest room, gaining the attention of the six waiting. He looked around and spotted the only male in the room.

“Mr. Spike?” he called out.

“That’s me!” Spike shot out from his chair and ran towards the doctor. “How is she?! Is she okay?”

The doctor gave a satisfied grin, proud of the news he had to tell the dragon. “They’re doing just fine.”

“It didn’t take much for Spike and the others to pick up on what the doctor was stating. With that, Spike’s worries melted away as feelings of relief and euphoria rushed into his head.

“Do you want to see her?” the doctor asked Spike, motioning him towards the door.

Spike simply nodded, unsure of what to expect.

“Right this way, then.” He then turned towards the five mares still in their seats. “If the rest of you want to come, I’ll allow it, but you must be very quiet.”

With that said, the group followed the doctor to the room where Rarity was being taken care of. They all pondered on how the newborn pony would be. Or would it be a dragon? No one knew what to expect. In fact, none of them actually thought that it was possible for dragons and ponies to reproduce as there has never been any reported cases of such. Regardless, the anticipation for this miracle spread in all of them.

“Well, here’s the room,” the doctor stated. “I can say this much, your child is very… unique.”

Spike looked at him skeptically. “What do you mean?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Soft whines and cries were audible behind the door. The doctor opened it completely and the group walked in. Inside, a smiling Rarity was lying on the bed, holding the small newborn in her hooves gently.

The baby didn’t look like a normal pony, nor did it look like a normal dragon. It had a light purple coat similar to that of a pony, but it had the tail of a dragon with deep purple spines from her hair to her tufted tail. It whimpered into Rarity’s arms, eyes still closed and fragile.

“It’s okay sweetie, mommy’s here,” whispered Rarity as she slowly rocked the infant back and forth. “Everything’s going to be alright..”

Spike immediately rushed to Rarity’s side, leaned over and started planting soft kisses on his wife.

“Spike, dear, you’re back...” Rarity said. She tried to extend her arms out to Spike to give him the baby, but her strength at this point was nonexistent. "Look at her. Our little baby girl."

Small tears of joy began to trickle down his eyes as he held the whinnying infant, her eyes still clamped shut.

“Aww,” Fluttershy gushed. “Isn’t she just an adorable little filly.”

“Ah’m not too sure she’s a filly,” Applejack replied, scratching her head. “She looks like a…well ah ain’t too sure what she looks like.”

“Well I seriously doubt it’s a dragon!” Rainbow Dash commented. “It’s just a pony with some weird, tail thingy!”

“It’s a dragon AND a pony! Ooh, ooh, a dracony!” Pinkie blurted out, causing her friends to look at her in confusion.

“What? She has the tail and spines of a dragon, but the figure of a pony. It makes perfect sense; a dracony!”

Twilight shook her head, giggling at her response. “I don’t think there’s a term for her species, Pinkie.”

Spike cradled the small infant, who had calmed down slightly. She opened her eyes to get a good look at her father; her eyes were a deep shade of magenta, and slanted irises much like his.

“Whatever she’s called, she’s our perfect little angel,” Spike stated, planting a small kiss on the infants head, causing her to cry and wiggle about.

“She definitely has a nice set of pipes,” Spike chuckled, handing the baby back to Rarity. His daughter continued crying at an ear piercing pitch.

“Oh I think somepony’s hungry…” Rarity smirked, blushing slightly. “Girls, if you wouldn’t mind giving me some privacy while I feed her, it would be most appreciated. It is rather embarrassing.”

“How is feeding embarrassing?” Pinkie asked obliviously. “All you do is get a bottle and…”

“Of course Rarity, we’ll all wait outside for you,” Twilight stated, covering Pinkie’s mouth with a hoof. They all began to leave the room (Pinkie still trying to make sense of the situation) as Spike trailed behind them. As he got to the door, Rarity spoke out to him.

“Just where do you think you’re going, Spike?” Rarity teased.

“You asked us to leave,” Spike answered, slightly confused.

“I just asked for the girls to leave. You’re this little girl’s father; you have every right to watch me feed her.” Rarity plainly said. “Besides, it’s not like there’s much you haven’t seen from me already, darling.”

Spike blushed at what she was implying as he walked back towards the bed. He sat on his knees, leaning on the edge of where his wife lay, feeding the infant from her teats.

“So, we come up with a name for her yet?” Spike asked, smiling softly.

“I think I have,” she replied. “Lavender.”

“Lavender, huh?” Spike watched as the baby fed on her mother's milk. “It has a nice ring to it, and it’s a fitting name for her. It’s better than the name I thought up.”

“What was it, Spikey?”

“Rarity the II?” Spike shrugged, causing his weary wife to lightly giggle.

“Then yes, it’s a good thing I named our child.”

Spike reached out towards Rarity, wrapping himself around her. The two sat in silence as they watched their little miracle eat at her hearts content.

The doctor advised that Rarity stay at the hospital for a few days before leaving. Spike stayed by her side throughout her stay, receiving frequent visits from their friends throughout. After three days, it was decided that it was safe for Rarity to take Lavender home. Rarity grabbed one of her self-woven satchels and placed her daughter inside, making sure Lavender was safe.

Spike opened the door, inviting the two inside.

“I cannot believe how good it is to be back home!” Rarity gleefully stated. “Being in that hospital room for so long was depressing!”

“I didn’t find it too bad. How can I argue with free food for three days?” Spike said, rubbing his belly.

You would find that a good reason to stay at the hospital,” Rarity mocked, rolling her eyes playfully. “If Lavender is anything like you, then you two will eat me out of house and home.”

Spike snickered. “In that case I’ll try and leave some chocolate and cheese covered pickles for y—"

Before he could finish, Rarity grabbed a pillow with her magic and threw it in her husband’s face.

“I told you to never mention that again,” Rarity faux growled.

“I’m so sorry my goddess! I’ve learned the errors of my ways,” Spike responded feigning fear. Rarity stuck out her tongue at him, which is only something she did with Spike. She never did anything unladylike in front of anyone other than her husband. Even when she’s had a rough day, Spike always finds new ways to bring a smile to her face, melting away any stress she previously had.

The three headed towards their bedroom, ready to call it a night. The tiny mixed breed was fast asleep in the satchel, laying completely motionless. Rarity slowly levitated Lavender into the crib they set up next to their bed, covering her in small linen sheets for comfort. Rarity then fell back into Spike’s arms, something he was quite accustomed to at this point considering he was often left with a hoof print across his face if he failed to catch his prima donna.

“Spike, could you be a dear and put me in bed?” she commanded. “I’m simply beat!”

“And you can’t do it yourself why?”

She scoffed. “I just gave birth, darling. That means I’m entitled to nice treatment afterwards.”

“You gave birth three days ago!”

Rarity waved a hoof around in the air. “Details.”

Spike knew he couldn’t win against Rarity, so he obeyed her request and laid her down on the bed. He would have done it anyway, he just likes to occasionally give his wife a hard time. He then crawled up next to her and grabbed a sheet to cover the two.

“It feels marvelous to be in my own bed again,” Rarity sighed dreamily.

“I’m just glad to be able to sleep in a bed with you again and not beside it,” Spike laughed, cuddling against Rarity.

“Likewise, darling,” Rarity cooed, turning towards the drake. She gave him a wide smile as her radiant blue eyes got lost in his emerald pool. “I’m positive you’ll make a wonderful father.”

Spike smiled confidently at her compliment. “Thanks, Rares. I just hope I can live up to your expectations.”

“But you already have. You’ve stayed by my side through everything, helping me with Lavender every chance you could get. Why, you even took the liberty to think ahead and have Twilight research what our daughter is in order to help raise her better.”

“Well when you live with a bookworm all your life, your insight goes up significantly,” Spike boasted, a smug smile forming on his lips.

“And the way you hold Lavender, you're so gentle with her.”

“What can I say, I know how to handle the beautiful ladies in my life.”

“Quite so,” Rarity purred as she rolled on top of Spike, leaning towards him so their noses touched. He blushed wildly as Rarity stared longingly at him, implying with her eyes what she wanted.

“To parenthood?” Spike whispered.

“To parenthood,” Rarity replied, slowly closing her eyes and leaning into Spike for a kiss. Their lips soon interlocked and they began to passionately wrestle each other’s tongue. Spike ran his claws down Rarity’s back, enjoying the soft touch of his wife. Their love for each other was strong, and they had every intent to show it to each other….

…until Lavender began bawling in her crib, breaking the couple from their bliss filled world and back into reality.

“I’ll take care of this,” Spike sighed, disappointed at how anticlimactic that ended. He got off the bed and walked towards the crib, picking up the startled infant and holding her on his shoulders. “Doesn’t look like Lavender is going to give us much alone time for the next few years, will she?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Rarity smiled softly watching the two.

“I figured as much,” Spike chuckled as he attempted to calm his daughter down. Lavender eventually began to ease up, slowly drifting back into her slumber.

“Say, do you think kids will give her a hard time when she grows up?” Spike asked concerned. “I mean, she isn’t really the average pony, if you haven’t already noticed.”

“That is something that has concerned me,” Rarity admitted, “but we can worry about that when the time comes. Besides, her ravishing father can protect her from the mean old bullies.”

Spike smiled warmly, still cradling Lavender in his arms. “To parenthood right?”

“To parenthood.”

Author's Note

Did I do a good job? If so, then I hope you stick around. This is going to be a long journey.

Famous First Words

It was early in the morning and Rarity was busy with one of her many projects. With Spike out getting the groceries and Opalescence lazing around the house, the task didn’t seem too demanding. She dwelled in her rare moments of peace without the purple man child bothering her. Focused and full of energy, the fashionista continued sewing her projects to perfection, humming softly to herself to help pass the time.

She kept a steady pace as she sewed, snipped, and formed her fabric into beautiful dresses. She was in her zone, remaining focused on the task at hoof. That was, until she heard crumpling sounds coming from behind her.

“What in the…” Rarity turned around to find the source of the noise, seeing nothing but a room filled with her organized mess.

“Hmm, It must have been my imagination,” she shrugged it off, continuing her current work. “Now, just a little bit here, and there.” The rustling sound returned. It sounded as if someone or something was scurrying around the room.

“Spikey? Opal?” Rarity was growing a little wary and nervous. She put her unfinished work down and began searching for her stalker, seeing faint shadows brush past her every now and then.

“Dear, if this is one of your pranks, it is not funny!” she whined, hoping the intruder was a friendly face. Paranoia built up when there wasn’t a response.

“Um, anypony here?” No answer. In fact, the rustling noise ceased. Rarity looked around the work room; having an eye for things, she noticed that some of her sheets and fabrics have been moved or crumpled slightly. Something was there.

“Okay, I’m not playing anymore! Whoever this is, come out n…”

A sharp pain interrupted her statement. She winced and gritted her teeth, trying to avoid shrieking in agony. With an annoyed look, she turned her head towards her tail to see the culprit.

The tiny purple dracony (for a lack of better term; Pinkie was ecstatic when she learned her coined term was officially being used) was biting down on her tail, growling playfully and looking at her mother for approval.

“Sweety, I told you before, Mommy doesn’t like playing this game with you,” Rarity groaned, her pitch higher than she would have liked. “Please let go of my tail, darling.”

Lavender didn’t understand what Rarity was saying, staring at her confusedly. Why wasn’t she laughing like her daddy did when she played this with him? Maybe she had to tug on her tail harder.

Lavender bit down and began to pull at her tail.

“YOUCH!” Rarity couldn’t hold her screams back anymore. Lavender, frightened that she might have done something wrong, released her mother’s tail and began to quiver, tears welling in her eyes.

“Oh dearie, Mommy's not mad,” Rarity said, leaning towards the shivering whelp. “It barely hurt. Honest!”

The alabaster mare smiled warmly at Lavender, who in return nestled against her mother. Rarity had to hold the tears back in order to keep the little one from becoming worried.

“Guess who's home!” A familiar, happy go lucky voice echoed through the kitchen. “Anyone awake yet?”

Rarity grinned as she levitated Lavender, causing the child to giggle with glee. The purple maned mare planted her child on her back, positioning her so she wouldn’t fall off.

“Let’s go see what Daddy brought back,” Rarity said. “Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind, could you not grip onto my back? Last time you did that you nearly broke skin.”

The oblivious little toddler leaned forward playfully, falling on her face and laughing hysterically because of it.

“I’ll just hope that’s a yes and pray for the best,” Rarity sighed, trotting towards her husband.

Spike had set down the group of brown bags, containing a restock of food from the market. He started to unbag the groceries when he saw the two ladies of the house enter, gracing him with their presence.

“Good morning, you two!” The purple drake smiled at both of them warmly. “Hope I haven’t kept you two waiting long.”

“Not at all dear,” Rarity smiled back. Lavender hopped off Rarity’s back and ran directly towards Spike, smiling as she trotted toward her father. Spike kneeled down to attempt to meet her at eye level.

“And what do we have here? Looks like the little one is already up and about this morning!”

“Appa! Appa!” Lavender called out reaching her arms out and clenching her hands for the drake to pick her up.

“Alright, but just for a minute,” Spike agreed. “You’re getting heavier every day!” He grabbed Lavender and lifted her up, faking a groan to emphasize how big she was becoming. After patting the elated baby dracony’s back, he noticed that his wife’s tail was unkempt and messy, uncurling slightly at the base.

“That wouldn’t happen to be a new tailstyle would it?” Spike asked, knowing very well what had happened. It took every bone in his body to not laugh.

“Do you honestly think I did this intentionally?!” Rarity wailed. “Our daughter decided it would be fun to sneak up on me and try to rip my tail off!”

Rarity heard her husband giggling at her trauma, agitating her slightly.

“This isn’t funny!” she snapped, her voice escalating in tone. “You two can play those games with each other as much as you like, but I want no part of it, especially if it means losing my tail in the process!”

“But I tug your tail all the time and you don’t complain about it,” Spike teased, giving a sly smile. “In fact, you tend to like it.”

It took every moral fiber in Rarity’s body to not launch all of the groceries at the childish dragon she called a husband. She just rolled her eyes and sat at the table, going through the groceries.

“Let’s see what we have here,” Rarity began, picking through the groceries. “Cashews, lettuce, milk, carrots, another stuffed mouse for Opal since Lavender tore through the other one, chocolate pudding, and my facial crème.” She smiled at Spike, proud that he managed to get what they needed. “Well, if there’s something that you are good at, it’s paying attention to a li…”

Rarity cut herself off when she noticed something missing. She rummaged through all the bags again, causing Spike to worry a little.

“Something wrong, Rares?” he asked.

“Yes, there is,” she responded coldly, turning towards him to glare directly into his eyes. As easily as she could melt Spike’s heart with her loving gazes, she could also freeze it with her vicious ones.

“Could you tell me where my iced oatmeal cookies are, Spikey?” she asked him, staring directly into his eyes. A small bead of sweat began to form across his face. Lavender looked at him blankly; she was still too young to understand everything that was going on, but she knew one thing…

A glance from Mommy could only mean bad things.

“Well..um…they ran out of them, so I had to come out empty handed,” Spike replied nervously.

“They ran out this early this morning?” Rarity raised an eyebrow, unconvinced by what he was saying.

“Hey, they’re pretty popular cookies I hear!”

“I see.” Rarity walked closer to Spike, leaning in really close to him and giving him a wry smile. “Well, you want a tip, darling?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Next time you decide to eat my cookies,” she began, licking her hoof and rubbing it across Spike’s crumby face, “make sure you get rid of all the evidence.” After cleaning the cookie bits off of the culprits face, she gently smacked him on the cheeks, soft enough to not hurt him, but stern enough to set her point.

“I specifically asked you to get those cookies so I could have something to snack on after I was done with my projects,” she scolded. “They were supposed to be a little stress reliever, a reward for a day’s hard work, and you ate all of them like a pig!”

Lavender noticed there were a few more crumbs on the other side of her father’s cheek. She stuck her forked tongue out and lapped the sugary chunks off of his face, smiling innocently.

“I’m sorry Rarity,” Spike responded, staring at Rarity with beady, apologetic eyes. She hated when he did that. He looked so innocent and helpless when he gave her those eyes, almost like a child. The anger she held for her husband at the moment slowly dissipated. She sighed and softened her expression.

“I swear sometimes I’m dealing with two children,” she giggled to herself. “Alright, I can give you a chance to redeem yourself. Sugercube Corner has these divine macadamia and white chocolate cookies that taste heavenly! I want you to bring me back about ten of those.

“Ten?!” Spike exclaimed, flailing one arm around while holding Lavender in the other. “Those cookies cost like seven bits a piece! That’ll leave me dry for the rest of the week.”

“Well darling, you should have thought about that before you inhaled all of my oatmeal cookies,” she stated deviously, pecking him on the cheeks. “Oh, and take Lavender with you. I would like some of these projects to be done in peace.”

Spike groaned at Rarity’s cruelty. “You’re lucky I love you, otherwise I wouldn’t put up with this,” Spike teased.

Rarity stuck her tongue out at him and then bypassed him, flicking his face with her tail. “You’re lucky I love you, otherwise I wouldn’t let you live here,” she retaliated, heading back to her work room. Spike just chuckled and grabbed Lavender, holding her up to his face. Still as innocent and oblivious of the situation, she happily giggled while being held by her father.

“Ready to go, Lavender?” Spike asked the toddler. She just flailed her arms around playfully in a fit of laughter.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He put the light purple on his shoulders, allowing her to ride him and walked out the door.

***

The streets of Ponyville were active as usual around this time of day. Many of the residence sat and talked with old friends, or made light conversations with the merchants in town. Spike made his way towards Sugarcube Corner with Lavender on his shoulders, nibbling on his green ear.

“You really like chewing on things, huh?” Spike laughed at the growling little dracony. “Ever since you got those tiny choppers in, you’ve been pouncing on us quite a bit!”

Lavender continued gnawing on her father’s ear, causing him to chuckle. Unlike the fashionista, Spike couldn’t feel the sting of Lavender’s bite, which made playing with her more manageable.

As the two traveled towards the shop, Spike noticed he was getting a few stares from a few ponies. Even though it was expected at this point, it made him feel slightly uncomfortable and a little agitated. Many of the stares were stares of malice and misunderstanding towards the offspring. Most of the citizens didn’t approve of the child’s existence; while not as vocal about it, it was clear that there was some hesitance in accepting the fact that something like Lavender could possibly exist. At one point, they were even congratulated for their ‘abomination’, something that brought Spike’s blood to a boil. The purple drake didn’t want to think about it too much, so he blocked out all the looks he and Lavender were receiving and focused on walking.

Reaching Sugercube Corner, he entered into the shop with intent to purchase his goddess’s treats.

““Welcome!” a bubbly and familiar voice called out from behind the counter. “Welcome, welcome!”

“Hey Pinkie,” Spike greeted, putting Lavender down. The whelp whimpered slightly once she was planted on the ground, but then preceded to feed her curiosity, exploring the floury floor. “How have you been doing?”

“Oh I’ve been doing just super!” she exclaimed, elated to see her friend again. “How about you!? It feels like I haven’t seen my favorite customer in ages!”

“Pinkie, it’s only been four days,” Spike laughed.

That’s too long!” Pinkie cried out dramatically, “especially when it means I can’t see little Lavie!!” Pinkie turned towards the dracony, making playful faces at her. Amused by the puffy maned mare, Lavender went into a laughing fit, clapping at the show she was receiving. It wasn’t until her belly began rumbling before her face went stoic.

“Ungra! Ungra!” Lavender exclaimed, opening her mouth wide and pointing a claw at her tongue.

“Ungra? Is that some kind of draconic speech?”

“No Pinkie,” Spike chuckled, finding her random ignorance cute, “she’s saying she’s hungry. She doesn’t know how to speak quite yet.” Spike looked at the hungry infant, who still was pointing at her tongue hoping to be fed sometime soon. “Hey Pinkie, could you do me a favor and find Lavender something to…”

Pinkie dashed to the kitchen and returned with a small batch of cookies, smiling widely.

“…eat.” Spike was stunned at how quick Pinkie had ran off and came back.

“What kind of pony would I be if I didn’t look out for the little cutie!?” she stated, leaving from behind the counter and heading towards Lavender. She gently nudged the surprised dracony onto her belly and started tickling it, causing her to giggle and buck her legs.

“I appreciate that Pinkie,” Spike thanked, “but if you don’t mind, could you find something more…hearty than cookies, maybe some nuts or vegetables or something? I don’t want my wife to kill me for ‘spoiling Lavender’s appetite’.”

“How would she find out?”

“Trust me, she has ways of finding out.”

Pinkie brought a hoof to her chin, thinking about what she could possibly have for the hungry dracony. After a little thought, a light bulb went off in her head and she rushed back to the kitchen. She came back with a small bag.

“These are some pecans that we were going to use for our special caramel brownies, but I think feeding that little belly is more important!” Pinkie gleefully said. “Here you go little Lavie!”

Lavender walked towards the bag, sniffing it out of instincts. Once she found out what was in the bag, she dug her claws in and picked up the nuts and popped them into her mouth, munching on them with a content face. Spike smiled warmly at the little glutton as she stuffed her face with the delectable treat.

“So, what brings you here today!?” Pinkie asked, bouncing back to the counter.

“I’m here on an important task: feeding my wife’s sweet tooth so she won’t kill me,” Spike chuckled. “I ate her special oatmeal cookies on the way home from the store this morning.”

Without warning, the pink bomb gasped loudly, receiving a confused look from the scalely drake. “Were they the ones with the white frosting lathered all over them!?”

“Yep, those are the ones.”

“OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing all over the place. “Those cookies are just sooooo good! I haven’t had them in weeks but when I did it was a flavor explosion in my mouth! So chewy, yummy, and frostastic! They are the best cookies I’ve ever tasted! Better than the ones the Cakes make!” Pinkie then leaned into Spike and whispered (or what she thought was whispering) into his ear, “don’t tell them I said that though!”

At that moment, the whole world would have known what Pinkie said. In fact, Spike was almost positive the owners had heard her, especially since they were giggling slightly in the background; but for Pinkie’s sake, he decided to go along with it.

“Don’t worry Pinkie. I won’t tell a soul; dragon’s honor!”

Pinkie seemed satisfied with his answer. “So I suppose you’re here because she made you buy her some more goodies?”

“Sounds about right,” Spike replied. “So do you have…”

“Super yummy macadamia cookies?!” Pinkie finished.

“Um, yeah. And could you make sure they have…”

“The white chocolate bits?! The ones Rarity seem to like a lot!?”

“Yeah those!” Spike smiled, impressed by her ability to read into what customers wanted.

“Nope, we don’t have any today!” Pinkie answered, still smiling.

“Oh, I see.”

“But, I can make a batch for you if you want. The wait will be around an hour.”

“Really, you’ll do that?”

“Anything for a friend!” Pinkie winked. “And I’ll even give you them half off!”

“Oh no, Pinkie. You don’t have to…”

“But I want to! Just looking out for the cookie monster!” Pinkie grabbed Spike’s chubby cheek and pinched it. He was glad no one was there to view that, otherwise he would die of embarrassment.

“I appreciate it Pinkie,” Spike thanked. “I’ll see you in an hour. Lavender, let’s go home!”

The infants ears perked after hearing her name being called and she ran towards her loving father. She stood in front of her father, flicking her tail in anticipation.

“So what does my little glutton want?” Spike teased, knowing exactly what she wanted.

“Appa!” she cried out holding her arms out as normal. “Appa Daddy!”

Spike did a double take at the response he received. “Um, what was that, honey?”

“Daddy Appa!” she called out clenching her claws as usual. The proud father could feel tears welling up in his eyes. His daughter’s first words!

“OH MY!” Pinkie gasped, “Her first words! Her very first words!”

Lavender’s smile began to diminish slightly. She didn’t understand why her daddy wasn’t picking her up. She instead resorted to grunting in agitation. “Daddy, Appa!”

“Oh yeah, right.” Refusing to keep the baby waiting longer, he extended his arms out and lifted her up, causing the smile to return to her. “Looks like we have something to tell Mommy when we get back home.”

***

Taking a break from her busy schedule, the elegant, violet maned mare reclined on her divan, brushing a relaxed Opalescence. She had already dealt with her tail situation, so grooming the lazy cat felt like the most sensible thing to do next.

“How much do you want to bet that Spikey will return with only a few of my cookies intact?” Rarity giggled. Opalescence just responded by stretching her claws out.

“Ah, but I know he doesn’t mean any ill will towards it. He’s my big dopey dragon, and I love him regardless. Though I wish he didn’t help raise such a wild child.” Rarity sighed slightly, remembering the outcry Lavender caused when she messed with Opalescence’s mouse.

The small infant tore the toy into a fluffy mess, causing the spoiled cat to become outraged and start swatting at her. Of course, Lavender not knowing any better thought it was just a game, so she swatted back with her claws, hissing playfully at the Opal. This was enough to make her retreat from the menacing child and accept defeat in the hands of a baby dracony.

“Maybe it’s just her innate instinct,” Rarity thought. “After all, she is part dragon; maybe that’s how they play as babies.”

“Rarity!!” The mare’s ears perked at the outcry. She hopped off her seat and headed towards the front door, noticing Spike holding Lavender, but not her treats.

“So, what happened to my cookies?” Rarity asked coldly.

“Now’s not the time to be worrying about your silly cookies!” Spike exclaimed. “I have some good news.”

“And that would be?”

Spike grinned widely, his pearly whites on full display. Rarity was starting to get anxious; anything that had Spike glowing with happiness must have been good.

“Well, what is it?”

The small infant cocked her head towards her mother and began to smile.

“Mommy!”

Rarity couldn’t believe her ears. She covered her mouth with one of her hooves at the revelation of what her daughter had just uttered.

“She …she just spoke!”

“Yep! She spoke her first words at Sugarcube Corner,” Spike declared proudly. “Though this is her first time saying Mommy.”

Tears of joy began to trickle down Rarity’s face, the mascara she had on slowly ran down her face.

“Oh, and about your cookies,” Spike began to explain, “they didn’t have any in stock, but Pinkie offered to bake you more…”

“Oh, forget about those things,” Rarity waved off, still smiling brightly. “This more than made up for your misbehavior this morning.”

Spike held the puffy cheeked Lavender out, chuckling. “Well thanks Lavender! I wish you would have said something before I ended up buying her stupid cookies!”

“Don’t blame her for your incompetence,” Rarity teased. “It wasn’t her fault you ate them on your way home.”

Spike rolled his eyes, staring lovingly at the giddy dracony. “Yeah, I suppose so.” Lavender giggled in response, holding her arm out to be held closer by him.

“I wuv yoo Daddy!” Spike’s lips quivered at her first sentence. He brought her closer to him and said the most appropriate thing he could say at the moment.

“I love you too, my little Lavender.”

Author's Note

I hope you guys still like this. If you think things are going slow, be patient. There will be much more to look forward to, and next chapter Lavender will actually have full speach, so her interaction/character will be fleshed out more.

Also, you guys are cray-cray! Over 600 faves in a day :pinkiegasp: ?! You're all nuts...in a good way :pinkiehappy:

Sweet Sweet Lavender

“But Mooom!”

“No buts, young lady!”

The young dracony was practically begging at her mother’s hooves. Rarity ignored her daughters antics while strapping a bag around her back. “I’ll do anything!” Lavender whined.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, you’re not changing my mind about this.”

“Oh I know! I’ll stop eating the gems you keep in your cabinet!” the desperate little dracony pleaded.

“I’d appreciate it if you stopped, but that won’t stop this from happening.”

“Come on Mom! You’re not giving me much to work with here!” Lavender cried out.

“Listen here young lady, this was never up for negotiation! You’re going to school whether you like it or not!”

Lavender’s hopes crashed down on her heavily. Defeated in her attempts to persuade her mother, she sat in the middle of Rarity’s bedroom floor and folded her arms, lips pouting out in annoyance.

“Getting an attitude isn’t going to change anything, sweetie,” Rarity stated, looking into the mirror to carefully attach her eyelashes and powder.

“It’s not fair…” Lavender moped, staring at the floor in frustration. After finishing with her makeup, Rarity trotted towards the distraught dracony and leaned her head down to eye level.

“Now Lavender, every filly and colt has to go to school so they can grow up and become smart,” Rarity explained. “It’s just how things are.”

“Mom, I’m not really a filly,” Lavender argued.

“No, but you are my daughter; and as my daughter you have go to school like everypony else. There are no exceptions to the rule.”

“Daddy didn’t have to go to school,” Lavender groaned.

“Your father….was a special circumstance,” Rarity stated patting her daughters head to ease her of the idea. “He was the assistant of your Aunt Twilight, who taught and raised him herself so he didn’t need to go to school for an education.”

That was it! Lavender had the answer she needed. “What if I get Auntie to teach me then? She’s smarter than most other ponies, so I’ll get a better education if she teaches me!”

The snow white mare shook her head. “Honey, we aren’t going to bother her with something we can take care of ourselves. Besides, you’re already enrolled in school so there’s no backing out of it now.”

Lavender sighed, disappointed that all her attempts to get out of going to school failed.

“We’ll talk about this later Lavender. Right now your father and I are going out for a while so I want you to be on your best behavior while I’m gone.”

“Yes maam,” Lavender answered turning away slightly, grumbling. “I’m going to raid your dresser later today...”

“What was that young lady?” Rarity asked, glaring at the little deviant.

“I said I wonder if you can find a good hairdresser these days.” Lavender tried to convince her mother that she was telling the truth, smiling widely to sell it.

“I see…” Rarity responded, unsure of what her daughter actually said. “Well, let’s go downstairs then. We’ll be leaving soon.”

With no other argument to give, the little dracony followed her mother downstairs and into the living room to where the two found Spike lying on the couch snoring quite loudly. Rarity giggled at the lazy drake and nudged him.

“Get up sleepy head,” she commanded causing his eyes to slowly open up. “I swear that’s all you do these days: eat and sleep.”

The lanky dragon sat up and stretched, yawning loudly. “Maybe if you didn’t take a thousand years to apply that makeup, I wouldn’t be inclined to fall asleep so often. I mean, we’re only going gem hunting!”

Lavender stood and watched as her parents argued, the little dracony giggling at their banter. This was her last chance to weasel her way out of her predicament.

“Daddy,” she began looking at him with big beady eyes. “Do I have to go to school?”

“Lavender, we already discussed this upstairs,” Rarity began, her tone more agitated than normal.

“I believe that question was directed towards me, Rares,” Spike interrupted, earning Rarity’s disapproving glances. Lavender grinned widely, believing she had found her solution.

“So, you don’t want to go to school, is that it?”

“Yes Daddy!” Lavender stated ecstatically, her tail wagging about.

“Sorry kiddo, but you need to go to school. I’ll give you an ‘A’ for trying, though.”

And once again, her hopes have been shot down. Lavender sighed sadly and looked down.

“Now come on Lavender, you got to be a big girl for Daddy!” Spike stated lifting her chin with his claw and smiling at her. “It’s not going to be that bad; you might even make some friends.”

The upset dracony looked away. “I doubt it...” A small frown formed on Spike’s face. He hated seeing his daughter so distraught, especially considering he too was worried about her going to school.

“C’mon, Lavender,” Spike whispered, trying to fill his daughter with more hope. “It’s not going to be the end of the world. I want you to be a good girl for us, especially in school. You don’t want Mommy to get mad, do you?”

“No sir,” Lavender sighed. Rarity heard someone knock on the front door, well aware of who it could be.

“I’ll get it,” Rarity stated trotting to the door. Spike took this opportunity to whisper something in Lavender’s ears.

“You know those gems in the cabinet you’ve been eating?”

“What about them, Daddy?”

“I can sneak in and get some a lot easier than you can. If you promise to be on your best behavior at school, I’ll sneak some out for you.”

“Really!” Lavender exclaimed excitedly, forgetting that her mother was only a few feet away, forcing Spike to improvise as Rarity turned towards the two crooks.

“Yes sweetheart, you are the best little gift that happened to me!” Spike stated nudging Lavender’s nose; Spike winked at his daughter, her confusion at his statement fading away as she came to the realization that he was misleading her mother. Rarity softly smiled and resumed to the door, pushing it open to let the guest in.

“I must say you are a real lifesaver,” Rarity began. “We were running low on gems and it’s becoming increasingly hard to find a babysitter to watch Lavender while we’re out.”

“It’s no problem,” a sweet voice chimed. Rarity took a step back to let her sister Sweetie Belle in.

Rarity’s swirly maned sister walked inside the house with a warm complexion. After finally figuring out her talent, she began practicing her singing. She eventually applied to the Canterlot Conservatory of Music, being accepted in a heartbeat. Now that she moved to Canterlot, Sweetie didn’t get to come to Ponyville often because of her schedule, but when she did she always made sure to visit her sister, brother in law, and niece first.

"So, how did everything go?" Rarity asked.

“Everything went better than expected,” Sweetie Belle smiled hugging her sister. “My voice strained a bit because I was nervous, but they were impressed nonetheless. They want me to come back and sing for them again!”

“That’s splendid!” Rarity joyously proclaimed, returning the strong embrace. “I’m very proud of you, darling. You’ve grown to be a very talented young lady.”

Sweetie Belle waved a hoof in denial. “Who me? Naw, I’m just somepony just trying to make a living.”

“Auntie!” Lavender chirped right as she noticed her aunt was here, jolting past her mother and tackled the unsuspecting pink and purple maned mare.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite little niece!” Sweetie smiled, lifting herself up and wrapping Lavender in her arms.

Silly Auntie!” Lavender giggled, “I’m your only niece!”

“Oh, so that’s why there’s no other competition for my affection then!”

Lavender giggled, hugging her favorite Aunt and nudging against her. The display gave Spike and Rarity a warm feeling inside.

“Well, as much as I would like to catch up with you, we should get going. We have a lot of work to do if we want to get back by sunset.”

“I’m not looking forward to doing all the work,” Spike dully responded.

“I help!” Rarity stated, offended that Spike would suggest she does nothing. “I search for the gems and you dig them up. I say the work is divided equally!”

Spike simply rolled his eyes, knowing it was best not to argue with her. “Whatever you say hon. Whatever you say…”

He leaned towards Lavender, who was still tightly held by Sweetie Belle, and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Now you be good for Sweetie Belle, okay?”

“Ok Daddy,” Lavender giddily replied.

“There’s food in the fridge in case either of you get hungry,” Rarity stated walking towards the door. “She does not get any sweets until she eats all her dinner. We’ll see you two later this afternoon!”

“Alright sis,” Sweetie waved. “See ya Rarity! See ya Spike.”

“Bye Mommy and Daddy!”

They exchanged their goodbyes and the couple walked off together, leaving the young dracony and her aunt by themselves.

“So now that they’re gone, how’s my little niece doing?” Sweetie asked, rubbing Lavender’s hair playfully.

“Fine Auntie,” Lavender responded. “I missed you while you were gone. How was Canterlot!?”

“It’s pretty spectacular. It’s definitely higher standard than Ponyville, so you get a few snobbish ponies, but other than that it’s really fun! When I’m not practicing my singing, I’m out with some friends exploring the sights, and eating some of the finest delicacies ever. Which reminds me…”

Sweetie Belle put down the bag she had on her back and levitated a bunch of white chocolate brownies wrapped in foil towards . She uncoiled the plastic wrapping and pulled one of the brownies out, sending it towards Lavender. The purple dracony’s eyes lit up when she saw the delectable treat dangling in her face.

“But, Mommy said I can’t eat that until I eat dinner first,” Lavender reminded Sweetie.

“Well, Mommy’s not here is she,” Sweetie replied deviously, tempting the easily swayed child into taking it.

“I guess not,” Lavender replied grabbing the brownie, biting a huge chunk of the chewy treat. Lavender hummed in delight, smiling widely as she chewed on the brownie.

“Methinks someone likes it!” Sweetie laughed watching as Lavender tore into the brownie.

“Yef mwam! Phank wu!” Lavender tried to speak as small spurts of brownie shot out of her mouth.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Sweetie giggled. “I’ll bring you back some napkins after I check up on Opal.”

Lavender sat there eating the sugary snack. She watched as Sweetie Belle walked away, taking a better note at Sweetie’s cutie mark. The mark was a ringing silver bell, covering two conjoined hearts.

“Auntie Sweetie, how long have you had your cutie mark?” Lavender asked after swallowing her mouthful of brownie. She set the remaining brownie on the cabinet and followed Sweetie in order to hear her answer.

“Well Lavender, I’ve had it ever since you were just a little baby,” Sweetie smiled, grabbing the cat’s water bowl to fill it. “In fact, you were the reason I got to explore my special talent.”

“I was?”

Sweetie nodded as she tended to Opalescence’s needs. The cat looked nonchalantly at them as Lavender’s aunt as she filled her bowls with food and water.

“I remember when you were just a toddler. Every night I came over into your room to sing you a lullaby. I still remember it so well because I made it just for you.”

Sweet sweet Lavender, bright and full of love
Sweet sweet Lavender, my angel from above
Close those tired eyes and drift into your dreams
Under the alluring light of the moonbeams
And one thing will always remain true
I will always be here for you
Sweet sweet Lavender, bright as can be
Sweet sweet Lavender, means everything to me

“You’re really good!” Lavender complimented.

“It was thanks to you that I even recognized it,” Sweetie stated. “It was your favorite song growing up.”

“It still is.” Lavender hugged her aunt and smiled widely. After exchanging warm embraces, the little dracony looked at her flank out of curiosity.

“I don’t think I can get a cutie mark, can I?” Lavender innocently asked.

“I’m not quite sure, but I don’t think it really matters,” Sweetie replied. “You can find your own special talent whether you can get a cutie mark or not.”

“But I don’t have a talent yet!”

“Trust me, you’ll find something you’re good at eventually.”

Lavender sat and pouted once more. “Great, I’m talentless, I can’t get a cutie mark, and I’m not like other ponies. I’m going to hate school.”

“It won’t be that bad, Lavender,” Sweetie Belle tried to comfort. “I know you’ll enjoy it.”

“But what if somepony is mean to me? You were bullied as a child, and you’re actually normal!”

“True, but I also had friends,” Sweetie stated. “Two close friends that I still hang out with to this day.”

“I suppose,” Lavender sighed.

“Also, there’s nothing wrong with you not being normal ‘cause you’re my special little niece. There is no one else like you, and I want you to realize how special that makes you.”

With that, Sweetie Belle kissed Lavender’s forehead, causing her worries to melt.

“Auntie, can we play a game?” Lavender asked.

“I have no problem with that? What do you want to play?”

“How…about….TAG!! You’re it!” Lavender tapped Sweetie Belle on the shoulders and ran off, leaving her aunt there giggling.

“Ohoh, it is ON!” Sweetie shouted out, giving chase towards the energetic dracony.

***

The couple spent most of the day searching for gems to restock on Rarity’s supply. She organized the gems into two piles, one for her work and the other for her husband and daughter to snack on. Spike pulled the heavy haul of gems, following behind his wife who was leading in the front.

“Mind helping with some of these!” Spike grunted. “These things are getting heavier by the second."

“Oh, I know I can leave it up to you deary,” Rarity flattered, wrapping her arms around him. “You’re a very strong and burly dragon after all.”

His ego inflated so much it was visible. He boldly smiled at his wife’s compliment and kept moving forward without complaining.

“This was an impressive bunch we got today,” Spike smiled. “I say all in all it was a good dig.”

“Indeed it was, Spikey,” Rarity responded. “Indeed it was.”

The two carried on idle conversations as they trotted down the mountain. The sky turned orange as the sun began to recede into the horizon. While walking, Spike’s stomach rumbled loudly, indicating something that was extremely obvious to the both of them.

“Um, Rarity, could we stop and get something to eat somewhere?” Spike suggested, patting his stomach.

“Can’t you just wait until we get back home?”

“Not really…”

“Come now darling, we’re almost home and we have food over there. You’ll just have to wait.”

“Okay, fine you win,” Spike submitted, dropping the two baskets of gems he was holding to raise his hands in defeat. “Looks like I’ll just starve to death…”

Rarity rolled her eyes at her husband. “You’ll be fine, dear.”

Spike started to playfully moan. “I’m so hungry…”

He dramatically collapsed on the ground, making sure none of the gems fell out of their baskets. He was on the floor wriggling around, holding his stomach as if it started to digest his own innards for nourishment.

“I’m going to die… if only my wife took me to go eat out somewhere… ” Spike said weakly before making a few guttural noises. He then went limp, eyes closed as he feigned his own death.

Rarity walked over to her husband after watching his performance, slowly shaking her head. “You really are childish sometimes, dear.”

“I can’t hear you. I died of starvation,” Spike smiled.

She went over and planted a small kiss on his lips. “Fine, we’ll go get something to eat, but let’s get it to go. I just want to get home and take a shower already.”

Spike smiled victoriously as he rose up and grabbed the baskets. “Thanks Rares!”

The two decided to eat at a local outdoor restaurant. They walked towards the building to claim their seats and menus and sat at an umbrella protected table. There weren’t too many ponies sitting around, so it left for a quite atmosphere, which Spike enjoyed.

“Can’t wait to get something to eat!” Spike stated, licking his lips and rubbing his hands together.

“I bet you can’t,” Rarity chuckled. “It seems like that’s all you like to do.”

“I like to do other things.”

“Like what?”

“Mess with you,” Spike playfully answered.

“Yes, you do quite a lot of that...”

The two sat and talked until a young, brown colt walked towards them. He was carrying his order book in his mouth, preparing service the two.

“Good afternoon, I’m Cherry Fizzy and I will be your waiter today. Can I get you anything mam?”

“I will take the narcissus on rye, no mayo and extra tomatoes please,” Rarity ordered. “Oh, and if you don’t mind, could you add a little extra hay fries?” Her husband stifled his giggles, causing her to scrunch her face up a bit. She’s been married to the drake long enough to know what he was implying. She could practically read it on his facial expressions.

But Rares, whatever happened to getting rid of that baby belly of yours? It’s been four years and you still have it, all because you eat like a little piggy! She knew Spike wanted to blurt it out, but for his own health, he decided to hold off.

“Why of course,” the waiter replied jotting it down on his pad. “And how about your friend over here, what would you like?”

