Hiccups

by Carnifex

Rating: everyone
Tags: Apple Bloom, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character
Length: 5266

One fine morning, Lavender wakes up with hiccups. How will she cope with them?

One fine morning, Lavender wakes up with hiccups. How will she cope with them?

This is a short side-story to As Sweet As Lavender.
Proof-reading provided by Eeveexpert.

Published 2013-10-23 03:00:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-23 03:00:03 UTC

Hiccups

Hiccups
Or
The various qualities of pancakes

Hiccup!

Lavender awoke with a start. What was that? She opened her eyes and looked around her room. Everything seemed to be normal. The first rays of morning were starting to creep through the shut windows. Her toys were stuffed into one corner and various drawings adorned the wall. Opal had decided to spend the night in her room…nothing was out of the ordinary. And yet…

Hiccup!

There it was again! This time she had felt it consciously. A strange sort of sensation in her chest, something that pressed all the air in her lungs upwards like a…

Hiccup!

Lavender squeaked in her bed. What was that annoying sensation? It completely rattled her body and made her sound like a little piggy. What was it? Angrily she threw the covers off her body and stared the new day in the face.

She decided she needed breakfast. Weird pushy sensations or no, she was hungry. Gingerly she climbed down onto the cold floor and started walking towards the stairs. A gentle melody drifted up from below, accompanied by the occasional clang of a pot or pan being shifted.

Hiccup!

Startled, she clung to the balustrade. She’d nearly fallen down the stairs! Whatever that sensation was, it had just been upgraded from “annoying” to “dangerous”. Carefully she descended the stairs. A sweet, but somewhat burnt aroma greeted her nostrils as she entered the kitchen.

Sweetie Belle was in there, humming a merry tune to herself. When she noticed Lavender trotting into the room, she beamed.

“Good morning sunshine! How are you doing?”

“I’m fine auntie, except for this – hiccup! – weird feeling I’ve been having all morning.”

“What weird feeling?”

“This – hiccup! – thingy. It’s driving me crazy!”

“Oh, you mean hiccups? Well, that’s not too bad.”

“Hiccups? That’s what – hiccup! – it’s called?” It seemed aptly named then, at least. She sat down at the breakfast table.

“So what do I do against them? I almost fell down the stairs!”

“Fell down the stairs? Oh my-my. Can’t have that! As far as I know, they just go away after a while by themselves though,” Sweetie replied cheerfully. She spun around in place, dancing with a pan held up by her magic.

Lavender started pouring herself some cereal. “But what if I want them to go away sooner? They’re dangerous!” As if in response, she hiccupped again, spilling most of her milk beside the bowl.

“See what I – hiccup! – mean?”

Her aunt smiled at her as she cleaned up the milk. “Oh, they’re not all that bad. I’ve been told they mean that someone is thinking of you! Isn’t that a nice thought?”

Lavender could only think of one being who was thinking about her at this moment.

“So you mean Daddy is responsible for this? I knew h – hiccup! - he shouldn’t have gone to Canterlot!”

“Oh Lavvy, Spike is on a very important mission. He must do this for the princess herself!” After some thought, she added, “Princess Celestia, I mean.”

Lavender harrumphed. “That’s still no reason to send me nasty hiccups.”

Sweetie Belle chuckled to herself and then turned around.

“Alright, now who wants pancakes?”

Her niece perked up. “Oh! Me – hiccup! – me!”

With a smile, Sweetie put the alleged pancakes in front of her. Lavender paused and gave them an inspecting look. “Uhm, auntie, are they supposed to be that dark? Daddy makes them different.”

“Ah, but he doesn’t have my recipe! These are Sweetie Belle spécial!”

The purple dracony gave them a tentative poke. “If you say so…” She indulged in a bite.

Normally Lavender liked things that made a good crunching noise – she was part dragon, after all – but with pancakes she felt it shouldn’t be. She quickly finished up.

“Ok, so now that – hiccup! – that’s done, what are we gonna do today, aunt Sweetie?”

“Weeell, Rarity is fully occupied with a new order for a client, and I actually have to get back to Canterlot myself today, but I thought in between we could do some window shopping!”

Lavender gave her an unsure glance, but then remembered that window shopping with Sweetie Belle was actually quite fun – she liked to try on the silliest things just to make her niece laugh.