“Husband, actually.” Spike corrected, showing him his emerald crusted engagement ring.

“Husband?”

“Yes, husband, as in happily married.”

“Ahh I see!” Cherry Fizzy responded. “So you’re the couple ponies have been talking about!”

“Talking about?” Spike asked stoically.

“Yeah! My boss told me about this one dressmaker who actually decided to marry a dragon of all things! When I heard this, I didn’t believe the stallion; it sounded too crazy to be true. But here I am, talking to the unusual couple!”

Spike clenched his fist in agitation, knowing that the gossip surrounding them could only be negative things.

“I see you’re new here if you just now know about this,” Rarity stated, keeping herself calm.

“Actually I am. Moved here a few weeks ago. Man, you two are the talk of the town! Why did you marry a dragon? It wasn’t because you had no other options was it? You couldn’t have possibly done it out of desperation.”

Spike tried to keep his cool, but his anger was boiling over at this point. Rarity glanced at Spike, giving him a reassuring look, calming the disturbed dragon. She then returned her focus to the waiter.

“Well, that’s not really any of your…”

“Oh, and is it true that you have a child? That’s so unusual! Ponies say it’s like some kind of lizard thing…”

“LIZARD THING!!” Spike stood up and looked down on the slightly intimidated colt. Everypony was now staring at the enraged dragon as he roared at their waiter.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Cherry replied shakily. “I’m just saying what I heard. It’s not my place to judge you two on what you decide to bring into this world.”

“Just take my order,” Spike hissed, green embers blowing out of his nose as he sat down. “Half of a poesy pita, no hay fries. Make both of ours to go.”

Cherry jotted down his orders and acted as if there wasn’t a conflict at all. “Your food should be here shortly. Please enjoy.”

“Thank you,” Rarity replied.

“Yeah, thanks,” Spike huffed as the colt trotted to the kitchen to fill the order. “Ass…”

The irate dragon received a light tap on the skull for his harsh word. “Spike, there is no need for that kind of talk.”

“No need! He blatantly insulted our relationship and our child!”

“One, I’d like it if you didn’t have that tone with me. And two, you weren’t really helping the matter much by intimidating him. You’re just going to give him more of a reason to say rubbish about us.”

“So what, just sit here and let him treat my family and I like trash?!”

“Spike, their words are empty. They mean nothing, especially if you know they aren’t true.”

"So, that’s what you’re going to tell Lavender if she comes home hurt from the bullying she’ll get at school?”

Rarity fell silent, staring at the dragon whose complexion has turned from angered to saddened. The true concern has finally come out, resulting in the alabaster mare to put a hoof on Spike’s chin and look into his eyes.

“I know you’re worried about how others will treat our daughter,” she began warmly. “I am too. But we aren’t going to help her by keeping her locked up inside for the rest of her life.”

Spike looked into the loving mares sapphire eyes, softening his expression even more. “Yeah, I know. This is going to be rough on her though.”

And that’s why we’re here, to make it easier on her.” Rarity smiled softly. “Now please, from now on try not to make such a scene. You aren’t cute when you’re angry.”

Spike was still discouraged by the comment of the waiter, but for the sake of his wife, he gave the biggest smile he could without seeming forced. “For you Rarity, I’ll do anything. Can’t have you thinking I’m not cute too often.”

The two sat and waited for their food to return, making light conversations like they had never experienced the little incident they did. After about ten minutes, the waiter returned with two paper bags, placing them on the table.

“Your orders,” Cherry replied. “That will total up to 15 bits.”

The two paid for the meal and finally left for home.

***

“Lavender, where are you!” Sweetie Belle yelled. She had looked all around the house for the missing dracony, but was unable to find her. She checked every little nook and cranny around the boutique for her niece. No matter where she looked, Sweetie Belle could not find her.

“Where in Equestria is she?” Sweetie asked herself, scratching her head. “Not too many areas she could be.”

She checked the open space of the backyard, but found nothing. Little did she know, was that there was a pair of dilated eyes watching her from the bushes.

That’s it, just a little closer.

Sweetie Belle heard a rustling sound come from the bushes. She cautiously made her way towards them to find the sneaky little girl. Sweetie opened some of the bushes to see if she could find her, but with no luck.

“Ugh, she’s too good at this,” Sweetie sighed in slight frustration. “Might as well look back inside…”

“RAWR!!” Sweetie Belle didn’t have time to react. She was tackled and thrown to the ground before she knew it. A giddy Lavender danced on top of her, happy with her accomplishment.

“Hah! I got you, I got you!” Lavender sang gleefully. “Predator captured her prey…again!”

“Where do you come up with these games?” Sweetie Belle asked, both laughing hysterically. “Come on; let’s go inside for a bit.”

“Aww, but I wanted to play some more,” Lavender whined stepping off of her aunt.

“We’ve played all day Lavender. Right now Auntie’s tired and wants to do something that is less taxing on her limbs. Why don’t you we play with some of your toys?”

“Okay,” Lavender sighed, walking back inside the boutique, Sweetie Belle following behind. The musically talented mare splayed herself on the couch and lied down, resting herself from a long day with her niece. Just as she was about to get comfortable, the door opened, revealing Spike and Rarity.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Lavender called out running to give her parents a hug. She immediately went after Spike, who grabbed her with one arm and hugged.

“How’s Daddy’s little girl doing?” Spike said, smiling at the dirty dracony.

“Good,” Lavender chimed. “Mommy! Sweetie and I played all day today!”

“I can tell,” Rarity cringed, causing much confusion within the dracony.

“Something wrong, Mom?”

“Well, it’s just that you’re so dirty!” Rarity replied dramatically. Lavender looked at herself, not seeming to give much notice to it. “You have grass and leaves all in your mane, your coat is thick with dried mud, and you smell like…”

Rarity cut herself off after getting a strong whiff of what Lavender smelled like. It was strong enough to make Rarity hand Spike her bag of food and levitate Lavender.

“Hey!” the young girl cried out. “What gives?”

“I can’t have you lying around here when you’re so messy and unclean,” Rarity stated. “You’re going to get washed up now!”

“Come on Mommy, I’m not that bad!”

“I beg to differ, sweetie.”

The two continued on arguing with each other as Rarity carried her up the stairs to the bathroom. Sweetie turned to Spike and giggled.

“Are those two always like that with each other?”

Spike let out an exaggerated sigh, grinning at his sister in law. “Sweetie, you don’t know the half of it.”

Author's Note

Don't die of diabetes again. I can't handle the lawsuits.

School's In Session

The streets of Ponyville were looking to be busy that morning, because it was the first day the little children were going back to school. All the fillies and colts were roaming the walking towards school, ready to meet their old friends again as they exceled to the next grade. Even first timers were eager to meet new faces, happily talking to their parents as they were walked to school.

Inside the boutique however, there was less enthusiasm from the little dracony living inside. Lavender sat still moping as her mother prepped her for her first day.

“Do you have everything in your backpack?” Rarity asked, curling her daughter’s hair.

“Yes mom,” Lavender groaned.

“You remembered to pack your glue, crayons, pencils, tissue?”

“Yes ma'am.”

“Good!” Rarity released Lavender once she finished working on her hair. “So what are the rules when coming back home?”

Lavender sighed, annoyed that she had to recite her mother’s rules once again.

“Come home as soon as the bell rings unless I have permission to do otherwise. No talking to strangers. No walking off with stallions, mares, zebras, donkeys, yada yada, that I don’t know.”

“And if a stranger talks to you?”

“Mom!” Lavender impatiently blurted.

“I’m just making sure you understand so nothing bad happens to my precious little Lavender,” Rarity stated. “No reason to get all huffy about it young lady.”

“Yes ma'am. I’m sorry,” Lavender apologized.

“It’s quite alright. Just go get your stuff and wait downstairs with your father. We’ll walk you to school today so you know where to go.”

“Okay!” Lavender obeyed beginning to walk off to her room to grab her backpack.

“Wait a minute!” Rarity stopped her daughter and grabbed a small cloth with her magic. “I think I spotted a little drool on the side of your face!”

Rarity went towards Lavender and began to rub the cloth against her cheek. “Can’t have my wittle princess going out like a drool monster now can I?”

“Moooom!” Lavender groaned as Rarity continued cleaning her face.

“Almost done.” Rarity kept rubbing the cloth against the little dracony’s face, much to her disapproval. “There! Much better!”

“You can’t possibly embarrass me for the rest of my life can you?” Lavender asked, receiving a small chuckle from her mother.

“Sweetie, even when you grow up into a nice young lady, I’m still entitled to embarrass you,” Rarity smiled. “Now get your backpack and go downstairs. We’ll take you to school shortly.”

“Yes ma'am,” Lavender complied, rushing towards her room to avoid her mother’s OCD habits and grabbing her backpack. She trotted downstairs and headed towards her father, who was sitting in the living room. Lavender jolted a bit when she heard a loud screeching sound. She hadn’t realized that she had stepped on Opalescence’s tail, causing the poor cat’s fur to coil up in pain.

“Oh, sorry Opal,” Lavender apologized stroking the cat's fur. Opal knew what was coming next and didn’t want any part in it. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t quick enough to escape Lavender’s grasp, as the dracony grabbed the cat and gave her a nice, strong hug.

“Opal, you’re a very cute kitty,” the oblivious Lavender smiled as Opalescence tried to escape her grip, kicking and straining in vain. When Lavender was an infant, Opal attempted to swat at her, only to be scolded by Rarity for her act. Even if she was allowed to swat at the young dracony, it wouldn’t do her any good as Lavender would probably see this as her playing and swat back. So for Opal, it was a lose/lose situation she had to deal with if she wanted to eat.

“So, is my little girl ready for school today?” Spike asked, walking in on the one sided cuddling.

“No,” Lavender bluntly answered.

“I didn’t think you would, but remember what I told you yesterday.” Spike winked at his daughter causing her to bear a wide grin.

“OK.”

“Now, about Opal, I think you should let her go.”

“But why?” Lavender wined stroking the cats head. “She likes it when I hug her!”

Opalescence looked pleadingly at Spike, hoping that he could convince the little girl to release her.

“While that may be true,” Spike chuckled, “Mommy won’t like it if you have cat dandruff all over you after she just cleaned you.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right Daddy.” Lavender let go of Opal, much to the cat’s relief, and watched as she scurried away from the rough dracony.

“Now, we just wait for your mother,” Spike impatiently added. They waited for the fashion loving pony to get done with whatever she was doing, sharing small talk while they waited. It wasn’t too long before Rarity came downstairs, sporting a big hat with a peacock feather.

“So, you had us waiting so you could find yourself a giant unnecessary hat?” Spike taunted as Rarity harrumphed at his statement.

“This unnecessary hat dear, will keep the sun off me so I don’t get burned. Not all of us are graced with perfect scales that prevent sunburns!”

“Yeah yeah,” Spike wavered off, rolling his eyes. “Now, if there isn’t anything else you need to powder or put on before we go, let’s get our daughter to school.”

“Yes, lets,” Rarity agreed, walking alongside her husband and daughter and exiting the boutique.

The three walked down the busy streets of Ponyville. The clamor of the little fillies and colts nearly drowned out the voices of everypony else on the streets.

“Everypony sure seems excited to go to school,” Lavender analyzed looking at her potential schoolmates.

“That’s because they’re eager to make new friends,” Rarity said. “All these little ponies will go off to class and make at least one friend to play with.”

“Yeah, everypony but me.”

“Now Lavender, I’m sure that you’ll make some friends in school as well.”

“Right, and I’m not a dracony!” Lavender droned stubbornly.

Rarity sighed in annoyance. “Spike, could you please talk to Lavender?”

“What am I supposed to tell her?” Spike asked wondering how he got dragged into this. “Am I supposed to just pretend she isn’t going to have ponies judge her!?”

Lavender frowned, causing Rarity to glare at her husband. If he didn’t try to fix the situation he would really be in a rut.

“But, those who do judge don’t know what a precious gem you are,” Spike began. “You shouldn’t listen to what those ponies say, because they only want to make you feel bad about yourself.”

“Yes Daddy,”

“I made pony friends when I was young, and I’m a dragon. A giant, ferocious, fire breathing dragon!”

The silly green dragon flared his teeth at Lavender, causing her to laugh at her father’s failed attempt at being menacing.

“So, do you feel a little better about school?” Spike asked.

Lavender pondered on it for a moment, thinking about what both her parents had told her. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

“Well good,” Rarity smiled. “Because we’re already here!”

The three walked towards the schoolhouse, watching as newcomers hugged their parents and ran inside. Lavender looked at the pink schoolhouse with slight disappointment.

“Something wrong sweetie,” Rarity asked, noticing Lavender cocking her head to the side.

“No, it’s nothing. It’s just that this school looks….kinda small. It’s smaller than our own house.”

“Well that’s just because it’s a small schoolhouse for new ponies like you,” Rarity explained. “Once you’ve passed at least 3 years here, they move you on to another level, where you go for higher learning. Most of the education will be on certain talents you’re good at.”

“Oh, I see.”

The school bell rang constantly, signaling the start of the new school year. All of the ponies trotted towards the building, ready to start their new adventure.

“Well, looks like school started,” Spike said, stating the obvious. “Now, I want you to be on your best behavior and obey the teacher. If you have a good day today we’ll go for ice cream when you get home, alright?”

“Ok Daddy,” Lavender replied, running towards him for a hug. “I love you,”

“You make it sound like I’ll never see you again,” Spike laughed. “But I love you too, pumpkin.”

Lavender then ran towards her mother and nudged against her affectionately. “Love you Mommy.”

“I love you too sweetie. Now head off to class, and have fun!”

Lavender walked towards the schoolhouse, ready as she would ever be to tackle the day. Once she entered the building, the couple began to walk back to the boutique. Rarity noticed Spike sighing slightly, looking at him with concern.

“You’re still worried about her?” Rarity asked. Spike simply nodded, frowning a bit.

“I really hope they don’t give her such a hard time.”

“Oh Spike, you’re stressing yourself out over this,” Rarity stated cuddling against him. “It’s going to take more than a couple of school children to dishearten her fully. She’ll find friends there who accept her for who she is, just how I accept you for what you are.”

Spike smiled at his lovely wife; it always warmed and comforted him when she stated how their differences didn’t matter. “I’m glad you did. You’re the best thing that happened to me.”

“So, what can we do to get my big, burly dragon to stop worrying about Lavender in school?” Rarity said in a lower tone than usual.

“Well…your words have already calmed this dragon down,” Spike stated, noticing Rarity wrapping her hooves around him. He flushed slightly at her touch.

“Well, that’s nice and all,” she began in a sultry voice. “But isn’t there another way we can ease the tension you might be having?”

Spike gulped loudly at her implications. Not trying to jump the gun, he decided to press on. “Wh…what do you mean exactly?”

Rarity walked in front of her drake and dragged her tail towards his nose, forcing him to smell the perfume on her. “Well, this will be the first time for about five years that we’ve had legit alone time. Why not make the most of it?”

There was no doubt about what she wanted at that point. She giggled lovingly and swayed her hips, hypnotizing Spike into following her to the boutique for what would surely be a good time.

***

Lavender became lost in the sea of ponies bypassing her and heading towards their classroom. She found that it would be better to follow the crowd to easily find her way around the small building. One thing that disturbed her was the amount of glares she was receiving by the ponies. The glances ranged from looks of confusion, fear, and what could possibly be malice. She looked towards the ground to avoid looking at their gazes.

It didn’t take her too long to find her classroom. Most of the seats were available at the time, so she decided it would be best to claim a seat before the other ponies got there, taking the best ones. She didn’t want to sit directly in the front of the class to avoid attention, and sitting in the back will lead her not to be noticed (though that also wasn’t a bad thing). After quickly thinking, she decided to sit in the middle of the classroom. She sat at the desk next to a blue filly with silver mane, looking disgusted at the fact that Lavender chose the seat.

“Excuse me,” she began, “but why did you decide to sit here?”

“Because it was an empty seat,” Lavender bluntly stated, causing the snobbish filly to huff a bit.

“Well, normally I’d tell you to get up and sit somewhere else, however it would seem the entire class is already here,” the filly scoffed. “Besides, knowing you, you’re probably incapable of obeying orders.”

“Wha…” Lavender couldn’t understand this mare at all. Why was she judging her instantly? Lavender wanted to bad mouth her so badly, but remembered what her mother told her:

Treat other ponies how you would like to be treated. Even if others are rude, you must act like a young lady and counter their rudeness with politeness.

Those words plagued Lavender’s mind like a curse, but if she was going to get her ice cream (not to mention her mother’s secret stash courtesy of her father) she was going to have to be kind.

“Well anyways, my name’s Lavender,” she stated extending a claw out. “What’s yours?”

“Who wants to know?”

“Me. I’m just trying to get to know you!”

The silver maned filly haughtily turned away from Lavender and directed her attention to the front. “I don’t know where your grubby paws have been! You probably went rummaging through a dumpster or something before you came here.”

“No, they’re clean. I washed them before I…”

“My goodness, you can’t take a hint can you! Do I have to spell it slowly for your small brain to process it? I…don’t…want…you…tal….king….to…me!”

“I was just trying to…”

The filly completely ignored Lavender, instead talking to the colt in front of her and laughing at what he was saying. The dracony brought her claw back in and glared at the blue meanie.

“Jerk…” Lavender planted her head on the head on the desk, dreading her decision to sit by the blue pony next to her. She shot a quick glance at the clock to see what time it was, hoping a significant amount of time had passed. Unfortunately, it was only eight o’clock, meaning school was far from over.

It was looking to be a long day for Lavender.

The ponies made quick haste to start conversations with others. The room was filled with others talking and laughing with one another. Sometimes, the ponies would take a quick glance at Lavender, who stood out more than anypony in the class, and proceed to laugh and talk. Lavender wasn’t sure if they were laughing at her, but she’d rather not find out.

The only other pony that wasn’t carrying on a conversation was a caramel tinted colt, sitting in the back seat. Lavender looked back at him, noticing he wasn’t making much effort in trying to be social, much like her. The colt swiftly avoided eye contact with her, looking down every time he was caught sneaking a glance at her. Lavender didn’t know what his problem was, but if it was anything like that of the other ponies, she didn’t want anything to do with him.

The chatter calmed down as their teacher walked in. The purple mare with three sunflowers for a cutie mark walked up to the chalkboard and turned towards her new students.

“Greetings everypony,” she cheerfully spoke out. “I am your teacher, Mrs. Cheerilee, and I hope to have a fantastic year with all of you. For the sake of remembering your names, the seats you’re sitting at will be your required seat."

Lavender groaned. Now she would have to spend the rest of the year sitting next to the stuck up pony. She wasn't looking forward to this.

“Now, so we can get to know each other, when I call on you, I want you to come to the front and introduce yourself to the classroom. Is that clear?”

All of the students answered in unison, a collective flurry of “yes mams” being said.

“Good. Now how about we will start from the front of the class and move on to the back?”

Lavender sat and watched as the students were called to the front. Fillies and colts of all different shapes and sizes went up to tell a little something about themselves. Lavender listened to them intently, hoping to learn something and find a friend.
After a while, Cheerilee called the blue filly that gave Lavender a hard time to introduce herself.

“Greetings class,” she introduced. “My name is Sapphire, and I’m a very social pony. So if you actually interest me, I’ll most likely talk to you.”

So Sapphire was the name of the pony that was rude to her. Lavender huffed to herself while she talked and began to mumble under her breath.

“Social and friendly my…”

“And how about you, the one sitting next to Sapphire?”

Lavender looked up as the teacher asked for her attention. She pointed at herself to make sure she was who she was talking about.

“Yes dear,” Cheerilee replied. “Why don’t you come up and introduce yourself to the class.”

Lavender got out of her seat and walked up to the front of the class, receiving strong malicious glances from Sapphire as she walked back to her seat. Her teacher was smiling brightly at her, but the other students were looking at her with mixed reactions.

“So, why not tell the class your name, something about you, and what you like to do.”

Lavender stood for a few seconds, kicked at the ground, and began to talk.

“Um, my name is Lavender,” she began. “I live with my Mommy and Daddy at the boutique.”

“Surprised they didn’t keep a leash on her…”

Small giggles from a few classmates filled the classroom, discouraging Lavender to continue.

“Class!” Cheerilee called, stopping the laughter. “Go ahead Lavender.”

“Okay,” she replied. “Well, my Mommy is a dressmaker, and Daddy is a cool dragon.” None of the class seemed impressed, probably because they’ve heard about her through their parents. “Um, my favorite food is fish and…”

“Eww, you actually eat that!?” Sapphire commented. “What kind of pony does…oh wait, that’s right. You aren’t a pony. You’re just some weird mutant hybrid thing!”

The classroom proceeded to laugh at the dracony, who started to grow aggravated at them for taunting her.

“That is enough!” Cheerilee exclaimed stomping her hooves to the ground. “Another outburst like that and you’ll be the first to have after school detention!”

Sapphire closed her mouth and the class stopped their laughter.

“You know what,” Lavender said angrily, “I don’t wanna talk about myself anymore.” She walked back to her seat avoiding Sapphire’s glance. The teacher then called on the next ponies to come up and introduce themselves. Lavender found no interest in learning about the class that taunted her anymore, and instead scratched at the desk.

She kept at it throughout the introductions, until she saw a piece of paper on her desk. She read it.

Look, I’m sorry for embarrassing you in front of the class. It was unnecessary and I shouldn’t have publically humiliated you. Though I think you would understand my concerns.

Lavender looked at the piece of paper and then at Sapphire, who handed her a pencil, hinting she wanted her to write on it as well.

Concerned about what?

Lavender passed the paper back to Sapphire, making sure the teacher wouldn’t see them exchanging notes. Sapphire jotted down some more words on the paper and passed it back to Lavender.

Well, your father is a dragon after all. And you know what they say about dragons that live with ponies.

What are you talking about?

You really are a naive one aren’t you? You know, about dragons and their feeding habits.

Daddy eats gems and foods that ponies eat.

Do you honestly think that a dragon, one of the most violent creatures in Equestria, wouldn’t eat a pony too?

Lavender was starting to get annoyed at Sapphire’s constant negativity towards her father.

Daddy would never do that!

Are you sure? How do you know he isn’t at home sinking his teeth into your mother right now? Don’t dragons have urges if they aren’t handled correctly?

Lavender paused momentarily, knowing that what she was saying was at least half true.

Well, yes, but that wouldn’t involve him eating Mommy.

Lavender passed the paper back to the blue pony, who was writing down her next statement. Her teacher was still focused on getting all the students to introduce themselves, only covering half of the classroom. Sapphire handed Lavender back the piece of paper. Once Lavender read what the pony had written to her, she was nearly brought to tears.

That’s what they want you to think. They tell you that everything’s going to be alright, and then the next thing you know your mother’s all gobbled up and your dragon dad is being executed. Then, you’ll be in a foster home for waiting to be adopted by somepony, and most likely be there for the rest of your life because no one wants to adopt a freaky mutant lizard like you.

Lavender’s hands quivered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” Lavender blurted catching the attention of the rest of the class and the teacher. “AND I CAN PROVE IT!” Lavender hopped out of her seat and ran out of the classroom, racing back home as fast as she could.

She didn’t want to be at that building anymore, not if she had to hear and read the hurtful words of the ponies that mocked her. She wanted to prove Sapphire wrong. She wanted to show her that her parent’s loved each other and her father would never try to eat her mom.

In a matter of minutes, Lavender rushed back to the Boutique, opening the door and walking in. There was an ambient silence in the house, something unusual to Lavender.

“Mom? Dad?” There was no answer. She looked around the house searching for her parents. However, when she looked through the kitchen, living room, and work area, all she could find was Opalescence, who was surprised to see Lavender at the house so early. She let out a confused meow, letting Lavender know she was there.

“Oh, hey Opal,” Lavender said quietly. “Have you seen Mommy and Daddy? I need to ask them something?”

After asking Opal, Lavender immediately heard a faint, creaking sound coming from upstairs. Wondering what the noise could possibly be, she climbed up the stairs to the source of the noise. As she headed up the stairs, she also began to pick up a mixture of gasps and what sounded like deep, strained humming.

“Mom?”

The sound seemed to have been coming from her parent’s bedroom. She walked cautiously towards the door and stuck her ear against it. Her parents always told her not to eavesdrop, but the noises sounded so foreign to Lavender. She wanted to make sure her parent’s were safe from any known danger.

“Oh, you’re pretty tasty dear,” a familiar voice cooed, giggling.

“Daddy?” Lavender was confused by what he meant, but her heart began to race once she heard smacking sounds, similar to the ones he made when he was actually…

“Now, how about I take a little bite of my precious goddess,”

A bite!!

Lavender heard a disturbingly loud cry from her mother, causing her to fear the worst.

“Oh Spiiiiiiiiike!!~~”

“DADDY, NO!!” Lavender opened the bedroom door, causing the dragon to hop off of Rarity in surprise.

“Lavender!” Spike and Rarity flushed deeply, covering their bodies from the startled dracony before them.

“Young lady, what in Equestria are you doing out of class!!?” Rarity squeaked, embarrassed that they were caught in the act.

“B…but Daddy was trying to eat you!” Lavender shivered as tears were flowing down her face. “Y…you even screamed!”

“Tried to eat Mommy?” Spike looked at the startled child in confusion, as Lavender walked cautiously to the bed.

“Please Daddy, don’t eat Mommy,” Lavender pleaded. “I know you two don’t always agree…but you don’t have to eat her like a mean old dragon. I don’t want you to get executed and have me sent to a foster home!”

As Lavender began to cry more heavily, Spike and Rarity turned to each other and sighed. They were going to have to explain themselves if they wanted to calm her down.

“Lavender, Spike wasn’t eating me sweetie.” Rarity explained to the teary eyed dracony. “In fact, what he was doing was, rather nice.”

“So…so why were you screaming?” Lavender sniffled, “And why did Daddy say you tasted good?”

“Well, you see,” Rarity began, blushing and tapping her hooves together. “When two ponies…or in our case a pony and a dragon…love each other…no wait. Oh goodness, I can’t explain this. Spike?”

The dragon dreaded the moment Rarity passed the explaining onto him. “Well, you see honey, this was a game me and Mommy were playing.”

“A game?”

“Yes, a game only adults play with each other. It’s kind of like….wrestling in a way, only with somepony you’re married with.”

“Oooh! So you weren’t really eating Mommy?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Spike chuckled causing Lavender to cringe up again in fear. He received a nice punch in the gut from Rarity for his remark. “Wh..what I meant to say is no! I wasn’t trying to eat Mommy. It was just a little game we played!”

“Oh, okay,” Lavender sighed in relief.

“Now, what in the world got you thinking your father would eat me?”

Lavender explained to her parent’s what was said to her at school and what she had received on paper. The couple frowned at the response they received.

“Oh my,” Rarity responded, looking at her saddened daughter. Lavender jumped on the bed and nudged her parents.

“Mom, Dad, I don’t want to go back to school anymore.”

Spike patted Lavender’s head softly. “I know sweety. However, you can’t skip school no matter what was said to you. Once we take you back to school, we’ll talk to your teacher about that.”

“Yes sir,” she said disheartened. “So, am I not going to get any ice cream now?”

“Honey, we’ll still go out for ice cream after school,” Rarity reassured planting a kiss on Lavender’s head. “You’ve done nothing wrong. Now if you excuse us, Spike and I have to clean up after our…game.”

“Yes ma'am,” Lavender softly sighed, jumping off of her parent’s bed and walking to her room with her head hung low. She sat on the floor sniffling, repeating the events in her mind.

You aren’t a pony. You’re just some weird mutant hybrid thing!

No one wants to adopt a freaky mutant lizard like you.

Mutant. Freak. Lizard.

Those three words repeated themselves over and over again. Opalescence climbed up the stairs and walked into Lavender’s room. Noticing the saddened dracony, the cat walked towards her, nestling against her side.

“Opal, you don’t think I’m a freaky mutant lizard do you?” Lavender asked on the verge of more tears. Opal attempted to console her by rubbing against her and purring softly. Lavender rubbed Opal’s head tenderly while sniffling, not anticipating the new school year.

Try To Make Friends

“Really? She wrote that about you?”

Lavender stood in front of her teacher in the hall and explained why she had bolted out of the classroom.

“I see…”

“Mrs. Cheerilee,” Rarity began. “You’ll have to forgive Lavender. This is her first time being with ponies other than her family and close friends so she wasn’t aware that she could leave like that.”

“No need to apologize,” Cheerilee responded. “It must be hard for the poor dear to be labeled as different by the others.”
Spike stood with his arms folded, watching his daughter as she kicked at the ground sadly. “You’re not going to brush this off like it’s nothing are you?”

“Don’t worry Mr. Spike…”

“Stop with the formalities. I’ve known you since I was small; I don’t mind you talking to me like a regular associate.”

“Well that’s nice to hear,” Cheerilee smiled. “But like I was saying, the situation will be taken care of. I’m sure her mother will not take lightly to this kind of behavior.”

“Good.” Spike leaned down to Lavender and patted her head. “Sweetie, are you going to be okay?”

“No,” Lavender replied. “But since you’re making me come here, I’ll pretend I’m fine.”

“Now now, Lavender, everything will be alright,” Rarity consoled. “Even though you had a rough start, you’ll get through it alright.”

“Yeah right! You just don’t want me to be at the boutique anymore!” Lavender groaned.

“Young lady, you know that isn’t true!”

“But if I’m around, then you can’t play your adult games like you can when I’m here.”

Cheerilee looked at the couple in confusion. “Adult games?”

Spike and Rarity flushed, avoiding Cheerilee’s gaze to prevent further embarrassment.

“It’s a long story,” Spike coughed, “a long story I wish not to discuss here.”

“I see,” Cheerilee grinned, knowing what the dragon was implying. Lavender was still moping on the ground, not anticipating going back into the torture they called class. “Don’t worry you two. I’ll make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

“Thank you,” Rarity said. “Well, we’ve held you and your class for long enough. Please tell us if anything like this happens again.”

Lavender said goodbye to her parents and followed Cheerilee back into the class. The students quickly fell silent once they saw the two walk into the room. Cheerilee led Lavender to the front of the room, sternly looking over the young fillies and colts.

“So, apparently somepony here thought it would be funny to harass this poor girl with a hateful note,” Cheerilee scolded. “I don’t care how different somepony is from you, discrimination and bullying will not be tolerated! Sapphire!”

“Yes ma’am,” the filly answered.

“For emotionally abusing Lavender, you will have after-school detention and I’ll be having a nice long talk with your mother.”

“But, that’s not fair!” she groaned. “If Mom has to pick me up from after-school detention, I’m going to get grounded!”

“Well, maybe you’ll think about that the next time you try to pull a stunt like that again,” Cheerilee sharply responded. “Not only that, but you will no longer be sitting by Lavender. Instead, you will be switching seats with Fizzle.”

The colt sitting in the back looked up at the teacher disapprovingly.

“Um teacher, could you maybe move somepony else?” he asked meekly. “I don’t want to sit there.”

Lavender looked at the caramel colt, agitated with his reaction to having to sit by her. Why was everypony so against being friendly to her? Were they afraid of her? From what she could see, Fizzle was acting just like every other pony: judgmental and cruel.

“Fizzle, this is not up for negotiation. You and Sapphire will switch seats this instant.”

Fizzle sadly got up from his seat and walked towards the middle of the class, bypassing the muttering Sapphire as he trotted to his new seat.

“So, have I made myself clear on the consequences of bullying?” The class stated that they understood the teacher. “Good. Now Lavender, go take your seat. I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.”

“Okay,” Lavender glumly responded as she walked towards her seat avoiding eye contact with the other ponies. Once she sat at her desk, she planted her head on it and listened to the teacher’s lecture.

She listened to the teacher talk on and on about cutie marks and learning your special talent, something that didn’t interest nor concern her, it felt like an eternity for Lavender, although just thirty minutes had barely passed.

“Why did she have to move me up here?”

“Excuse me?” Lavender whispered, causing the colt in question to jolt a bit.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing against you,” he clumsily responded. “I just don’t like attention. Th-they might be looking at me if I’m so close to the front.”

“Well at least all they’ll do is look,” Lavender groaned. “I’m pretty sure they’ll make snide remarks about me; ‘oh look at the ugly lizard. Don’t touch it, she’s probably infected!’ I can hear them now.”

“Yeah. Must be tough being a lizard….” Fizzle covered his mouth realizing what he had just said. Lavender glared daggers at the young colt. “W-wait, I didn’t mean to say that…”

“So, you’re just like her huh?” Lavender hissed.

“N-no! I didn’t...” Fizzle tried to say, but he was at a lost of words. The colt plopped his head onto his desk, covering his mane with his hooves in embarrassment.

What’s his problem? Lavender thought to herself, refocusing attention to the teacher’s lecture. Her eyelids were growing heavy as sleep began to creep in on her. Her tired eyes finally closed and she faded into slumber.

“Lavender!”

“Hu..wha…” Small barrages of giggles filled the room as Cheerilee stood in front of her desk, looking at her sternly.

“Care to rejoin the class? Just because you had a rough start at school doesn’t excuse you to sleep in class, understand?”
Lavender made inaudible mumbling noises, not fully awake from her interrupted rest.

“I’ll just assume you said yes ma’am and hope we don’t have this happen again.” Cheerilee returned to the front of the class, leaving Lavender in a mix of confusion and embarrassment. Her first day was already shaping up to be the start of something dreadful.

It looked like it’d be a long year.

After several hours of class, the school bell finally rang. Lavender hoped it meant that the day was finally over and that she could go home.

“Okay students, time for your lunch break,” Cheerilee chimed. “When the bell rings, you’re allowed to go outside. You can eat, play, and just relax until the bell rings again for you to come back to class. Have fun!”

Lavender sighed. She was still stuck in school but with a brief break. If she had made any friends, this wouldn’t have been so painful. Most likely, she would just be watching the other ponies mingle while she sat in the sidelines. All of the students jolted towards the door, with the exception of Lavender and Fizzle, who was slowly trotting towards the exit.

“Lavender, may I speak with you for a moment?” Cheerilee asked, causing Lavender to freeze in place. She turned around and walked towards her teacher, not understanding why she had kept her from leaving.

“If it’s about me sleeping in class, I’m sorry Mrs. Cheerilee,” Lavender apologized. “It’s just, well, I don’t see a point in learning about cutie marks when I…”

“It’s okay Lavender,” Cheerilee interrupted. “That’s not why I stopped you though. It seems to me that you are pretty miserable here.”

Lavender frowned, looking at her concerned teacher. “It’s just…well…I don’t really fit in with the other ponies. They’ll either laugh at me or act like I’m a freak.”

“I know it must be tough being different,” Cheerilee began, looking directly at her distraught student. “However, not all ponies are going to be like Sapphire. There are many friendly ponies out there, just waiting to befriend you. Now I want you to try to socialize with some of them; finding a friend or two will make your time here more enjoyable. Trust me.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lavender responded. “Can I go now? I’m actually kind of hungry and I have a sandwich I want to eat.”

“Sure thing, Lavender,” Cheerilee responded, allowing her to leave, and looked at Lavender grabbing her lunchbox in her mouth and walking outside to join the other children. The magenta mare had a concerned look on her face; she was worried that the young dracony didn’t take her advice to heart.

***

The fields were littered with ponies conversing with each other as they ate their food. Lavender didn’t know where she would sit, but she took a shot at a random group of ponies. As she walked towards the group of talking fillies, they looked back at her in confusion.

“Hello,” Lavender waved. “Mind if I sit here?”

The fillies looked at each other nervously, whispering at each other frantically. Lavender was quickly losing hope with this group.

“Well…we would but, well, we’re saving our spot for some other friends,” one of the fillies replied.

“But, you have been sitting here for a while, and I haven’t seen anypony else wanting to sit here.”

“Trust us, they’ll show up eventually. I’m sorry… but you’re going to have to leave.”

Lavender glanced at the group, picking up on what they were really saying. They didn’t want to sit near her because of her differences. This fact upset her greatly, but Lavender decided it would be best to cut her losses and try other groups.

But no matter who she talked to, everypony turned her away. Some tried to be polite about it. Some feared her because of rumors they heard about things related to dragons. Others were downright hostile to her, referring to her as half breed and freak. She didn’t even dare go anywhere near Sapphire, and after the reaction Fizzle gave her, she left the isolated colt by himself.

Lavender found herself a spot at the walls of the school, away from all the ponies that had shunned her.

“These jerks, all of them,” she mumbled to herself unwrapping her sandwich. “Who needs any of them?!” She bit into her sandwich, glaring venomously at the other ponies as they enjoyed their recess.

I ought to show them how a “monster” really acts. Then they’d have a real reason to be scared.

Lavender’s sadness turned to rage. She wanted to teach the ponies why they shouldn’t mess with the spawn of a dragon.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a red ball bounced towards her. Lavender put down her sandwich and grabbed the ball, wondering where it came from.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it!” A high pitched voice echoed across the fields. Before long, a light yellow filly fluttered her wings, levitating slightly over the ground. Lavender glared at the pegasus, still holding malice towards the ponies.

“Excuse me, but can I have that red ball?” Her voice was bubbly and light, something foreign to Lavender when speaking to the other young ponies. She nodded and pushed the ball towards the filly.

“Hmm, you’re awfully quiet. Are you shy or something? Are you scared of me? I don’t bite!”

Lavender remained silent, though her expression lightened up slightly. The filly wasn’t being hostile to her. Her remark was rather annoying to Lavender, but nothing to make her think she was trying to be hurtful.

“Maybe I should introduce myself!” the filly giggled. “I’m Sugar Snap! You have a name right?”

Lavender was surprised that she wasn’t teasing her right now. Was she really trying to be friendly to her? Although being still skeptical, the dracony decided to speak to her.

“My name is Lavender,” she responded softly.

“Ooh, so she can speak!” Sugar Snap chuckled. “Whatcha eating?”

“Why are you so interested in my lunch?”

“Just want to know, that’s all.”

Lavender was hesitant to tell the swirly, pink maned filly what she was eating. “Um… A fish sandwich, trout really.”

“Fish, huh?” Lavender prepared for the worst, expecting insults to come her way. “That’s different. How does fish taste?”

“Um… Fishy?”

For some reason, this response caused Sugar Snap to laugh, confusing Lavender further.

“Hey Sugar Snap, you got our ball!?” One of the other fillies called out.

“Yeah, I have it!” She called out. “It’s right over here by a girl named Lavender! She looks kind of lonely though. Mind if she plays with us?”

As the filly trotted towards her friend, she looked at the dracony and gave Sugar Snap an unsatisfactory look.

“Did she touch the ball?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“And you touched it!?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You’re touching something that has been touched by that! Haven’t you heard? Her type plays in filth all the time, and probably never bathe, so you picked up the result of her filth.”

Lavender gritted her teeth at the filly who stated faulty things about her.

“Just let her keep the ball Sugar Snap. It’s already been tainted enough as it is. Now come on; let’s go somewhere else to play. ” The fillies walked away from Lavender, leaving Sugar Snap there, staring at the angered dracony. She dropped the ball in front of Lavender and fluttered away.

“Figures,” Lavender muttered rolling the ball with her hands sadly. “At least I got a free ball out of it…”

She went back to her lunch, isolated from the others once again. She had finally given up on the idea of ever making friends. It just wasn’t meant to be. Someone as different and weird as her was not meant to have friends.

As she told herself this, a familiar pink maned pegasus returned with a small bag in her mouth. She dropped it in front of her and smiled warmly.

“Sorry about those meanies back there,” Sugar Snap said. “But hey, at least you got a free ball out of it!”

Lavender stared at the contents of the bag as Sugar Snap opened it.

“I saw how upset you were, so I brought you some coconut macaroons! Here, take them.”

Lavender just stared at the filly, causing Sugar Snap to worry a bit.

“Are you angry at me!? I’m sorry for leaving you here without telling you where I was going! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!”

“No it’s not that,” Lavender began, smiling softly. “I just...”

“What? What is it!?”

“Well, I hate coconut.” Lavender chuckled.

“Oh…sorry then.”

“No, it’s alright,” Lavender said opening her lunch box and pulling out cookies wrapped in foil. “If you want, you can have a macadamia nut cookie. You like macadamia nut?”

Sugar Snap’s eyes lit up at her offer. “I love macadamia! It’s really really good! But are you sure you want to share? You only have like two of them.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lavender stated. “I probably wasn’t going to eat both of them anyways. Besides, you’re the only pony who has been nice to me since I’ve been in school.”

“Must be tough being different, huh?”

“Yeah, it is,” Lavender sighed.

“Hey, don’t look so glum! I like you; you seem pretty cool.”

“Really?”

“Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?” Sugar Snap giggled.

The two of them sat and talked to each other, exchanging things about them and enjoying the rest of their lunch. For the first time, Lavender felt comfortable with a pony her age.

“Well, the bell is bound to ring at any moment,” Sugar Snap stated. “Wanna play a game before we have to go back to class?”

“Well, my aunt and I usually play a game called Predator and Prey… but you probably don’t want to play it.”

“How does the game go?”

“Well, the predator has to stalk the prey while the prey tries to find and evade the predator into safety.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting!” Sugar Snap smiled. “I call predator!”

“But I’m usually predator!” Lavender cried out, causing her new friend to smile smugly.

“Well, you should have called it before I did,” Sugar Snap taunted slightly tapping Lavender’s nose with her hoof. “Besides, isn’t it polite to let the new one pick their position?”

“Fine, you can be the silly predator,” Lavender groaned playfully. “Not like you’ll do well at it anyways!”

“Oh, that sounds like a challenge.”

“Not really a challenge when I know I’ll win!”

Sugar Snap laughed at Lavender’s response. “A cocky one I see. I’m going to have to change that.”

Lavender stuck her tongue out at the pegasus and ran off, tempting Sugar Snap to chase her. For the rest of recess, the two enjoyed playing the multitude of games they thought up, laughing and teasing each other at times. However, their time was cut short once they heard the bell rang, signaling the end of their recess.

“Aww,” Lavender groaned. “This sucks. I wanted to play some more!”

“I did too,” Sugar Snap stated. “But hey, we don’t have to limit ourselves to recess! If you want, we can hang out all the time.”