“Alright! – Hiccup! – Let me just say goodbye to Opal!”

The purple dracony darted off to search for the old cat, while Sweetie removed her apron and started cleaning up the kitchen as best as she could. Various kitchen appliances with burnt bits sticking to them were left in her wake. She hummed contently to herself. Then she poked her head into the main boutique room where Rarity was whizzing around.

“Hey Sis-“ – “YeswhatisitSweetieBelleI’mBusy!” – “I just wanted to say that I’m gonna take Lavender with me into town before I return to Canterlot. We’re gonna do some window shopping.” – “That’snicedearYoutwohavefunDon’tspendtoomuchmoney!” Rarity darted from one mannequin to the other, adjusting little things here and there and draping various fabrics over each other to check how their colours matched. Apparently Hoity Toity – or one of his peers – was keeping her busy again. About six mannequins currently looked like they would make excellent, if expensive scarecrows.

Sweetie Belle shook her head, smiling to herself. She left her sister to whirl around the boutique while she packed a small bag and went to the front door. The bulk of her baggage was already at the central Ponyville train station, so she only needed some necessities for herself. Well, more necessary than the necessities. She checked her wallet for bits and satisfied cried out,

“Lavender! Are you ready? Silly hats wait for no mare!”

The little dracony rounded the corner, pouting to herself.

“Stupid – hiccup! – hiccups are even scaring Opal away! I wanted to give her a hug, but she just ran off! Why couldn’t Daddy pick another day to think of me?”

Her aunt laughed, her voice chiming like small bells. They went out into the sunlight.

***

“Now isn’t this fun?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. She’d already bought herself a big, green hat and a pair of oversized sunglasses. Ponies on every street were giving her curious glances, not the least because they tried to figure out whether she was the famous pop singer they’d heard and heard of in Canterlot.

“No.” Lavender was trotting behind her, the hiccups draining any fun she might’ve had out of the situation. At the last shop, she had hiccupped so hard she’d sent a pair of glasses flying into the back of the head of the store manager.

“Oh you poor thing, is it still the hiccups?” Sweetie had been present at the scene, but, being her usual, slightly naïve self, hadn’t understood why they’d been asked to leave.

“Isn’t there anything I can do against them? There’s gotta be some way!”

“Well I don’t know. When I had the hiccups, I’d usually be out crusading with my friends, so I didn’t notice them most of the time. Or we’d do something so scary I forgot them immediately.” She rubbed her chin, contemplative.

“Hey, I have an idea! Maybe we should just ask Apple Bloom! With her family, she’s bound to know some old family recipe against hiccups! I had planned to stop by anyway, so that’s two birds in two hooves!”

Lavender brightened up as they made a sharp turn and started walking into the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. As they made their way off the main street, she noticed some ponies sitting at a café, staring at her. When she hiccupped again, they started giggling – the little dracony couldn’t tell if it was because they found her hiccups funny, or because they found her funny. Her newfound smile dropped again.

When they reached Sweet Apple Acres, they stopped for a moment to inhale the sweet fragrances of the apple trees all around the hills. Corn fields covered the rest of the ground, giving the land a beautiful golden shine. Birds were twittering in the warm air when they weren’t trying to pick worms out of apples. Sweetie Belle went round the back instead of knocking at the front door.

“I know Apple Bloom. She’s probably working the pigsties.”

In fact, she was sitting by a hay bale, eating an apple.

“Hey, Apple Bloom!”

The yellow earth pony jumped in her seat as Sweetie Belle went over to her.

“Gawsh, Sweetie Belle, ya startled me! Ah didn’t expect ya so soon! Hi, Lavender!”

The little dracony simply nodded towards her aunt’s friend, her mood dampened by the ponies she’d noticed on the way to the farm. She hiccupped.

“What’s with ‘er?” Apple Bloom noisily raised herself, looked at the apple core she had left for a moment and then threw it into a bucket she’d placed beside her.

“Oh, she’s having some hiccups, poor thing. Actually that’s why we’re here. Do you have some kind of family recipe for dealing with them?” Sweetie Belle looked at her former fellow Cutie Mark Crusader with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

“Hm, nuthin’ off the top of mah head, but we could ask Applejack. Ah think she’s just inside, making some snacks. Seems to snack all the time nowadays,” the bow-wearing pony added with a slight frown.