“Really?” Lavender’s eyes lit up with the promise of a new friend.

“Sure. I don’t see why not! But… I do have a couple of rules if you want to be my friend.”

“Such as?”

“Well, you know that little growling thing you did when the others were around? Yeah, don’t do that. Makes you look ugly." Sugar Snap flicked Lavender’s mane playfully. “The second is I’m always right! Doesn’t matter the situation, if I say it is, it is.”

Lavender looked at Sugar Snap confusedly. “But what if you are wrong?”

“See, you already challenged the second rule! I see some problems in our future,” Sugar Snap giggled. “But, since I’m a tolerant pony, I’ll let it slide. Oh yeah, I also made you something while we were playing!”

Sugar Snap flew towards the nearest bush and pulled out a headband made out of tulips, returning with a wide smile. “Here you go! It’ll look good on you.”

Lavender grabbed the headband and looked at it, before stuffing the flowers into her mouth. Sugar Snap looked at her disapprovingly.

“Um, you know you were supposed to wear that right?”

“Maybe, but if you hang around me long enough, you’ll learn that I hate flowers… or anything fru fru-ish.”

“Well, I’m learning more about you by the minute,” Sugar Snap chuckled. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind Lavender.”

The filly extended her hoof to shake Lavender’s claw, which the dracony happily accepted. It was the start of a new friendship, and a good step forward into making her school year enjoyable.

***

“So, you don’t think we should get anypony else involved?” Spike asked, rubbing his claws up and down his wife’s back.
“Oh, right there, honey,” Rarity moaned under Spike’s hands. “Now, to answer your question, I don’t think we should get anypony else involved just because a filly mocked our daughter.”

“But, what if it gets worse? You know better than I that this won’t be the last time she’s taunted!”

“Then we’ll… Ahh! … Deal with it ourselves,” Rarity sighed dreamily. “As long as no one hurts our baby physically… Yes, scratch right there… Then we should be able to handle it. She’s not going to fit in if she has princesses guarding her from verbal slander. It’ll just showcase how much different she is.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Spike agreed working Rarity’s back, causing her to melt under his touch. “Though, I think that filly’s parents need to be sterner on her.”

“Oh, trust me. I plan to talk to the parents of that child,” Rarity stated. “But now, I rather enjoy the little back treatment you’re giving me.”

“Yeah I can tell,” Spike smirked. “You’ve practically been purring throughout our conversation.”

“The benefits of marrying a guy with magic claws,” Rarity cooed. “Oh, Spike, if you could just go a little lower I’d love it. Lower… AHH! Not that low!”

“Oops, sorry!” Spike laughed, raising his hands from her backside and scratching her back, making her purr in delight.
“Daddy! Mommy!” The boutique door swung open and the voice of their daughter filled the house.

“Sounds like our little girl’s home,” Rarity pointed out. “Though she sounds… happy.”

Lavender walked into the living room, making sure not to step on the sleeping Opalescence’s tail.

“Mommy, Daddy, guess what!” the excited dracony exclaimed wagging her tail. “I made a friend today, an actual friend!”

“That’s fantastic sweetie!” Rarity congratulated. “So, what’s the young dear’s name?”

“Sugar Snap,” Lavender answered bouncing around. “She says I can play with her anytime I want!”

“Well that’s good,” Spike stated with a smile. “I bet it feels nice to have somepony act friendly towards you.”

“Sure does, Daddy! At first I thought all were jerks and wished horrible, nasty things upon them, but now that I made a friend…”

“Excuse me?” Rarity’s eyes widened at Lavender’s statement. “What do you mean horrible, nasty things?”

Oblivious to her mother’s question, Lavender hummed to herself and trotted to her room. “Sugar Snap, Sugar Snap! Sugar Sugar Sugar Snap!”

Rarity sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing even more than she already had.

“I have to say, we have an interesting dau— AAHHH! Spike! I told you not to touch me there!!”

Spike snickered at her reaction. “Oh, and what are you going to do about it?”

Without warning, Spike was assaulted by a barrage of pillows, pushing him off the couch.

“I swear I married the most immature dragon in Equestria!” Rarity shouted, playfully continuing her assault on her husband. What had started as a rough day for the entire family ended up with all of them in high spirits.

Author's Note

There are no pictures this time, so I hope words are enough. If you read for anything other than words...then I'm a sad camper :'c

Pictures are not dead though.

Day With Daddy

Little Lavender opened her parent’s bedroom door, giggling slightly. The two of them were fast asleep, nestled close to each other. Her mother was wearing a purple sleeping mask and earplugs to drown out the incredibly loud snoring of her husband. Lavender wiggled her tail and leapt on the bed, approaching Rarity’s stomach.

“Stop it, I’m ticklish there…” Rarity droned on in her sleep, bearing a wide grin and snoring softly. Lavender had to cover her mouth just to prevent bursting into laughter. “Okay, honey, but only because you made me.. ahh… sweet flapjacks this morning….”

“Mommy, Mommy, get up!” she shouted, bouncing on Rarity’s gut. “It’s time for school!”

“Huh, wha…” Rarity pulled off her mask to see an ecstatic Lavender bouncing on top of her. “Sweetie, why are you in our room?”

“I’m just waking you up so we can get ready for school!”

“School?” Rarity yawned and rubbed her baggy eyes. “Darling don’t you think it’s a little early for that. It’s only four in the morning.”

“Oooh,” Lavender responded innocently. “Sorry, I just was excited. I wanted to play with my friend Sugar Snap again!”

“Lavender, I’m glad you made a new friend and all. I really am. But you can’t wake us up this early in the morning.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Besides, it’s not even a school day, silly. It’s the weekend.”

“Aww,” Lavender sighed, sitting on her mother. “So, I don’t get to play with Sugar Snap?”

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Rarity said, trying to keep herself awake enough to explain things to Lavender. “You see, Daddy’s going to spend the day with you while I go talk to Sugar Snap’s parents. Since you really seemed to like her, I want to make sure her mother is fine with you playing with her outside of school.”

“Really?!”

“Of course, dear.”

Lavender thanked her mother, embracing her in a tight hug, “thank you, mommy!” she cried out. “You’re the best!”

“I try to be,” Rarity responded. “Now go back to your room and sleep, little one. It’s too early to be up and about.”

“But I’m not sleepy, Mom.”

“That may be, but just like Mommy needs to get her beauty rest, you need to as well.”

“Yes, Mommy,” Lavender sadly replied, jumping off of the bed and out of the bedroom. Spike rustled a little and opened his eyes, noticing his daughter leaving the bedroom.

“Hey, honey, why is Lavender up?” Spike asked sleepily. “Was she afraid of something in her room?”

“No, dear. She was so excited about playing with her friend, she woke herself up thinking it was a school day.”

“Ain’t that cute.”

“It really is. I’m going to talk to her parents today. You delivered to them before, so you know the address of their house, right?”

“Mmm hmm…” He briefly responded, his eyes already closed again.

“I can see you’re still sleepy.” Rarity planted a kiss on his forehead. “You know, I’d kiss you on the lips, but you have terrible morning breath.”

“Uhh huh,” Spike mumbled, wrapping his arms around Rarity and pulling her close to him. She smiled softly and closed her eyes, leaning closer to the love of her life.

Lavender couldn’t go back to sleep if she tried to. With nothing else to do, she decided that her best option was to snuggle against her favorite little kitty to help her relax. The dracony walked downstairs and into the dark living room, finding Opalescence sleeping soundly in her basket.

Trying her best to not wake the cat up, Lavender walked towards the basket and tried to squeeze in it. Her effort to avoid waking Opal up failed, as the cat growled slightly, annoyed that someone woke her from her slumber.

“Sorry, Opal,” Lavender apologized. “I just can’t get any sleep, and I wanted to snuggle against something soft. You don’t mind do you?”

As much as Opalescence wanted to roll her eyes and push the annoying dracony away, she didn’t want to make life any harder on the girl. Opal extended her claw in an attempt to wrap around Lavender, who in turn wrapped her arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

“You really are a good kitty,” Lavender smiled and wagged her tail. Opal was trapped; she couldn’t get away from Lavender even if she tried. She was going to have to give the child attention, whether she liked it or not. Though in all honesty, Opal would be lying to herself if she said she hated it…

***

“Hey, Rarity. Rarity, wake up.”

Rarity removed her mask to see Spike’s smiling face. “What is it, Spikey?”

“You should come downstairs. What I’m about to show you is going to melt your heart.”

Rarity clumsily slipped out of bed with the support of Spike, and walked down the stairs. When they entered the living room, Rarity cracked a warm smile at the sight she had in front of her eyes. Lavender was nestled up to Opalescence, snoring soundly with her arms wrapped around Lavender.

“I swear, it’s a sight to behold, wouldn’t you agree, Rarity?”

“It sure is, Spikey.” She planted a small kiss on Lavender’s head before grabbing her satchel. “You remember what you have to do today, right Spike?”

“Of course I do,” he responded. “Had it all jotted down so I wouldn’t forget.”

“Good.” Rarity pulled Spike’s face down and deeply kissed him. The two shared the embrace briefly before she broke it. “I’ll be gone for most of the day. If both of you are good, I’ll give each of you a special treat.”

“And what will that be?”

“Can’t tell you,” Rarity teased, smiling mischievously. “It’ll ruin the surprise. But I can tell you right now, that you’re going to like your little treat.” She giggled seductively and walked out the boutique, leaving her husband flustered and blushing wildly.

“Well, Daddy’s gonna have to be on his best behavior,” he laughed to himself. He turned back to his daughter, smiling as she silently snored, snuggling against Opal. “I think I’ll let my little angel sleep a little longer.” He gave Lavender a kiss on the cheeks, causing her to smile softly, and walked into the kitchen.

It was a while before Lavender finally decided to wake up. She stretched out her claws and let out a screechy yawn, noticing that Opalescence was no longer in the basket with her. She rubbed her eyes and lifted herself off the cat’s bed. A smile formed on her face when she picked up the scent of freshly made pancakes. She followed the delicious smell until its source; the kitchen, drowsily licking her lips in anticipation. Spike was setting the hot plate of pancakes on the table, wearing his “Kiss the Cook” apron.

“Well, looks like my little princess has finally woken up!” Spike said. “Looks like your nose led you to food, as usual.”

Lavender nodded sleepily, rubbing her eyes and smiling softly at her father.

“Seems to me that someone’s still on the sleepy side. How about you go splash a little water on your face. It’ll help wake you up a bit.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she replied, walking slowly to the bathroom. She splashed a handful of water onto her face, rubbing the extra drool off in the process. She walked back into the kitchen, enjoying the tune of her father’s whistling.

“You awake now, Lavender?” he asked with a toothy grin.

“Yes, Daddy,” she answered, pulling out a chair at the table and sitting at it. “Those are a lot of pancakes.”

“Well, we can’t have you going hungry,” Spike responded. “Need to fill that belly before we go to Twilight today.”

Lavender’s eyes widened. “We’re going to see Auntie Twilight?”

“That’s right. But first, you have to eat all your food. How many pancakes do you want?”

“Hmm. How about six?”

“Six? Are you going to eat all of those, you greedy little piggy?” He walked towards Lavender and tickled her belly, causing her to enter a fit of laughter.

“Haha… Y-Yes, Daddy!” she giggled, trying to catch her breath. “I can eat them all. That would leave you with about twelve pancakes all to yourself.”

“So it does.” Spike smiled at Lavender and took seat right next to her, putting the warm, buttery cakes onto her plate. “We really are a couple of bottomless pits, aren’t we?”

“Yes, sir,” Lavender answered as Spike poured syrup over her pancakes. “But we are dragons after all… Well, mostly dragon.”

“True,” Spike responded, cutting her pancakes into smaller pieces. “Which is why Mommy makes us go get the groceries, since we eat most of the food in the house.”

Lavender jabbed at the pancakes with her fork and stuffed them in her mouth. She sloppily ate them with syrup splashing on her chin.

“Wherf isph Mwammy anythwaf?” Lavender asked with her mouth stuffed with pancakes.

“Oh, she went to take care of some things and will be gone all day, so that leaves you here with me, little one!”

Lavender smiled widely, her cheeks puffy and round from the amount of food she stuffed herself with.

“Also, slow down a bit, Lavender. I know you like my cooking and all, but no need to stuff yourself with so much food.”

“Ophay!” Bits of food sprayed across the table, causing Spike to chuckle.

“And Rarity says my manners are bad!” Spike teased, letting out a hearty laugh that was rewarded by a light punch in his stomach.

“At least I clean up after my mess, Daddy!” she snapped back playfully.

“I’d watch who you’re punching if I were you!” Spike growled. “You’re forgetting I’m a full blooded dragon. I could gobble you up whole if I wanted to and think nothing of it!”

“Pfft, please! You couldn’t eat your own daughter if your life depended on it.”

“Oh, really?” Spike grabbed Lavender and started nibbling on her belly, eliciting laughter from the dracony.

“Daddy, I’m trying to eat!” Lavender exclaimed.

“Well, what’s stopping you?” Spike teased. “Get back at the table and finish eating then!”

“You jerk! You’re not letting me move!”

Spike continued to blow against Lavender’s stomach. Normally, if Rarity was there, she would have a fit if she caught the two playing at the table. However, since the two rebels were alone, they enjoyed their little play.

“Okay, I think I can let you go now,” Spike said. “Let’s hurry up and eat so we can visit my older sis.”

“Okay!” Lavender obeyed and resumed eating her food.

***

“Okay, so it’s the house on the far left…” Rarity levitated the instructions to Sugar Snap’s parent’s house. The piece of paper told her to go to housing area near Sweet Apple Acres. It was the small, orange house with a red rooftop. The outside was decorated with flowers and bird feeders. It was a nice, humble home.

“Well, this must be the place.” Rarity walked towards the door and knocked on it. It didn’t take long for the door to open, revealing a familiar, orange stallion. He was slim in size, but toned in physique, definitely not as lanky as he was when he was younger.

“Snails?” Rarity couldn’t believe her eyes. The clumsy, young colt grew into a well sized and quite handsome stallion.

“Yep, that’s my name,” he smiled. “What brings Equestria’s finest dressmaker to our place?”

“Aww, aren’t you a flatterer,” Rarity smiled. “I’m actually here to discuss Sugar Snap with you and your wife…”

Snails frowned slightly. “Did she do anything? Oh, that girl can be a handful at times. Whatever she did, we’ll take good care of--”

“No, she didn’t do anything wrong. Quite the opposite in fact. As you may know, I have a daughter by the name of Lavender; she has been having a difficult time fitting in, so to speak. Your daughter was the first one to reach out to her.”

“Ah, that’s nice,” Snails said proudly. “She’s always been the social one!”

“I can believe that. At any rate, I wanted to see if it was okay for your daughter to play with Lavender.”

“I personally have no problem with that,” Snails replied. “However, I might have to talk it over with my wife. She’s pretty particular about the ponies Sugar Snap hangs around.”

“I see. And is your wife at home, if I may ask?”

“No, she isn’t. She said something about a lunch with her old friend. I don’t know how long she’ll take to get back. You know how mares are at times.”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Rarity inquired.

“Um… nothing really!” If there was one thing that hasn't changed about Snails, it was his mentality, so to speak. Even after all the years of finally growing up into a young stallion, he still wasn’t the smartest banana in the bunch, although he did gain points for appearance. “But as I was saying, who knows when she’ll get back. If you want you can wait around for her, so we can… Oh, wait, nevermind. There she is, over there!”

Snails’ wife came into clear view, stunning Rarity. The mare Snails married was…

Diamond Tiara?

She walked up to Snails and planted a kiss on his lips. “So, how’s my hubby doing?” she asked.

“Aww, I’m doing good, sugarlumps!” he cooed.

“Please, don’t call me that.”

Rarity couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Out of the two couples that could have happened, Diamond Tiara and Snails were the last two she’d think would wind up together. It was cute, though. Diamond Tiara turned and noticed another mare present.

“Ahh, I didn’t notice you were there at first!” Diamond Tiara stated. “What do I owe the honor of having the most talented dressmaker visit?”

“Well, like I was discussing with your husband…”

“She wants to know if our Sugar Snap can play with her Lavender,” Snails interrupted. Diamond Tiara glared at her husband and tugged his ears.

“Snails, what did I tell you about interrupting others,” she scolded.

“Um… To not do it?” He foolishly responded.

“Good boy.” She relinquished his ear and smiled at him. “Now go off and do something productive instead of sitting around the house and eating all our food. Give the young ladies some room to discuss.”

“Yes, hon.” Snails obeyed Tiara’s command and walked off, seeking something to do.

“Well, it’s apparent who wears the pants in the household,” Rarity giggled.

“Well, somepony has to keep these stallions in check,” Tiara responded. “I swear though, as big of a headache as he can be sometimes, he is pretty sweet. Not to mention handsome now…”

“So which quality did you fall for?”

“Looks at first,” Diamond Tiara replied honestly. “But then I got to know him better, and I started seeing more in him than his appearance. He’s still an idiot, but he’s my idiot.”

“I see. Though I have to say, I’m quite shocked.”

“About what?”

“That someone of your personality, no offense, created such a friendly and open child.”

Diamond Tiara giggled at the response. “Trust me, you aren’t the first to say that to me. Honestly, I’m just as surprised as you are that she turned out so nice. I kind of feel bad for Silver Spoon, though.”

“Oh?”

“It’s funny really; I was always the worst when it came to teasing other fillies, and yet I come out with the more manageable child. Poor Silver Spoon; having to deal with a child such as Sapphire must be tough.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Rarity couldn’t help but crinkle slightly.

“Oh well, no need to look a gift horse in the mouth,” Diamond Tiara replied. “I’m just lucky that Sugar Snap is so social, and willing to play with someone no matter their differences, as with Lavender, no offense to your child or anything.”

“So, can the two of them play together?”

Diamond Tiara nodded. “Sugar Snap usually plays with her Cutie Mark Crusader friends on the weekends, so I’ll tell her to stop by the boutique tomorrow morning. Most likely she’ll want Lavender to join with her, regardless if she is able to get a cutie mark or not; she can be a pretty demanding sometimes.”

“Well, that’s one trait she gained from her mother,” Rarity giggled.

“Hey, I’m not that bad anymore,” Diamond Tiara defended. “But yes, like Mother like Daughter I suppose.”

“Well that’s great. I’ll tell Lavender the good news then. She’ll be delighted to have a playmate on the weekends. Thanks again, Tiara!”

“I’d be a fool to deny Equestria’s finest!” Tiara stated, waving back at Rarity who trotted off.

“Well, that was quick and painless,” Rarity said to herself. “Which is good for me. That just means I get to spend the rest of my day receiving hard earned pampering.” Rarity sighed dreamily as she took out her discounted spa coupons and kissed them. “I simply cannot wait!”

***

Spike carried Lavender on his back, walking towards Golden Oaks Library. Once there, he pounded impatiently on the door. It didn’t take too long for the pony on the other side to respond.

“Spike, I swear if that’s you bangin against the door like a barbarian…”

“What are you going to do if it is?” Spike taunted cockilly, continuing to knock violently on the door. It swung open, revealing his older adoptive sister, her horn glowing brightly.

“Listen here, Spike,” Twilight responded, pointing the source of her magic in his direction, “you might be bigger and taller than me now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t shoot you down a peg!”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” Spike apologized. “Just don’t blast me with your magic, alicorn powers! Think about Lavender for Celestia’s sake!”

Twilight shook her head and dimmed her horn, smiling softly. “My word, I don’t think you’ll ever grow up. So, how has my former number one assistant been doing.”

“Former? Please, you couldn’t find a better assistant who could put up with you even if you tried,” Spike boasted. “Also, I’ve been doing fine. How about you, my lovely sister.”

Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike. “I’m doing fine as well; busy, but fine all the same.” Much to Lavender’s delight, Twilight lifted her with her magic and placed her in front of her. “And how’s my niece doing?”

“Fantastic, Auntie!” Lavender replied excitedly. “I made a new friend yesterday!”

“That’s good, Lavender. See, I told you that even draconies like you could make some friends.”

“Yeah, but it’s only one friend. Everypony else hates me.” Lavender frowned slightly, remembering the things Sapphire said to her in class.

“Not everypony hates you,” Twilight said. “I’m sure there are more young fillies and colts out there who are open minded enough to befriend you.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Now, chin up and give Auntie a big old smile!” Lavender gave Twilight a wide smile, nudging her cheek as she did so. “Well Spike, what are you doing standing out here? You’re no stranger to this place, although you act like one.”

“Twilight, it’s only been two weeks,” Spike said walking into the library.

“That’s a little too long to not visit your sister when she lives right down the street from you.”

“I get your point. I’ll try to do better on the visitation.”

“Please do. I kind of miss having a sarcastic dragon around here, believe it or not.”

“Told you you’d miss having the best thing in your life around!”

Twilight rolled her eyes and sat down with Lavender. Spike jumped on the couch, propping his feet on the arm of it. “So, what has the princess been up to?”

“Oh the usual,” Twilight answered, “helping the mayor with laws and such around Ponyville. Going to meetings whenever I’m needed, filling paperwork and…” Twilight paused and glared at Spike once she realized he was snoring playfully. “SPIKE!”

“Wha… oh I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep from sheer boredom. Please, continue, and this time try to talk about something that isn’t about work.”

“Oh, ha-ha, Spike!” Twilight responded sticking her tongue out at him. Even after Spike had moved out of the library, they still shared a strong bond, something that Twilight held onto as long as she could. “Well, since Spike here clearly isn’t interested in what I have to say, how about I hear how little Lavender is doing instead.”

“Okay.” Lavender began. “Sweetie Belle is staying for the week, and she plays with me almost everyday!”

“She does, does she?”

“Yep! Too bad she’s leaving back to Canterlot tomorrow. I wanted her to stay and play with me forever and ever!”

“Well she can’t do that, Lavender. She has her own goals she needs to pursue, just like you will.”

“I know,” Lavender pouted. “It’s just not fair though. Up until recently, I’ve only had my family to play with, but Auntie Sweetie lives all the way in Canterlot, Daddy is always busy helping around the house, and Mommy…”

“Trust me, I know why Rarity doesn’t play with you as often as you’d like,” Twilight said, giggling at the thought of her sister-in-law anywhere near filth. “But didn’t you say you have a friend now?”

“Yes ma’am! Her name is Sugar Snap, and Mommy is going to talk to her parents today and ask if they will let her play with me after school!”

“Well, aren’t you a lucky little dracony?” Twilight said, rubbing her nose against Lavender. Spike watched with a grin as Twilight showed such loving displays towards his daughter.

“You bet, Auntie. That makes one less pony that I want to maul!”

“That’s go… wait, maul?”

Lavender nodded, looking slightly more serious. “Mommy told me that I should find a happy place when I get bullied or teased; so I thought up things that hurt the mean old fillies and colts even worse.”

Twilight looked worriedly at Spike, who in turn showed slight concern himself.

“How bad do you imagine them being hurt?” Twilight asked.

“Not that bad, Auntie. They usually go home with a few bruises and maybe a scratch mark. Nothing their parents can’t fix.”

“And have you acted upon these thoughts in anyway?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever tried to hurt someone who teased you?”

“No ma’am. Mommy wouldn’t like it if I did that. I wanted to when the kids were being meanies yesterday, but I held back like a good dracony!” Lavender smiled, proud of herself for keeping self control.

“That’s good…” Twilight lifted Lavender from her lap and placed her on the seat. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I could use some milkshakes. You want one Lavender?”

“Yes, yes, yes!!” Lavender chanted, wagging her tail.

“Great! Spike, come help me make them please.”

Spike raised an eyebrow at her request. “Since when did a princess with magical abilities need someone to help them do a simple task like making milkshakes?”

“I don’t know. Since when did the supposed ‘number one assistant’ complain about trivial tasks like this? Unless of course, you’re no longer my number one assistant.”

Spike took Twilight’s teasing as a challenge.

“Ooooh, Daddy, you’re getting demoted from number one assistant!” Lavender taunted, joining in on Twilight’s antics.

“Not you too,” Spike playfully whined, being pinned in a corner by both his daughter and sister. “Fine, I’ll help make the milkshakes. But I get the most ice cream!”

Spike and Twilight walked off into the kitchen while Lavender rocked back and forth in the chair, repeatedly humming ice cream over and over again.

“So, what kind of icecream do you have?” Spike asked as they entered the kitchen.

“Chocolate, and a little vanilla left.” Twilight’s voice sounded more serious than it did in the living room. “But that can wait a while. I want to talk about Lavender.”

Spike frowned, understanding the implication. “So, you’re really concerned about it, huh?”

Twilight nodded, staring the dragon in his eyes. “Spike, we discussed the possibility of this in the past.”

“But, she did say they were minor thoughts. Don’t most children have thoughts like those sometimes?

“Some do, but Lavender isn’t like other children. She might have the appearance of a filly for the most part, but 70% of her genes, traits, and instincts are draconic. What might start out as small, harmless thoughts could turn into violent rage.”

Spike looked back at the innocent Lavender as she waited impatiently for them to make her milkshake. “But how do you know she won’t be able to control it herself?”

“Spike, you barely can control it sometimes,” Twilight stated. “Rarity told me how defensive you got when somepony called Lavender a lizard. You nearly assaulted him in public!”

Spike frowned and blew a puff of smoke out of his nose. “I never would have threatened him if he would have held his tongue,” Spike hissed.

“While I agree he was out of place,” Twilight began, “there were better ways to deal with it then that. You’re very protective of Lavender, and to an extent that’s a good thing. However, when it becomes violent…”

“Yeah yeah, I get it.”

Twilight sighed and gave him a soft smile. “I’m only telling you this because I don’t want anything bad to happen to either of you. It would tear me up if you got locked up for physically hurting somepony. You’re an important part of my life, Spike, and I’d hate to see you do something you’ll regret.” She trotted towards Spike and wrapped her hooves around him. “So please, promise me this, if Lavender shows violent signs, if you feel like you’re going to snap, please come and talk to me. You don’t have to deal with these things by yourself.”

Spike wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. “Don’t worry, Twi. I know who to run to.”

The two stayed in each others embrace for a while. It was moments like those the two cherished; the certainty that they always had each other, no matter what happened.

“Well, what are we doing standing here like sad saps? I have an impatient daughter waiting for her milkshake!”

Twilight laughed, glad that the atmosphere became light rather quickly. “Well, you better get started on them then.”

In no time, the duo had three cups full of the creamy shakes. Lavender licked her lips as she saw her father hold two in his hands and balance the other on his head.

“What took you two so long?” Lavender asked. “I could have made milkshakes in half the time it took you, slowpokes!”

“Well, then it wouldn’t have Daddy’s special touch now would it?” Spike handed one of the milkshakes to his daughter.

Lavender looked at the her glass, trying to figure out that special touch that her father supposedly added.

“You didn’t do anything extra! You just added chocolate ice cream with it!”

“Hey, it’s not what goes in the milkshake, it’s who makes it!”

“He’s right, Lavender.” Twilight winked, hoping that Lavender would catch on and let the big, dopey dragon have his fun.

The three spent the afternoon enjoying each others company. Twilight would tell Lavender of tales of her friends saving Equestria on numerous occasions while Spike did everything to annoy Twilight, only to be blasted with light magic at every attempt.

Spike and Lavender stayed at Twilight’s place for several hours before Spike noticed the time and picked up Lavender.

“Well we should be off,” Spike said. “We got to sort out Rarity’s ‘organized mess’ by the time she gets back from the spa.”

“We!?” Lavender groaned.

“You heard me,” Spike stated, tickling Lavender’s back with a finger. “I’m not going through that chaos by myself.”

“You two really are something else,” Twilight laughed. “Don’t be a stranger around here.”

“We won’t, Twilight,” Spike said, propping Lavender on his back. “Say goodbye to Auntie Twilight, Lavender!”

“Bye bye, Auntie!” Lavender waved. “I hope you can find a boyfriend soon and stop being anti-situal!”

“What!” Beads of sweat formed down Spike’s face as Lavender began to explain to Twilight.

“Well, Daddy says you stay so cooped up in the library and you don’t have too much social skills with stallions. Why not try Big Macintosh? He seems like a ni…”

“Well this was a fun visit, Twilight, but we’re on a very tight schedule! Bye!” Spike rushed off in order to escape the wrath of Twilight, who was shaking her head at his nonsense.

“Oh Spike, never change.”

***

The duo went back to the boutique to clean up around the house before Rarity returned. Lavender helped clean out Opalescence bed and food bowl while Spike took care of cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, and the work station of Rarity. It took them a few hours to get done with all the chores, but they pushed through and finished it.

“Woo, we’re finally done, Daddy,” Lavender stated, feigning tiredness. “So, what do we do now?”

“Well, Lavy, I know what I’m going to do.” Spike smiled and headed to the bathroom. “Care to join?”

“Sure, Daddy!” Lavender said, catching onto what he was doing. “Just let me grab some toys.”

Spike filled the tub up to the brim, watching the soap suds trickle down the base of the tub. The water was piping hot, just the way Spike liked it. He gently lowered himself in the soapy waters, letting his arms and legs hang out. Soon after, Lavender came in with a few of her toys she wanted to play with.

“Well, come on and hop in!” Spike encouraged. Lavender didn’t waste anytime going towards her father, who used his arm to lift her into the tub. “Now, if Rarity asks, how long have we been in the tub?”

“Only twenty minutes.” Lavender giggled. “Mommy would kill us if she knew we were taking a three hours bubble bath.”

“That she would, Lavender. That she would.” Spike reclined back and relaxed in the water, watching as Lavender playfully splashed around in the tub.

Hours passed and the two still remained in the tub, only one of them fully awake. Spike was passed out in the tub, while Lavender continued playing with her toys.

“Oh, what a nice day to go sailing,” Lavender said, pretending there were ponies in her little boat. “It sure is. Nothing could potentially ruin this fine… OH NO!!”

Lavender pulled out a plush octopus submerged in the water and lifted it into the air. “It’s a giant octopus! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” Lavender smashed the toy octopus on top of the boat, forcing it underwater. “Help, we’re drowning! Drown……”

“Well, it sounds like someone’s having a good time.” Rarity walked into the bathroom, looking even more radiant than she normally did.

“Oh hi, Mommy! Don’t worry, we just got in the tub twenty minutes ago.”

“I didn’t mention anything about the tub, sweety,” Rarity stated suspiciously.

“Well… I just thought I’d let you know, that’s all.”

Rarity was going to say something, but decided to let it go for once. After all, it wasn’t going to be her paying the water bill this time. “Well, it looks like Daddy is extremely relaxed.”

“We’ve had a long day today, Mommy. Daddy is probably just exhausted.”

“Oh really?” Rarity walked towards her husband’s face and grabbed his chin. “I bet I know what will wake him up.”

She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. Almost instantaneously, Spike slithered his way into Rarity’s mouth, wrapping his arms around her to prevent her from escaping. Lavender found the act disgusting, and made gagging noises showing her disapproval. The two broke apart, seeing how much their daughter didn’t enjoy watching her parents do something so icky.

“Well I’ll leave you two to your ‘twenty minutes bubble bath’. I’m going to go do a few little projects, and when I get done, Lavender can get her treat for being a good girl.”

“Yay!” Lavender exclaimed, splashing water out of the tub. “But what about Daddy? He’s been a good Papa!”

“Oh, trust me. He’ll get his reward a little later…”

Spike smiled at Rarity as she left the bathroom, leaving Lavender puzzled.

“Daddy, why isn’t she giving you your treat at the same time as me?” she asked.

“She’s just testing my patience, that’s all,” Spike replied. “She wants to see if I can manage the wait, and then reward me afterwards.”

“Oooh, that makes sense,” Lavender answered innocently. “But at least we still get our treats.”

“Exactly.” Spike sank deeper into the tub, closing his eyes to rest.

“Spike! Lavender!” Rarity’s voice didn’t sound all too happy. It sounded slightly agitated. “Would you two care to tell me why I’m down ten gems from what I had this morning!”

“Oops,” Spike said to Lavender, sinking all the way into the water, “guess we’re busted.”

“Oh, drat!” Lavender exclaimed. “So, does that mean we won’t get that treat she was talking about?”

Author's Note

Well guys, I hope you all learned your lesson about jumping to conclusions about the parents :3.

*Note, this was not done intentionally to completely destroy your theories....

Welcome to the Group

Lavender bounced around in excitement, much to her mother’s dismay.

“Would you sit still, darling?” Rarity asked, grabbing at her eccentric daughter. “I’m trying to fix your hair.”

“Why does it matter?” Lavender asked. “I’m just going to get it dirty when I go play!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to have my daughter walk out like a complete mess. Now sit down and let me finish your hair.”

Lavender folded her arms in defeat and planted herself on the floor, allowing her mother to curl and straighten her hair.

“I know you’re excited about being able to play with your friend today, but a lady must always look her very best.”

“Fine,” Lavender groaned. “Can you please hurry up? She’ll be here any minute!”

Rarity tapped Lavender lightly on the arm. “Young Lady, I will not have you taking that kind of tone with me! If you keep acting like that, you can forget about your little playdate, understand?”

Lavender turned away and sighed. “Yes ma’am.”

She sat quietly as Rarity continued working on her hair. During the procedure, the doorbell rang, causing Lavender to perk up almost immediately.

“I got it!” Spike yelled, rushing down the stairs to answer the door. He opened it up to see the light yellow filly standing outside the door.

“Well hello there,” Spike greeted. “I’m assuming you’re Lavender’s friend Sugar Snap, right?”

The filly remained silent, staring wide eyed at Spike.

“Uh... hello?” Spike waved his hand in front of the fillies face, but received no reaction. “You’re not scared of me, are you? I’m not violent at all, so don’t worry! You can even ask my wife; I’m as gentle as a…”

“You’re tall!” Sugar Snap exclaimed, smiling widely. “And cool!”

Spike’s worries of the little girl being scared of him had faded as she complimented him.

“Why thank you, little one,” Spike responded, giving her a toothy grin.

“Ooh! Those are a nice set of teeth! Lavender wasn’t kidding when she said she had an awesome dragon dad!”

“Ah, stop it... You’re gonna make this old dragon blush!” Sugar Snap giggled at Spike, who was grinning wider at the barrage of compliments being thrown at him.

“Can you breath fire? Can you, can you?”

“Without a doubt,” Spike gloated. “Wanna see some amazing flames?”

Sugar Snap eagerly nodded her head.

“Alright, kid. Stand back and watch in awe!” Spike waited until Sugar Snap was at a safe distance and took a deep breath. He exhaled and blew out a huge stream of green fire. The flames formed themselves into a giant ball, floating magically in the air.

“Woah!” Sugar Snap fawned over the abilities of Spike. “You’re magical, too?”

Spike nodded proudly, folding his arms and giving a smug grin.

“I wish my daddy could breath fire like you. The only thing that ever comes out of him are belches.”

“Looks like we aren’t too different after all,” Spike chuckled. “But I’m sure you didn’t come here just to meet me. You have a friend waiting for you upstairs. She’s been talking about you ever since you met her.”

“She has? Well, good to know she likes me enough to talk about me. Can I go see her?”

“Knock yourself out.” Spike led the filly inside pointed towards the stairs. “She should be in my room right now. It’s on your immediate right as soon as you get on the top of the steps.”

“Thank you, Mr. Spiketacular!” she responded, giggling as she ran up the stairs.

“Spiketacular, hah… I like it…” The dragon grinned, heading towards the kitchen.

Inside Rarity’s room, Lavender rubbed her fingers together in boredom, pouting for having to sit for so long.

“Mooom, are you done yet?” Lavender asked. “I want to get up!”

“Almost, sweetie,” Rarity chimed. Her attention was glued to every detail of Lavender’s hair, not quitting until she was sure her hair was perfect.

“And… we’re… finished! See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

Lavender bounced up and headed for the bedroom door. “Yay! Now I can go and see if Sugar Snap has come yet!”

“Hold on, Lavender. Don’t you want to see how you look?”

“I already know how my hair is, Mom. It looks the same as it always does.”

“But it’s always good for a lady to check her appearance before she leaves. Don’t want to leave any detail out.”

“But I don’t ca…” Lavender withheld her statement and looked at her mother’s pleading eyes. “Fine, I’ll take a look,” In order to please her mother, Lavender walked towards Rarity’s vanity mirror. She playfully approached her reflection, wagging her tail in happiness.

“Well, look at this awesome dracony!” Lavender said to the reflection. “How are you? Me? I just made a friend with a pony. Yeah, I know, I was surprised myself. Turns out you are amazing to gain the attention of a school filly. I stun myself sometimes with how cool I am!”

“Are… are you talking to your reflection in the mirror?”

Lavender paused and slowly turned around. Standing right at the door was a giggling Sugar Snap, catching Lavender in the act.

“Why hello there, dear,” Rarity welcomed.

“Oh… um… hey,” Lavender said, blushing in embarrassment.

“Hiya! So, does she do that often, Mrs. Rarity?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, she likes to play with my mirror every time she…”

“MOOOM!” Lavender groaned, trying to hide her humiliation. “I don’t do it that often, really. It’s just… well sometimes it’s nice to try to give yourself some confidence. It’s not always easy being a dracony...”

“I guess,” Sugar Snap responded. “So, are you ready to go?”

“Of course!” Lavender exclaimed. “Mom, I can go now, right?”

“Of course, Lavender,” Rarity replied. “Just be back before dinner. Sweetie Belle is leaving tonight, and I want us all to eat together before she goes.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Lavender ran towards Sugar Snap in excitement. “So, what do you have planned for us?”

“Oh, you’ll see when we get there,” Sugar Snap responded. “I wouldn’t want to ruin the fun.”

“Sounds good to me!” Lavender scratched her head and looked hopefully at Sugar Snap. “Sooo… we can forget about the whole talking to the mirror thing, right?”

“Nope!” Sugar Snap denied, sticking her tongue out.

“Why did I have a feeling you would say that?” Lavender replied, placing a claw on her face. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t,” Sugar Snap teased. “All depends on how you cooperate today.”

“Cooperate on what?”

“Can’t tell you ‘til we get there.”

Lavender shrugged and followed her friend, leaving the house.

“Bye Dad! Bye Mom!” Lavender waved at the two, who returned the gesture.

“Have fun, you two,” Spike stated.

“Be safe now, kids.”

Once the two children left the house, Rarity feigned weariness, falling directly into Spike’s arms.

“What’s the matter with you this time?” Spike asked. “Did doing Lavender’s hair suck all the energy out of you?”

“Might as well have,” Rarity pouted. “I thought having a little girl would be nice; somepony in the family who would appreciate cleanliness. But what do I get? A wild, rambunctious little girl who would rather play in dirt then look pretty.”

“And that’s my problem, why?”

“Because you made her that way,” Rarity teased, lightly jabbing at Spike. “I blame you for turning her into a tomboy!”

“Yeah, cause that’s an actual problem that I should feel sorry for,” Spike responded, flicking his tongue at her. The two laughed at each other for a while.

“But honestly, I kind of wish that Lavender would at least try to take some interest in what I do,” Rarity sighed. “I don’t feel like I connect to her well.”

Rarity frowned heavily, concerning Spike. He took his claws and began tickling Rarity’s belly.

“S-Stop it!” Rarity bucked her legs and giggled like a little school filly. “That tickles! S-Stop it….” Numerous loud hiccups escaped Rarity’s mouth, her cheeks reddening from the act.

“So, has my queen cheered up yet?” Spike asked. Rarity nodded and gave Spike a light kiss on the nose. “As for Lavender, don’t worry about it. She loves you with all her heart; I’m sure you’ll gain a better connection with her. She’s just a kid after all. She’ll probably grow up and start connecting with you better when she’s older.”

Rarity softly smiled at Spike. “I hope so, Spike. I hope so.”

***

“...And then Princess Cadance caught him, and using the Crystal Heart, he beat up that mean, evil King. And that’s how my daddy became a hero of an entire empire!”

Lavender kept telling stories of how great her father was, with Sugar Snap listening intently.

“You really do have an amazing family!” Sugar Snap complemented.

“Eh, it’s no big deal.”

“No big deal? Your mother is an element bearer, as well as one of the most famous dressmakers in Equestria! Your father is a fire breathing dragon! A fire… breathing… dragon! I would love to trade places with you.”

“If you lived with them for a week, then you’d change your mind,” giggled Lavender.

“If you say so,” replied Sugar Snap, skipping down the streets of Ponyville.

“So, when you said you wouldn’t talk about the mirror thing if I cooperated…” Lavender began, trying to piece together what Sugar Snap could possibly want, “what exactly am I going to be cooperating with?”

Sugar Snap grinned widely. “Oh, it’s nothing too demanding. Just you having to commit a lot of your time to a special club, that’s all.”

“That actually sounds a bit demanding,” Lavender stated.

“Ah well, you can deal with it.”

Lavender rolled her eyes and continued following Sugar Snap, sharing short conversations and playfully teasing each other as they reached their destination. The two eventually entered Sweet Apple Acres.

“Well, we’re almost there!” exclaimed Sugar Snap, back stroking through the air. “Apple Bloom said she would have the place spruced up by the time we got there.”

“Spruce what up?” Lavender questioned. “I’m not really liking being kept in the dark like this.”

“Hey, there she is!” Sugar Snap ignored Lavender’s concern and darted off towards the mare in question. Lavender just sighed and did her best to keep up with her.

“Hey, Apple Bloom! Is the treehouse finished yet?” Sugar Snap asked eagerly. Apple Bloom was about to buck the tree until she heard the little filly call out to her.

“Well, howdy there, Sugar Snap,” Apple Bloom greeted. “Howdy, Lavender!”

“Hi, Apple Bloom.” Lavender looked around for another pony that would normally be helping, but saw no one. “Isn’t this usually something Applejack would do?”

“Well, under normal circumstances, yes, but she has a little situation that’ll make her unable t’ work for a while. So Ah’m filling in for her!”

“What’s the situation?” Sugar Snap asked. “Did she break her legs?”

“Nope.”

“Is she sick?”

“Nope.”

“Stomach pains?”

“Close, but not quite.”

Sugar Snap stood with a hoof to her chin, trying to think of what Applejack’s ailment might be. “I give up! I can’t think of anything. Lavender, do you think you could give me a hoof?”

Lavender looked up at Apple Bloom, confident in her answer. “Is she having a baby?”

“Right on the money!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Caramel and Applejack made it official just a few days ago. In fact, the guy proposed to her on the same night! It was pretty cute to see how nervous he actually was!”

“Wait, they weren’t already married?” Lavender inquired, puzzled by Apple Bloom’s statement.

“Nope. Gonna get hitched in a couple of months. I think Rarity was asked to help plan the wedding.”

“But I thought that babies only came when two ponies are married. At least that’s what my mom always tells me,” Lavender stated in confusion.

“Well, it’s just…”

“Apple Bloom, how are babies born?” Lavender asked.

Apple Bloom gulped loudly. She didn’t want to have to explain that to a pair of young children. She nervously looked away and tried to veer away from this current topic.

“So,” Apple Bloom clumsily began, “because of Applejack’s circumstance, I wasn’t able to fix up much around the clubhouse, so you’re gonna have to use it as is.”

“Aww,” Sugar Snap moaned. “But I wanted the place to look all special when I made Lavender a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“You what?” Sugar Snap turned towards Lavender and smiled widely.

“Oops! I guess the cats out of the bag now! I want you to be a part of the CMC’s with me.”

“If you haven’t noticed already, I’m a dracony,” Lavender reminded Sugar Snap, “I don’t think draconies can get cutie marks.”

“But you don’t know if you can’t get a cutie mark! It doesn’t hurt to try. Besides, it will be fun!”

“I don’t know…” Lavender was hesitant to accept the invite. Being in a group of ponies didn’t really sit well with her.

“Ah personally think it’ll be a great thing for you, Lavender,” Apple Bloom encouraged. “Ya might even make a few more friends other than Sugar Snap.”

“See! Even Apple Bloom agrees with me! Come on. Pleeeeeeeease?”

Sugar Snap stared pleadingly at Lavender, trying to sway her to join. Lavender sighed, watching the pitiful display her friend was putting on.

“Okay, fine,” Lavender groaned. “I’ll join the CMC’s if you’ll stop making that face.”

“Great!” Sugar Snap flew in a short loop through the air. “Come on, Lavender! The clubhouse is over there!” she flew off into the distance, leaving Lavender behind with Apple Bloom.

“Well, what are ya waiting for?” Apple Bloom chuckled. “You should probably go catch up to her.”

Lavender looked at the direction that Sugar Snap fluttered off to, giggling lightly. “She really can’t take no for an answer, can she?”

“Not really,” Apple Bloom answered. “Reminds me a lot like her mother, except a tad bit sweeter.”

Lavender shared one more laugh and ran off to catch up with Sugar Snap. She ran until she reached the tree that held the clubhouse. It looked structurally sound, painted red with a orange roof. She could only assume that Sugar Snap made her way inside the clubhouse, so Lavender climbed the ladder and entered inside.

The interior was simple, but each wall had a painted portrait of the founders of the organization. Sugar Snap stood in front of the portrait of Scootaloo, admiring it.

“You know, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t leave me behind like that,” Lavender complained.

“Well, you caught up, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but still, you could have waited for me or something. You’re the one who wanted me to be apart of this club in the first place.”

“Well, I guess you have a point,” Sugar Snap admitted. “I was just eager to get you to join the Crusaders!”

“Um… are there other’s coming?” Lavender asked, noticing there wasn’t anyone else inside the clubhouse. “It’s kinda empty in here.”

“Oh, they’ll probably come in about an hour,” Sugar Snap stated. “The club meeting doesn’t start until ten.”

“Sooo, why are we here so early?” Lavender asked. “Why couldn’t we do something else instead?”

Sugar Snap turned towards Lavender and began to explain. “Well, I like to show up early enough to make sure everything is in order for the other members. Plus, I want you to help me clean up the place.”

Lavender frowned. “So you basically had me come here to help you clean up?” She moaned, slumping down on her hind legs.

“Well, that and to convince you to join the group. You aren’t mad are you?”

“I’m a little agitated,” Lavender admitted.

“Ah, well that’s good. I probably wouldn’t care if you were mad anyways,” Sugar Snap snarkily responded. Lavender rolled her eyes at her response. This was looking to be an interesting friendship alright. “Also, you won’t be alone for too long. I got somepony else to help us out with the work. He should have been here about five minutes earlier, but nooo. He has to be late, as usual.”

“I don’t think losing five minutes is going to hurt anypony. Who is he?”

Before Sugar Snap could answer, the two heard someone try to climb their way up the ladder.

“Um, Sugar Snap, I’m here.” The voice sounded familiar. It was soft and sheepish, kind of like...

“Fizzle! You’re late again.”

“Sorry, Sugar Snap,” Fizzle meekly began. “I don’t try to be late, honest. It’s just that… I…”

He stopped moving once he climbed high enough to notice Lavender. Her sight alone caused him to look down and flop his ears. “Oh… I see you already have someone helping you. That’s fine. I-I’ll just go now.”

“Stop right there, Fizzle!” Sugar Snap halted his attempt to escape. “First you come late, and now you want to try to run out on me? Who do you take me for!”

“Well… I didn’t…”

“No excuses. If you aren’t going to help, then you can’t be a part of this group.”

Fizzle looked frightened of her, nodding his head in compliance and climbed back up the ladder, entering the clubhouse.

“Good. Now that we’re all here, how about I introduce you two to each other. Lavender, this is Fizzle. Fizzle, Lavender.”

Lavender looked coldly at Fizzle, causing him to shift his gaze towards the ground.

“Um… do you two already know each other?” Sugar Snap asked, scratching her head.

“Yeah,” Lavender sharply replied. “This is the colt that called me a ‘lizard’.”

“Wait! HE’S the ‘jerkface’ you were talking about?”

Fizzle plopped to the ground and lowered his head in shame, looking as if he was on the verge of tears.

“I-I’m sorry…” he replied weakly. “I didn’t mean it… I was… I just…” He remained on the floor, dragging his hoof along the ground. Lavender didn’t know what to make of this. She wanted to stay mad at the colt for calling her such a horrible name, but on the other hand he genuinely seemed apologetic… and miserable looking.

“Knowing him, I think he’s a little too sensitive to be a jerk,” Sugar Snap whispered to Lavender.
“Try and be a little gentle with him. He probably called you that by mistake. He also does pretty much whatever I say, so you won’t have any problem with him.”

Lavender looked at the sulking colt, this time with pity. “You aren’t too demanding with him, are you?”

“Naw. I just ask him for some stuff here and there. I do have a heart, you know.”

Lavender slowly approached Fizzle and sat down in front of him.

“Um… hi.” Fizzle refused to look up. He glued his eyes at the floor board. “Could you please look up? I’m not going to hurt you.”

“B-But you’re going to yell at me,” Fizzle stated. “all because I was being stupid and called you a lizard...”

“You said you didn’t mean it right?” Fizzle only nodded, still refusing to look up. “Well, if you’re sorry, then why would I yell at you about it?”

“I-I don’t know, I didn’t mean it, it was…” Fizzle jolted when he felt a claw touch his chin, Lavender forcing the colt to look up at her.

“Look, it’s okay. I’m not going to yell at you,” she reassured. “I’m just really frustrated with everypony thinking I’m a monster.”

“I don’t think you’re a monster,” he replied softly.

“You don’t?” Lavender asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“I... I actually think you’re really cool looking.”

“...You do?”

Fizzle nodded, a small shade of red forming on his face.

“Well, thanks,” Lavender responded, laughing softly. “You know, now I feel like a jerk for being so hostile to you.”

“D-Don’t feel that way. I deserved it anyway…”

“You deserved being called a jerk about as much as I deserved being called a freak.” Lavender smiled widely at Fizzle. “How about we start off fresh?”

Fizzle looked up at Lavender, his face reddening even more. “Sure… if you want…”

“Have you two kissed and made up yet?” Sugar Snap intruded. “We don’t have all day! The other’s will arrive pretty soon.”

Lavender let go of Fizzle and lifted herself back on her feet. “Gee, you’re kinda bossy. Have you ever considered learning something known as patience?”

Sugar Snap thought about it temporarily. “Nah. I like being bossy.”

“I can tell.” Lavender stuck a tongue out at Sugar Snap playfully. She looked back at Fizzle and motioned over to him. “Well come on, let’s help Ms. Bossy Pants clean up this clubhouse.”

“Uh… sure…” Fizzle weakly smiled and got back on his hooves.

The rest of the time was spent making sure that the clubhouse was in manageable shape for the other members to enjoy. Sugar Snap dusted off the podium and straightened the original CMC’s portraits while Lavender swept the floors. Fizzle on the other hand was busy organizing a chart. Out of curiosity, and being extremely bored of sweeping, Lavender approached him to see what he was doing.

“So, what are you up to?” she asked.

“Well… um… it’s a chart to keep up with… with previous and current members,” he stammered. “It shows who are still with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and who… well… graduated from it by getting their cutie marks. We throw a ceremony to those who get their cutie marks to congratulate them.”

Lavender looked at the chart, noticing that only a few ponies had the clubs insignia by their portrait. “It doesn’t look like too many actually got their cutie marks.”

“Well… no, not yet. But we believe that it takes the support of others to get it. That’s why this meeting we’re going to split each other off into small groups.”

“How many are in this club?”

“Um… I’d say around 14.”

“Does that include me?”

Fizzle was shocked by the question, turning towards her wide eyed. “W-Wait, you’re a member now?”

“Well, Sugar Snap wasn’t going to let me say no. Why else would I be here?” Lavender laughed.

“S-So you’re going to be here like... all the time?” Fizzle’s face reddened even more at the thought of being around Lavender longer than school hours. Hoping that she wouldn’t see him blushing like this, he quickly turned his head away.

“Probably. That isn’t a problem is it?” Lavender said, removing some of the dust from her claws. She noticed Fizzle had his back turned and walked over to face him.

“You okay?”

“Uh, I’m f-fine!” Fizzle turned away yet again and covered his face with his hooves, making sure Lavender couldn’t see him. “It’s just.. allergies! Yeah… really bad aller… aahh… ACHOO!”

“Uh huh…” Lavender wasn’t buying his fake sneezes, but for the sake of not embarrassing him she decided to let it go. “Well, I hope your allergies clear up soon.”

“T-Thanks,” Fizzle replied, refocusing his attention on the chart, occasionally taking small glances towards Lavender while she continued sweep around the clubhouse.

The trio continued working until the clubhouse was completely spotless. Once they were finished, Sugar Snap flew towards them and patted them both on the back.

“Well done, team!” she complimented. “Even though you two kept goofing off for a while, we still managed to get done with some time to spare.”

“Well, your constant nagging helped us get done faster,” Lavender taunted.

“Well I’m glad something did motivate you,” Sugar Snap stated. “Now that we got that out of the way, all I want for you to do now is to enjoy yourself.”

“As long as I’m not on cleanup duty all the time, then I think I will.”

“This was just a one time thing. You won’t be doing this too often; Snap’s honor!” Sugar Snap put a hoof towards her heart and crossed it.

“I’m not sure how reliable Snap’s honor is, so I’ll take that promise lightly.” Lavender looked outside the clubhouse’s window, noticing a few colts and fillies talking as they trotted towards the tree. “Hey, Sugar Snap, Fizzle, ponies are coming.”

“Oh good! So it’s time to start!” She leaned her head out of the door and smiled widely. “Lavender, welcome to your first club meeting!”

Author's Note

For the record, I no longer care how many heart attacks you guys have, I'm not paying for the emergency room. But all the same, I really hope you like this chapter.

Only 1 more chapter left before another time skip; our little Lavender is about to grow up.

And as always, thanks for the support, point out anything that bothers you in the chapter (I'm always looking to improve) and the next chapter should be out soon. Enjoy you lovely people.

New Era

“I still don’t understand why you have to get your hooves manicured by the spa twins when you got a husband who is can work magic with his hands!”

Spike followed Rarity, making their towards the Ponyville Day Spa.

“Oh, you mean the same set of hands that are owned by my childish husband who uses them in places he should’t?” she sharply aske.

“Well, it loosened you up, didn’t it?”

“It did, but that’s not the point; for once I would prefer the treatment of professionals who can treat me with the pampering I deserve without playing all the time.”

Spike brought a claw to his mouth and snickered. “Well, look who decided to act all haughty this morning.”

Rarity huffed at Spike’s snarky quip, pointing her nose towards the sky. “What, you don’t think I deserve to be treated like a dignified lady?”

“I never said that, but it wouldn’t kill you to have a little goofy fun every now and then.”

“And it wouldn’t kill you to act your age every now and then,” said Rarity, smiling wryly at him. Spike couldn’t help but smile back.

“Back to what I was saying,” Spike began, “why is it necessary to spend more money on the spa? I mean, you went there just yesterday!”

Rarity turned towards Spike to explain herself. “This isn’t just for me, Spikey. It’s also for you. I had a little extra spending money, so I thought I might give my hubby a little extra care.”

“Well, aren’t you the generous one,” Spike complimented with a huge grin.

“I try to be,” Rarity responded, kissing him on the cheeks. “Besides, Fluttershy is going to be there, and I’m simply dying to catch up with her. It would be lovely if you did the same.”

“So, this is mainly a way for us to stay in contact with an old friend?” Spike asked.

“That… and I really want to get my hooves treated,” Rarity sighed dreamily. “Not to mention how nice it will feel to dip into that warm jacuzzi.” She giggled in bliss, anticipating the manicure.

The couple shared idol conversations, laughing and making soft quips towards each other on their way to the spa. The two entered into the spa to be greeted by the lively twin owners.

“If it isn’t our number one customer, Mrs. Rarity,” Lotus Blossom greeted.

“How can we serve you and Mr. Spike today?” Aloe followed up, smiling brightly at the couple.

“For the time being, we just want to take a relaxing dip in the jacuzzi,” Rarity requested, pulling out a hoof full of bits. “We’ll accommodate for my husband once we get done catching up with a good friend.”

The two sisters collected their pay, and led the two to the spacious spa room. The sisters provided a robe and towel for the two before attending to the other customers.

“Call us when you need to,” Lotus stated.

“And please, do enjoy yourself,” followed Aloe, leaving Spike and Rarity to enjoy themselves.

“Oh, hi,” Fluttershy greeted meekly while submerged into the jacuzzi.

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Spike responded waving.

“Fluttershy, darling!” Rarity smiled widely and grabbed her towel, wrapping it around her head. “Care if we join you?”

“Sure, if you want to.”

With that said, Rarity trotted towards the Jacuzzi and slowly slid herself into the warm waters, sighing in pleasure. Spike didn’t waste anytime jumping into the jacuzzi, splashing water on the outside.

“A-Are things going well for you two?” Fluttershy asked, attempting to start up a conversation.

“Oh, Spike and I are enjoying ourselves immensely,” Rarity replied, wrapping her hooves around Spike and planting a wet kiss around his cheek. “He’s still the sweetheart he was back then, only a tad more sarcastic.

Spike smirked at her response. “It comes with having to deal with an OCD mare who won’t work if a fly is flying in her workspace. How about yourself, Fluttershy? You managing well?”

“Oh, I’m doing fine, Spike,” Fluttershy responded with a soft smile. “It’s always nice to talk to my friends. We don’t do that too often anymore.”

“We still have time to get together, surely,” Rarity stated. “just not as frequent as I’d like.”

“I suppose…” Fluttershy stated. “Still, it would be nice to have the group back together again, but with Rainbow Dash being a member of the Wonderbolts, and with you and Spike being so busy…”

“I understand, Fluttershy. It’s not the same anymore, is it?”

Fluttershy nodded and frowned. “It would be better if Angel was still around to accompany me. But…” Small tears began forming around Fluttershy’s eyes.

The air grew thick and extremely awkward. Spike coughed into his fist in discomfort, thinking of a way to change the subject.

“So, um, how is your babysitting thing going?” he asked. Almost instantly, her ears perked up with slight joy.

“It’s going wonderful,” she replied. “I don’t get too much diversity, but the recurring customers are really nice. The children themselves are also really sweet, even if some are kind of rough with my animals.”

Rarity softly grinned. “I’m just glad you can take care of Lavender whenever Spike and I need to make business trips. I feel absolutely awful for not paying you though; you’ve been very patient with her, and it doesn’t seem right that you aren’t getting paid.”

“Oh, I could never charge a dear friend to watch over their child,” Fluttershy waved off. “You’ve all done so much for me in the past, it’s the least I could do. Speaking of little cuties, how is Lavender doing?

“Much better,” Rarity said with a smile. “She’s actually out with her friend now.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! What’s her friend’s name?”

“Sugar Snap,” Spike answered. “Sweet child, and quite the flatterer if I do say so myself.” He grinned and stuck his chest out in pride.

“She’s a sweet filly. She’s a really embracive filly too. I’d be surprised if she wasn’t trying to push Lavender into the Cutie Mark Crusaders right now.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that either,” Rarity giggled.

“If she does become a member, hopefully she can make some new friends. Maybe Fizzle will even open up to her.”

“Fizzle?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I never told you about him. He’s a very sweet colt I have had the pleasure of babysitting every time his parents are away. His parent’s are traveling salesponies, so they are gone from time to time.”

“So, you must babysit him quite often then,” Spike concluded.

“Oh, of course. Sometimes it’s a few days, other times it’s a couple of weeks. He’s really bonded towards me in these past few months. I even heard him call me Mother Fluttershy before.”

“Oh, well isn’t that cute,” Rarity gushed.

“He’s a very adorable kid.” Rarity and Fluttershy shared soft giggles while Spike nearly gagged from the mushy conversation. “Though, I wish he would interact with the other children more. He’s so soft spoken around them; he always distances himself from the other ponies.”

“A shy one, I assume?” Rarity inquired.

“Well, that, and he personally told me why he avoids confrontation with the others.”

“And that is?”

“Well,” Fluttershy began, hesitant to release personal information. “Let’s just say he tries to stay out of trouble. If that means isolating himself, then he will accept it.”

***

The group of Crusaders began climbing up the ladder, sporting their signature CMC cape. Most of the members looked at Lavender, shocked that she was among their group; however, they didn’t pay her much attention and sat around the clubhouse.

Fizzle took his cape off the shelf and put it on, finding a solitary corner to sit at. Noticing how antisocial he was being, Lavender frowned and walked over to him.

“Um… are you going to sit back here with me?” Fizzle asked, flushing slightly.

“No,” she replied, walking behind him. “You’re going to sit up there with us!”

“W-What?” Lavender nudged his backside with her nose, pushing him towards the rest of the ponies. “B-But I don’t like sitting where ponies will notice me!”

“Too bad; you’re sitting with us.”

“But what if they notice me? If they ask me something and I say something silly…”

“Then you say something silly! Now stop being difficult and move by yourself!”

Fizzle tried to push back, but Lavender proved too strong for him. She scooted the nervous Fizzle towards the middle of the room.

“Please, Lavender. I don’t want to sit in the middle of the room. The ponies… they might stare at me.”

“Stare at you, with a dracony sitting in the middle?” Lavender laughed at that thought. “And even if they did, at least you’ll be sitting by a friend.”

Fizzle’s eyes widened once she said that word. “You… consider me a friend?”

When Lavender nodded her head and smiled widely at him, he felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He gave a small smile, trying to compose himself.

“Also, if anypony wants to give you trouble, I’ll give them the ol’ one two dragon punch!” Lavender jabbed at the air playfully; the other ponies started giggling as they saw her display.

“Um, I don’t think you have to do all that,” Fizzle stated, “but… if you think I’ll be okay…”

Lavender put her claws on Fizzle’s shoulders. “I don’t think you’ll be okay, I know it.”

Fizzle smiled softly, finally lifting himself up and voluntarily walking towards the center of the room. Taking a small breath, he turned and faced Lavender. “Is it… is it okay if I sit by you?”

Lavender raised an eyebrow at his question. “Why would you need to ask that?”

“I was just… making sure you were okay with it.”

“Of course I’m okay with it! Like I said before, you’re my friend.”

The two sat close to the front. Lavender noticed that Sugar Snap hadn’t taken her seat among the other ponies yet. Not only that, but her cape was golden, much different from the others.

“Hey Fizzle, why does she get the fancy shmancy cape while everypony else is stuck with the normal red one?”

Before she could receive her answer, Sugar Snap stood on top of her podium and coughed loudly to gain attention.

“Attention, Cutie Mark Crusaders!” she exclaimed at the top of her lungs. “I am proud to announce, as the president of this club…”

“Wait… she’s the president?” Lavender sat in shock, listening to her speech.

“...it is my pleasure to introduce a new member to the club. I’m pretty sure that most of you have noticed her by now, so I want you to welcome the newest member, Lavender!”

All the fillies and colts looked at Lavender, who lightly waved at everypony that stared at her.

“Wait, why does she get to be a CMC?” one of the colts pointed out. “She’s not even a pony! Can she even get a cutie mark?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sugar Snap stated. “Remember that the Cutie Mark Crusaders accepts any filly or colt who is considered a blank flank.”

“But, she’s not either one of those!” Lavender turned towards the cream-tinted pegasus and snarled at him.

“Well, if you don’t like it Brass Bolt, you can just leave. Not like you were much help anyways.”

Brass Bolt grumbled and folded his hooves, glaring at Lavender, who stuck her tongue out at him in disgust.

“Anyways, like I was saying, I want you all to welcome our newest member, Lavender, as she accepts her official Cutie Mark Crusaders cape.”

With that said, Sugar Snap motioned Lavender to meet her at the pedestal. Lavender complied and walked towards the front of it.

“Lavender, do you agree to follow the rules of the club at all times?”

“Um… yeah?” Lavender responded.

“Now, the Cutie Mark Crusaders is about helping others find their potential and get their cutie marks. If somepony ask for help, you give them help. We always lend each other a hoof when they need it, so you must do the same. Are you willing to accept that?”

“Well, I don’t really have a choice. You did drag me here after all,” Lavender taunted.

“Please, just answer with a simple yes…”

“Fine. Then yes.”

“Then I am happy to make you an official member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Now, just put your ho… erm… claw on the sacred first book of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“By putting your hands on this, you’re swearing an oath to the CMC. You break the oath, and we can kick you from the group. So, with that said, what do you say?”

Lavender put her hand in the air and set it on top of the book. After this action was done, Sugar Snap smiled widely and pulled a red cape from behind the podium.

“Congratulations, Lavender! You are now a member of our great Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

With the announcement, the crowd of fillies and colts stomped on the floor, applauding the entrance of their newest member of the group. Lavender turned around and watched with delight, happy that she wasn’t ridiculed by the other Crusaders. The only one who wasn’t stomping was Brass Bolt, who still had his arms folded and continued eyeing Lavender.

“Alright everypony, today’s meeting will be very short. All we are here to do is pick who you want to have in your small groups. We now have fifteen members, so that means we can have… um…” Sugar Snap paused and put her hoof to her head, trying to figure it out.

“Um… five groups of three, maybe?” Fizzle meekly replied, lowering his head and tapping the ground.

“Right! Thanks Fizzle,” Sugar Snap replied. “Anyways, as soon as you find your group, you are free to go. But choose wisely; the pony you choose will be in your group until you find your cutie mark. Alright, now go!”

The Crusaders immediately tried to group up with their closest friends, so they wouldn’t be isolated. Lavender watched as all but Fizzle moved around to locate a group.

“By the way, Lavender, you’re going to be in my group,” Sugar Snap whispered. “Gotta keep an eye on the new one.”

“And just how are you going to do that if you’re constantly darting all over the place?” Lavender asked.

“I have my ways,” Sugar Snap smiled and looked at the Crusaders making forming their groups and laughing as they exited the building. “Okay, now all we have to do is choose one more. I was going to consider Brass Bolt as a partner, but if he’s going to be a jerk to you, I don’t think that would be good.”

“Why Brass Bolt?”

“Because he’s a very helpful pegasus, when he isn’t being a jerk,” Sugar Snap sighed. “But since he seems to have a problem with you, which by the way doesn’t happen often here! We’re all very nice to anything that decides to join. At one point, we offered a griffon to join us!”

“And the reason the griffon didn’t join was?”

“She couldn’t get a cutie mark, so she said no,” Sugar Snap smiled. “But like I was saying, we should get somepony who is beneficial to our team. We need somepony who can communicate well with us; somepony who is always helpful no matter…”

“Hey, Fizzle, come join us!” Lavender shouted out, catching the attention of both Fizzle and Sugar Snap.

“Um, Lavender, why him?” Sugar Snap questioned. “I mean, I don’t have a problem with it, but what does he have to offer us?”

“Nothing,” Lavender said with a smile. “He’s just a friend. Weren’t the original CMC’s friends with each other?

“Well, yeah…”

“So why not do the same thing with our group? It’ll make helping each other much easier because we’ll like each other.”

Sugar Snap considered what she had said, smiling widely. “You know what, you’re right!” She flew behind Lavender and ruffled her hair with her hooves. “Knew there was a reason I wanted you to join!”

Lavender shook her head and turned towards Fizzle again. “Come on, Fizzle. You’re in our group now.”

“Um… well.. okay…” he trotted slowly to the two girls, smiling sheepishly. With the five groups finally decided, the rest of the ponies went off to get to know each other better. While the other fillies and colts trotted off to play and learn ways to get their cutie marks, Lavender, Sugar Snap, and Fizzle stood inside of the treehouse.

“So, you’re the club president, huh?” Lavender asked.

“Yup yup!” Sugar Snap answered, shaking her head rapidly.

“Should have known there was a reason you dragged me here,” Lavender laughed. “Also should have guessed that was the reason why you were so bossy to Fizzle.”

“Well, I have to make sure nopony is slacking off,” Sugar Snap stated. “It’s not easy being in charge of fourteen…”

“Um… fifteen now,” Fizzle corrected, jolting back as soon as Sugar Snap glared at him.

“Yes… fifteen… and that’s a big load sometimes.”

“I bet,” Lavender responded. She trotted towards the window and stared out of it. “It’s a nice day outside. Wanna go out to the pond and just talk for a while?”

“Sure! I’d love to do that!” Sugar Snap replied.

“Well… if you want to, then I’m fine with it,” Fizzle followed up.

“Okay then, let’s go!” Lavender rushed towards the ladder and climbed down swiftly. “Race you both to the pond!”

“You’re on!” Sugar Snap accepted the challenge and flew out the door, sticking her tongue out at both Fizzle and Lavender. “Gee, me racing against an earth pony and a flightless dracony. I wonder who will win?”

***

“How… in Equestria… did you beat me?”

Sugar Snap panted heavily, trying to keep herself afloat. Both Lavender and Fizzle had beaten her to the pond.

“Just because you have wings, doesn’t mean can outdo us in a legit race,” Lavender taunted, swirling her fingers in the water. “We can’t all be a Rainbow Dash, though it’s a shame you’re barely a Fluttershy.”

“Oh, go jump in a pile of rotten apples!” Sugar Snap retorted. She landed on the ground next to Fizzle, spreading her wings to relax. “You know, I kind of like reserved Lavender better. She’s so much easier to talk to, right Fizzle?”

“Well… she’s not that easy to tal…” Fizzle paused after the realization of what he was about to say. “I… I didn’t mean it that way, Lavender! Really I…”

Lavender giggled at his discomfort. “Calm down, Fizzle. You gotta loosen up, buddy. I’m not mad at you.”

Fizzle nodded at Lavender’s request.

“Though… because you almost let it slip out…” Lavender sunk her claw into the pool and splashed a handful into his face. “You get drenched!”

Sugar Snap and Lavender giggled while Fizzle shook the excess water off of him, frowning afterwards.

“I deserved that…” he replied, causing the laughter eventually turned into awkward silence. “I should really watch what I say. I mean… I could hurt somepony’s feelings…”

Sugar Snap rolled her eyes and looked at Lavender. “Look, I know you’re trying to be friendly, but why does the killjoy have to be in our group?”

Lavender ignored her statement and grabbed Fizzle’s face. “Now Fizzle, why are you acting so depressed?”

“I… well…”

“I don’t want you to act like everything is your fault! You’re no fun when you’re sad and upset!”

Fizzle’s face flushed. “Well, I…”

He paused when Lavender leaned towards his face, staring into his soul. “Listen to me and listen to me good, I like you better when you’re happy… so, for me… could you be happy.”

Although Lavender was staring at him with a stern expression, Fizzle’s exaggerated view saw things differently. The scenery before him practically sparkled as a half lidded Lavender stared him down. A small smile began to form on his face.

“See, we’re making progress already!” Lavender exclaimed. “See, Sugar Snap, there is hope for this one!”

Fizzle’s smile grew slightly wider. Though Lavender was oblivious to his dreamlike trance, Sugar Snap took notice of his expression, smiling softly.

“Besides, you won’t be the only one to get wet! See!” Lavender held her breath and dunked her head under into the water. The loud splash was enough to knock Fizzle out of his trance; he looked at Sugar Snap, who was giving him a devious smile.

“Um… what? Did I do anything?” Fizzle asked.

“Oh, nothing…”

The two sat and watched as Lavender kept her head submerged under water, longer than they thought was possible.

“I… Is she going to be okay?” Fizzle questioned.

“I don’t know…” Sugar Snap responded scratching her head.

Mere minutes after having her head submerged underwater, Lavender lifted herself up and gasped.

“Hey, I think I found something down there!” Lavender shouted out, shaking the excess water off of her and onto her friends.

“W-What did you find, Lavender?” Fizzle asked, shielding his face from the amount of water she shook at him.

“It looked round… and shiny. I kind of want it.”

“But, it’s at the bottom of the pond,” Sugar Snap stated. “How are you going to get it?”

Lavender blew the hair bang that was getting in the way of her eyes. “Easy! Dive in the water and get it. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

“But, you don’t know how deep the…”

Lavender ignored the statement Sugar Snap was about to say and dived into the water. Fizzle and Lavender looked down at the water, waiting for their friend to reemerge.

“Do… do you think she’s going to be alright down there?” Fizzle asked, concerned about the well being of Lavender.

“Hopefully,” Sugar Snap replied, leaning close to the water to see if she could locate Lavender. “If she doesn’t come back up in the next forty seconds, I’m going to dive and see if I she’s okay.” She looked back up at Fizzle and giggled. “But seeing how well she held her breath the first time, she should be fine.”

“Yeah,” Fizzle replied dreamily. “She’s definitely not like anypony I’ve ever seen.”

“HA! I knew it!” Sugar Snap fluttered in the air and pointed at Fizzle. “You like Lavender!”

Fizzle’s entire face turned beat red, causing Sugar Snap to laugh even harder. “N-No I don’t! Really!”

“Well, unless you’re getting sunburn, nopony’s face turns red like that normally. Also, you seemed a little too happy when Lavender was super close your face.”

Fizzle lowered his head in defeat, embarrassed that Sugar Snap caught on so quickly embarrassment. “You… you’re not going to tell her about this are you?”

“Of course not,” she reassured, “but I am going to tease you about it from now on.”

“Can you please just let this go?”

“Nope, not until you tell her,” she replied, sticking out her tongue.

Fizzle fell silent in defeat, turning his attention back to the now bubbling water. Within seconds, Lavender appeared from under the water, spitting water into Fizzle’s face and giggling.

“Found it!” she replied, stepping out of the water and shaking it off of her. A small, silver orb was wedged between her claws, catching the attention of Sugar Snap.

“So, what did you find?” Sugar Snap asked, flying towards Lavender.

“Oh, just this!” Lavender held out the tiny pearl in the palm of her hand. “It’s really shiny… and it kind of looks tasty,” she replied, licking her lips, tempted to munch on it right there. However, just as she was about to pop it into her mouth, she looked at the pearl, closing her lips.

“You know what, I think my mom will like this,” she said, putting it in her cape pocket. “It might make up for me and Daddy eating her gems.”

“Ahh! But I wanted it!” Sugar Snap groaned. “Mom could make a nice tiara out of that!”

“Well, you can’t have it,” Lavender taunted. “I found it, so it’s mine, and I can do what I want with it.”

The trio spent their time talking and getting to know each other more. Fizzle himself was the quietest of the group, but he eventually started warming up to the group, especially to Lavender.

As the day went by, the trio relaxed and laid on the soft grass.

“Okay, so what could we do to get our cutie marks?” Sugar Snap brought a hoof to her head and tried to think. “I got it! We borrow the pets of the elements, take them to the clubhouse, get some scissors, trim their hair, and get our pet grooming cutie marks!”

Lavender raised an eyebrow at Sugar Snap’s idea. “Do you know how to cut animal hair?”

“No, but it can’t be that hard, right?”

“Um… I don’t know if that would work,” Fizzle stated. “I mean, what if they said no?”

Sugar Snap sighed. “Good point Fizzle. We should try to think of something that the grown ups won’t mind us doing.”

The trio continued conjuring up ideas for their cutie marks.

“Hmm, what about this?” Lavender began. “Maybe… we can get a rock climbing cutie mark!”

“I think that would only work for you, Lavender,” Sugar Snap replied. “And it’s not something I would want to do anyways.”

Lavender folded her arms and pouted, “I thought it was a good idea…”

“I-It was a great idea, Lavender,” Fizzle reassured, “it’s just… we can’t do it.”

“Well, since my idea can’t work, do you have an idea, Fizzle?” Lavender looked directly at Fizzle, waiting for him to make a response.

“Well, no,” he duly said. “I’m not good with coming up with ideas.”

The group sighed, annoyed at the lack of progress they were making.

“Well, it is only our first day in a group together,” Sugar Snap said. “We can always try again later.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Lavender agreed, laying on the ground. “I’m tired of talking about CMC stuff.”

Lavender rested her head on the soft grass, looking at the orange sky. It was a nice, soothing atmosphere; the kind of setting that she would love lazing under.

“Wait…” Lavender jolted up. “It’s getting late! I gotta get home for dinner!” Lavender turned towards Fizzle and Sugar Snap. “I’d love staying around longer, but I need to go home. This is the last time I’ll see Auntie Sweetie before she leaves.”

“Wait! One of the original Crusaders was here, and you didn’t tell me?” Sugar Snap gasped, grabbing Lavender with her hooves. “Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted me to be a Crusader from the beginning?”

Sugar Snap was at a loss for words. “You win this one, Lavender…”

“Well… we don’t want to prevent you from going home with your family,” Fizzle said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lavender gave a toothy smile. “Yeah, and since we have the same class, we can talk to each other everyday, right?

“Yeah… right…” Fizzle tapped his hooves together and blushed. Lavender just smiled back, oblivious to his growing affection.

“Bye, Fizzle! I’ll see you at school!”

Fizzle slowly waved, causing Sugar Snap to snicker.

“Oh and Sugar Snap, thanks again for not being mean to me the other day.”

“Well, somepony had to look after the weak link,” Sugar Snap teased, knocking on Lavender’s head.

“Weak link? I’m stronger than you are!” Lavender replied pulling on Sugar Snap’s face.

“You keep thinking that. You just keep on thinking that…”

Lavender rolled her eyes and waved to her friends before walking back home.

***

“So what did you do when you got into the Cutie Mark Crusaders?”

The entire family sat at the table, eating a plate of spaghetti. Opalescence sat on the floor besides Rarity, eating cut up fish out of her bowl. Lavender slurped the noodles down swiftly so she could answer Sweetie Belle’s question.

“Well, at first my friend Sugar Snap had me clean up for her, but soon, we joined in a group and went by the pond. She’s actually a good friend. A bit bossy, but friendly no less.”

“I can imagine,” Sweetie Belle giggled. “Afterall, she is Diamond Tiara’s kid.”

“Did you meet anypony else while, sweetie?” Rarity asked, jabbing at Spike once she noticed that he was shoveling a hefty amount of pasta into his mouth.

“Well, there was this colt named Fizzle…”

“Oh, you met Fizzle?” Rarity asked. “Fluttershy told us about him. Did you make friends with him?”

“Yep! He’s a really nice colt. He’s a little weird and shy though. Most of the time I try to talk to him, he freezes up and his face turns red a lot.”

Rarity’s eyes widened in response. “Ahh, that is so adorable,” she gushed, much to Lavender’s confusion.

“Adorable?”

Rarity could tell that Lavender didn’t understand why the colt was acting the way he was, so she just put her hoof to her mouth and giggled. “Oh, nothing.”

“Well, I’m glad my sweet little Lavender found some friends to play with,” Sweetie Belle stated. “I don’t like seeing my favorite niece miserable.”

“Only niece,” Lavender corrected.

“Even if I had a thousand nieces, you’d still be my favorite.

Lavender giggled and wagged her tail in excitement. “Hey, Mommy, when I get done eating, I want to show you something.”

“Oh?” Rarity’s curiosity was peaked. “What is it, Lavender?”

“Something you might like,” Lavender vaguely answered, arousing Rarity’s curiosity more.

“How about you wait until we all finish our food; that way we can all see it,” Rarity suggested.

“Okay!” Lavender sat and waited for the family to get done with their food. Spike had no problem wolfing down his pasta, with Sweetie Belle eating at a steady pace. Lavender grew impatient of her mom, who was taking the longest to finish her meal.

“Well, leave it to Rarity to take forever eating pasta,” Sweetie Belle giggled.

“Well, unlike a certain drake that lives here, I take my time when I eat.”

Lavender tapped her hand on the table impatiently. After what felt like eons for Lavender, Rarity finally at the last of her food.

“Okay, dear. I’m ready to see my gift now.”

“Yay!” Lavender hopped out of her seat, darting towards Opal. “You’re coming too!” Lavender grabbed Opal, who tried to resist by clawing at the ground. Her efforts were in vain as she couldn’t get a good grip, and eventually was dragged into the living room. The rest of the family followed behind the eccentric Lavender, wondering what she could possibly have.

“So, I went diving inside the pond today…”

“Is that why you smelled like a wet dog when you came in?” Rarity questioned.

“Yeah… like I was saying, I went underwater to find something that Mommy might like, and this is what I found.”

She went through her cape and pulled out the pearl, causing Rarity’s eyes to light up.

“Is that a… that’s a…”

Rarity felt as if she was going to faint there; knowing the situation all too well, Spike stood behind her so she wouldn’t fall on the floor.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

Lavender’s worries disappeared as fast as they came once Rarity pulled the pearl with her magic and hopped around joyously.

“Thank you! Thank you!” she exclaimed, embracing her daughter. “This will go perfectly with a necklace I want to make. Thank you, my little sweet Lavender.”

She planted a kiss on Lavender’s forehead, which made Lavender smile widely.

“You’re welcome,” Lavender responded. “I wanted to give that to you to make up for eating your gems. I’m sorry for doing that.”

“It’s okay,” Rarity said, patting her head. “We all make silly mistakes sometimes; I’m just glad that you apologized.” Lavender wagged her tail and gave Rarity a huge hug.

“So, that makes up for me eating your gems too, right?” Spike chimed in, smiling awkwardly.

“No,” Rarity bluntly stated, winking at him. “You have to make it up to me later.”

Lavender was lifted by her aunt’s magic, planting the child in front of her.

“Well, Lavender, I’m going to miss my little angel,” she began, “but I want you to always write to me, at least once a week like normal, got it?”

“Of course, Auntie!” Lavender agreed. “But can you sing me one more song before you leave?”

“Anything for you, Lavender.”

Lavender smiled widely and pulled Opal closer to her, wrapping her arms around her while squeezing her tightly.

What Lavender thought would be a miserable experience turned into an event that landed her two friends, something she thought would never happen to a lizard freak.

But she wasn’t a lizard freak. She was Lavender, just sweet, sweet, Lavender.

Author's Note

And with that, the Young Lavender Arc has come to a close. Expect more loose youthful Lavender chapters in the future, but for now, onto the second part of the story. See you when Lavender grows up :raritywink:

Birthday Dragon?

Spike leaned up, stretching his arms. Yawning loudly and scratching his back, he smiled widely, knowing that his day was going to be excellent all because of what day it was.

“Today’s the day,” he softly said to himself, smiling at the still sleeping Rarity. He leaned over and began kissing tenderly on her cheeks, causing her to giggle.

“Spike, stop. You know I’m ticklish there…” Rarity mumbled and smiled in her sleep, avoiding contact with the elated dragon next to her.

“Hey, Rarity, if you get this message in your peaceful sleep, I just want to say I can’t wait for what you have planed for me today.” With a goofy grin, he laid back on the bed and closed his eyes, anticipating what would happen in the following hours.

When he decided to get up, he noticed that Rarity was not in the bed with him. A smirk formed on his face, knowing what she was doing. His stomach was rumbling in anticipation.

“Don’t worry, boy. You’ll get fed a nice breakfast soon,” Spike said, patting his belly. “I’m expecting something nice for today.”

He hopped off the bed and walked into the bathroom to wash his face. He didn’t want to look bad on this momentous of days. After straightening himself out, he walked downstairs with a huge, goofy grin on his face. He hummed to himself and entered into the kitchen, seeing both Rarity and Lavender setting up the table.

“Ah, isn’t that cute!” Spike said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “My precious little daughter helping my lovely wife make breakfast.”

Lavender giggled and wagged her tail as she balanced Spike’s plate of french toast and eggs on her head.

“Lavender, don’t play with your fathers food,” Rarity giggled. “We don’t want to have to clean up Papa’s mess off the floor now do we?”

“No, Momma!” Lavender chimed, glowing with pure happiness.

“Well, I’m just glad to see that you girls decided to wake up and do something special for me this morning,” Spike responded. “It is a special day, afterall.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow, looking at Spike in a confused manner. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you know, the day of all days for me? A very, special day?” Spike hinted constantly, trying to get a reaction out of Rarity. She tapped her hoof on her chin, shrugging afterwards.

“Well, I can’t think of anything,” she bluntly replied. “Our anniversary isn’t for another six months!” Spike’s giddy grin melted into a saddened frown. How could she not remember his special day? “Lavender, do you know what Spike is talking about?”

“Noooo?” Lavender answered, unsure of her answer. “We just decided to fix breakfast like normal.”

This was the final nail in the coffin for Spike. His hopes were crushed right in front of him, and by his own family no less. “You two really don’t know what day it is?”