They went towards the big, red main building that contained the living quarters of the Apple family.

Apple Bloom poured the contents of her bucket into a vat inside a smaller cottage beside the main building – supposedly the pigsty – and then went to the back door.

“Applejack? Are ya in here?” She pushed the door open and trotted inside, letting her glance sweep the main living room and then stuck her head into the kitchen. It was steaming with the heat of an oven, the air filled with a mouth watering aroma that smelled of honey. Applejack stood with her back to them, her body covered by an apron and small chef’s hat resting atop her head instead of her usual cowboy’s hat.

“Oh, there y’are! Sweetie Belle’s already here, and she brought lil’ Lavender along.” Apple Bloom took a sidestep to let her friends enter, Lavender gloomily hiccupping in the back.

Applejack turned around, her cheeks glowing rosy in the heat, which gave her face an even more amiable impression.

“Well that’s jes’ swell! Come on in, y’all! I’m just making pancakes. Anyone hungry?”

Lavender immediately perked up again.

“Oh – hiccup! – me, me!” Sweetie Belle’s pancakes spécial had left a lot to be desired.

Applejack put a plate on the table and then gave her a quizzical look.

“Say, I don’t mean to poke my nose where it don’t belong, but that sounds like some mighty hiccups you got there.”

Sweetie Belle sat down as well while her niece started pouring generous amounts of honey from a small jar over the sweet treats that had been set in front of her.

“Actually yeah, that’s why we’re here. Do you have some sort of family recipe to cure hiccups, Applejack?” Sweetie asked.

The farm mare pondered for a moment while she looked at the Sweetie Belle, then Lavender, and then the cupboard in front of her. She rubbed her chin.

“Hmm…Ah seem to remember that Granny Smith – bless her soul – always recommended to drink a big glass of water when y’had the hiccups.” She filled a cup. “Maybe it’ll help.”

“Thankf Appwjackff!” Lavender mumbled, then drank deeply from the cup, in part to wash down the bits of pancake and honey that had started to fuse her mouth shut. They were slightly stickier than the ones she was used to by Spike.

“Ahhhh!” she sighed. “Hey, they’re – hiccup! – gone! Awww!” The purple dracony slumped in her seat.

“Sorry, Lavender.” Applejack turned back to the stove to watch over the frying pan with the next batch of pancakes in it.

“Anypony want some more?” She glanced over her shoulder.

“Nah, thanks, Ah had an apple jes’ outside when Sweetie arrived.” Apple Bloom moved to go outside again.

“I’m good,” Sweetie replied, inspecting her oversized sunglasses.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” Lavender grumbled. She hiccupped again.

“Well alright then. You two take care now.” Applejack smiled and opened up a window to let some fresh air in and some steam out. She continued,

“Sweetie, you have a safe trip home, and Lavender…don’t fret. It’ll solve itself.” She gave them another smile and then turned back to the stove.

“Well, we better get going if we want to do some more window shopping before I have to leave! Come on, Lavender!” Sweetie slid down from her chair and started towards the front door. She turned around one more time and waved towards her friend’s big sister.

“See you, Applejack!”

The orange farm pony returned the wave and gave Lavender one last sympathetic smile.

The purple dracony grumpily trudged outside.

“Hey, wait a minute! Ah jes’ thought of something!”

They had just arrived at the wooden fence that marked the end of the farm when they heard a familiar drawl and turned around to see Apple Bloom running towards them.

“Ah remember Scootaloo told me this once!” She stopped in front of them, panting.

“ She said y’should stand on your head to get rid of hiccups!” She gleamed at Lavender. “The longer you stand, the better!”

“I – hiccup! – don’t even know if I can stand on my head,” the little dracony mumbled.

“Ain’t no harm in tryin’, innit?” The yellow farm pony continued to look expectantly at her, waiting for her to pull off the stunt.

“I guess…”

Lavender went a bit up a hill to give herself some space and then put her head to the ground. The other two looked at her, smiling encouragingly. Even the birds seemed to stop their singing, watching attentively. The purple dracony grunted with effort and finally managed to put her hind legs over her head – for all of two seconds. Then she keeled over. Sweetie Belle ran towards her, but Apple Bloom just cheered.

“That was very good already! C’mon, give it another try! Y’can do it!”