They both shook their head.

“I see…” Without another word, Spike sat at the table, staring at his breakfast. His normal, unspecial, ordinary breakfast. Lavender watched as Spike poked at the French toast with heavy disappointment.

“Daddy, are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, princess, I’m fine…”

The breakfast was awkwardly quiet; Spike didn’t wolf down his breakfast like he normally did. In fact, he didn’t seem to enthralled to eat his breakfast. For once in their relationship, Rarity had finished her food before him.

“Spike, aren’t you going to finish your food?” Rarity asked.

Spike looked down at the last bit of toast he had left, sighing loudly. “Nah. Don’t think I can finish the rest of this up.”

“Well dear,” Rarity began, kissing Spike on the cheek, “if you are finished, Twilight requested your assistance over at the library. If I were you, I’d go ahead and see what she wants.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Spike’s special day might have been neglected by his wife and daughter, but he couldn’t imagine the sister he had lived with for almost his entire life would forget. He dismissed himself from the front table and headed for the front door.

“Oh, Spike, I almost forgot!” Rarity called out, causing Spike’s eyes to widen. Maybe she did remember.

“Yeah?” he replied in anticipation.

“I’m going to need you back here in about four hours. We have a lot of work to do.”

Work? On Spike’s special day? He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Alright,” he groaned before leaving the house. Rarity let out a small sigh and went back to the kitchen to clean. As she walked in, Lavender began tugging on her tail, concern filling the little dracony’s eyes.

“Mom, why couldn’t we tell Daddy happy birthday?” she asked. “He looked… upset.”

Rarity leaned down and patted Lavender on the head. “Well, dear, we’re throwing Spike a surprise party, so we want to keep him in the dark for as long as possible. He might be upset now, but trust me, by the end of the day he’s going to be bursting with happiness!”

“I don’t know. It looked like he was about to burst with sadness a moment ago. What if he…”

Rarity giggled and kissed Lavender’s forehead. “Now sweetie, I might have married a man child, but I’m pretty sure he can handle this in a mature manner. He’ll be just fine.”

***

“And then they just went on like it was nothing! It’s like they didn’t even care about what day it was!”

Spike traced the library with Twilight watching his every movement. She just rolled her eyes and flipped through her book while he complained.

“I don’t ask for much! All I want is some acknowledgement… well, maybe a cake or something, but just some acknowledgement. I mean, it’s not like I forget their birthday or anything. I always pull the stops for Rarity when she has her birthday, and I don’t even get…”

“I’m sorry, but what was that?” Twilight interrupted. “I kinda got lost in the book I was reading. So, what was it you were ranting on about?”

“You weren’t listening?” Spike groaned.

“Look, Spike, I’d love to hear you mope around and talk about how unfair life is, I really would, but I didn’t call you over for therapy. I called you here so you could do me a little favor.”

Her too? “Fine! What is it?”

Twilight could hear the frustration in his voice, but in order for the plan to go accordingly, she needed to keep her faux ignorance up.

“Oh, nothing much. Just sort out all the books in alphabetical order. You know, the usual.”

“Oh, of course! That’s what I wanted to do today!” Spike complained. “This is the perfect day to be sorting out your books because you want to go frolic around with your friends!”

“Hey, it’ll be just like old times.”

“Yeah… old times…” Spike walked over to the shelves and began mumbling under his breath. Twilight smiled softly, and walked out of the library.

“Stupid Twilight, and her stupid books,” Spike muttered. “Just wanted to have a nice day and already they’re screwing it up!”

“Woo.”

Owlolicious flew on top of the bookshelf while Spike was alphabetizing the books.

“You know what… I don’t even know who anymore. They act like they don’t even know me! I’m just some kind of work horse… um… dragon who doesn’t deserve a good birthday!”

“Woo.”

“ME!” Spike snapped at the owl, causing it to flinch and ruffle its feathers. Spike took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated right now. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, Owlolicious. Still…”

Spike turned his head towards the clock. It was getting close to lunch, and the breakfast he had wasn’t exactly the most filling, though he was partially to blame for that.

“Well, if they won’t treat me for my birthday, I’ll just treat myself to a little something. These stupid books can wait.”

He climbed down the ladder, looking up at Owlolicous. “Hey, I’ll be back later. If Twilight comes back, you didn’t see me.”

“Woo.”

“Exactly!”

***

Lavender licked her lips at the bounty of treats that were displayed in front of her. A wide assortment of emerald encrusted cakes, apple tarts, deli sandwiches with fish in it especially for Spike, and many little petite cupcakes to top it off. Both her and Pinkie were practically drooling over the delectable treats. They reached for one of the cupcakes, only to be popped on the claw and hoof by Rarity.

“No, Lavender! You’re not allowed to eat the treats until the party. You neither, Pinkie.”

“Awww,” the two deviants whined, lowering their heads in disappointment.

“Ah, don’t be a sourpuss, Rarity,” Applejack replied. “Little Lavender can have a little something for being a helpful little cook.”

Lavender’s eyes lit up, tongue hanging out and tail wagging like an eager puppy.

“I’m not being a sourpuss!” Rarity defended. “And besides, she hasn’t even eaten anything substantial yet. She’ll ruin her appetite!”

“Well gee, Rarity, I was just tryin’ to be nice to little Lavender. Wouldn’t kill ya to spoil her every now and then.”

Rarity huffed at Applejack’s response. “Listen, darling, I’ve been a mother far longer than you have; I know how to raise my daughter. Just because you’re about to have one…”

“Two,” Applejack corrected smugly, rubbing her belly with her hoof. Rarity rolled her eyes.

“Fine, two… doesn’t mean you can start telling me how to raise mine.”

“Um, girls,” Fluttershy began, “I don’t think we should be arguing since… you know… it’s Spike’s birthday. I don’t think he would want you two arguing with each other, that is, if you want to stop.”

“I agree!” Rainbow Dash chimed in, placing some more of the food on top of the push cart. “You two can bicker with each other another day. Right now, we got a dragon to celebrate with!”

Rarity turned towards Rainbow Dash and smiled, imagining the big, goofy grin Spike would have when he saw the effort they put into his birthday. “Yeah, I suppose we can act civil to each other for a while.”

“Great!” Applejack chimed. “Then ya won’t get mad when I do this. Catch Lavie!”

Lavender opened her mouth and caught the fritter, munching down on the crunchy delight. Rarity was about to turn around and tell Applejack off for her defiance, but decided to hold back, and went back to helping load up the cart.

“Hey! What about me?” Pinkie asked, pointing at her mouth.

“Actually, Ah think ya can wait a bit,” Applejack chuckled, causing Pinkie Pie’s mood to deflate. Lavender giggled and pointed at Pinkie’s misfortune, eliciting laughters out of Rainbow Dash as well.

The crew went on, helping load up the food and desserts for the party. They carried on light conversations throughout the process, until Twilight walked into the shop.

“So, how are things coming, girls?” Twilight asked.

“Everything’s going great, Auntie!” Lavender replied, pushing the cart to the door with Rainbow Dash, who was doing more pushing than Lavender was. “Daddy’s going to love it!”

“I’m sure he will,” Twilight replied, smiling back at her. “But if I know my little brother, he has a very short fuse, especially when it comes down to something important of his being forgotten.”

“Oh dear, I hope he isn’t too upset” Fluttershy stated.

“He was kind of upset this morning,” said Lavender. “I don’t want to see daddy mad on his birthday.”

Twilight nodded. “He might be a little agitated now, but once he see’s what we’ve done, he’ll calm down. Still, we should get these carts totted to the boutique as soon as possible.”

“What’s the rush?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You said you were going to keep him busy with organising the books?”

“Rainbow Dash, when have you ever seen Spike do anything properly when he’s agitated. Additionally, where does he usually come when he is agitated.”

“Huh, good point,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Well, what are we waiting for? We need to get these to the boutique before you know who finds out!”

“Glad you understand,” Twilight responded. “You and Applejack, stay here while we set up the rest of us set up the party.”

“What!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Why?”

“Well, we need Pinkie there to help set up the party, and with too many of us here, they’ll get suspicious. Just say you two are filling in for the Cakes while they’re out and we’ll be fine.”

“Um, if ya haven’t noticed, Twi, I’m not really the best at keeping secrets,” Applejack objected. “Couldn’t you get somepony else to do it.”

“Well, you’re the only one who can make pastries, and Rainbow Dash will be able to cover for you if he comes.

“Well, okay. If ya say so…”

“Great! Now girls, we should get going before you know who shows up.”

The rest nodded in agreement as Twilight lit up her horn, cloaking her, her friends, niece, and pastries, wheeling them outside without being noticed.

“Well, looks like it’s just you and me holding down the fort until we get the call,” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Yep. I just hope that nothing goes bad until they get back to…”

And just on cue, Spike stormed into Sugarcube Corner.

“Oh… um… howdy, Spike,” Applejack greeted with an awkward grin.

“Yo, whatsup, Spike?” Rainbow Dash followed. “Having a good day so far?”

“Actually, it’s been quite terrible so far,” he groaned, leaning against the counter. “It’s as if my entire family has turned against me.”

“That’s unlikely!” Rainbow Dash replied. “I think you’re just overreacting!”

“Overreacting? OVERREACTING?” Spike pounded his fist against the table. “All I wanted was to have a decent birthday, and they slam chores onto me! It’s like I’m their slave! My own daughter doesn’t even know what day it is.”

Applejack patted Spike on the head. “Ah’m sure they’re still thinking about ya. They could be doing som…”

Rainbow Dash punched Applejack on the shoulder while Spike wasn’t looking, smiling back at him. Spike raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Wait… why are you two here and not Pinkie?” he inquired, noticing Applejack sweat up.

“We’re just covering for Pinkie while she’s helping the Cakes,” Rainbow Dash lied seamlessly.

“So, she needed both you and Applejack to cover for her, why?”

“I just volunteered! Got a problem with me helping out?”

“No…” Spike glanced at Applejack, trying to avoid looking him in the eye. “Okay, Applejack. Where exactly is everypony?

Applejack gulped and wiped her forehead. “Well, I’m just here filling in for certain ponies while they do their thing…”

“I didn’t ask why you were here,” Spike huffed. “I’m asking where they are!”

Applejack eyes twitched; she couldn’t keep it up too long.

“Hey, Spike, Back off!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Don’t take out your personal issues on us! We’re just doing our jobs!”

Spike glared Rainbow Dash down, his rage building. “Well, if you guys would be straight with me instead of leaving me in the dark!”

The two continued arguing with each other, grating at Applejack’s ears. She gritted her teeth as Spike and Rainbow Dash continued yelling at each other.

“Will ya’ll shut up so Ah can think! Ah’d rather be at the boutique with the others instead of here!”

Applejack covered her mouth, but it was too late. Spike looked at Applejack pensively.

“So, they’re at the boutique. And for what reason exactly?”

Applejack looked down. She was already embarrassed for blurting out her friends locations; she didn’t want to tell what they were doing as well. Spike wasn’t amused.

“Well, it’s high time I go payed them a visit!”

The two tried to stop him, but Spike was determined to give the other ponies a piece of his mind. He stormed out of Sugarcube Corner, leaving the two ponies to sit in their failure.

“Great job, blabbermouth!” Rainbow Dash scolded. “You had to go and tell him what we were up to!”

“Hey, Ah didn’t want to be here to do this in the first place,” Applejack defended. “Wasn’t my bright idea.”

They both sighed, placing their head on the table.

“So… now that this is a bust, think we should be there for the welcoming committee?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yeah, might as well.”

***

The living room of the boutique was decorated with balloons and confetti, with a banner on the ceiling for Spike. Everything was set in place for the celebration.

“Well, Pinkie, you sure have outdone yourself this time,” Rarity complimented. “Spike will be thrilled!”

“I’m already thrilled!” Pinkie exclaimed, “I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees what we’ve done for him!”

“We’ll find out in a little while, that’s for sure,” Twilight replied. “With any luck, he’s still at the library, or at the very least still with the others at Sugarcube Corner.”

“But… what if he’s not?” Fluttershy meekly asked. “W-What if he found out about the party?”

“Well, then we’ll have to deal with it when that time comes,” Twilight answered. “But my brother is reasonable enough. I’m sure he’ll understand why we did this.”

The door swung open, revealing the dragon in question. Only, he didn’t look like the happy Spike they came to know and love. He looked agitated, frustrated, and worse of all… furious.

“So, this is what you girls were up to!” Spike snarled, inching his way closer to them.

Rarity stepped towards her husband and tried to explain. “Spikey, you need to calm down. I can…”

“I don’t want to hear it, Mrs. I Don’t Remember What Day It Is! I wasn’t really expecting much! Something simple would have been nice! But no, you all don’t seem to care!”

The group of ponies eyes widened at the pent up rage generating inside of Spike, Fluttershy and Lavender especially showing concern.

“Spike…”

“And as for you, Twilight, my supposed sister, you didn’t even care when I was talking to you! You just kept on reading your stupid books, then proceeded to make me organize them! It’s like none of you cared!”

“Spike…”

“And then I come here to find out you girls are having a party by yourselves, without even inviting me! Shows how much you all care for me; and I could have put all this behind me, if you all didn’t do this on my…”

“...Birthday, right?” Twilight finished. Spike’s anger melted into looks of confusion.

“Wait, you knew?”

“Yes, silly,” Rarity chimed in. “We all knew it was your birthday. How could we forget something like that?”

Spike rubbed his head. Though still a little sore about the situation, he had calmed down significantly; at least they acknowledged it. But that begged the question…

“Wait, so if you all knew, why did you all act like you didn’t know?”

“Look up, Spike. I think that’ll answer your question.” Twilight pointed towards the banner reading “Happy Birthday Spike” in bold letters. Spike’s face flushed in humiliation.

“Um… happy birthday, Daddy!” Lavender chimed out, which made him feel even more like Hades for his action.

“Oh, so you girls were throwing me a surprise party,” Spike chuckled.

“Well, duh! You’re the only one here who has a birthday today!” Pinkie winked at him, displaying the effort that the girls put together for him. “I’m surprised you didn’t see this coming!”

“Yeah… I am as well…” Spike slapped himself in the forehead. “And here I was being irate about the entire situation. I feel like such an idiot.”

“As you should,” Rarity harumphed. “Your reaction was immature and unnecessary!”

“Yeah, I’m sor…” Spike’s apology was interrupted by a set of warm lips pressing against his. It was short, but sweet and effective.

“Still, it pains me to see my Spikey Wikey all discombobulated on his birthday, so I’ll let it slide today.”

The two shared a tender moment together, causing everyone in the room with the exception of Lavender, who was gagging at every sappy moment, aww.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie shouted, slamming down a record player on the table.

“Wait, what about Rainbow Dash and Applejack?” Fluttershy asked.

“They’ll get here when they get here,” Spike stated. “Right now, I’m ready to indulge!”

“You heard the birthday boy,” Rarity replied, patting Spike’s stomach, “he’s ready to get started.

And with that, the crew began to start the celebration. Pinkie forced Fluttershy to dance with her, much to her dismay while Lavender went straight for the treats. Spike was about to join in on the fun, but Rarity pulled him back for one last thing.

“Before you go, you should know that Lavender is staying over Twilight’s tonight,” she cooed.

“Oh, and why is that, Rarity?”

“Well, let’s just say that I pulled out all the stops for our little solo session tonight. I can guarantee you’ll like your present.”

Spike’s cheeks reddened, but he gave a confident look, anticipating the reveal of his present. “Oh, and why is that?”

She leaned into his ears and whispered, giggling as she did so. This time, there was no hiding it. She had turned Spike’s cheeks entirely crimson.

“Happy birthday, Spike,” she hummed.

“Yes… happy birthday indeed.”

Author's Note

I just wrote something short and sweet because I wanted to write something birthday related. This is basically filler to hold you over until the second arc starts, so read if you want.

Taking After Mommy

Spike sat up, stretching and yawning. He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. It was that day. Every two weeks, Spike was supposed to assist Twilight on her trip to Canterlot to keep her sane during royal reports and meetings. If anything, he was surprised he managed to come out of them sane.

He turned towards Rarity and smiled. She was still sleeping, her eyes covered by the mask she wore. Her snores were soft, cute noises that escaped each time she exhaled. Spike brushed a claw against her mane and planted a kiss on her cheek. After giving her his daily dose of affection, he slowly got out of the bed. As he walked towards the bedroom door, he heard a drowsy moan.

“You’re just going to leave me hanging with a mere peck, Spike?” She asked, rubbing her eyes while giving him a small grin. “You know, leaving a lady unattended is quite improper.”

Spike turned around and smiled at her. “Oh? And what are the consequences for being improper?”

Rarity smirked and sat up, pressing her hooves together. “Well, there’s a saying going around that a couple’s love life decreases dramatically if you don’t give the wife a good smooch before leaving for awhile. Wouldn’t want that happening, now would we?”

Spike walked back towards the bed and kneeled down to be eye level with Rarity. “No, no we wouldn’t.”

The two gazed at each other for a few moments, slowly leaning in to press their lips together. As they connected, the warmth, passion, and familiarity poured through them like a hot, soothing bath. They could have remained that way for all eternity, embracing each other as their tongues wrestled in each other’s mouths. However, they both knew it couldn’t last, and they eventually separated, staring at each other with strong desire.

“Don’t be gone too long, Spikey-Poo,” Rarity said, pressing a hoof against his chest.

Spike kissed her on the nose. “I’ll come running back as soon as I get the chance,” he said before getting back up. He stood up and stretched, growling in satisfaction. “I should really say goodbye to our little princess before I go. Breaks my heart to leave her again, but you know how it goes.”

Rarity giggled. “Yes, I imagine she’ll be quite upset about it, as usual. Must be a burden staying with her dull, uninteresting mother all day long.”

“If she acts like this all the time, I can imagine.” Spike chuckled and walked out the room, closing the door behind him.

He walked towards Lavender’s bedroom door and pushed it open. Not a peep was heard, not even her usual loud snores. There wasn’t even a bulge in her bed, indicating she wasn’t there. Spike scratched his head, walking towards the bed.

“Lavender? Little Princess?”

Not a word was spoken.

Spike looked under the bed, in the closet, and even doubled-checked the bed by patting it down. There was nothing, not even a peep from his daughter. He pressed his claw against his cheeks and hummed.

“Where oh where did my little girl hide?”

Without many options, he decided it would be best to check downstairs. As he walked down the steps, he heard the faint sounds of laughter and amusement growing louder. A wide smile spread across his face.

As he reached the bottom floor, one thing was clear: a little dracony was roaming around.

“Oh, Opal, it’s so nice to have you around, darling.”

Spike couldn’t help but snort. Darling? She’s starting to sound like Rarity. There she was, playing with Opalescence.

“Yes, I know! It’s so hard to find my inspuraction with that big old dragon always getting on my nerves.”

Spike’s eyebrows raised. He walked slowly into Rarity’s workroom. There Lavender was, sporting Rarity’s sunhat and pearl necklace. She even had a few strokes of nail polish on her fingers. Spike had to fight back the urge to snicker.

“Why, I have many projects to do, and so little time! If only I had a useful set of claws to help, but my hubby is sooo useless sometimes.”

“Well, I don’t know how useful I can be with this little stranger, but I know my little Lavender likes my claws, especially when I do this!”

Lavender froze, unable to turn around before Spike grabbed her and began to tickle her mercilessly. Lavender squirmed and laughed, kicking her feet to try and get away. Her attempts were in vain, as Spike lifted her up and turned her around. She still giggled, swatting playfully at Spike.

“Well, hello there, cutie,” Spike said, nuzzling her nose. “What are you doing up so early? And why are you wearing Mommy’s stuff?”

Lavender was still in a small fit of laughter. “I’m playing pretend, Daddy!” Lavender said. “If I want to be Mommy, I have to act like Mommy, voice and everything.’” She did her best to simulate Rarity’s tone, but did a rather poor job doing so.

“Wow, you totally nailed it,” Spike said with a smile. “If I wasn’t looking right at you, I’d think you were actually her!”

Lavender smiled, wagging her tail. “Thanks, Daddy. Um… what are inspurations and hubbies?”

“I’ll tell you later, Lavender,” Spike said, setting her on the ground. “Right now, Daddy has to go do important royal stuff with Twilight.”

“Aww!” Lavender whined, removing the hat from her head and placing it on the floor. “But you’re always gone too long!”

“I’m only going to be gone for the weekend.”

“And that’s a weekend I won’t be able to play with you!” Lavender folded her arms and pouted. “Mommy never has time to play with me.”

Spike patted Lavender on the head. “I’m sure Rarity will have time for you when she gets done with her projects today. You just have to be patient.”

Lavender still kept her head hung low, but nodded all the same. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Now, I want you to put Mommy’s stuff back where you found it. You know how she gets when someone moves her stuff around.”

“Okay!” Lavender trotted towards the dresser where she got the sunhat, and stood on the chair, putting it on the middle shelf. She then took off the beads and stuck them in the middle drawer, which held other jewelry such as earrings and hoofbands. She closed the drawer and stepped off the chair, running back to Spike.

Spike gave Lavender a warm smile. “Good. Now come on. Let’s get you back into the bed.”

“But I’m not tired,” Lavender groaned. “I don’t wanna go back to bed!”

“Now, Lavender.” Spike’s voice was a little more stern than before, but still light so he didn’t scare her. “What will your mother think if she catches you up this early in the morning?”

Lavender sighed. “She would tell me that I’m going to be a very cranky dracony if I don’t get my beauty sleep.”

“And how long will you have to listen to that?”

Lavender giggled. “Forever and ever until I say ‘yes, ma’am.’”

“Ding ding!” Spike picked Lavender up and tossed her in the air, catching her as soon as she came back down. “And we don’t wanna hear that, now do we?”

Lavender’s disappointment quickly melted into glee as Spike twirled her around in the air and then cradled her on his shoulders. “No, sir. I don’t want to hear Mommy talking me to death.”

“Then it’s settled. You’re going to go back to sleep until Mommy tells gets up, okay?”

Lavender didn’t have much of a choice. She was being carried by Spike, and she doubted that he would let her go even if she wanted him to. “Yes, Daddy.”

Spike smiled. He carried her up to her room, stroking her back. He placed her on her bed, tucking her under the covers. Lavender wiggled around, trying to get comfortable. Spike bent down and planted a kiss on Lavender’s forehead, who in turn grabbed her father’s nose and gave it a smooch.

“I’ll tell Twilight that you said hi, okay, sweetie?”

Lavender nodded, anticipating another kiss before Spike left. She wasn’t disappointed.

“Alright, Princess. Be good for me while I’m gone. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Yes, Daddy! Bye bye!” Lavender waved as Spike left her room, blowing another kiss at her. As he closed the door, she closed her eyes and sank under her covers, ready to go back to sleep until her Mom woke up.

Or at least tried to go to sleep. In reality, all she did for nearly an hour was roll around in the bed, growing increasingly bored. Nearly thirty minutes later, she threw her pillow at the end of her bed in frustration.

“I can’t sleep,” she said to herself, grunting. “Why can’t Mommy get up early so I can play?”

She slouched in her bed, folding her arms. She looked at her clock impatiently, noticing that the little hand was almost on the seven. Surely Rarity would have to get up soon.

Unfortunately for Lavender, that wasn’t the case. The clock passed the normal time, and the sun was shining through the window. Yet Rarity still wasn’t awake yet. Finally at the limits of her patience, Lavender kicked the covers off her and got off the bed. She walked towards Rarity’s room and pushed the door open.

Just as she thought. Still asleep with that silly, fuzzy sleeping mask on her. Her snores were light, but still a clear enough sigh that she wasn’t awake. Not that it was going to stop Lavender from waking her up anyways.

She walked towards Rarity’s bed and leaned against it. “Mommy?” Lavender received no response. Frustrated, she put her claws on Rarity’s shoulders and shook her. “Mommy!”

Rarity grunted, shifting her head up slightly but not taking off her mask. “Huh, wha? Is that you, dear?”

“Yes, ma’am. Can you get up now? I’m really bored and want to play, but Daddy said I couldn’t get up until you did.”

Rarity rolled over on her side, yawning. “Do what Daddy said so. He’s the boss...mmm. Boss.”

Lavender rolled her eyes. Her mother was hopeless, still completely asleep. Even more agitated than before, Lavender shook Rarity a little more insistently.

“Mom! The sun is already up! You can’t sleep all day!”

Rarity smiled. “Sleep… all day. That sounds wonderful… but I can’t… too many projects...”

Lavender pouted, sighing in defeat. “Forget it.” She slowly waddled towards the door, giving up hope of ever being able to play. On her way back to her room, she pouted and mumbled to herself.

“Why does she always have to sleep so late,” Lavender said, kicking at the floor. “She always makes me get up on school days, but never gets up when I wanna get up. Not fair.” She planted herself on the floor, staring into her empty room. “I don’t wanna go back to sleep. If it wasn’t for those projects that Mommy has to do, maybe she wouldn’t be so sleepy.”

With that, Lavender’s ears perked up, and her eyes widened. She put a claw against her chin and began to think. Too many projects. The words repeated in Lavender’s mind constantly. “Too many…”

And then it hit her. “Too many projects! I know what I can do!” She carefully tip-toed down the steps, giggling to herself as she made way back to the workroom.

Opalescence was lying in her bed, ready to take a nap now that the room was quiet again.The enthusiastic dracony, however, had other plans.

“Opal, I think I know why Mommy won’t get up on the weekends anymore!”

Opalescence growled in agitation, knowing that Lavender was going to interrupt her sleeping session yet again.

“She has so much stuff to do, that she’s too tired to get up anymore. Last time she didn’t get up until the little hand was on the ten. That’s almost lunch time!”

Opal sat in her basket, scratching her fur while listening to Lavender go on. If only she had the ability to speak their language. Then she could tell her to buzz off like she really wanted to.

“Well, maybe if she doesn’t have so many of these projects to do, she can get up earlier, and I can play! So, I thought it would be fun to try and make a dress for her!”

Opalescence eyes widened immediately. She shook her head frantically, attempting to convince Lavender otherwise.

“What?” Lavender raised an eyebrow in confusion. “It can’t be that hard. Mommy does it all the time, and she told me once that ‘everypony in the family carries the same amount of grace and talent’. I bet I can make a dress as pretty as she can!”

Opalescence slouched in her bed, ears flopping and whiskers twitching. She had a feeling that only bad things could come from this, most dealing with how frustrated Rarity would be when she saw Lavender’s creation.

“But how am I going to make dresses like Mom does if I don’t think like her?” Lavender looked around the room. Most of the mannequins were leaning against the wall, and the fabric were hanging on wracks. However, much of the room was covered in the leftover bits and pieces of material that Rarity was using before.

But Lavender’s main focus was on Rarity’s reading glasses. They were sitting by the golden pin cushion near the sewing machine. A grin formed on Lavender’s face as she walked towards the counter to grab them.

She unfolded them, looking them over curiously. Opalescence brushed against Lavender’s side, urging her to put them back.

“You’re right, Opal. Daddy did say not to play with Mommy’s stuff without asking.” After looking at the glasses one more time, she smiled and held them in front of her face. “But I’m not playing with them. I’m using them to spark some inspuration!”

She carefully slid the pair of glasses onto her face, hooking the ends behind her ears. It was an awkward fit at first. The glasses were slightly too big for Lavender to wear properly, but after a small amount of tampering, she managed to get them to stay put.

Unfortunately, it didn’t have the effect that she hoped they would. Her vision was immediately distorted, and she squinted just to alleviate the pain.

“Ouchy!” Lavender cried out. “How does Mommy wear these things? They hurt!” Lavender rubbed her temples. “It’s okay. Mommy uses them all the time to make her dresses. Maybe I just have to get used to them.”

Lavender cleared her throat and turned towards Opalescence. “Well, darling, do tell. How do I look?” Once again, she tried to impersonate Rarity’s voice, but the childish tone belied her efforts. Opalescence just stared at her, looking unimpressed.

“Well, if I’m very well going to look like Mom, I have to talk like her, too. How else am I going to make these dresses perfect?” Lavender walked up to the work table, opening Rarity’s notebook. “Okay then, customers. Time to give you something dazzling, graceful, and marva… M-marvaloose? Marvalish… erm… Mar… Marevle… Pretty!”

She flipped through the pages, looking for something that would interest her. Many of the dresses the customer wanted were really complicated, having different assortments of ribbons, bows, glitter, and even gems, something that made Lavender salivate a little. She wiped her lips and continued skimming.

“These don’t look so easy,” Lavender said, scratching her cheek. “There has to be an easy on here somewhere.”

She went through nearly half the book, and still didn’t find anything. Lavender was just about to give up and try her luck with a difficult looking one when something caught her eyes.

“A small dress for the filly Beansprout.” Lavender had to suppress a giggle at the name. “She wants it to be purple, with some of this fluffy stuff on the end of it. This will be simply delightful. And easy.”

Lavender looked around, hoping to find the required materials among Rarity’s organized mess, all the while ignoring her building headache and blurry vision from the glasses. After a thorough search, she found some of the fabric she needed lying on the floor nearby. Lavender grabbed it by the edge and pulled, unfolding and dragging it across the floor. It was so long and thin that dragging it any further would probably result in it getting dangled around some kind of furniture.

Lavender pulled it towards the work table, then looked at the picture again. The dress design looked simple enough, but she soon scratched her head when she didn’t notice any instructions.

“How am I supposed to make this if I don’t know how big it’s supposed to be?” Lavender groaned, resting her head on the table. Partly from frustration, and partly because the cool wooden table helped soothe her glasses-induced headache.

Opalescence nudged at Lavender’s legs, meowing at her to gain her attention.

“What’s that, Opal?” Lavender looked at Opalescence flail her claws, trying to decipher what she wanted. Within seconds, Lavender’s eyes lit up, and she lifted Opalescence, smiling widely. “Oh, right! What a splendid idea, darling! I can use the man-thingies to measure how big the dress needs to be. You’re such a helpful cat, sweetie!”

Opalescence ears drooped. She gave up any lingering hope that Lavender would actually listen to her.

“Maybe if I get that small one in the corner…” Lavender trotted towards the mannequin in question, completely ignoring the fact that she was trodding all over the fabric. The mannequins were all lined up in order of height. Some of them were already covered by Rarity's unfinished projects.

“Hmm. Now let’s see here. Which one looks like the right size?” Lavender pointed at each mannequin, trying to scale the proper one in her mind, though without the expertise of her mother, that was turning out to be a bit more difficult than she’d hoped.

“Maybe I should use this one.” She walked towards the smallest one she could see and pushed it over to work table. By that point, her eyes were really starting to hurt. She was barely able to walk straight anymore. Under those conditions, she finally decided that maybe she didn’t need to look exactly like Rarity when doing the project. As soon as she reached the table, she took the glasses off and set them on the counter, immediately rubbing her eyes.

“Well, that wasn’t as helpful as I thought it would be,” Lavender said, with Opalescence meowed in an aggravated manner. “Oh well. No reason to worry about that. I need to finish this masterpiece before Mommy wakes up.”

Lavender stretched the fabric out and pulled it tightly around the edge of the table. She grabbed the scissors and began to carefully cut through the cloth, following the edge of the table to keep the line straight

“Easy,” she said aloud. “Easy. Easy does—”

Her claws slipped, and she tore a ragged line through the fabric.

“Uh oh.” Lavender dropped the scissors and covered her mouth. “If Mommy sees this, she’ll be so mad at me!” Lavender looked around nervously, hoping to find a solution to her problem.

There were many different tools laying around, but most of them were sharp and a little intimidating. The ones she recognized were needles and thread, pin cushions, various cutting tools, and a sewing machine, all of which she had been instructed not to touch.

Lavender sat on the floor, mulling over her options. “Hmm… Mommy did always say that using the sewing machine was safer than working with the stuff. If I’m going to finish this young girls project, I simply must use it!” She slowly tore the rest of the fabric off, making sure not to make too much noise. “I’ll fix that later. Right now, I must finish this dress!”

Lavender salvaged as much of the fabric as she could and made her way over to the sewing machine, sliding it in place underneath the needle. She then frowned and scratched at her mane as she looked over the machine. "How in Equestria do I even use this thing?"

She started with the only thing she could think of and pressed the red button on the side. Immediately, the machine whirred to life and the needle began jolting up and down, making a loud noise.

Lavender turned a knob on the side and the needle began to slow down, reducing the noise. “I don’t we need that much power, do you, Opal?”

Opalescence meowed and shook her head, agreeing with Lavender for the first time that entire morning.

“Yeah, I think so too, darling!” Lavender slowly pushed the fabric through machine. She wasn’t entirely sure what the purpose of it was, but if Rarity did it it must have been important. She could only assume that she was supposed to do the same thing. She noticed the fabric were being hemmed together at the base. Looking back at the design for the dress, she noticed that the end of the dress looked similar to what she was doing. Lavender smiled, realizing that she must be doing it right.

“Yes! Yes, it’s all becoming clear!” Lavender began pushing the fabric through even faster than, getting her claws near the needle of the machine. She pulled her hands back, and pushed more of the fabric in the machine until it slid on the other side. When she was out of fabric to hem together, she scratched her head and tried to figure out what else to do.

“Hmm. It doesn’t look right with only one side done,” Lavender mused. “I should go ahead and do the other side…” Lavender tugged the fabric back, hoping to achieve the same results. Unfortunately, the patterns on the hem were lopsided. Lavender pursed her lips, slowing down her progress to a near screeching halt. She pulled it out and examined her work.

“It looks awful,” Lavender whined. “How am I going to fix this?” She examined where the mistakes were, trying to figure out where she went wrong. “Maybe if I drape it over the mann thingy, it will look better. Mommy always says that sometimes, you have to follow your instincts and see what you end up with.”

Sure that this was the clear answer, she walked towards the mannequin and tossed the fabric over it, trying her best to even it out. Unfortunately, it was too long, and then ends dragged along the floor.

“Well, we can always fix these little mistakes later,” Lavender said, waving off the potential issues with the dress. “I should focus on what comes next.”

Lavender looked at the page once again, trying to figure out where to go from there. Bits of cream fabric were carefully woven into the sides of the dress, and puffy cotton along the seams.

“This dress will look absolutely stunning when I’m finished with it!” Lavender exclaimed. “Don’t you think, darling?”

She looked at Opalescence for approval, but only received a glared in return, deciding to bathe herself instead of trying to amuse the child any longer.

Lavender flared her nose and huffed. “Everyone’s a critic. I’ll show you, Opal.” Lavender stuck her nose in the air and trotted towards Rarity’s craft shelf. It was stacked to the brim with all of her extra utensils for beautifying her dresses. It ranged from multicolored beads, ribbons, pins, sparkles, and a low supply of gems, no doubt the result of Lavender and Spike’s midnight snack. Unfortunately though, the one item she needed to make her dress a success was at the very top of the dresser, out of reach for Lavender.

“Horse apples,” Lavender said, immediately covering her mouth after she realized she said a bad word. “How am I going to get that jar down?” Lavender weighed her options before shrugging. I can do that later. I should always focus on the patterns first. All I have to do is cut them into thin strips and sew them onto the dress. Easy as pie.”

Lavender found a roll of cream-colored ribbon, along with the needle she needed to sew it in place. The tip was shiny and sharp, so Lavender carefully grabbed the base, holding the end of it in her mouth. Opalescence made sure to keep her distance, not trusting Lavender’s motor skills.

Lavender spat the needle on the table and began to uncurl the ribbon. “I wonder how long she wanted this,” she said to herself. “Maybe it needs to be the same length as the dress.” Lavender grabbed the scissors and snipped a piece of the ribbon off the roll. She put what little she cut off on the desk, realizing she had cut it too short.

“Well, nothing a little sewing can’t fix. A fashion designer must know when to make the good out of the bad… I think.”

She grabbed the needle and began sewing the ribbon on the sides. In the process, she ended up smooshing some of the fabric together, and accidently crumpled it into a messy fold. The dress was completely wrinkled, parts of it sewed in a fashion that was impossible for a child to fix.

“Oh no!” Lavender sat on her bottom and frowned. “I already ruined the dress. How am I supposed to help Mommy with her work if I can’t do one simple thing?” Lavender slouched, pushing the ribbon out of the way and watching it unroll. She sighed, opting to give up and lie on the floor. Nothing could possibly make her feel worse.

“Lavender? Deary? Where are you?”

Lavender's ears perked and her eyes shot wide open. Oh no! Mom’s awake! Lavender immediately scrambled around, trying to clean up the mess she made while working. There was fabric and pieces of ribbon scattered all over the place, along with drawers being left open. There was no way she could clean it all up before Rarity found her.

“Lavender, darling, what in Equestria are you doing up at this hour?”

You’re the one who slept in later than normal. Lavender thought as she struggled to hide her mess. However, before she put the materials away, she had a new idea.

I have to finish this before Mom comes down! Lavender looked up at the top cabinet where the fluff was. “And I need that to do it.”

Lavender ran towards the dresser and began to climb up it. She scaled the shelves with determination, trying her best to block out the sound of hoofsteps prancing around.

“Lavender! If you don’t tell me where you are this instant—”

She also tried to block out the voice of her mother, but that proved to be a lot harder. Her pulse began to race, and her palms started to sweat, making them slippery as she attempted to climb the shelves. But with persistence and caution, she finally made it to the top. She carefully reached out for the jar of fluff, smiling in triumph.

“Lavender! What in Equestria are you doing!?”

And then she flinched. It was all over. Lavender had failed to finish the dress before Rarity came. And even worse, she had left Rarity’s workshop in a bigger mess than it usually was. She could already see Rarity’s left eye start twitching. Lavender smiled nervously, and waved at her.

“Um… good morning, Mommy,” Lavender said, still hanging onto the shelf. “Nice to see you get up so—”

“Do not ‘good morning’ me, young lady,” Rarity snapped. Even Opalescence backed away when she saw how angry Rarity was. “Would you mind telling me why you deliberately disobeyed me and started tampering with Mommy’s work material?” She started looking around the room, trying her best to control her temper. “And… you’re using my good ribbons. I needed those to…. to…” Rarity fell silent, except for her breathing.

Lavender looked at Rarity, scared of what she might do. “Mom, I can ex—”

“Lavender.” Rarity sternly looked up at her. “Come down here, now.”

Lavender began to tear up. “But Mom, I was just—”

“This instant, young lady!”

Lavender frowned and began to step off the shelf. As she did so, her legs slipped and she lost her balance. She tried to grab onto the shelf, but ended up tilting the jar and losing her grip. She went careening towards the ground, landing with a loud thud. The jar also fell, shattering into many pieces. Opalescence jolted and screeched, running away in fear.

“Lavender!” Just like that, Rarity’s anger melted into concern as she darted towards her. When she reached her, she moved all the glass shards away from her. “Lavender, are you okay?”

Lavender sat up, tears streaming down her face as she held up her right arm. She sniffled, holding back as many tears as she could.

“Lavender, what’s wrong with your arm?” Rarity asked.

Lavender still held onto it, sniffling. “N-nothing.”

“Now, Lavender, you know better than to tell a fib, especially when something could be wrong. Now show me your arm. It’ll be okay.”

Lavender had tears trickling down her face. As she released her claw from her arm, the scrape on it seeped out blood. Rarity immediately lifted her with magic and placed her on her back. She quickly made her way to the medicine cabinet, grabbing cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, and a bandage roll.

Lavender was still crying, but had calmed down a little.

“It’s going to be okay, Lavender,” Rarity reassured. “Now, I want you to be a brave girl for me and be still. This might sting a bit, okay?”

“Yes, Mommy.”

Rarity poured the alcohol on a cotton ball and levitated it toward Lavender’s injured arm. Lavender yelped when it made contact with her wound, but resisted the urge to squirm away and waited for Rarity to finish.

“Is it going to be okay?” Lavender asked, watching Rarity wipe down her arm with the cotton swab.

“You’ll be perfectly fine, Lavender,” Rarity said, unwrapping the bandages with her mouth. “I just want to know what you were doing climbing up there. You know I’ve told you not to do that.”

Lavender looked down at the ground, too ashamed to reply.

Rarity put her front hoof on her chin and made her look at her. “I’m not mad at you, dear. I just want you to tell the truth. Why were you playing with Mommy’s things?”

“I wasn’t playing, Mommy.” Lavender wiped her eyes. “I just wanted to help you with your dresses so you wouldn’t be so tired all the time.”

Rarity’s eyebrows went up as she continued bandaging Lavender’s arm.

“You never have time to play with me, because you have so many projects. You’re always busy or sleeping when I want to do something. So I thought that if I helped make the dresses, you’d have more time for me.” Lavender’s eyes began to well up again. “But I just made a mess, and now you’re mad at me.”

Rarity's expression softened, and she felt feelings of guilt stirring inside her. Lavender had been so lonely that she'd tried to do her job for her, just so she could spend more time with her.

Rarity pulled Lavender close to her, hugging her tightly. “Oh Lavender. Sweet, little Lavender.” Rarity cradled her, and Lavender wrapped her claws around her mother. “I’m not mad at you, dear.”

“Y-you’re not?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, not at all. In fact, It was really sweet of you to try doing this for me. I’d have to force your father to help me with something like this.”

Lavender rubbed her eyes, a small smile forming on her face.

“But that doesn’t mean I want you doing this without permission ever again. You could have gotten hurt even worse than you did.”

“I know,” Lavender said. “I’m sorry.”

“And Lavender, if you ever feel this way, please tell me. I didn’t know you were feeling so neglected. I thought you were fine playing with Spike and Opal while I was busy.”

Lavender pouted. “Well, Daddy isn’t here right now, and Opal doesn’t like getting dirty.”

Neither do I, honestly, Rarity thought to herself, but knew better than to say that out loud. “Well, I suppose that leaves just me then.” Rarity finished bandaging Lavender’s arm. “In any case, let’s go see what the damage is.”

Lavender wiggled her arm around, wincing a bit when it stung, but able to walk on it without too much trouble. “Okay.”

The two walked back into Rarity’s workshop. It was just as messy as it was when they rushed out, plus one cat and a ball of yarn. Rarity eyed the mannequin that Lavender had been using, examining the project she had been work on.

“Well… what’ do you think?” Lavender asked, ears folding back in shame. She didn’t know why she even bothered asking. She already knew what Rarity would say, and it wouldn’t be anything good.

“It’s a little too long, and the seams have been sewn together too much. The wrinkles aren’t distributed evenly and so is the ribbon you pinned on, sweetie.”

Lavender’s head drooped, having heard exactly what she dreaded.

“However, for a first time, this is actually quite good. It’s not perfect, but we can easily fix it up.”

Lavender’s ears perked up, and her tail wagged around rapidly. “We?”

Rarity nodded, smiling down at her. “I have some work to do first so I can afford to buy you your favorite ice cream, but I think my little girl has proven herself to be a good assistant. The more help I have, the sooner I’ll be done”

Lavender smiled and jumped in excitement. “And that means you can play with me!”

Rarity pressed her nose against Lavender, nudging against it. “Why, you are a very smart girl. That’s exactly what I mean. So, what do you say? Would you to help Mommy finish some marvelous dresses?”

Lavender smiled and hugged Rarity. “Why of course, darling. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.”

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle. “My, my. Sounds like somepony wants to be just like Mommy.”

Lavender giggled and wagged her tail.

“Well, if you want to be like Mommy, you have to do more than sound like me. You also have to carry yourself like me.”

Lavender tilted her head. “Does that mean I have to wear those glasses?” Lavender asked, groaning. “Those things hurt.”

“No, dear. You won’t have to wear these,” Rarity said, as she put them on. “But, I was thinking of something else that would bring out your beauty more. Hmm… Aha!”

Rarity went to her cabinet, lifting up the sunhat and the bead necklace Lavender was playing with earlier. “I think this will work just perfectly.” Rarity placed the bead necklace around Lavender’s neck, and then placed the hat on top of her. Lavender pushed the hat up to see Rarity, giving a wide, toothy grin.

“So, what do you think, Mother?” Lavender said, still trying to sound like Rarity. “Do I not look simply stunning?”

“Stunning?” Rarity playfully covered her mouth with her hoof. “That doesn’t even begin to describe how you look, darling. You look absolutely marvelous.”

“Do tell.”

Rarity giggled. “In fact, I’m quite jealous. I don’t think there’s anypony out there as stylish and beautiful as you, Lavender.”

Author's Note

Enjoy your return to childhood Lavender. Next update will be teenage Lavender again.

A Mother's Attempt at Bonding

“Lavender, get up!”

Rarity knocked on Lavender’s door, but received no answer.

“Lavender, I’m not going to ask you again.”

Still no answer.

“Young lady, my patience is wearing thin! Now if you aren’t going to get up, I’m coming in there to…”

She tried to open the door, but the knob wouldn’t turn. Lavender had locked the door from the inside, aggravating Rarity. Sighing loudly, she used her magic to pick the lock of the door.

“I swear, of all the…” As soon as Rarity heard the lock click open, she pushed the door open and entered Lavender’s room. She was sleeping in her bed, her mouth hanging open and left arm flopping off the side of the bed. Rarity shook her head at the sight.

“You’re lucky that Twilight taught me a few magical tricks, otherwise you would be in a heap of trouble. Now get up, Lavender!”

Lavender just mumbled, rolling over in her bed. Rarity gritted her teeth at her daughter’s defiance, and opened the blinds in her room. As soon as the sun hit Lavender’s face, she groaned and pulled her pillow over her face. Rarity lifted the pillow, watching as Lavender blindly grasped at it.

“Hey, I’m still using that!” Lavender mumbled, still half asleep.

“Not anymore you’re not,” Rarity replied, placing the pillow out of Lavender’s reach. “It’s about time you got up. It’s already twelve o’clock!”

“So? Just give me a few more hours…” Lavender turned over, ignoring Rarity once again.

“No!” Rarity pulled the covers with her magic, making sure they didn’t fall on the dirty floor. “You promised that you would spend some time with me today. I planned on this for nearly a month now!”

“Could you postpone it again?” Lavender moaned. “I’m not really in the mood for it.”

Rarity tapped Lavender on the shoulder, doing everything in her power to get her up. “But I was really looking forward to this!” Rarity’s whining pierced through Lavender’s ears. “You never want to do anything with me!”

Lavender covered her ears, trying to block the grating whines of her mother. “Could we please not do this now?”

“But you never spend time with me!” Rarity continued, crying out loudly and stomping on the ground. “You always want to do things with your father, but when it comes to me… I’m starting to believe you don’t even love me anymore!”

“Wait, no! That’s not…”

“That’s fine. If you don’t want to spend time with your dear old mother, I guess I’ll just leave you here.” Rarity hung her head low and walked slowly away, smiling mischievously as she trotted towards the bedroom door. Lavender groaned and threw her arms out.

“Fine! If it will stop your little temper tantrum, I’ll hang out with you today,” Lavender submitted.

“Fabulous!” Rarity immediately perked up, using her magic to straighten up the bed she helped mess up. “I want you to comb your hair and make yourself look presentable. Make sure you wash your face, brush your teeth, oh, and trim your claws a bit, dear. They’re dreadfully long.” Rarity skipped out of Lavender’s room victoriously, causing the dracony to sit on her bed and sigh in annoyance.

“Great! Leave it to Mom to guilt trip me into doing what she wants.” Lavender brought her claws to her face, analyzing her nails. She scraped them against the bedpost, easily drilling through the wood with her nails. “I guess it’s about time I trim you girls down.”

Lavender grabbed the nail file Rarity pushed on her, carefully polishing and shaping her sharp claws as she saw fit.

Although she didn’t really care about her hair, she knew that Rarity would have a fit if her hair was unkempt, so she went into the bathroom and prepared herself for what her mother found to be a thrilling family rump.

“Celestia have mercy on my soul.” She grumbled to herself while reaching for her toothbrush. Lavender went through her normal procedure: curling her bangs, flossing her fangs, and washing the dried drool that marked her cheeks. Didn’t want the drama queen to get onto her for having one little dried crust on her lips.

After managing her appearance, Lavender slowly trotted downstairs. A small purr became audible as she inched her ways down the steps, pausing as she approached the bottom floor. Lavender looked down, chuckling when she saw the fat, lazy cat brushing her tail towards her foot.

“Opal, what have I told you about sleeping in the middle of the floor? That’s how Dad stepped on you the first time!”

Lavender leaned down and picked Opalescence up, straining as she stood on her two back claws. Opal swatted at the air, eliciting more laughter from Lavender.

“Jeez, would it kill you to lose some weight?” Lavender teased while taking Rarity’s cat into the living room. “You really let yourself go over the years. If you get any bigger, I’m gonna have to stop picking you up and opt to kicking you around instead!”

Opalescence folded her arms and rolled her eyes. When they entered the door of the living room, Lavender dropped Opal on the ground, causing her to growl in agitation and run towards the couch. All Lavender could do was wait for her mother to get done with her excessive preparations. Rolling a yarn on the couch for Opal to swat at, Lavender put her claw up to her cheeks and sighed.

“While you get to be lazy all day, I’m forced to wherever Mom is going to take me. Probably to some fru-fru saloon or help her buy some some more fabric for her dresses.” Lavender gagged at the thought of being stuck in either of those places.

“While those are both common things she does, I don’t think she’ll be taking you to those places today.” Lavender cocked her head to the side, watching as her father walked towards her and sat next to her. “Consider yourself lucky. Usually, I’m stuck with her while she sorts through the same fabric over and over again. ‘Spike, could you tell me if this aqua looks good, or do you prefer deep sea blue. I think it would go well with my pearl necklace.’”

The two shared a hearty laugh, Opal just watching in amusement and licking her fur.

“But seriously, Lavender, cut your mother some slack,” he said. “She’s trying her hardest to spend some quality time with you. Trust me, it’s not so bad.”

“I know, Dad,” Lavender replied. “It’s just that…well…we’re not really on the same level of what we consider fun, you know?”

Spike put his hand on Lavender’s back, rubbing it slowly. “Just bear with it. She’s trying really hard to have a good connection with you, and I don’t want to be your only favorite in the house.”

“Lavender, are you ready, darling? We’ll be leaving in a while!”

“I’m downstairs, Mom!” Lavender called out, refocusing her attention towards Spike. “This is going to be a long day.”

Spike put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Now now, Lavender, I want you to have a good time with your mother. Make her feel like she’s doing a good job, and don’t complain every second you’re with her. If you do well, we’ll share some of the sapphires Rarity uses for her dresses.”

“Uh-huh,” Lavender began. “And if I don’t enjoy myself, are you still going to take them and share with me?”

“Probably.” Spike smiled at Lavender, who chuckled and lifted herself off the couch.

“Yeah that’s nice. Great coaching there, Dad.” Lavender snickered, watching as Rarity slowly walked down the steps. Her mane was parted and curled in specific areas, she applied mascara on her eyes and wore a pair of short, fake eyelashes.

On her neck was a diamond encrusted necklace with small sapphires circling around. But the centerpiece, and the most important part of Rarity’s necklace was the shiny pearl Lavender gave her when she was young.

“Rarity, You look absolutely stunning,” Spike said, fawning over his wife’s appearance. “Though, that’s not really too hard for you to do.”

Rarity put her hoof over her mouth and giggled. “Oh, Spikey, you really know how to make an old lady feel young.”

“Please!” Spike walked towards Rarity and caressed her face with his claws. “Age is nothing but a number. Your beauty is eternal.”

“Oh, such a charmer,” Rarity cooed, leaning in closer to Spike. “I always thought you were a ravishing gentledrake yourself.”

“Not as ravishing as you are, especially with your—”

“Okay, okay, we get it!” Lavender groaned. “You two love each other so much, it’s vomit inducing. Now could you please kiss and get it over with so we can get this over with?”

Rarity looked longingly into Spike’s eyes. “Gladly.” With that, the two lovers parted their lips, connecting each other with passion and vigor. Lavender groaned and covered her eyes, regretting even suggesting it.

“You’re going to go see Twilight today, right, Spike?” Rarity asked, hooves still wrapped around him.

“Yep. Plan on going as soon as you girls head out.”

“Well, before you come back, could you do me a favor and pick up some of those delicious cookies you know I like.”

“Will do,” Spike said, saluting.

Rarity smiled warmly at Spike, adjusting her pearl necklace and then looking at Lavender. “Come on, sweetie. The day is young, and I want to get the most out of it!”

Lavender rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked back at Spike, who smiled and winked at her, reassuring her that things would be alright. With a small smirk, Lavender walked out the door, following Rarity to Celestia knows where.

***

Lavender remained silent throughout most of the walk. She walked side by side with Rarity, listening to her mother’s giddy hums for most of the walk. After a while, Lavender decided it was time to break the ice.

“You seem…extremely happy,” Lavender said, receiving an amused glance from Rarity.

“Why wouldn’t I be, Lavender?” she asked. “I finally get to spend some nice, quality time with my daughter. I’d be a terrible parent if I wasn’t excited!”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Lavender responded.

Rarity’s smile weakened, but didn’t fade. “What’s wrong, sweetie? You don’t enjoy being around your mother?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing against you. It’s just…” Lavender paused, rubbing her head with her front claw. “No offense to you, Mom, but you don’t really do anything that interests me.”

“Oh?” Rarity rose an eyebrow curiously. “What do you mean about that?”

“Well…” Lavender held out her claw, pointing at each finger to levy her points. “While you like the relaxing at the spa, I like to wrestle in the mud. You try to dress fancy all the time. I’d rather be comfortable and free of that extra stuff. You have Opal, the frilly, uppity cat. I had Slithers the snake, but we all know how that ended.”

“Lavender, not this again.” Rarity groaned and planted a hoof to her face. “Lavender, that was seven years ago. Not only that, but it was a wild snake you had wrapped around your neck! What if he had bitten you!”

“It wasn’t even venomous, Mom,” Lavender argued.

“That’s not the point, Lavender. And I’d rather not discuss that again.” Rarity shuddered slightly at the thought of the snake returning.

“Fine,” Lavender said. “Anyways, the point is we don’t have too many common grounds. So, why do you keep insisting on trying to make some?”

“Hmm, let’s see. Why on earth would I ever try to bond with my daughter?” Rarity tapped her hoof playfully against her chin and giggled. “How about the simple fact that you’re my daughter and I care for you? That sound good?”

“As good as any reason, I guess,” Lavender said.

The two shared small conversations throughout their walk. Sometimes, Rarity would elicit a small chuckle from Lavender, though those times were mainly brought out by Rarity’s disdain. Though not much progress was made, Rarity was confident she could receive a positive reaction out of Lavender by the end of their outing.

“Well, here we are!” Rarity stopped in front of the building, smiling widely at Lavender. After noticing the exterior’s design, Lavender sighed and gave her mother a bemused glare.

“The spa?” Lavender began. “Are you serious?”

“Very.”

“Mom, what part of I hate the spa didn’t get through?”

“The hate part.” Rarity smirked as Lavender gave a look of dissatisfaction. “Look, I know you aren’t the most preppy girl in Equestria, and you don’t really like things that you conceive as ‘girly’, though Celestia knows I wish you did, but trust me, you’ll enjoy this once you give it the chance.”

Rarity widened her pearly eyes, trying to sway Lavender into going in. It wouldn’t have taken much, either way. Lavender already promised Spike to do this for her, so she wasn’t going to disappoint. That, and a few free gems sounded nice at that point.

Lavender sighed and looked up at Rarity, smiling softly. “Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice. Might as well grin and bear it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Rarity skipped towards the door, waving at Lavender. “Come on, Lavender.”

“Yeah, yeah. Keep your head on.” Lavender said, slowly walking towards the door alongside Rarity. Rarity pushed the door open and the two walked in.

Business was quite stable. Other than a few slow days, the spa twins always racked in a good amount of customers, Rarity being a constant returning customer. Because of this, the twins knew exactly how to handle her everytime she showed up.

“Good morning, Mrs. Rarity,” Lotus Blossom said. “Pleasure doing business with you again.”

“Oh, and I see you brought a guest,” Aloe said. “Is this the sweet little Lavender you talk so highly about?”

Lavender turned away, trying to hide her embarrassment from the two. “I’m not that sweet...”

“Yes, she is,” Rarity said, pulling two coupons out of her small bag. “I’m going to pay for her treatment today, so do whatever Lavender wants. Oh, and if she says nothing, give her the treatments I wrote on the back of the coupon.”

Rarity winked at the two, causing Lavender to become curious to what Rarity was plotting. Lotus and Aloe giggled, looking towards Lavender, causing her to look uncomfortably at Rarity.

“Mom, what are you guys talking about?” Lavender asked.

“Nothing important, sweetie.” Rarity dodged the question, grabbing her robe and towel, wrapping it around her head. “Come get your towel. You’ll need it to prevent your mane from getting all wet and puffy.”

“Mom, I don’t care how bad my hair gets,” Lavender said. “I’ll just straighten it out when I get home.”

“Well, but I do, Lavender. And while you’re here with me, I’m going to make sure your hair stays nice.”

Lavender growled to herself, inching towards the towel rack and wrapping it around her head. “There, happy now?”

“I’ll be happier when we get started, Lavender,” Rarity said. “Lotus, Aloe.”

The two sisters nodded their heads, leading them to their predetermined destination: their reclining chairs.

“Please, sit down you two,” Lotus Blossom said.

“We’ll go fetch the materials needed for the treatment.” Aloe and Lotus left the two customers to pick their supplies. Rarity immediately reclined in the chair, sighing loudly. Lavender looked at her in confusion.

“So, what, are you paying to lay in a chair?” Lavender asked, wiggling around the admittedly comfortable seat.

“You’ll see in a little while, Lavender,” Rarity answered. “Trust me, you’ll enjoy it.”

Lavender leaned back, unsure of her mother’s scheme. It didn’t take too long for the twins to show up with a jar and bag. Lavender leaned up, looking at the stuff they were carrying.

“Please, just lean back and relax,” Aloe said.

“We’re going to give you two lovely facials,” Lotus Blossom said, opening the cap of the mask.

“Facials?” Lavender looked towards Rarity for information.

“Don’t worry, Lavender. It’s just the face mask for your facial. It keeps your skin silky and soft.” Rarity pressed her hooves against her face, molding it into a soft mound and to show Lavender how smooth it was.

“Ok, if you say soOOO!” Lavender jolted when the green paste brushed against her face. “That’s cold!”

Aloe giggled, brushing the face mask on her face. “It’s just the mask being applied, honey. Try to be still so I don’t get any in your eye.”

Lavender wiggled and squirmed, making it difficult for Aloe to apply the facial cream.

“Maybe if you wouldn’t chill that stuff in an ice box, I would be able to sit still!” Lavender felt a restraining well of magic constrict her movement, forcing her still. Lavender tried to squirm, but to no avail.

“Lavender, be still and let them do their jobs,” Rarity demanded.

“You're not really giving me the chance to refuse, are you?” Lavender asked, slowly giving in to her mother’s demand.

“You could say it like that.” Rarity smiled at Lavender, reclining back and allowing Lotus to apply the cream to her face as well.

Lavender groaned and mumbled under her breath. It was one thing to be dragged to a spa without her knowing, but another to be subjected to frozen torture.

I’m going to have to ask Auntie Twilight if this is legal when we’re done…

Lavender’s face was now coated in green paste. She leaned towards Rarity, who had her eyes closed, lost in pure bliss. “So, how long am I supposed to wear this, anyways?” Lavender asked.

“Just until the spa treatment is over.”

“So I gotta look like a green goblin for most of the day, huh? Sounds fun.” Lavender put her claws behind her head. Aloe lifted two cucumber slices and gently placed them on Lavender’s eyes, causing her to smile slightly. She grabbed one of the slices and popped it into her mouth.

“Well, at least they have the decency to feed us,” Lavender said, crunching on the juicy cucumber. Her uncovered eye widened as Aloe giggled at her. “What’s so funny? What, you’ve never seen someone eat a cucumber before?”

“Well, I’ve never seen anyone eat a cucumber from the spa treatment before,” Aloe said, trying to stifle her giggling.

“Huh?” Lavender scratched her head, staring at Aloe.

“Sweetie, you aren’t supposed to eat them. You let them rest on your eyes,” Rarity explained, giggling herself.

“Wait, what kind of sense does that make? Why would I put food on my eyes?”

“Because they’re good for them. They keep the wrinkles away and make you look young and smooth. How do you think I kept my youth for so long?”

Lavender covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. She was glad that Rarity kept the cucumbers on her eyes, otherwise her gaze would have pierced through Lavender’s soul.

“So…since I already ate the first one, can I just go ahead and eat the other one?”

Aloe smiled. “Of course, dear. Whatever makes this more enjoyable.”

“I’d enjoy it more if I wasn’t here, but thanks anyway.” Lavender popped the other cucumber in her mouth, leaving a loud crunch. Aloe replaced the cucumbers Lavender ate and placed them on her eyes.

“So, today you tried to freeze me to death and torture me with food dangling in my eyes,” Lavender said. “How long is this going to last?”

“Oh, about thirty minutes or so,” Rarity said, causing Lavender to sigh in relief.

“Thank Celestia this won’t take so long.”

“As for the rest of the day, I usually stay here for around five to six hours. So you can tell, we’re going to be quite busy today.”

“Five to six hours!” Lavender groaned and slammed the back of her head against the chair. She brought her claws to her face, but was ultimately stopped by Aloe.

“Don’t touch your face quite yet! The mask hasn’t dried.”

“Yeah yeah.” Lavender sat listening to the ecstatic hums of Rarity. She was obviously enjoying it more than she was. “I’d rather be organizing Aunt Twilight’s books right now than sit here.”

Blinded by the cucumbers, Lavender felt herself drifting off. She didn’t really try to fight back the sleep, as she was bored out of her mind. Without a second thought, she closed her eyes and let sleep take a hold of her.

Author's Note

And thus, the beginning of the teenage years begin. See ya in the next chapter; hopefully it won't take as long as this did.

As Unstable as Lavender

Spike walked down the street towards Twilight’s abode, whistling a small tune. It wasn’t often he was requested to see his sister, and he often messed with her more than he did help her. Still, spending a little time with Twilight wasn’t all bad, and Spike did miss those wonderful days of annoying the snot out of her. If it was at all possible to relive that, he was going to.

It didn’t take Spike long to reach the library. In mere moments, he was standing on Twilight’s doorsteps. He walked up and knocked on the door several times. It didn’t take the mare in question long to open the door and greet him with a soft smile.

“So, you finally decided to show up,” she said. “I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“I’ve been busy, okay,” Spike said, inviting himself into his old home. “The Mrs. has my claws tied from time to time. Oh, and hello yourself.”

“Oh ha, ha!” Despite her snarky tone, she wrapped her forehooves around Spike and hugged him. “It’s not like I get to see you every single day anymore.”

He wrapped his claws around Twilight and smiled. “I know. I’ll try to show up more often, since you miss me that much.”

Twilight tapped his face playfully and lowered herself to the ground, closing the door behind them. Spike followed her to the table in the living room and sat down across from her. As he looked around the library, the memories came flooding back. His youth of being her assistant elicited a warm sigh. “You managed to keep this place clean,” he said, smirking. “I’m impressed.”

“Just because I don’t have an assistant anymore, doesn’t mean that I can’t keep my place clean,” she replied.

“Really? Cause the last time I was here there were books littered all over the place.”

Twilight blushed. “It was reorganization day!”

“In the middle of the week?” Spike folded his arms and raised his eyebrows. A wide grin formed on his face when he saw Twilight wince at his analysis.

“I was busy!” she shouted. “I didn’t have that much time to sort out all the books by the time you showed up! It would have been nice if you actually helped me instead of just sitting on them.”

Spike snickered. “Those books did make a comfy cushion.”

“I bet.” Despite her agitation, Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Still, it’s kind of lonely around here with you gone, even if you are only a few blocks down.” She folded her hooves and leaned on the table. “So, how are you and Rarity doing?”

“Ah, you know, same old thing you’re used to,” Spike began. “I love her, she loves me. I get on her nerves a lot and she bucks me in the gut… constantly. She’s still my pudgy marshmallow. Still hasn’t shaved off those pounds she claimed she would a few years ago.” After several moments of laughter, Spike leaned in and covered the side of his mouth with his right claw. “Don’t tell her I said that. She’d kill me if she knew I told you that.”

“Well, I might be able to keep my mouth shut, but you know how bad I am with secrets,” Twilight said with a sinister smirk on her face. “I might be able to keep my mouth shut if you’re around to jog my memory every now and then.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “I get it, Twilight. You want me to show up more than I have. I’ll make sure to come by more regularly, dragons honor!” He put his right claw on his chest and held his left out.

“Good. And I would like to see my niece more, especially since… you know.”

Spike’s happiness melted. He coughed and sat back down. “Yeah, well that episode she had will not happen again. Her old man will teach her how to handle it!”

“That’s… what kind of worries me,” Twilight admitted. She noticed Spike’s expression hardening, his suspicions coming to light. “By now, you probably figured out what I called you here to talk to you about today.”

“Yeah, I did,” Spike responded coldly, “and the answer still remains the same. I’m not letting you treat her like a test subject again.”

“I wasn’t treating her as a test subject!” Twilight exclaimed, offended by his claim. “She is the first of her kind. I wanted to learn about her in more depth, and see if there was anything about her that could be some use to you. We barely know about dragons as is. How would we know anything about her?”

Spike sighed. “I guess you have a point. Still, that was years ago. She’s a teenager now. I don’t want you to continue researching her anymore.”

“I figured you would say that,” Twilight said, looking glumly at him. “Which is why I didn’t ask for your permission.”

Spike’s face went cold. “What?”

“I asked Rarity a few days ago if she would mind me asking Lavender over to examine her at least once a week, and after some thought, she agreed it was for the best.”

“WHAT!?” Spike clenched the table and huffed in anger.

“Spike, calm down!” she replied, trying her best to remain orderly and relaxed. “I’m not going to do anything to her!”

“Except treat her like a lab rat,” he snarled.

“I’m doing no such thing,” Twilight denied. “I’m trying to help you. I would think you would want to learn more about your daughter, especially with the traitsshe has.”

Spike glared at Twilight. “What exactly do you mean?”

Twilight got up from her seat and trotted towards her book shelf. She levitated a book from the top shelf and opened it, staring at Spike as she did so. “Because, from what I’ve heard about her, she has a more dominant dragon trait than a pony trait personality wise, something that could be harmful if not controlled.”

***

“...vender. Lavender?”

“Huh, wha…” Lavender snorted and leaned her head up. Still blinded by the cucumbers on her eyes, she could only go off of the giggles she heard from her mother.

“Enjoy your nap, sweetie?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah.” Lavender yawned and stretched out, popping her back. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Just for a few minutes,” Rarity answered. “I would have let you sleep a little longer, but then you would miss out on the experience.”

Lavender pulled the cucumbers off of her eyes and stared at Rarity in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Aloe walked over to Lavender, smiling widely. “Please, if you don’t mind, keep the cucumbers on your eyes for a little while longer.”

Lavender groaned and did as instructed.

“Could you also turn over on your back?” Lotus requested. “Our next treatment is about to begin.”

“Oooh! Lavender, you’re going to love this,” Rarity said in a giddy tone.

“Yeah, and what makes you say that?”

Rarity giggled. “You’ll find out soon enough, dear.”

Lavender was getting quite annoyed with the secrecies. It was one thing to not tell her before they got there, but they were sitting in the boring salon already. There wasn’t anything that she should be holding back from her. Still, she didn’t feel like arguing with her mother. She was still tired and extremely bored of the situation, so she did as instructed in hopes that something more interesting would happen.

Nothing did. All Lavender could make out was the hoofsteps of the mares trotting back and forth, along with what sounded like a cart being pulled in with sizzling items. Lavender’s ears perked up because of this.

“You’re going to burn me!?” Lavender shouted. “What kind of relaxation is that!?”

“Well, they’re going to put something hot on your back momentarily, but it’s not going to hurt,” Rarity explained. “In the meantime, enjoy what’s about to come.”

“What do you mean by th—”

Lavender was cut off by the feeling of hooves pressing against her back. The firm, smooth hooves kneaded her skin, working out the kinks in her body. Lavender stretched her claws out, letting them dangle off of her seat. She sighed dreamily as her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

“Enjoying yourself, Lavender?” Rarity asked.

Lavender quickly put her tongue back in her mouth and coughed. “It’s alright, I suppose. I guess I can see why you like coming here often.”

Rarity giggled. “Be honest, darling. You like it, don’t you?”

“Like I said, this is…” Lavender gasped as the hooves pressing against her back slowly switched to patting her back rapidly, causing her voice to vibrate. “...absolutely amazing.” Once again, her tongue dangled out of her mouth. The kinks that were in her back seemed to vanish with every tap. She was nearly lost in the bliss. “Hey, could you hit a little lower. That would be…. niiiiiiice.”

“I told you!” Rarity’s voice was happier than ever. “And you doubted me the entire walk here. I’m hurt, Lavender. You have to have a little bit more faith in your poor old mother.”

“I get it! I get it!” Lavender said between soft sighs of satisfaction. “You were right… for once.” Lavender purred. Her body felt as light as a feather, and all her cares and woes were lifted from one single massage.

“I’m just glad you’re finally warming up to the idea,” Rarity responded, sounds of satisfaction eliciting from her as well. “Speaking of warming up, are the stones ready yet?”

“Stones?” Lavender lifted her head up, throwing the cucumbers off of her face. Aloe was going to suggest putting them back, but at that point, they had fallen off more times than she could be bothered with, so she just let her be. Lavender noticed a small tray of steaming rocks.

“What are those for?” Lavender asked, watching as Lotus put dark gloves. Lavender looked back at Rarity and gave a puzzled expression. “Are they going to make us sit on those?”

“Heavens no!” Rarity shivered at the thought. “They aren’t going to do anything like that. They’re just going to place them on your back for a while.”

“And how is that any better?” Lavender asked.

“You’ll see! And I can assure you, that you’ll love it. You better enjoy it. I spent too many bits to get you that treatment.”

Lavender cringed a bit. She was used to certain degrees of heat, but putting piping hot stones on someone’s back seemed harmful to her. Still, she wasn’t going to get anywhere arguing with her mom about it. She took a deep breath and eased her tensions.

“If you say so,” she said with a sigh. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst from the spa treatment she was about to receive. She clenched her claws as the warmth radiated over her. She could almost feel them on her back. The rocks, smoldering her skin, burning, hurting….

...Feeling incredible and relaxing. Her eyes shot open, and she turned her head to her back to make sure she was seeing things correctly. Lotus was in fact placing the rocks on her back, adjusting them to certain spots that made Lavender feel even better.

“So, what do you think?” Lotus asked with a smile. “This hot stone treatment was requested by Rarity just for you. They work out all the kinks in your body and relaxes certain pressure points.”

“Oh, I feel relaxed alright,” Lavender cooed. Her tail flicked around, displaying her satisfied nature. “Hey, could you avoid the spines a bit? I don’t want them to get, you know.”

“Whatever you want, sweetie.” Lotus continued to place the stones on her back. As the treatment continued, Lavender’s sighs and purrs deepened. Rarity couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. She couldn’t quite see Lavender’s reaction,but she knew that she had finally lightened up and relaxed. Though there was little interaction with them since they got there, she had high hopes that by the end of the day, they would carry out a decent conversation with each other.

The stone therapy continued for about ten minutes before Lotus lifted them from her back. Lavender stretched her claws, showcasing her talons, and let out a squeak. The sounds of her bones popping could be heard, sending shivers down Rarity’s spine.

“Wow, that was pretty good,” Lavender said, scratching her ear. “I got to admit, I thought this was going to be boring and useless, and this facial stuff sure didn’t help.” She poked at the substance, taking note of it’s new texture. It was no longer the soft, cream material they warned her not to mess with. Instead, it was a hardened shell encasing her face. “Speaking of which, am I allowed to take this off now?”

“Not quite yet, Lavender,” Rarity stated, deciding to finally take off the cucumbers from her eyes. “You have to keep it on until we’re done for the day.”

Lavender rolled on her back and groaned. “I have to have it on all day?”

“Well, you don’t have to. It’s just advised that you do. It'll keep your skin silky and smooth, just like mine!”

Lavender brought her claw to her lips and chuckled.

“What was that, Lavender?” Rarity glared at her daughter, causing her to chuckle even louder.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Mom. Relax, okay?”

Rarity stuck her nose in the air, trying to contain her own smile. “You would be the one talking about being relaxed. I had to drag you out of the bed just to bring you here!”

“I was being nice, Mom. I didn’t want you crying all day. You look pretty pitiful when you do that.”

Rarity flipped her mane and wavered at Lavender. “Oh, that was just a little motivation to get you out of the bed. I have to do what it takes to get you out of the bed.”

“That sounded like whining to me, Mom.”

“Whining. Motivation. Same thing.”

Rarity smiled warmly. Lavender was laughing and easing up, something Rarity rarely saw her do. Most of all, she was spending time with her daughter. The distance that she felt between them were slowly closing, and it delighted the aging mare.

But the day wasn’t quite over yet. They still had several hours left in the salon, and Rarity wanted to get the most of it. She tapped her hooves together, calling the two spa mares to her attention.

“Ms. Aloe and Lotus, are we quite done here?”

The two nodded.

“Of course, Mrs. Rarity,” Aloe answered. “You two may get up when you wish.”

“We’re just preparing your next treatment,” Lotus said, winking specifically at Lavender. “I’m pretty sure your daughter will like this one.”

Lavender, once again, gave a puzzled look. She opened her mouth to try to speak, but stopped herself. What did she care? As much as she hated to admit, she enjoyed all of what she was being treated to. She might as well continue to put her trust in the girls. She was too lazy to care about what was going on, anyways.

“I’ll hold you two on that,” Lavender said with a toothy grin. The spa twins turned and walked towards the back room, carrying on a small conversation with each other.

Lavender sat there, boredom returning to her. It didn’t take her long to lose interest when there was nothing to do. All that was left was to sit there with a mask of green paste and cucumbers covering her eyes. Or, to be more accurate, her mother’s eyes. Her cucumbers were set on her seat. Lavender looked around, scanning the spa and making sure no one was looking. With the area clear and safe, she slowly grabbed the cucumber and brought it to her mouth. She bit down on the juicy vegetable, leaving a faint crunch.

“Lavender, what are you doing?” Rarity lifted one of her cucumbers from her eyes to check on her daughter. Lavender jerked and tossed the cucumber to the side swiftly. With an unconvincing smile, Lavender turned to Rarity and said:

“Nophing, Mwam!”

***

“Listen, I don’t care if you asked her, I’m not going to let you do that again!” Spike stood up, staring Twilight Sparkle down. “I already said no, and that’s the end of it!”

“This is not the end of it, Spike!” Twilight snapped back, not faltering from her decision. “You have to think about what’s best for her.”

“You consider treating her as a lab experiment helping her!”

“No. I consider trying to understand her draconic genetics helping her.”

Spike growled in aggravation. “She doesn’t need that, Twilight. We are perfectly able to raise her without your studies.”

“Oh really?” Twilight glared at Spike condescendingly. “So tell me this, if you can control and raise her properly, then how come she has recently had several violent streaks with the ponies at her school?”

“She’s a teenaged dracony!” Spike yelled, offended that Twilight was questioning his parenting. “She practically has nopony her age supporting her. Of course she’s going to be a little aggressive!”

“It’s not a little aggressive when she claws at a pony for calling her a 'lizard freak', Spike. That isn’t healthy, nor is it something that should be ignored!”

Spike began puffing smoke out of his nostrils. His claws dug through the table, tearing through it easily. Twilight tried her best to not seem intimidated, but his behavior was concerning.

“We can take care of her ourselves, Twilight,” Spike snarled. “She is our responsibility, and we don’t need you doing your research on her.”

“Spike, Rarity agreed to it! Does that not mean anything to you?”

“I don’t care what she agreed to! I will not let you do it!”

Twilight looked at Spike. His claws were clinching harder and harder into the wooden table. It looked as if the splints of wood were spreading onto his sharp claws. “But she needs it! She could be developing anger similar to your species. It doesn’t help Lavender if we just hide her problems like you’re doing. You can barely handle your anger yourself!”

“I’m… perfectly… able… to… control my anger,” Spike said disdainfully.

“Yeah, and you’re doing so well at being rational and collected right now,” Twilight pointed out. “You’re tearing through my table.”

“This isn’t about me, Twilight! This is about you treating my daughter as an experiment. Keep your obsession with science out of our family!”

Spike’s words cut through Twilight deeply. They haven’t seen each other for over a week and their conversation had already turned sour really fast. “Spike, you’re being selfish! This isn’t for my benefit, I’m just trying to—“

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Spike pounded his fist on the table, causing Twilight to jolt. “You are not going to do research on my daughter! If you bring this up again, I’ll… I’ll…”

Spike’s rage began to recede, realizing what he was doing. Twilight pointed her horn at him, not wanting to do anything drastic but willing to if he was to make a wrong move. The sorrow in her eyes softened his, and he looked down at the damage he had already caused to her property. Spike cuffed his head with his claws and sat on the ground.

“Twilight, I’m sorry,” he apologized, looking somberly at the ruined table. “I just… you know, Lavender is my daughter, and she’s had to put up with so much through her life. She wasn’t sheltered like I was with you, and she isn’t guarded from the judgmental ponies out there like I was.”

Twilight lowered her guard and walked towards her brother. Pain replaced the burning anger that was alight just moments ago. No longer worried about what Spike might do, she sat beside him to show her support and to comfort him.

“I want Lavender to be treated like everypony is, to not have others call her a ‘freak’, or ‘lizard’, or an ‘abomination’. I’ve had to hear these ponies ridicule her and my wife for nearly seventeen years now, and it’s really weighing down on me. I just want her to be accepted, have an easy life, and this constant testing on her isn’t helping. I don’t want her to feel like her own aunt is treating her like an animal.”

Spike sighed and lowered his head. He felt soft, affectionate hooves rub his scaly back, trying to ease him of his tensions and worries.

“I understand, Spike,” Twilight began. “I know it’s tough for you to have to deal with that, and I would never dream of doing anything to demean her. With that said, you really need to think about what’s best for her, and after her outbursts recently, we have to take some measures to ensure that she doesn’t keep getting in trouble.” Twilight looked at Spike more sternly this time. “You do know that if she does what she did again, she runs the risk of being expelled from the school, right?”

Spike nodded. “I’m well aware of that.”

“And about this feeling like an animal thing, tell me this: was that what she said or what you said.”

The agitated glare returned to Spike. “Of course it’s what she said!”

Twilight folded her hooves, unconvinced about his claim. Her expression forced Spike to lower his guard and reveal more of the truth.

“Well, not exactly like that, but I’m sure she is thinking it.”

Still, Twilight wasn’t convinced. Her eyes rose, hoping for Spike to stop being so dodgy with her. Spike sighed and turned his head in embarrassment.

“I said it,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that, Spike?” Twilight said, holding a hoof to her ear. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

Spike gritted his teeth and turned his head towards Twilight. “I said it, okay? I don’t want her to be seen any differently than others, and I just want to make sure she doesn’t feel different in her own family.”

Twilight chuckled. “Aw, isn’t that cute! My little Spike has grown up to be an overly concerned parent. Didn’t I tell you it was going to happen?”

“Shut up,” Spike said, trying to stave off his smile. “At least I’m actually married. How many years has it been now since you’ve had a date? Tsk tsk, Twilight. And I thought you were going to make something of your life.”

Twilight smacked Spike on the top of his head. He feigned pain by playfully glaring at Twilight and rubbing his scalp.

“Way to hit low there, Spike,” Twilight said. “I’ve been trying. I just… haven’t found the right one yet.”

“Probably because you’re always nose deep in these books.”

“They can help… sometimes.”

“Suuure they can.” Spike rolled his eyes and smiled at the blushing mare in front of him.

“Tell you what then, you start letting me see Lavender regularly for the evaluations, as well as regular visits, and I’ll try to go looking for other ponies. Sounds fair?”

Spike thought on this briefly. He was still skeptical about Twilight doing the evaluations on her. He didn’t want Lavender to think she was just some kind of monster, some ticking time bomb that will explode and hurt others, like he could. However, Twilight was his sister, and he trusted her judgment, for the most part. That and Lavender didn’t have a problem with it when she was a kid. It wasn’t like she was trying to dissect her or anything. Though knowing Twilight, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the thought crossed her mind.

“Fine by me,” Spike agreed, hugging Twilight tightly. “I need to start talking to you more anyways.”

Twilight patted Spike on the back. “I don’t know why you stopped.”

Spike smiled. “And you promise that you won’t go overboard like you did when she was little?”

Twilight blushed. “Yes, Spike. I won’t go through that again.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

Twilight sighed and mumbled to herself. She let go of Spike and stepped back, going through the motions. “Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my e-EAAAAWWW!”

Spike snickered, watching Twilight grasp her eye in pain. “Still haven’t mastered it yet! It seems that you don't have your eye on the prize!”

Twilight launched a book into Spike’s face. “It’s not funny, you jerk!”

Spike groaned and laughed at the same time, rubbing off the growing migraine from the hardcover book. “Yeah, I’m going to have to come back more often.”

***

Lavender yawned and scratched her backside, reading one of the magazines they had lying around. Most of it were pretty ponies posing for magazines. Many stallions saw these mares as beautiful. Lavender thought they were plastic looking. She flipped through the book, chuckling at everypony that tried to pull off a look with fake eyelashes and mascara.

“They wish they could pull that look off like my mom can,” she said silently so her mom couldn’t hear her. As much as she gave Rarity a hard time, she admired her ability to stay beautiful in almost any situation, even when faced with a giant mud ball to the face. With nothing else to do, she tossed the magazines to the side and turned towards Rarity.

“What is taking them so long?” Lavender asked. “If I have to wait any longer, I might die of boredom.”

“Lavender, they have only been gone for about ten minutes,” Rarity replied.

“Ten minutes too long!” Lavender flailed her arms around, eventually tiring out her energy and letting them hang limp.

“You’re such a drama queen, you know that?” Rarity giggled. “You can wait a little while longer. It’s not going to kill you to learn some patience.”

Lavender grasped at her throat and gagged. “Ehh… sooo boring… can’t… breath.” She fainted and raised her claw in the air. It wavered and shook before flopping to the ground with her tongue lolling out.

“I thought that having a little girl meant she would grow up to be a refined, classy young lady,” Rarity teased. “Where did I go wrong?”

“You didn’t marry Dad sooner?” Lavender replied.

“I thought you were supposed to be dead, darling,” Rarity said with a smile. “Dead ponies don’t talk.”

“Dead draconies do!” Lavender stuck her tongue out at Rarity and continued her bad attempt of feigning death. Rarity just shook her head and continued relaxing on her chair, reading through the same magazines that Lavender thought were droll.

It didn’t take the twins long to return, bearing good news.

“Your spa treatment is ready, girls,” Aloe said.

“Please, follow us,” Lotus continued.

“Thank you, sweet Celestia!” Lavender cried out, leaping from the seat. “I’ve been waiting for ages for this!” She looked back at her mother, who gave her a sly look. Lavender changed her expression and walked slowly. “Not that I care, of course.”

Rarity followed behind Lavender as they were led to the back room. The room felt stuffy and the air was dry. Lavender’s curiosity rose as she entered the new hardwood room. The two spa girls stopped in front of the door and opened it, revealing a big pool. Only, there wasn’t water. To Lavender’s surprise, it was filled with a substance that her mother normally would be against.

“Mud?” Lavender looked up at the spa twins, who nodded with a small smile. “Did you guys just get bored and dump a bunch of dirt into the pool?”

“No, sweetie,” Lotus Blossoms said. “This is actually a treatment.”

“This is a common way for our customers to relax,” Aloe said. “It’s not used as much as our sauna or hot tub, but it’s still a common luxury for our clients.”

“Oh,” Lavender walked closer to the pool of mud and stuck a claw into it. It was warm and sticky, drying almost instantly on her nails. She looked back at Rarity for confirmation, eager to jump into the mud.