Again, the little dracony strained to remain upright. Sweetie Belle even put her hooves to her hind legs to help her stand, but all that accomplished was that both of them fell over when her niece lost her balance.

“C’mon, one more time! Yeehaw!” Apple Bloom was hopping in place, trying to edge them on.

With one final push, Lavender managed to stay upright. She started to smile, but then sensed she was starting to lose her balance again. Worse, she felt another hiccup coming on.

“Ohhhh nnnn – HICCUP!” She jerked violently in midair before falling forward and breaking into a tumble down the hill. Apple Bloom started running towards her too now, but it was too late – there was a wet-sounding crash, and when the yellow farm pony and the white unicorn looked inside the building where Lavender had rolled, they saw her sitting in the vat of pig fodder that had been filled earlier. Pigs were nibbling at her toes while the purple dracony scowled at the former Cutie Mark Crusaders, her mood falling to an absolute low.

“Oops…”

***

“Blasted hiccups!”

“Lavender! Don’t let your mother catch you using that kind of language!”

They were back on the main road, trotting along the various shops that were slowly closing down. It was afternoon and the first evening chill was starting to creep in. They still stopped to look into the various windows from time to time, but even Sweetie Belle had lost her interest for shopping at this point.

“Where did you pick that up anyway?” she inquired.

Lavender stopped to look at some funny looking boots.

“Oh, daddy told me – HICCUP! – once how Pinkie Pie and Applejack and auntie Twilight and Fluttershy and – HICCUP! - Rainbow Dash and mommy were in Canterlot, and there were those changies and then auntie Twilight blasted them away before – HICCUP! – they were caught and then Princess Cadence and uncle Shining saved the day.”

Sweetie Belle stopped to look at the boots too.

“Oh, that. Alright then. But you should probably still not say that when you’re around Rarity. She might take offence.”

They stood in relative silence in front of the shop window before another HICCUP! jarred Sweetie out of her trance.

“Hey, there’s an idea! I still have some time left, so we could go visit Twilight! She’s smart – she’ll definitely know something to stop those hiccups!”

Lavender gave her a quizzical look. “Isn’t – HICCUP! - auntie Twilight with daddy in Canterlot?”

“No, no, I happen to know for a fact that she only departs tomorrow. She’s still preparing for something over there, so she’s probably reading a whole lot again. Let’s go over!”

The purple dracony gave the boots one last funny look and then went after her aunt.

When they arrived at the library, there wasn’t a sound to be heard from inside. A sole light shone from a window though, suggesting that Twilight was still at home. The rest of Ponyville was starting to fall silent around them. They knocked.

When no answer came, Sweetie carefully pushed the door open.

“Twilight? Are you there?”

The place was a mess – more so than usual – Spike’s absence was clearly felt. Stacks of books were all over the place, hopeful spiders setting up temporary homes between them. Rolls of parchment formed strange arcs between them, giving the impression of a miniature city. Here and there a half-eaten sandwich and some spilled ink suggested that a living being occupied the place.

Twilight herself was sitting in a heap of books, reading glasses perched on top of her nose. She was deep in thought, the books around her carrying titles like Griffin etiquette 101, All you ever wanted to know about griffins and Eating with griffins – When to say No.

“Auntie – HICCUP! – Twilight!” Lavender exclaimed and started running towards her.

The dark-haired pony drowsily looked up and nearly jumped out of her skin when she was thrown down by her ecstatic niece.

“Hey there, little one,” she mumbled as she tried to get up again, picking up her glasses with her magic. She looked up. “Oh hello, Sweetie Belle. What brings you two here?” Before either of them could answer, the purple alicorn went on, “Do you want something to eat? I still have some pancakes left that Spike made me this morning…”

At that, Lavender immediately jumped off, squealing happily. She ran into the kitchen – and stopped dead. Apparently the pancakes had been standing outside all morning – and noon, and afternoon. Their look didn’t suggest that they were fit for eating anymore. She returned to the library, glumly.

One of the book buildings toppled over when she hiccupped and fell into it. Her purple aunt merely gave her a sideway glance.

“So Twilight, we’re having a bit of a bother and were wondering if you could help us,” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Hmm?” Twilight looked up again.

“Well, you probably noticed, but Lavender is having some violent hiccups.”