“Go ahead, Lavender,” Rarity said. “Just make sure you take your time getting in. It’s a little hot. Oh, and don’t dive in—"

Lavender didn’t waste any time. She jumped, curled herself into a ball, and dived into the mud, sending the thick substance flying towards the others. Rarity used her magic to shield the three from the mud. Lavender rose from it, caked in the stuff.

“Heh, this is neat!” Lavender chanted, swimming around the mud completely caked in it. “Ahh, this is so warm.” She tried to wipe the mud from her eyes, but her dirty claws failed to clean it all. She shook her head, sending clusters of muck flying across. “Hey Mom, I appreciate you setting this up for me, and I know how much you don’t like getting dirty, so you should just go and… relax… somewhere else…”

Rarity slowly lowered herself into the mud bath, making sure her head didn’t get too submerged. Lavender’s mouth hung open in awe.

“What? Never thought I would jump into the mud bath with you?” Rarity sighed in satisfaction and paddled her way towards Lavender. “This is a good way for your skin to become soft and elegant.” Rarity giggled. “It’s one of the reasons why your father still calls me his marshmallow.”

“So, you do this often?”

“About once a week.” Lavender tapped her claw in the mud and chuckled. “What’s so funny, sweetie?”

“Let me get this straight, you will get into a bath of mud but you won’t play around with me in the mud at home?”

“That’s different, Lavender,” Rarity explained. “Here, the mud isn’t as… grimy or dirty as it is at home. Also, you tend to get leaves and bugs and—“ Rarity shuttered at the thought of those things trailing around the house. “Let’s just say that this is much better.”

“Whatever you say, Mom,” Lavender said, balling up some mud and cuffing it in her hand. “Mud is mud to me. And that means it’s just as resourceful.”

She tossed the ball at Rarity, who blocked it off with a shield of magic. Lavender groaned and crossed her arms.

“Killjoy.”

“Well forgive me for not partaking in such a juvenile game inside the spa,” Rarity quipped. “Time and place for everything, dear.”

Lavender rolled her eyes and sank into the mud. She made small bubbles from her nose.

“So, now that we have a little time to ourselves, let’s talk,” Rarity said.

Lavender stuck her head up and spat out the mud from her mouth. Rarity scooted back to make sure she wasn’t in the area of the salivated muck. “What do you want to talk about, Mom?”

“Whatever you want to talk about. How things are going in school, your friends, anything you and your father talk about, just for example.”

Lavender’s eyes wavered. “Look, I swore to Daddy I wouldn’t tell you, and I can’t break a Pinkie Promise.”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose. “Tell me what, exactly?”

“Nothing.” Lavender coughed into her dirty claw, chuckling nervously. “Anyway, school isn’t that bad, I suppose. Just like every other day. Still don’t know why you made me go to that place.”

“It’s a higher learning facility, Lavender,” Rarity said with a sophisticated smile. “Believe it or not, you’re a very bright girl, and I want you to excel with your knowledge.”

“But it’s soooo boooooriiing!”

“Please, it can’t be that bad.”

“If you call sitting in a math class for an hour listening to an old professor talk about math junk not that bad, you obviously never sat through one of those schools.”

“Well, no I haven’t,” Rarity answered, “but what about your friends? Don’t you mingle to make your time a little less boring?”

“Well, there’s just one. Everypony else either avoids me, makes fun of me, or just don’t go to that school because some ponies don’t make their children go to extra years of school!”

“Yes, but they aren’t my children, Lavender. But at least you still have friends to hang around with.”

“Yeah, just two out of school.” Lavender groaned and flopped around in the pool, splashing the mud all over the place. “At least Fizzle has to go. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what I would do if he wasn’t around. I would probably go insane!”

Rarity giggled. She always found their chemistry interesting, and was more than interested in their interaction. “And how so? You talk to him much?”

“Practically every day,” Lavender explained. “He’s the only one worth talking to in that Celestia forsaken school. He’s also a pretty good help when it comes to classes, especially chemistry. This one time, he helped me—“ Lavender’s ears perked, realizing she was about to spill something her mother would not approve of. “Well, that’s not important actually.” She chuckled nervously, receiving an unconvinced glance from Rarity. The air became thicker and stuffier than it was before, prompting Lavender to cough and try to come up with something else to sway from the slip-up.

“Well, other than that totally not important thing you aren’t going to hear about, we still hang out with Sugar Snap all the time. She’s still the bossy little menace she was when she was a filly—"

“As expected,” Rarity finished with a laugh.

“And Fizzle… well… he’s still kind of weird, but he’s still fun to be around.”

Rarity lips formed into a wide smile. “And just how is he weird?”

The barrage of questions made Lavender wary of her mother’s true intentions. “You know, I didn’t think we were playing twenty questions, Mom.”

“I just want to know, that’s all.” It took all of Rarity’s strength to withhold her giggles, doing everything she could to ward off suspicions.

“Well, even after all these years, he’s still nervous around me. I can barely get a word out of him without him locking up and turning red.” Lavender could have sworn she heard a small snicker from Rarity, but ignored it and continued her statement. “He’s really skittish around me for some reason. I would be lying if I said it was a tad bit annoying, and Sugar Snap doesn’t make it any better. Still, he’s a nice colt to be around. Plus he gives me chocolate nut clusters from time to time.” Lavender licked her lips, ignoring the mud she lapped up. “Those are delicious.”

Rarity leaned against the edge of the bath, still withholding that pearly smile. “Well, isn’t that just adorable.”

One of Lavender’s ears flopped, and she cocked her head to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh nothing, nothing.” Rarity waved her muddy hoof in the air. “I’m just glad that you have such a good friend helping you out with your time in school. You aren’t still bullied much, are you?”

Lavender shook her head. “Not lately.”

“Good. And you haven’t done anything… rash have you?”

Lavender looked somberly at the mud, refusing to say a word. Rarity’s smile shrank, and turned into a more firm, serious look.

“Lavender, when I ask you a question, I expect you to answer it,” Rarity asked sternly. “Did you do anything rash recently?”

Lavender sighed and looked at Rarity with wide, purple eyes, tapping her claws together. “Well, I… um—"

“Well?”

Lavender didn’t want to look at Rarity’s fiery eyes. They were the eyes that distilled fear into anyone’s heart, especially if they knew something was wrong. She rubbed her head and chuckled nervously. “Well, just the other day, I kind of snuck a skunk into Sapphire’s locker and it sprayed her.” The thought of that prank made her laugh a little, though that enjoyment soon ended when she saw Rarity’s face.

“Lavender…”

That voice. It was that unsettling, disappointed look that made Lavender sink into the mud in shame.

“What have we talked about when it comes to your anger? You have to have a better outlet than what you’re doing.”

“I didn’t hurt anypony!” Lavender argued. “I just made one a little smelly for a day, and she actually deserved it.” Lavender looked down at the mud with aggravation. “Her fault for calling me a smelly sewer rat. I showed her who the smelly sewer rat was.”

Rarity gasped. “Lavender, I’ve raised you better than that! Vengeance isn’t the answer.”

“Hey, I didn’t claw anypony’s eyes out this time. At least I’m trying!”

“Not hard enough, Lavender,” Rarity scolded. “This isn’t a better solution to your problem. This isn’t going to help you any!”

“But she deserved it!”

“True as that might be, you have to act civilized in these situations.” Rarity swam closer to her daughter. “We’ve talked about this before, Lavender. When you’re having a problem, you talk to a trusted adult. You have me, your father, Twilight, and my other friends to talk to. We’ll listen. You don’t have to take this in your own hands. What if you were to get expelled, or not able to go to your little casual ball you will have soon?”

Lavender groaned and mumbled. “I don’t care about the stupid ball. You’re the one who wants me to go to that thing, even though I don’t want to.”

“It’s good for you to go to a refined event,” Rarity explained. “It’ll also help you build a little confidence if you can find you somepony to go with. If I had the opportunity, I would go in a pinch, no questions asked!”

Lavender folded her claws. “Oh please! The only reason you want me to go is so you and Dad can have a little private time while I’m out!”

Rarity’s face went crimson, nearly sinking into the mud in embarrassment. “That’s… not entirely true, dearie. I just want you to find a more positive outlet than what you are doing. This is one of the reasons I brought you out here, to relax you and hopefully get you to understand how to properly handle things like a lady would.”

“But Dad said you threatened to rip apart a diamond dog before, and kicked your friend in the face before over a rock.”

“He did what!?” Rarity’s face completely flushed. It almost looked like the mud was hardening around her. “I told him not to tell anyone that… should have never shared that with that big oaf.” She shook her head, straightening her face and refocusing her attention back on Lavender. “But that’s beside the point. You’re going to have to figure out how to handle your temper, and Twilight is going to help you with that.”

Lavender’s ears perked from the news. “So, we’re doing the little research thing again?”

“It’s not so much research as it is learning about your traits so we can handle them. We discussed this earlier this week and we thought it would be for the best.”

“Fine by me,” Lavender agreed.

“And I don’t want to hear any arguments from you, young lady. You’re going and that’s—“ Rarity blinked her eyes when Lavender didn’t show any opposition. “Wait, so you’re fine with this?”

“Why not? I get to see my aunt a little more, and all I gotta do is have her ask me questions. To be honest, I never really was bothered by it, especially since she feeds me afterwards.”

Rarity giggled. “Isn’t that just like you? Always thinking with your stomach. Keep that up, and you’ll end up getting a little chubby.”

Lavender considered bringing up Rarity’s stomach, but knowing how sensitive she was, it would not have been the wisest decision. “And is Dad okay with it? You know how he can get when it comes down to me being ‘experimented on’.”

“Your father is just a big baby at times,” Rarity snorted. “He’ll get over it eventually. And if he doesn’t, then he’ll just have to take his temper tantrums downstairs for the night.”

“So, kick him on the couch… again?”

“Quite.”

Lavender chuckled. “Seems like he’s spent a bit of time down there recently.”

“Yes, well he’s been acting up recently.”

Lavender chuckled and paddled towards her mother. “Well, you know what I think about that?”

Rarity was concerned by the sly, devious smile Lavender was giving her. “No, Lavender. I do not know what you think about it.”

Rarity wasn’t prepared for the cold, caked cluster of mud that collided against her face, but once it happened, she mumbled and screeched, flailing her hooves around. Lavender laughed, leaning her head away from Rarity’s wild hooves.

“I personally think that was a very dirty thing for you to do to Daddy!” She chuckled like a little school filly, watching as Rarity groaned and wiped the mud away from her face. Part of her face mask began peeling off, causing Rarity to growl in frustration.

“Lavender, what has gotten into you!?” She shook her hooves to knock off the excess mud. “This could have gotten in my eyes or… nooo. NOOO! It’s in my mane!” Rarity glared daggers at her daughter. “You messed up my mane!”

Lavender stuck her tongue out at Rarity. “Yeah, and I’ll do it again. What are you going to do abou—“

Her snarky statement was drowned by the mud that filled her mouth as Rarity pushed Lavender down. She held her there for two seconds before letting go, sending Lavender coming back up instantly. Her purple mane and coat was now completely caked in mud.

“If I have to clean myself up, you’re going to have to as well,” Rarity said with a victorious grin.

Lavender and Rarity continued their little war with each other for the next several minutes, each trying to make each other dirtier than the other, just to ruin each other’s appearance. Lavender was laughing and smiling, enjoying the time with her mother.

And that was all that mattered to Rarity. It required her to get dirtier than she wanted to, but the quality time she had spent with her was something she wanted to do more often with her and break that barrier they had. Rarity continued throwing mud at Lavender and vice versa, turning the relaxing mud bad treatment into an all-out assault.

“You two seem to be having fun.”

Rarity paused and turned around, seeing both Lotus and Aloe giggling at them.

“We hate to be of an inconvenience, but your time here has expired,” Lotus said.

“However, since you’re a recurring customer, we can extend it a bit, if you would like,” Aloe offered.

“That is quite sweet of you two,” Rarity began, blushing in embarrassment, “but I wouldn’t dare milk you girls out of your hard work. The time we registered is the time we registered after all. Besides, I’m sure my daughter is a bit hungry right now, isn’t that right, Lavender?”

Lavender opened her mouth to say no, but her stomach answered for her. Rarity nodded to the sisters to confirm their decision.

“Alright then. We’ll charge today on your account as usual, Mrs. Rarity,” Lotus Blossom said.

“You can shower and get cleaned up at the room over there.” Aloe pointed to a small shower room near the exit of the pool. “We’ll be waiting at the counter for you two, and thank you for your services.”

The two sisters smiled, bowed slightly, and left the two to clean themselves up. Lavender shook off most of the mud herself, leaving spots of brown from place to place. She also sent some of the mud flying across the room, but that was something the twins would have to deal with.

“Well, let’s get cleaned up and get something to eat,” Rarity said. “It’s about time we head back soon.”

“Sweet, I could use some grub!” Lavender exclaimed rubbing her stomach. “So, where are we going to eat?”

“What can your allowance afford, sweetie?” Rarity asked slyly, causing Lavender’s warm, eager smile to melt a bit.

“What?”

“You thought you were going to get away with getting your mother all dirty and grimy? There’s got to be some discipline.” Rarity trotted towards the shower room, turning back to Lavender. “Oh, and because of the skunk incident, you can pay for part of the spa bill today.”

Lavender’s eyes twitched. She clenched her claw and groaned.

“Oh, and by the way Lavender… you’re grounded for a week now.”

It was that moment that Lavender thought that she would snap. A day of relaxation, blown out of the water. She sighed and followed Rarity into the shower room, trying to think positively about her situation. It could always be worse.

She could have to go the day without eating.

Author's Note

I wonder why Fizzle hasn't gutted up and told Lavender how he felt yet. I also wonder why Lavender is so oblivious to it. And when the hell will Twilight get a man in her life.

Only two of these questions will be addressed next time.

Just Ask Her

“Lavender. Hey… Lavender.”

Feeling someone nudge her, she swatted at the intruder who dared to interrupt her nap.

“Not now, Daddy,” she mumbled. “I already beat you in the gem-eating contest…”

“Um, Lavender, it’s me. Just hurry up and wake up. The teacher is coming.”

“Huh? Wha—” Lavender leaned up, her vision still blurry. Fizzle was tapping her shoulder. She rapidly sat up, drool still pooling from her mouth.

The teacher began scanning the classroom, nodding his head. “Good. Now that I have your attention, I want to inform you that your next exam will be at the beginning of next week. I advise you study hard for this one. Might be a deciding factor if you want to participate in the Twilight’s Institution of Gifted Ponies Ball. So, I suggest studying really hard for this exam.”

Lavender groaned, lowering her head on the desk. She glared at the professor with fiery disdain.

“That being said, if you paid even an ounce of attention in class, and didn’t spend the majority of your time sleeping through my lectures, you should be fine.”

His emphasis on sleeping made Lavender cringe. If he had targeted his statement directly at her, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

“That’s all the time we have for today. Remember, study hard, and make sure you go over the material.”

The students left their desks and trotted towards the exit, discussing what they had planned for the weekend. Lavender leaned against her desk, waiting for Fizzle to grab his saddlebag.

“You know, I never understood why you bothered bringing all that junk to school with you to school,” she said. “Wouldn’t it be easier if you left some of that stuff at home? We barely use the books in class.”

Fizzle zipped his bag and threw it over his shoulder, letting it dangle from his side. “You never know when you’ll need something. I always like to be prepared for a class, no matter what.” Fizzle tapped his hooves together. “No offense, Lavender, but you usually come… well… underprepared.”

Lavender grunted and stuck her tongue out at him. "Please! All you need is a pencil and a few sheets of paper to make it through the day. I still make good grades, so it's not like I should care."

“But you might need the extra help sometime. What if a test gets extremely difficult?”

Lavender chuckled. “Well, that’s why I have you, Fizzle.”

Fizzle’s face turned red. He kicked at the ground and looked away from her. “Well, I’m not that smart.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lavender punched him lightly in the arm, causing Fizzle to jolt and sway. “How can you say you aren’t that smart when you have the highest percentile in the school?”

“Well, you’re not that far behind, Lavender. You’re like… fifth, I believe.”

Lavender laughed. “Yeah, that was sheer luck. That, and my mother would kill me if I did poorly.” She groaned, disgruntled. “I still can’t believe she made me go to this Celestia-forsaken school. I don’t see the point of it.”

Fizzle lifted his bag and headed off, Lavender following behind. “She just wants you to excel, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The two walked out of the classroom, continuing on with idle conversation. As they walked down the street, Fizzle decided it would be best to go ahead and ask about the event that was being talked about throughout school.

“So, are you thinking about going to the ball?” he asked.

Lavender sighed. “Not like I have a choice,” she said. “Mom is kind of making me go. She says it would be good for my social endeavors. Yeah, like my past thousand attempts to be social worked.”

“What about Sugar Snap, and Brass Bolt, and…” Fizzle went silent, stammering over his last words. “W-well… me.”

Lavender smiled. “Yeah, and you guys are pretty cool. Well… it took a while for me to warm up to the idiot known as Brass Bolt, but he ain’t half bad. Still, I can’t just go with my friends. Don’t you think that would be a little, you know, weird?”

Fizzle felt as if his hopes had been shattered. The words crashed down on him like a piano from the sky. Shaking his head, he looked towards her and tried to turn the situation in his favor.

“Well, I don’t think it’s… that bad,” he said, face completely reddened. “There’s nothing wrong with going with a friend. I mean, at least they’re familiar faces.”

“Yeah, familiar faces that I see every day. Besides, why would I want to go out with any of my friends? That’s kinda weird, wouldn’t you agree?”

Once again, Fizzle’s hopes were demolished. He felt like quivering and tearing up, but decided not to in order to stave off suspicion.

“Y-yeah. Why would anyone ever consider going to the prom with a friend?” Fizzle chuckled awkwardly, avoiding her gaze.

“I think I might just go by myself,” Lavender said. “Mom can make me go, but she can’t make me go out with somepony if I don’t want to.”

“I don’t think you would have to worry about finding somepony to go out with you,” Fizzle stated. “You’re already cute enough to…” Fizzle froze in place. Looking horrified, he shifted his eyes while he desperately tried to find a way around what he just said. “Well, what I meant is that many colts would find you really attractive. I mean, you’re cool, and funny, you take good care of your appearance, even when you get dirty.”

Lavender just shook her head, slapping Fizzle in the face with her tail. What was a playful gesture to Lavender made Fizzle’s heart race. “Ha, how flattering. Though, I doubt I’d want to go out with those drooling colts anyways. Have you seen some of those guys?” Lavender gagged. “They’re horrible!”

Fizzle got ahold of himself and nodded. “Yeah, I suppose so.” Fizzle took a deep breath and looked into Lavender’s eyes. “Hey, I thought we could go to Sugarcube Corner and get us a little snack. We can talk to Sugar Snap there as well. You know, if you want to, and all.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually!” Lavender exclaimed, trotting a little faster. “I could use a milkshake to liven up this boring day. Bet that spoiled ball of energy is manning the counter today.”

Fizzle chuckled. “Let’s hope so.”

“Sweetie, could you be a dear and pass me some lime-green fabric?”

Sweetie Belle trotted towards Rarity, who was focused on stitching together a dress with her sewing machine.

“Here you go,” Sweetie said, setting it next to her sister. “Ready whenever you need it.”

Rarity smiled, barely looking away from her work. “Thank you, Sweetie. Now, if you don’t mind, could you tell me what time it is? I haven’t really checked in a while.”

“No problem.” Sweetie Belle looked towards the clock. “It’s about 3:00 P.M now.”

Rarity paused, glaring at the clock.

“Oh my word! It’s already that late? Lavender will be home any minute now!” She doubled her pace, pushing the fabric through the machine as fast as she possibly could go. “I’m not even close to done yet! I was supposed to meet my quota on this before she got back, or at least the base done. Maybe I can shave off some time.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, and laid a hoof her hoof on Rarity’s shoulders. “Um, Sis? You alright?”

“Sweetie, could you please let me focus!” Rarity exclaimed. “I’m trying to get this done before she gets back. I don’t have much time!” She levitated the fabric to a different mannequin, grabbing a sewing needle. “Oh, and Opal hasn’t been fed yet. Twilight! Twilight, can you hear me?!”

“Yes! How can I not when you’re screaming at the top of your lungs?” Twilight poked her head through the door. “I take it you’re quite in the zone right now.”

“You could say that,” Rarity said, moving around frantically. She grabbed spindles and fabric, trotting closer to Sweetie Belle. “I don’t have much time to complete this dress before you-know-who gets here! Sweetie, hold these for a moment.” She dropped them in front of her, expecting her to catch the load she was holding. Sweetie managed to catch them with her magic, swaying slightly from the suddenness of it. “Twilight, could you do me a favor and feed Opal? Food should be under the sink. She likes eating out of her diamond-crusted bowl and drinking out of the regular one. Please don’t confuse the two.”

Twilight nodded. “You know, when Spike offered to clean the library so I could come over and relax with my sister-in-law, I expected to relax with my sister-in-law.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but I have to get most of this done before she gets here. Believe me, after this, you and Sweetie Belle will have all the time in the world to catch up. Right now, I just need you to do this teeny-tiny favor for me.”

“Alright. But if Opal scratches me one more time, food will be the last thing she’ll be worried about.” Twilight left the room, leaving Sweetie to deal with her compulsive sister. Rarity struggled to keep herself balanced, her magic beginning to fail her. Rarity continued to bolt around her workroom, making Sweetie Belle roll her eyes.

“Rarity, don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit?”
“Overreacting?! My daughter has a ball coming up in a few weeks, and I have barely anything ready for her! I simply must give her the best outfit possible for this occasion!”

“But the ball isn’t for another few weeks,” Sweetie Belle stated, passing Rarity her materials as she pointed towards them. “You have plenty of time to make her something.”

“No I don’t! With as many clients as I have, I will barely have any time to finish both her dress and their projects! And I want to make sure that Lavender looks the best.”

“I don’t know if we’re talking about the same dracony here, but I know for a fact that Lavender I know doesn’t care about how her dresses look. Need I remind you how miserable she looked when you made her wear a frilly little pink dress back when she was a filly?”

“Oh, how could I forget!” Rarity smiled, and opened her Fire Ruby to display a picture of Lavender in such a dress. “Whenever I feel down, I open this up and look at it. She looked so adorable in that dress.” Rarity sighed, pressing her hoof against the picture of her and Spike sharing a kiss. After reminiscing, she glanced back at Sweetie Belle. “She really didn’t like that dress?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “She took it off as soon as she got home. She just wore it because she didn’t want you to be sad, along with your other dresses you thought she liked.”

“Oh.” Rarity lowered the partially made dress. “She tells you a lot, doesn’t she?”

“Mails me at least once a week!” Sweetie Belle winked at Rarity, wrapping her front hoof around her shoulders. “Look, she doesn’t hate your dresses. I can tell you firsthoof that she appreciates the effort you put into your dresses. She just wishes you would take less time making them look so pretty, and maybe just make them a little more simplistic. She’s not as picky as you, you know?”

Rarity huffed. However, she shook it off and hugged her.

“I guess I could do something a little bit less complex.” Rarity looked at the unfinished dress and sighed. “I’m sure that I can still make something really good out of this.”

“That’s all she truly wants, Rarity.”

Rarity giggled. “Oh, and here I thought that she actually liked most of my dresses. Oh well, at least she might be pleasantly surprised about this dress, right?”

“How much you want to bet that Mom is busy trying to make me some frou-frou nonsense again?” Lavender laughed, sitting at one of the tables inside of the Sugarcube Corner with Fizzle. Sugar Snap fluttered near their table, giggling to herself.

“Yeah, well, Mrs. Rarity knows her way around a nicely made dress,” Sugar Snap said. “I would love it if she made me a dress for the ball. Imagine me in some of those nice, sparkly dresses she makes her clients!”

Lavender rested her elbow on the table and her hand on her chin. “Why are you even going to the ball? You don’t go to our school.”

“Why, it’s simple, Lavender.” Sugar Snap lowered herself to her hooves, smiling fiendishly. “I might not go to the school, but I do like to partake in social events of the sort. How else will I be able to show off if I don’t go to these youth gatherings?”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting! You’re the queen of attention-grabbing. My mistake for thinking that you could stay out of the center of a stallion’s eyesight for longer than five seconds.”

Sugar Snap stuck her tongue out at Lavender, and turned away from her. “At least I’m not an antisocial tomboy such as yourself. I can hold my weight around others better than thou. Then again, it’s easier for the naturally beautiful.”

“Vain and fixated on the spotlight. Like mother, like daughter, they always say.”

Sugar Snap giggled. “Well, you surely haven’t.” She pulled out a notepad from her apron. “But as much as I would love to chat with you longer, I’m on the clock, soooo… Order up!”

Fizzle ordered first. “I’ll have a root beer float.”

“Same here,” Lavender said, “except with chocolate, some sprinkles, and cookie crumbs in it. Oh, and drown it in the soda!”

“Only you would be so oddly specific about what you want. Alright, I should be back in a minute.” Sugar Snap flew back behind the counter and entered the back room.

Lavender chuckled, looking back at Fizzle. “Never in a thousand years would I think I’d be best friends with a drama queen like her. Now, like I was saying, why don’t you just go by yourself?”

Fizzle tapped the desk, barely making eye contact with Lavender. “Well, the thought did cross my mind. However… I, um… wouldn't have minded going with someone else if possible.”

“Oh?” Lavender leaned closer, intrigued. “So, who’s the mare you’re into?”

Fizzle leaned back. “Well, it’s not exactly a mare.”

Lavender’s ears rose, her eyes widening. “Huh. I didn’t peg you as somepony who was into stallions, but hey, if that’s what you’re into…”

“No! It’s not a stallion either!” Fizzle shouted, instantly regretting it.

“Well, sorry. Didn’t mean to imply anything by that. It’s just that, if you aren’t interested in a mare, then who are you interested in?”

Fizzle’s eyes wandered. Every time he looked back at Lavender, his heart began to race. She had both of her claws pressed against her face, waiting for his response. He was shivering, rubbing his hooves together while he tried to form the right words to say.

“Well… I—”

Before he could finish, a loud noise similar to a party favor was heard from under the table. Confetti shot up as well. Lavender looked under the table, but there was nothing there.

“What in the—” As she looked back up, she was greeted by a smiling, pink face,making her jolt backwards and nearly fall out of her chair.

“CONGRATULATIONS!” The pony bounced on the table, tossing confetti around. “You’re our three-millionth customer!”

“Pinkie?” Lavender shook her head. “Where did you come from?”

Pinkie Pie giggled. “Because you have met our special super-spectacular milestone, you get a sextuple scooped, chocolate-and-caramel-covered, sprinkle-deluxe Neapolitan ice cream bowl for free!”

“Seriously, how are you doing that? Do you have some kind of compartment under the—” Lavender’s ears perked, finally picking up on what Pinkie Pie had just said. “Wait, sextuple? As in six?”

“You betcha!” Pinkie turned towards Fizzle. “And hey, since Fizzle was with you, he can get his own bowl as well!”

Fizzle shook his head. “Well, that’s a lot of ice cream, and I don’t really want that much.”

“Well, you can share the one I’m getting then,” Lavender suggested.

“R-really?” Fizzle felt his throat grow dry. “Y-you’d share with me?”

“Why is that so surprising?” Lavender asked, chuckling. “I mean, you might as well eat some of this instead of waiting around for the root beer float. Besides, free ice cream! If you say no, then you’re not as bright as you let on.”

Fizzle was quite used to her teasing. Back when he was a young colt, her words would have demoralized him. More recently, he found comfort and joy in her sarcasm. His face reddened as he nodded. “I suppose that does make sense.”

“Great!” Pinkie leapt off the table and trotted towards the counter. “I’ll be back…”

Just as soon as she left, she reappeared with a glass bowl stacked high with mounds of ice cream covered with the works.

“...Right now!”

Pinkie placed two spoons inside the bowl. Lavender grabbed hers and scooped some of the ice cream into her mouth. She hummed with delight, bringing an even wider smile to Pinkie’s face.

“I gotta say, Pinkie, I don’t know how you do it,” Lavender said as she continued to dig through the desert with great speed.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked. “Are you talking about the ice cream? That’s really easy, silly! Just take six scoops, pour chocolate and caramel on it, and add some extra toppings! It’s surprisingly simple!”

“No, I meant how do you keep so spry when you’re holding out for not only one, but two ponies?”

“Oooooooh!” Pinkie giggled and rubbed her stomach. “I’ve always heard from other ponies that it takes so much energy out of you, but I don’t see how! I feel just dandy!” She kicked her hooves back and forth, practically floating in the air. “I mean, sure, sometimes I get a little moody, but that doesn’t happen that often. The strangest thing I’ve done since I’ve been pregnant was eat ice cream with melted cheddar, and I’ve done that before anyways! Crazy, huh?”

“Yeah, that sure is interesting,” Fizzle said, rubbing his nape with a hoof while he tried to eat some of the ice cream. However, at the rate Lavender was going, he doubted he would be able to get much. “Have you decided what you’re going to name your foals?”

“Well, we have some ideas of what to name the two,” Pinkie said. “Pokey suggested that we wait until we go see our babies’ gender through something called a… um…” Pinkie knocked a hoof against her forehead. The sound was hollow, as if nothing was in her cranium.

“An ultrasound?” Fizzle suggested.

“Yeah! That thingy! Once we get that, we’ll finally be able to name our foals!”

“Just pray they’re colts,” Lavender said with a mouthful of ice cream. “Dealing with colts is a lot easier than dealing with mares. They’re cheaper to take care of, too.”

Pinkie laughed, patting Lavender on the head. “Oh, don’t be silly, Lavy! Whether it’s a boy or a girl, they will be a bundle of sunshine. I can’t wait! That’s why I took the liberty of making a long long long long loooong list of names! Cakey, Sugar, Spice, Popper, Flour, Pierce, Pinkie Jr., Pokey II, Cherry, Grape, Melon, Cushion, Pi—”

“Okay, okay, we get the picture,” Lavender said. “You have a lot of names planned for them.

Pinkie nodded wildly. “And that’s not even half of it. I have like, three hundred more names to name them! I don’t know how I will figure out what to name them! So many choices!”

“Don’t you think it would have been easier if you would have… well… limited them to just a few names?” Fizzle asked.

“Then I might not have enough choices to go over,” Pinkie Pie said. “What if I can’t find a name for my kid? A no-name pony. That would be crazy!”

Lavender and Fizzle didn’t attempt to respond afterwards. It was beyond their ability to figure out the insanity that was Pinkie Pie, and, quite frankly, they were better off leaving her be. Not that they minded. She did provide them with a great source of entertainment, as well as a giant bowl of ice cream.

“Well, you two enjoy your ice cream. I’m going to help the Cakes with their newest creation!” Pinkie Pie licked her lips, drool trickling from her tongue. “Mmm… Strawberry Brownie Delight!”

She skipped off, leaving Lavender and Fizzle alone again. Fizzle stared at Lavender, watching her drill through the last bit of chocolate ice cream left. He didn’t really get that much of the dessert. Most of it went down Lavender’s throat. All that was left was most of strawberry ice cream she didn’t bother eating. Still, he didn’t care. He could have gotten no ice cream so long as he got to be around Lavender.

She stared up at him, her face smeared with vanilla and chocolate. “Um, are you going to eat some, or are you going to stare at me while I finish?”

Fizzle shook his head and clumsily grabbed at his spoon, shoveling it into the ice cream. Even though he was still eating the treat, he eyed Lavender as she continued. Only she could make him blush, even when her face was a sloppy mess.

“So, I take it that you enjoyed the promotional reward?” Sugar Snap flew towards the two, slurping on two straws. She was drinking the root beer floats that Lavender and Fizzle had originally ordered, smiling gleefully.

“Wow. You’re a terrible worker, Sugar Snap,” Lavender teased. “Are you really going to eat your customers’ orders in front of them?”

Sugar Snap rolled her eyes. “Oh, please! You weren’t going to eat this anyways, so why should I let it go to waste?”

“You don’t know that,” Lavender countered. “Maybe I wanted both.”

“Did you though?”

Lavender swallowed the last bit of her ice cream, burping loudly. With a wide, toothy smile, she replied, “Nope. I just felt like messing with you.”

“I figured as much. I also bet you ate all of Fizzle’s share of the ice cream as well.”

“Not like he was trying to challenge me,” Lavender said, wiping her face with her claw. “Besides, I’m saving him some. He can join in and finish up as he pleases. If I am eating too much, I can always buy some more.”

Fizzle shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I honestly didn’t want to eat that much anyways. You eat as much as you want. I’ll just take the leftovers.”

Lavender smiled. “Sweet! I’ve had a strong sweet tooth recently.” She continued through the ice cream. “You know, I wish there were more stallions like you, Fizzle.”

Fizzle’s face went crimson. He hid his blush behind the mounds of strawberry ice cream. “Y-you really mean that?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. At least you’re actually nice, not some dolt who tries to act better than others. You also helped me out of a jam when it came to those quizzes. Thanks. My Mom would have killed me if I had failed that.”

Lavender chuckled, eating more of the ice cream while Fizzle gazed at her with half-lidded eyes. Everything about her was amplified and beautified tenfold as he looked at her. Her eyes, her mane, her talons and fluffy tail, her personality: it made his heart soar. It was maddening thinking about her so much, but he couldn’t help it. He cursed himself for not being able to talk to her properly.

“Hey, Fizz! You’re good with chemical concoctions, right?” Sugar Snap asked, snapping him out of his trance.

“Um, yeah, I suppose,” he answered. “I mean, I kinda have a cutie mark based on it, if that wasn’t apparent.”

Fizzle showcased his cutie mark, which was a flask being overflowed with bubbles of fizzing liquids.

Sugar Snap nodded and lowered herself to her hooves. “Right, right! If you aren’t going to eat the ice cream, I would like you to come with me. Maybe you can figure out some awesome mix for a new soda line!”

Fizzle looked at Sugar Snap with wide, unbelieving eyes. “Y-you actually need my help with something here?”

“Yes indeedy!” she said. “Best to have somepony who knows what he’s doing, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah.” Fizzle lowered himself from his seat and followed Sugar Snap. He looked back at Lavender, who was too busy burying herself in the ice cream to care about him leaving. Sugar Snap looked up at Lavender, then back down at Fizzle, her smile melting into a more stoic expression. That alone made Fizzle nervous.

“Um… so… What kind of drink did you want to make?” Fizzle asked. Sugar Snap didn’t answer, crossing her forehooves over her chest. Fizzle kicked at the ground and smiled nervously. “Well, it really just depends on what you want. I can easily tell you how to make a cola, but if it is going to be a cream flavor, along with fruit, I suggest strawberry or—”

“You haven’t asked her yet, have you?”

Fizzle froze. His head drooped as he sighed. That was the last thing he had expected to come up, but, thinking about it, it should have been apparent from the start.

“No.” He looked up to see her shaking her head and audibly clicking her tongue. “B-but I’m trying! I… I just can’t bring myself to do it.”

“Trying isn’t enough,” Sugar Snap barked. “I want to see action! I want to see determination! And, better yet, I want to see it today, right here and right now!”

Fizzle’s legs began to shake, his face becoming more flushed. “B-but I—”

“I’m getting really tired of your buts, Fizzle. You say you really like her, and yet, after all these years you still haven’t told her how you feel. Asking her out to the ball is the first step to getting the ma—erm,dracony—of your dreams, and you’re squandering it!”

“But on our way here, she said that she would never go with a friend because it would be weird.”

Sugar Snap waved her hooves and blew a raspberry. “You really think she means that? We girls like to put on a tough act so you guys actually have to fight for us! I bet that if you asked her, she would say yes in a pinch.”

Fizzle rubbed his nappy mane, and glanced towards her again. Nearly her entire face was caked with ice cream of mixed colors. He felt his heart stop just looking at her eat sloppily, as weird as that thought was.

“I-I don’t know…”

Sugar Snap grabbed Fizzle’s face, forcing him to look at her. “Look, you got this, Fizz! You’re like, her bestest friend in all of Equestria!”

“I thought that was you,” Fizzle mumbled.

“Well… best male friend. She thinks quite highly of you, so why not go for it? I mean, the worse she could do is say no.”

“She could also laugh at me, too,” Fizzle added, which earned him a smack to the face.

“No! No thoughts that will prevent you from asking. I’m serious! If you don’t do this, I will dub you biggest wimp in all of Equestria!”

Fizzle sighed, his ears drooping. He knew that Sugar Snap meant well, but sometimes her methods seemed a little too drastic at times. Still, she did have a point. He was never going to get Lavender if he was too scared of her reaction. Taking a deep breath, he released himself from Sugar Snap’s grasp.

“You’re right.” He puffed out his chest and smiled. “I’m going to ask her out to the ball. Not that hard to do.”

“That’s the spirit! Now, go get her!”

Sugar Snap pushed Fizzle towards his goal, nearly knocking him off-balance. He swallowed hard and continued towards Lavender, who was wiping the excess ice cream from her face. His heart beat against his chest, and his hooves felt heavy. Everything seemed to freeze around him. The only thing mattering at that moment was Lavender.

Okay, you got this, Fizzle. he thought. It’s just some stupid ball. That’s it. You can easily ask her out to that without any problems. Just go up, ask if she wants to go to the ball with me, and wait for a response. She won’t bite you. She won’t hate you. She won’t laugh… Well, maybe she’ll laugh, but who cares! She’ll still be your friend. You’re losing nothing, but if you do well, you’ll gain everything. Just do it. Do it, idiot!

He bumped against Lavender’s chair, jolting back and blushing after realizing he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going.

Lavender raised an eyebrow at him. “Hey, do you need glasses or something? How do you bump into a big, purple dracony in a chair?”

“Oh.. um… sorry.” Fizzle retreated a little before shaking his head and looking back up at her. This was his chance. The shot he needed.

“Hey… Lavender, can I ask you something?”

“Oh?” Lavender looked at him with wide, eager eyes, scratching her mane. “What’cha want?”

Fizzle rocked from side to side. “I-I just wanted to know if you… erm… If you…”

“Yeah, Fizzle?”

Lavender’s beauty was intensified yet again. This time, her eyes were glistening, her mane sparkled, and her smile seemed to border the lines of seductive and innocent. To make matters worse for him, her blinking was rapid and inviting, making his heart race to the point where he couldn’t feel it anymore.

“I… I just wanted to know if you, um…” Fizzle stumbled over his words, reduced to a nervous wreck. “I wanted to know… If you wanted to study a little while today. You know… at your place?”

Fizzle could hear Sugar Snap slapped her forehooves against her forehead. He was slapping himself internally for his cowardice, but he couldn’t make up for it at the moment. All he could do was continue with his screw-up, and wait a response from Lavender.

“Really?” Lavender said, bemused. “You of all ponies would want to study during the weekend.” Lavender laid a claw against her cheek. “Still, this test does look kind of hard. I guess we can study a little bit today. Wanna head there now?”

Fizzle nodded, staying silent in shame.

“Sweet!” Lavender leapt off the chair and walked towards Sugar Snap, passing her six bits while sticking her tongue out. “For the root beer float you were supposed to give us.”

“Har har!” Sugar Snap counted the bits and placed them on the counter. “Nice of you to pay anyway. I’ll drop by when I get off work if you want.”

“Cool.” Lavender waved goodbye. “See ya, Sugar Snap!”

Sugar Snap waved at Lavender with a smile, waiting for her to reach the door. Once she was certain Lavender wasn’t paying attention, she looked at Fizzle, shaking her head in disgust. “Shaaamefuuuul.”

Fizzle lowered his head. “I know.”

He followed Lavender towards the boutique, mentally berating himself. Just another day for Fizzle: in the company of the dracony he adored, but unable to tell her how much he adored that company.

“Do you think this is good enough?”

Rarity held up the dress, her mane unkempt and looking visibly stressed. Sweetie Belle and Twilight Sparkle inspected her work, thinking long and hard. The wait made Rarity even more anxious.

“Oh, for the love of all that is good, just tell me!”

“Okay, okay,” Twilight said. “Calm down! You’re acting crazier than…” She blushed slightly. “You know what, I won’t finish that thought.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Well, I think that you did a fine job with this one, Sis! I’m sure Lavender will love it!”

Rarity asked, “You really think so?”

Sweetie Belle nodded.

“I have to second that,” Twilight added. “Like she said, something simple and nice fits Lavender much better than a diamond-crusted dress, wouldn't you agree?”

Rarity smiled, a tint of red on her cheek. “In hindsight, she would have probably just eaten them, wouldn’t she?”

They nodded and laughed, lighting their horns up.

“So, where do you want us to hide this mannequin?” Sweetie asked.

Rarity rubbed her chin. “How about behind the show curtains?” she suggested. “Lavender hasn’t snooped around back there since she was a little filly. I doubt she would start now.”

“Got it!” Sweetie Belle encased the mannequin with her magic. “Twilight?”

“Ready when you are,” Twilight replied.

They moved the mannequin at the same pace, slowly trotting towards the curtains. Rarity used her aura to grab the end of the curtain and push it to the side, allowing for Twilight and Sweetie to easily access the back area.

“Now, put it somewhere in the back. Can’t have it poking out. She might get suspicious,” Rarity said.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. “I think we know how to hide something, Rarity. How do you think me and Lavender snuck those pet spiders in here when we were young?”

Rarity’s eyes twitched. “That was you who let her bring those filthy things in here?!”

“Well…” Sweetie Belle’s eyes wavered. Twilight giggled at the awkward situation she had put herself in. Sweetie’s desire to change the subject was fulfilled when she heard the front door creak open.

“Oh, speaking of my favorite niece, that should be her right now. You should go check on her while we finish hiding this.”

“Wait… she’s home already? Please, hurry it up! I’ll go hold her off!” Rarity darted towards the living room faster than the others believe she could.

Twilight and Sweetie Belle stared at each other, sustaining their laughter. “Wow, my sister is a wreck when she’s making something,” Sweetie Belle said. “Even I don’t get that nervous, and I have to perform for ponies on stage!”

“Well, that’s just how our sister is,” Twilight said with a smile. “Not that I'm complaining. It’s quite amusing watching her work.”

The two shared a laugh and placed the mannequin in a discrete location behind the curtains.

“Speaking of stage, how is your career going, Sweetie?” Twilight asked. “I’m afraid we haven’t had as much time to speak to each other much recently.”

“It’s quite alright, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle said. “You’re a princess and all, and I don’t want to bother you when you’re busy.”

“It’s not a problem at all,” Twilight said, waving a forehoof. “I am more than happy to spend time with my sister-in-law, especially one as talented as yourself.”

“Why thanks, Twilight,” Sweetie said. “I can’t believe they let me off for a week to visit you guys! I have a concert next week, and I’m supposed to be practicing for my newest single.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Sweetie Belle nodded. “It’s heavily inspired by my fiance. As you can tell, I’m going to be a happily wedded mare soon. We’re planning to have it here in Ponyville for simplicity’s sake.” Sweetie Belle raised her hoof, showing off her golden hoofring with a shining pearl in the center.

“It’s beautiful!” Twilight asked, “I take it that the lucky stallion is Half Note, correct?”

Sweetie Belle nodded, blushing madly. “He was so romantic about it. Right there on the stage after my performance two months ago.” She sighed dreamily, dwelling on the memory of that momentous day.

“I can’t wait for it, and I bet Lavender can’t wait either. And while we’re on that subject, you should probably go say hi to her. I bet she doesn’t even know you’re here yet.”

Sweetie Belle smiled, making sure the dress was carefully hidden behind the curtains. “Of course. This will be a nice surprise for her.”

The two walked into the living room to greet the young dracony. Lavender was standing next to Fizzle, talking to her mother. As she cocked her head to the side, she saw Sweetie Belle and immediately smiled.

“No way!” Lavender ran past Rarity and into the hooves of her aunt, who embraced her. “What are you doing here? I thought you had some kind of concert to practice for.”

“Yeah, and that’s still the case, but I always have time for my favorite niece.” Sweetie Belle watched as Lavender’s tail wagged around rapidly. Her niece had a tight grip on her, hugging her tightly. “Besides, I can always practice here. Might need a critic with a good ear for sound. Guess who I’m considering?”

Lavender chuckled. “Trust me, you don’t need my help with that. I just want to listen to the best singer in Equestria.” Lavender turned towards Fizzle, gesturing for him to come closer. “Hey, Fizz, you’ve met my Aunt before, right? She’s a pretty rockin’ singer!”

“Y-yeah I know that,” Fizzle said, walking towards her. “Good afternoon, Ms. Sweetie Belle. Princess Twilight.”

Fizzle began to bow before Twilight held out her hooves. “There’s no need for that here, young stallion,” she said with a smile. “You don’t have to be so formal around me. If Lavender can talk to me casually, so can you.”

Lavender’s ears perked as she looked up at Twilight. “Oh, sorry, Aunt Twi.” She walked towards her and hugged her as well.

“Don’t worry about it, Lavender. You can see me anytime you want. It’s not often you get to see Sweetie Belle, so I would expect such a reaction.”

Lavender smiled, hugging Twilight just as tightly as she did Sweetie Belle. Unlike Sweetie, Twilight wasn’t used to Lavender’s hugs, and felt constrained and crushed. It took every ounce of restraint for her not to pry those gripping claws from her. She didn’t want to hurt Lavender by telling her that she was a little too strong for a simple hug, so she just endured it.

That, and it was a good mental note on the physical strength of draconies.

Lavender let go of Twilight and looked around. Something was missing from the scenery. A certain tubby pet wasn’t around. Lavender stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Hey, Opal! Come here, girl.”

She heard a faint meow coming from the kitchen and the sound of paws pattering against the floor. Slowly but surely, Opalescence walked into the living room, greeting Lavender by rubbing against her legs. Unfortunately, much to her annoyance, Lavender decided to pick her up. She grunted in disdain, but found the effort to get away pointless.

“Well, haven’t you gotten a little tubby over the years,” Lavender teased. “I think Mom needs to stop feeding you so much catnip.”

Opal growled, licking at Lavender regardless. Her teasing was annoying enough to grate her, yet be oddly charming. However, soon, she started flailing around, ready to be put down.

“Oh, alright! I’ll let you down, you fussy little feline.” Lavender lowered Opalescence to the ground, who immediately laid on her back, kicking her legs up. Lavender shook her head, chuckling.

“Oh, you’re pathetic, you know that?” Lavender leaned down and scratched her stomach, pressing into it slightly with her sharp nails. Opal purred, a smile forming on her face as she was pampered. “Hey, Fizzle, why don’t you pet her?”

Fizzle trotted closer to the cat and tried to touch Opal. She pawed at Fizzle, snarling.

“She’s not that pleasant around me, huh?” Fizzle asked, leaning back with a nervous expression.

“Aww. She’s just a jealous little kitty, aren’t you?” Opal continued glaring at Fizzle while purring from Lavender’s massage. As Lavender continued, she looked up at Rarity, noting that her normal welcoming party was down by one, plus two visitors.

“Where’s Dad?” Lavender asked.

“Oh, he’s at the library helping clean up so Twilight and Sweetie Belle can have some quality time today,” Rarity explained. “I’m sure you want to enjoy the moment with them as well, right?”

Lavender nodded. “Of course I do. But it might have to wait a little while. Fizzle wanted to study with me for a bit today.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to intrude if you want to spend some time with your family. I can just go back home.”

Lavender pulled Fizzle closer to her. “Nonsense. You already walked over here, so you might as well stay. Besides, I can get some good use out of you.”

Rarity held back her laughter, watching the flustered Fizzle nod in agreement. “Well, you two should get that out of the way then. I’ll make you some snacks just in case you get hungry. Does celery and peanut butter sound good to you?”

“Yes, Mrs. Rarity,” Fizzle said. “I appreciate your kindness.”

Lavender looked at her with pleading eyes. “Mom, I like celery and all, but do you have anything better, like… salmon or something?”

Rarity shook her head. “Lavender, I’ve already told you that you aren’t going to snack on fish all the time, nor are you going to have it every dinner. However, because I’m in a good mood today, I’ll consider cooking some for dinner, but only if you don’t bother me about it.”

Lavender’s ears flopped. She kicked her claw against the ground. “Yeah, yeah. I won’t bother you about it.”

“Good.” Rarity nudged Lavender towards the stairs. “Now, move along. You and Fizzle have some studying to do, and I want to make sure that you get a good grade on your exam. Don’t come down until you’re completely done now!”

Lavender sighed and glanced Fizzle. “You heard the boss. We’re going up to my room for a while.”

“Alright.” Fizzle trotted beside Lavender, still blushing but not as nervous as he once was. “So, what should we study first? It seemed like you were struggling the most on different chemical reactions.”

“Yeah, or those stupid synthetic elements. How in Tartarus—”

“Lavender, watch your mouth,” Rarity ordered, making Lavender to twitch.

“Erm, how do you figure those out?” Lavender asked.

“Well, it’s not that hard, really. It just takes some memorization,” Fizzle said.

Lavender and Fizzle walked up the stairs, discussing what they would study first. As they went up the stairs, Rarity giggled to herself.

“I wonder if that kid will ever tell her. She seems so… oblivious to the obvious signs.”

“Kind of like how you were. Right, Rarity?” Twilight put a hoof on Rarity’s back, grinning from ear to ear.

Rarity glared at Twilight with malicious intent. “Oh, shut up.”

Author's Note

Next time on the Lavender Show, we watch as Lavender makes Opal lose weight.

*No, I'm not kidding. That will happen. I swear to Celestia!

The [Im]Perfect Gathering

“So, what about this one?”

Lavender pointed to the yellow “S” on the periodic table in Fizzle’s chemistry book.

“Oh, that one’s easy. That’s sulfur. Atomic number sixteen. It’s an inorganic element that is categorized as diatomic nonmetal, founded mostly in the regions of Saddle Arabia and the Griffon Kingdom, and most notably used for the first canon every constructed for the Royal Guards.”

Lavender glanced at Fizzle. “I see. And what part of your little history lesson will I actually need to know to pass this test?”

Fizzle looked at Lavender, still lost in his own interest on the subject. “Oh! Um… well just that it’s inorganic.”

“Cool. So how about we not get into the whole origin of these elements and shave off a good few minutes of filler, okay, Fizzy?”

Fizzle flushed. “Well… okay.” Trying to avoid Lavender’s gaze, he looked at the chemistry book again, pointing at a different element. “Okay, so tell me, what is this one? Mg?”

Lavender squinted at the text. “Ah, that one isn’t that hard. It’s magnesium isn’t it?”

Fizzle smiled. “Yes! Now, is it organic or inorganic?”

Lavender pressed a claw against her forehead, twirling a nail through her mane. After a few seconds of thinking, she responded with, “Um, inorganic?”

Fizzle shook his head, and Lavender slammed her head on the book.

“It’s okay, Lavender,” Fizzle said. “It just takes some time to learn all these elements. You can’t learn them in one fell swoop.”

“Says the pony that can memorize the entire catalog in one night,” Lavender mumbled through the book.

“T-that’s not the point, Lavender,” Fizzle said. “Some just don’t learn as well as others do. That doesn’t mean you aren’t going to get it. You’re fluent in equine, good at math, Celestia knows you’re better at art than I am.”

“Yeah, well throwing paint on a stupid piece of paper isn’t going to get me an A, unless I somehow trick both the teacher and my parents that the crappy fake grade I make is legit.”
“You don’t have to fake your grade, Lavender. You just need to find the method that makes it easier for you to learn them.”

Lavender lifted her head. “Yeah, I guess. Any bright ideas?”

Fizzle pressed a front hoof against his chin. “Hmm… not quite sure.” He looked around the room, searching for some kind of aid to help her memorize the material. After sitting and thinking for a brief moment, an idea hit him. “Build-A-Blocks!”

Lavender raised an eyebrow, her expression turning sour. “So we're just giving up then?”

"No no no! Um… do you have any lying around anywhere?”

“Not sure. I used to keep them under my bed, but I haven’t played with them since I was like twelve. Why?”

Fizzle immediately went crawling on the floor, peeping under Lavender’s bed. She watched as he explored under her bed, unsure of where to look. She was just amused at watching him squiggle around trying to search for the blocks.

“Ah! Here we go!” He pulled out a small bag of Build-A-Blocks and searched for different pieces, pulling out the ones he needed. “Okay, you see this block right here? The one with connectors on all sides?"

Lavender turned her head to the side. “Yeah. What, you wanna build crap now?”

Fizzle shook his head. "No, not at all. Think of this block as carbon.” Fizzle began stacking similar blocks to branch them out. “Carbon is the backbone of all organic compounds, because they can link together in lots of ways, like this!" By the end, he had two rings of bricks joined by a few other colored bricks capping the ends. "Behold, Sucrose! Otherwise known as common table sugar."

Lavender blinked. "Wow. You’ve got to be the only pony that can take something as nice as sugar and Build-A-Blocks, and turn them into a boring science demonstration."

"O-oh." Fizzle’s ears flopped as he lowered his head. “S-sorry. I just thought that maybe...”

"Ah come on, Fizzle! Don’t take it so seriously!” Lavender jabbed Fizzle in the arm playfully, resulting in an impact that made him have to rub it. “I was just messin’ with you. I thought you’d be used to it by now.”

“Well, I guess you just have a way of surprising me everytime,” Fizzle said, chuckling nervously.

Lavender couldn’t help but to laugh. “You really are something, Fizzle. With how sweet you act towards me and other ponies, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were made out of this sucrose stuff.”

Fizzle tried to suppress a smile, failing miserably and displaying a look of sheer delight, blushing from cheek to cheek.

“Anywho, what about this compound stuff?”

Fizzle shook his head and cleared his throat. "Oh, right! See, inorganic compounds are like... this!" He constructed a new kind of block with only one connector on it. "See, you can't build much with these. Maybe one or two shapes, but that's all, so inorganic compounds are usually much smaller than organic ones."

"So, just big molecules with lots of carbon?"

"Well, kinda. Organic compounds are all about the shapes, while inorganic are all about the atoms. Since you’re so good at art, just think of inorganic compounds as paintings, with all the different atoms as the colors, and organic compounds as sketches, with the shapes being the most important!"

Lavender nodded and smiled. “Ah, I get it! That’s actually a really easy way of remembering them! Doesn’t really help with figuring out which ones are organic or inorganic though.”

Fizzle hummed, looking back at the book. “Yeah, that might be a little more difficult to memorize.” He noticed Lavender’s smile recede rapidly, and stumbled. “B-but I’m positive we can find a way to help you out with this, too! Let’s see. What if we just try to use some of your paints to organize the different elements.”

Lavender glanced at her dresser. “Well, I’m not one to waste paints on something as dull as working on memorizing inorganic and organic, but I’m willing to try anything at this point.”

Lavender lifted herself from the table to go grab her paint sets from her dresser. She then grabbed them and brought them to the table.

Fizzle reached over, looking for a brush, but saw nothing of the sort. “Ugh, Lavender, where are the brushes?”

Lavender snickered. “Who said anything about using brushes? Why do you think I always come out messy when I’m in art class? You thought that red paint was just blood? Well, it might have been that one time...”

Lavender chuckled at her own dismal joke. Fizzle shifted his eyes, smiling at her nervously.

“So, um…. wanna get started?” Fizzle asked? “We can organize the organic first. I think those are the easiest.”

Lavender nodded, opening a jar of cyan paints. “I’m down with that.”

Spike dusted the bookshelves, sighing and climbing down the ladder. “Goodness, Twilight. The least you could have done was spruce up the last place you used. I know you don’t have me over that often but jeez.”

Owlolicious looked at Spike, cocking his head to the side.

“I’m talking to myself obviously,” Spike explained. “I know it’s a little weird and all, but if I don’t think I would keep sane being quite all day while working. And I doubt you have any interest in anything I have to say, do you?”

“Woo.”

Spike chuckled. “That’s what I thought.”

Spike pushed the rolling ladder on the side of the shelf. He patted himself off, removing some dust off of him and walked towards the door. “I put your food where Twilight told me to. Don’t eat it all at once.” With that kind of food she gave, I doubt you will anyways.

As Spike headed towards the door, it swung open, revealing a young, smiling mare holding a book with a batter laden spatula.

“Princess Twilight, I’m here to return this book that Mrs. Pinkie asked me to give back since she was busy in… the…”

Spike looked down at her and chuckled, noticing that she was in utter shock at the sight she was drinking in. “Well, I’m not exactly a princess, but technically I’m a prince. I can still take that book off your hooves and tell Twilight that you brought it back. What, was she trying to invent another one of her famous treats?”

The mare stood silently, face flushed and biting her lip. Spike scratched his head.

“Um, hello?” Spike waved a claw in front of her face. “Is Sugar Snap in there?”

Sugar Snap shook her head, trying to compose herself. However, swirled tail was shaking around like an eager puppy. “Oh, sorry Mr. Spike! I just wasn’t expecting to see someone as awesome as you to be here. Don’t you live with Mrs. Rarity now?”

“Well, yeah, but sometimes ‘your highness’ still likes to boss me around sometimes, and have me clean up while the two live it up.”

"Aww. That must be awful."

"It's not too bad. I don't mind helping out my sis every now and then. I was just finishing up anyways.”

“Really?” Sugar Snap fluttered towards him, her face getting redder and redder. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can help with?”

“No, I’m fine,” Spike said. “Thanks for the offer though. Nice to see somepony wanting to help this old dragon out.”

“Not a problem, sir,” Sugar Snap said with a salute. “Anything to help the most awesome, cool, handsome dragon in the entire universe.”

“Aww, stop that! You’re gonna make this old fart blush.” Spike chuckled at Sugar’s flattering words. “I mean, I know I’m still awesome and all, but I’m not that handsome.”

“I beg to differ, Mr. Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious.” Sugar Snap giggled and bowed playfully, looking up at the dragon she was swooning over.

“Well, you sure have a way with words, kid,” Spike said. “Call me crazy, but if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were flirting with me.”

Sugar Snap began to sweat and giggled nervously. “No, of course not. That’s absolutely silly.”

“I know, just an amusing thought. Wouldn’t be the first time honestly. Should have seen the look on Rare’s face when her mom started teasing me.”

Sugar Snap laughed awkwardly, thankful that Spike oblivious to her affection.

"Speaking of Rares, I think it's time back and finally relax with my wife and sister-in-law. Might have to scold Twilight for leaving me with all the hard work... again."

Sugar Snap smiled and nodded. “Hey, is Lavender at home yet?”

Spike shrugged. “I’m not sure. I haven’t been at the boutique since I got here, aka quite a while.”

“Oh. Well, do you mind if I follow you back and check? I need to ask her a few things.”

Spike grinned, nodding his head. “I don’t see why not. If boss lady doesn’t say anything about it, I might even let you stay around for dinner.”

Sugar Snap’s wings flapped with excitement. “Really? You’d let me?”

“Well, I can’t promise that you’ll get a lot of food thanks to Lavender, but we’ll make sure to put a little on the side for you.” Spike winked and snickered.

“Oh, thanks, Mr. Spike!” Sugar Snap said, fluttering around.

“It’s no problem at all. Might as well get going if we want to get some of the good eats.” Spike made sure everything was organized and in its place before leaving the library. Positive that things were in order, he turned towards Owlolicious as he walked to the door, Sugar leading the two. “Well, you’re in charge of the library again. Make sure it stays clean for you-know-who.”

“Woo!”

“Yep. You got it!”

“Okay, let’s try this again, Lavender.” Fizzle closed the book and sighed. “Okay, all I want you to do is tell me at least five organic elements.”

Lavender waved a claw, smiling smugly. “Ha! That’ll be no problem… I think.” She took a few moments to think, tapping her sharp nails against the table. “Well, um… magnesium, nitrogen, copper, sulfur, oxygen?”

Fizzle mentally counted the results before looking back at Lavender. “Well, four out of five isn’t that bad.”

Lavender groaned, gripping her mane with her claws. “For Luna’s sake, why can’t I get this?”

“It’s okay, Lavender,” Fizzle said, patting her on the back while blushing at the touch of her rough yet oddly smooth skin. “You improved very rapidly over the past hour of doing this, and the test isn’t until the weekends over. You’ll have this down pat in no time. Besides, four out of five is still passing.”

Lavender sighed, straightening out her mane and smiling a little. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. That’s still like a B, so if I pass with that, I won’t even care.”

“Plus, there’s still plenty of time to learn this stuff! The fact that you retained such memory in a short amount of time is phenomenal! Not everypony can do that.”

The compliment brightened Lavender’s mood exponentially, causing a toothy grin to form. “Heh, thanks, Fizzle. Ever think of actually being a teacher one day? You’d do a lot better than most of the ones we have now.”

Fizzle scratched his mane, chuckling. “I’m not that good, Lavender. Besides, the teachers have years on me. They have more experience, they’re more worldly and knowledgeable—”

“Yeah, and they’re also big jerks most of the time too.” Lavender chuckled and rested a claw against her cheek. “To be honest, if it wasn’t for my mom drilling me about this stupid test, I probably wouldn’t even care. I don’t even want to go to the stupid prom.”

The word alone caused Fizzle’s heart to skip a beat. Fizzle turned around in the chair, playing with his hooves nervously.

Why did she have to bring that up? Why, of all the times, did she have to say that now? Fizzle closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. It’s okay Fizzle. You chickened out before, but you still have a chance. Stop being a coward, and stallion up.

Fizzle turned back towards Lavender, a look of determination now painted on his face. “Lavender, about the prom—”

Lavender stuck her tongue out and interrupted him. “What about it? You still gonna try to convince me that I should go with someone to that? Ha! I’d like to see you come up with one pony I would or should go with!”

Lavender stared at Fizzle with an amused grin, whipping her tail against the sole of his hooves. His heartbeat began to speed up, throat becoming dry, begging for water.

“Well, you could always go with a friend or—” Fizzle paused, thinking before he decided to test his luck. “—Somepony that you might like?”

Lavender hummed, looking up at the ceiling. Fizzle sat patiently, waiting for whatever response she would give.

“Nope! Can’t think of a single pone to go out with.”

Fizzle felt both relieved and disappointed, though his heart rate wasn’t becoming anymore steady. In fact, it felt as if it was getting faster and faster. “Um, well I had an idea of what you could do.”

“I’m listening, Fiz.”

It happened again. When Lavender stared at Fizzle with intrigue, his entire perception of her shifted. Her deep-purple eyes sparkled and glistened. Her teeth shimmered under the rays of light, intensifying her beauty even more. Fizzle had to force himself not to melt into a dopey, red faced grin, though his heart was now pounding at his chest at an alarming rate.

Lavender’s smile shrank a little, her impatience evident. “Well?”

Fizzle began to shiver as Lavender’s tail continued brushing against him. He was at a loss for words, but sitting there dumbfounded would only make his situation worse.

“A-Actually, I was kind of thinking that… well… you, and I could—” He paused, looking at Lavender’s radiance yet again. His view of her intensified far more than even he thought it could. It was like gazing upon royalty, eloquent and in her natural state. “Uh… go in separately and then see what happens there! You know, as friends or something.”

Lavender raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s a possibility, but weren’t we planning on doing that anyways? You know, the three of us hanging out as usually if Sugar didn’t find herself a date?”

“And what gave you an idea that I wouldn’t find one?”

Lavender and Fizzle turned towards the door. Standing there was a smiling Sugar Snap, fluttering into Lavender’s room uninvited.

“I’ll have you know that I’m already working on finding me a date. Shouldn’t be too hard, knowing my charming looks.”

Lavender rolled her eyes. “Trying to charm my father doesn’t count as trying to get a date, Sugar. He’s not going to take you.”

“A mare can dream, right?” Sugar Snap sighed, leaning against Lavender’s bedpost. “Your mom was real lucky.”

“So I’ve heard.” Lavender glared at Sugar Snap, noticing a faint blush on her face. “What brings you over here, anyways?”

“I came over here with Mr. Spike,” Sugar Snap answered. “He invited me over for dinner, and Mrs. Rarity said I could stay. Why do you sound so surprised anyways? Fizzle got to come over without any problems!”

“Well, he’s helping me study, so he’s a different case,” Lavender said. “Besides, at least he asked before barging in here.”

“Uh huh.” Sugar Snap glared at Fizzle, who was waving at her nervously. She turned back towards Lavender and smiled. “Anyway, your mom said that the food was almost done and to get cleaned up before eating.”

Lavender licked her lips and leapt out of her chair. “About time! I hope they cooked me some halibut this time. I was getting tired of salmon.” Lavender walked towards the door. “Bathroom’s on your left at the end of the hall. You can use that to wash up.”

“Why aren’t you using it?” Fizzle asked.

Lavender sighed, her ears flopping. “Because knowing Mom, her idea of washing up is having me look all pretty, cleaned, and hair curled up more to ‘make a good impression on the guest.’” Lavender said, making air quotes with her claws. She sighed as she made her way to Rarity’s room to groom herself.

Sugar Snap took the opportunity to get off the bed and walk towards Fizzle, who was growing more nervous as she walked closer.

“U-Um hi, Sugar. I bet you were excited to see a former cutie mark crus… OOOW!”

Sugar Snap landed a hard blow on Fizzle’s face with her hooves, fire lighting in her eyes. “Don’t try to worm your way out of this. That was for being stupid.” She smacked his other cheek with the same hoof. “That’s for chickening out yet again!” Not venting enough, she landed one more hardened buck to his nose, kicking him off the chair. “And that’s for being stupid.”

“You hit me for being stupid twice!” Fizzle yelped, groping his nose with his front hooves.

“Yeah, I did.” Sugar Snap walked over him, clanking her two hooves together and gritting her teeth. “Want to make it a third time for stating the obvious?”

Fizzle covered his face. “No no no, stop! Please, I get it! I’m sorry!”

Sugar Snap’s hooves came plummeting down on his face. “And now you’re apologizing to the girl that beat you up? What’s wrong with you!”

“I don’t know!” Fizzle exclaimed. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!”

“You’re supposed to act a little bit tougher,” Sugar Snap responded, slowing down her violation of Fizzle’s face. “I’m not saying you have to be as built as Big Mac but come on!”

Fizzle looked up at her and sighed. “I get it, I’m a wimp. I know this already,” Fizzle said, pushing his hooves against his forehead. “What’s wrong with me? I can’t even ask her to a stupid little prom. I know I’m pathetic. Just go ahead and do your worst.”

Sugar Snap rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. “Alright, alright! Get up.” She extended a hoof to help Fizzle get off the ground. “Luna, you have got to be kidding me. First you’re too spineless to ask a close friend to the prom, and now you let a girl beat you up. I’m not even that strong. Next thing you’ll be telling me is that you still wet the bed.”

Fizzle reached out for Sugar’s hoof, avoiding her gaze. “I’m trying, Sugar,” he said, “but no matter how hard I try, I can’t ever go through with it.”

Sugar Snap groaned. “Then I’m done trying to help. If you aren’t going to try, then you don’t deserve her in my opinion.” Sugar Snap turned around, smacking him in the face with her tail. She trotted towards the door, still talking to Fizzle. “Worst yet, you made me mess up my hooves. I just got them waxed yesterday.”

Fizzle stood up, dusting himself off. He looked somberly at the ground and followed Sugar Snap, preparing for what he hoped to be a less painful experience with Lavender’s family.

“Spike, please, not this again.” Twilight covered her face, stifling her laughter.

The family as well as Lavender’s friends were all enjoying themselves at the table. The table was decorated with golden cloths that rested below the silver diningware. The dishes served consisted of a vegetable medley, cornbread, and fluffy mounds of potato salad, centering the table. The two cooked fish were already on Lavender and Spike’s plate, though the dragon had already made good leeway on it.

“Twi, I know what I saw!” Spike insisted, pointing his fork at her. “That thing was huge! Longer than both my arms together! I’m telling you, if it wanted to, it could have knocked me in the water.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Spike, for the last time, you did not see a copper-headed shark in the middle of a freshwater pond. Not only would it be too big, but it couldn’t physically live there!”

Spike grinned. “Okay, Ms. I-Know-Everything-Yet-Never-Went-Fishing-Once-In-Her-Life, what could it have been?”

“I don’t know. Probably you just overthinking a shadow over the water and ‘enhancing’ the truth a little,” Twilight said, using her magic to poke her food with her fork. “Besides, you are rather known for your fantastic stories that only seem to happen when you’re alone.”

“Hey, Lavender, can you back me up on this?” Spike pleaded.

“Sorry Dad,” Lavender said with food leaving her mouth. “Too busy eating to care.”

“Speaking of your eating, look at yourself Lavender!” Rarity said, expressing disapproval. “You’re eating like a savage. What have I told you about talking with your mouth full?”

“Not to do it?” Lavender responded, mashed potatoes dripping out of her mouth.

“Yes, and you’re still doing it. My word, Lavender, you have guests over. You wouldn’t eat like that in front of your peers at school, so don’t do that here.”

Sugar Snap swallowed her mouthful of food and wiped her lips with a paper cloth. “Actually, Mrs. Rarity, Lavender eats like this all the time, especially around us.”

“She’s right,” Fizzle said. “This is actually isn’t anything unusual.”

Lavender gave a muffled noise of agreement as she shoveled more food into her mouth. She grinned at her mother, who was glaring daggers at her.

“Well, in this house, we eat like proper civilized creatures,” Rarity said. “Whether your father decides to act with decency is up to him, but you will show good manners at the table.”

Sweetie Belle giggled. “Oh, go easy on her, Sis. She’s a growing girl after all, and she’s going to be a little different than you. Sure she can practice decency, but allow her personality to flourish.”

Rarity’s ear’s flopped, and she glanced at Sweetie Belle with annoyance painted on her face. “You just love rubbing it in, don’t you?”

“I’m not the one who bragged about having a girl when she was born,” Sweetie Belle said with a smirk. “I warned you that she might pick up some of her father’s habits, but you insisted she wouldn’t, so...”

Rarity fell silent, mumbling to herself as she sipped from her wine glass.

“Hey, Ms. Belle,” Sugar Snap began.

“Please, it’s alright to call me Sweetie Belle. I don’t mind,” she said.

Sweetie Belle gave a wink that almost made Sugar squeal. Trying to avoid overreacting, she pressed her hooves over her mouth. She took a moment to regain her composure and continued on. “Have you ever thought about having kids, Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle blushed, tapping her hooves together. “Well, Half Note and I were talking about that the other day before we came over. We’re definitely open to the idea, but neither of us are ready to give up our careers yet to raise children. It’d be better to enjoy our relationship before starting a family.”

“Well, that’s really mature and responsible of you,” Rarity said with a nod. “As you can see, raising children isn’t exactly easy.” She shot a pointed glance at Lavender, who was viciously biting into the halibut on her plate. “Lavender, would it kill you to practice some common decency for once?”

Lavender let go of her fish sliding out of her mouth, saliva trailing off as well. Spike couldn’t help but snicker at Rarity’s disgust.

“Lavender, I swear if you eat so boorishly at the table again—”

Spike wrapped an arm around Rarity’s waist. “Rarity, my sweet, go easy on the poor girl. She’s just eager to bite into your finely smoked fish.” He kissed Rarity on the cheek and chuckled. “Besides, you don’t get upset when I eat ‘sloppily’.”

Lavender’s ears perked, and her tongue stuck out in disgust. “Dad, please…”

“Well, at least you know how to ‘clean up’ after doing it.” Rarity said, returning a kiss.

Lavender gagged, nearly choking on the fish. “Come on! Not at the table! Some of us actually want to eat.” She noticed Rarity giving a victorious smile, causing Lavender’s ears to fold back. “Point made…”

Twilight lowered her glass and smiled at Lavender. “Normal family fare?”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Lavender flicked a stray bit of fishbone on her plate.

“It would be a little easier if I didn’t have two uncouth children walking around all the time.” Rarity said.

Lavender looked Spike in confusion. “I know she’s talking about you, Dad, but who’s the other one?”

Rarity took a deep breath through her nose, then exhaled, staving off her annoyance for the sake of her guest. “Well, in any case, how did studying go? Anything Twilight could help you with?”

“Oh no, I think I’m good for the day,” Lavender said. “Fizzle helped me take care of that.”

Fizzle blushed, jabbing at the little food he ate. “Well, she did most of the work. I just helped her understand organic and inorganic compounds.”

“There’s more to chemistry than just organic and inorganic compounds, you know,” Twilight said. “They really should teach you more than that.”

Lavender shrugged. “I’d rather just learn what I need to pass the test. Not interested in anything else.”

“But it’s not even that difficult,” Twilight insisted. “It’s really simple once you get the hang of it. If you want, I could teach you these things when you have some free time. You wouldn’t believe the kind of fun history behind some of the elements, like how sulfur is used in gunpowder for cannons.”

Lavender rolled her eyes. “Yeah… Thanks, but I already had a brief history lesson with Fizzle. I’ll just worry about passing the test.”

Twilight sighed, her ears drooping slightly. “Well… okay. If that’s how you want to go about it that’s fine. Maybe Fizzle will open your eyes.”

“Ha! Fat chance of that happening,” Sugar Snap said, tapping Lavender’s head. “She’s one of the most stubborn girls I’ve ever met. We have to drag her all over the place just to get her to do what we want. But she’s still our cute little Lavender.”

Lavender narrowed her eyes, and she bared her teeth. “Touch me again, and your hoof will be the next thing on my dinner plate.”

Sugar Snap lifted her hoof and giggled. “Fine, fine! You can lighten up, you know. I was just fooling around.”

Rarity watched as Sugar and Lavender continued to banter with each other, something she knew was common between the two friends. When she eyed Fizzle, however, she noticed that he had barely touched his food. He shot a few glances at Lavender every now and then, flushed, and then pushed his food aside, occasionally putting a forkful into his mouth. She grinned, tapping her chin in realization of what was going on.

“Fizzle, dear, you’re not that hungry, are you?” Rarity asked.

Fizzle looked up at Rarity, nodding. “N-no, not really. I don’t think your food is bad though, if that’s what you’re thinking, bu—”

Rarity giggled. “It’s quite alright, Fizzle. You don’t have to finish your food if you don’t want.”

“Does that mean I can eat the rest of his food?” Lavender asked, eyes lighting up at the opportunity.

“Of course not,” Rarity replied. “I’ll just wrap it up and give him a plate to take home. You’re not going to eat someone else’s meal, Lavender. I taught you better than that.”

“I-it’s okay, Mrs. Rarity,” Fizzle said, trying to hide his face to cover his rosy cheeks. “My parents leave me enough food when they’re gone, so I’ll be fine without it.”

“See?” Lavender pointed out. “He gave me the okay, Mom. I don’t see what’s the big deal is.”

Rarity sighed. She got up from the table and levitated her empty plate, placing it in the sink. “Well, since you aren’t going to finish your food, how about I have you assist me with something? I’m working out the small details of my husband’s new suit, and I could really use a male’s perspective on it. Would you be a dear and help me out?”

He sat in his seat for several seconds before nodding his head.

“Very good. Just follow me, darling. It’s just across the hall,” She then glared at Lavender. “Do not touch the young stallion’s food, understand?”

Lavender mumbled to herself, ears droopy. “Fine, I won’t touch it.”

Rarity kept a stern eye on her until she left the dining room, Fizzle following behind her into her workroom. As they approached it, she looked back at him, a sly grin forming on her face.

“So, Fizzle, what is your opinion on nice dressing attire?”

Fizzle looked up with widened eyes. “Well, I think they are nice. I mean, I have a few suits at home.”

“But are any of them nicely made with the finest fabric this side of Equestria has ever seen?” Rarity asked with a confident smile.

“Well, no,” Fizzle answered.

“Then you’re in luck today, young man. For today, you will have the honor of being fitted for a stunning, and magnificent suit that you can use to woo a certain lucky young lady.”

Fizzle’s face went red at the thought. He turned his head and smiled nervously. “Well… I appreciate the thought, Mrs. Rarity, but I don’t know if I will go to the prom.” He scuffed his hooves along the floor, sighing and looking down. “I wouldn’t have anypony to go with.”

“Oh, maybe not anypony,” Rarity began, skipping to her inspiration room, “but maybe some ‘dracony’ that might have caught your eye.”

Fizzle felt like he was going to collapse right there in front of her. “D-Dracony?” Fizzle began to shake and did his best to give a convincing grin. “W-what do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t be coy,” Rarity said. “You aren’t particularly subtle about it. If anything, I’m shocked that Lavender is so oblivious about it. But I can see it in your expression, how you look at my daughter, and how easy it is for her to convince you to do something. You’re interested in her, aren’t you?”

Fizzle’s hooves began to feel heavier, his eyes widened and sweat pooling down his face. “H-how did you know?”

“I’ve learned how to read stallions over the years, especially when it comes down to who they like.” As the two entered the room, Rarity went toward her cabinets to grab some measuring tape. “Fizzle, it would be a lot easier for you to come closer so I can get a good measure on you, wouldn’t you agree?”

Fizzle shook his head, trying to snap himself out of his bafflement. “Y-yes ma’am! Be right over.” Fizzle darted closer to Rarity, still avoiding her line of sight. Her insinuating smile was enough to make him cringe.

Rarity brought the ruler towards Fizzle, holding it out over him. As she examined him, “So, how long have you liked her?”

Fizzle’s face heated up more than he thought imaginable. “Ever since I was little. B-back when she first came into my class, I always thought she was… unique.”

Rarity raised and eyebrow with intrigue. “And what aroused such interest in her?”

“Well, she’s so… well… she’s just so cool,” Fizzle began, grinning goofily from ear to ear. “I’ve never seen anypony so free, casual, and strong as her. She’s also really nice and sweet. She’s there to give me the pep talk I need when I feel inadequate. She’s just so… so…”

Rarity smiled, still measuring him. “Stunning? Beautiful? Lovely? Exotic?”

Fizzle sighed, vision hazy of the thought of Lavender. “Those words aren’t even the half of it.”

Rarity chuckled, putting down the measuring tape. “Well, if you think so highly of her, why haven’t you asked her out to the prom?”

Fizzle sat on the ground, looking somberly at Rarity. “Because I’m a coward. I’m not able to tell her how I feel about her.”

“Oh, pshaw!” Rarity grabbed a bundle of black fabric and draped it around Fizzle. “You’re not a coward. You just need some positive reinforcement in order to get over this fear.”

“But how?”

“Well, you know what she likes, right?”

Fizzle nodded.

“And you’ve been her friend since childhood. All you have to do is charm her by buying her things that she likes. In her case, the fastest way to her heart is through her stomach.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Fizzle snickered and looked back at Lavender. She was still at the table eating, tearing into her meal with great vigor. He looked back at Rarity, smiling at her with slight confidence. “Thanks, Mrs. Rarity. I think I know what I’m going to do. I just need time to prepare.”

Rarity grinned and patted her mane. “Anything to help a young, strapping colt who has his eyes set for my daughter. I think you two would be cute together. Now, let’s head on back to the dinner table. I wouldn’t be a good hostess if I neglected our guest, now would I?”

Fizzle chuckled, following Rarity back into the kitchen to finish off the night with the guest.

The rest of the evening went by smoothly. Everyone at the table enjoyed in light conversation, sharing stories and jokes to each other. Sweetie Belle even sang a few sample tunes for them, which garnered much praise from the table, and admiration from Sugar Snap. Not only was the air pleasant, Fizzle could get through the night without shying away from a conversation. Despite being a little flustered from time to time when Lavender talked to him, he managed to hold his own when responding. It was like a spur of confidence welled through him.

However, no matter how fun things were, the night sky reared it’s head, and the company began to disperse. Sweetie Belle wrapped a hoof around Lavender, encasing her in a big hug.

“Since I’ll be down here for a few days, you should come over and critique my music,” Sweetie said. “I’d love the opinion of my favorite niece.”

“Only niece,” Lavender corrected with a chuckle. “And I don’t know why you need my help. You already know I think you have the voice of an angel.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow. “Only of an angle? Aw, I'm still not good enough to amuse my niece."

Lavender rolled her eyes playfully. "You know what I meant."

Sweetie Belle let out a laugh and the turned towards Rarity. "So, tomorrow at three right? I could use a nice mud bath."

"Oh, so could I," Rarity responded. "Just try not to be late like last."

"I told you, I was taking care of some important things with my fiance," Sweetie said, light shade of red forming on her cheeks.

Rarity Just smiled dryly. "Yes, I'm sure your important things required a unkempt mane."

Sweetie's face lit up. She turned towards the door, whistling. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow! By Twilight, Spike, and kids!"

The remainder of the household waved until Sweetie left the house. Spike turned towards Twilight, giving a small grin.

"So, want me to walk you back home 'your majesty'?" he asked in a snarky tone.

"Why, trying to get rid of me? I intended to stay for a little while longer. Just wanted to spend some time"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you make me clean your home so you could 'conduct important business’?”

“I don’t know, Spike. Why did you eat the macaroons specifically labeled ‘Twilight’s: Do Not Touch’?” She watched as Spike’s eyes shot open, smiling devilishly. “You honestly thought I wouldn’t notice that?”

“Well...I was ju… you know um…” Spike tried to dig around for excuses for his actions, but all that would come out were nervous chuckles.

Twilight shook her head, her smirk still visible. “You’re just lucky I was in a good mood. I was considering making you do much worse at first.”

Both Rarity and Twilight seemed to be getting great satisfaction out of the torment that Spike was going through. All he could do in retaliation was snorting and puff small plumes of fire.

Sugar Snap stretched her wings and let out a yawn. “I really enjoyed being your company, Mrs. Rarity, but I should be heading back now. Daddy’s going to take to find a nice diamond hoofband for Mom.”

“Ooh! Sounds fancy,” Rarity complimented.

“Sounds boring,” Lavender said, sticking her tongue out at Sugar.

Sugar Snap didn’t entertain Lavender’s remark with a response. She just turned her head towards the door and pranced onward. “It was nice being able to eat with you.”

“I should probably go home, too,” Fizzle replied. He turned towards Lavender and scratched his head, a light blush forming. “So, um...we’re studying again tomorrow right?”

Lavender looked at her mother, who gave her a stern glare, as if she was verbally telling her what to say. “Well, doesn’t look like I have much of a choice, so yeah. Tomorrow’s good.”

Fizzle smiled and waved. “Well, I’ll come by at around three then. I have some things I need to take care of before it though.”

“Take all the time you need,” Lavender said. “I’m in no hurry. Really…”

Fizzle snickered. “Then I’ll see you then! Have a good night Lavender.”

Lavender waved. “Yeah, you too, Fiz.”

As Fizzle walked out of the boutique, a small smile formed on Rarity’s face. Lavender looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Uh, something up, Mom?” Lavender asked.

“Oh, no no. I just find your little group of friends amusing. Especially that Fizzle child. Quite the gentlecolt.”

“Yeah, he’s a pretty cool guy. A little too skittish but he’s still fun.” Lavender let out a hearty laugh, much to Rarity’s amusement.

“And why do you think he’s so skittish, as you put it?” Rarity asked?

Lavender shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. He’s been like that since we’ve met.”

Rarity tapped her chin, still smiling. “Maybe it’s because he’s usually flustered when talking to a certain someone.”

“Well of course he’s usually flustered when talking to somepony. That’s how he is. I don’t know how this is new information.”

“Never said anypony, now did I?”

Lavender stared at her mother in confusion. All she could see was an ever growing smile forming. “And you lost me, and to be frank, I’m not really in the mood to solve riddles. So, if you don’t mind, I’m going to mess with Opal for a bit and let you adults do what you adults do.”

Lavender left the living room, searching for Opalescence by calling out to her. Rarity couldn’t help but giggle when she left the room.

“Well, she’s an oblivious one, isn’t she?” Spike commented.

“Yeah, but it’s better than being unsubtle, right Spike?” Twilight retorted.

Spike’s face went red. “Twilight!”

“What, it’s true? You were practically wearing ‘I like Rarity’ on your chest. Matter of fact...I think I still have that shirt.”

“Oh, you still have that?” Rarity’s eyes lit up. “I would love to see that again. It’s so adorable!”

Twilight laughed. “I’ll give it to you if you want. Maybe you could walk with matching shirts now!”

They both laughed, while Spike stood there completely crimson with embarrassment. He covered his face and sighed.

“I should have just stayed at the library.”