As if in response, the purple dracony hiccupped again, so strong her teeth rattled.

“Hiccups…HICCUPS! Oh dear!” Twilight jumped up and looked worriedly at her little niece.

“Do they feel kind of…fiery?”

“I don’t know, auntie Twilight. What does that feel like?” Lavender gave her a puzzled look.

“Never mind. Let me consult my books!” Her aunt flew off into the next room, smashing some more book towers on the way. The other two could hear her rummaging.

“Did you know that dragons have especially violent hiccups? Usually they manage to set things on fire by accident! It’s really important to – Aha!” She stuck her head back in and frowned briefly.

“Have you by any chance set something on fire today?”

Sweetie Belle and Lavender looked at each other.

“I don’t – HICCUP! – think so. I thought I didn’t have any fire in me.” The little dracony looked worried. “Do I?”

Her aunt came back into the room, carrying a big book called Dragon Physique in front of her.

“Oh, no. Sorry, sometimes I forget that even while you’re half dragon, you don’t have most of their features.”

Lavender squinted her eyes and gave her a suspicious look, not sure if she’d been insulted.

“Alright, let’s see…Dragon Hiccups, Dragon Hiccups…Dragon Hunger…Dragon Hurling – Ew, no, we don’t want that – Ah, there we go!”

The purple alicorn set the book down on a table and lifted her niece onto a chair so she too could see.

“Yes, there we have it. It’s like I said, dragon hiccups can be very violent and set fire to things. Very dangerous, that.” She beamed, while Lavender shrank down. Sweetie Belle interjected.

“But does it say anything on how to cure dragon hiccups?”

Ponyville’s master librarian paused and then started flipping the pages, her eyes darting this way and that.

“Hmm…nope, nope…nnnope.” She stopped. “No, I’m sorry, there’s nothing in here that could help us in that regard.” She polished her glasses.

Lavender almost exploded. “But isn’t there – HICCUP! – ANYTHING that you can do to help us?! These…stupid hiccups have been ruining my – HICCUP! – whole day!”

She panted heavily while Twilight looked at her in surprise.

“Hmm…well normally it is said one can scare hiccups away. Have you tried that?”

Sweetie brightened up. “So that’s why my hiccups always went away after we did some good crusading! See Lavvy? I told you crusading always helped me.”

Lavender frowned at her.

“But I’m not scared of anything.” She hiccupped.

Twilight smirked. “I bet.”

She returned the book to the other room and then paused to think, pulling a few books off the floor and placing them on a shelf beside her.

“There’s one other thing that’s always helped me personally. I think it was Princess Celestia who taught it to me….” She turned around and looked at her niece. “You have to hold your breath and count to ten. Can you do that?”

Lavender beamed. “I can do that! Mom taught – HICCUP! – me how to count to ten! I’ll try it immediately!”

She stood up on the table and huffed and puffed, and finally she held her breath in.

Her two aunts watched in fascination as the purple dracony’s cheeks slowly turned red.

Finally she let her breath out again.

“There! Are they g – HICCUP! – Arrrghhh!” The little hybrid stomped on the table in frustration.

Twilight looked at Sweetie Belle, and then shrugged in sympathy.

“Maybe if you count to one hundred?”

Lavender glared at her and then whined.

“I can’t hold m – HICCUP! – my breath that long!”

She paused.

“And I can’t count to one hundred either!”

Her purple aunt shrugged again as if to say that was all she could offer.

***

Dusk began to set, and a chilly wind swept around everyone’s hooves. Sweetie Belle and a very frustrated Lavender trotted to the central Ponyville train station, watching the first night-time lanterns being lit. It was time for Sweetie Belle to leave.

“But – HICCUP! – auntie! We haven’t had any time to have fun today because of my stupid hiccups! All w – HICCUP! – we did was try and find a cure for them! All day!”

Sweetie knelt down and hugged her niece tightly, a sad frown appearing on her face.

“Ohh I know, my poor dear. But I have to leave now; I have a big concert tomorrow! Maybe I’ll meet your dad on the way and tell him how much you missed him, so he’ll come back faster!”

Lavender hugged back and sniffled a bit.

“Yes! You do that, and tell him to never send me hiccups again! It’s all his fault!”

Despite herself, Sweetie smiled. “Lavvy, I only said it might mean that someone’s thinking of you. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’m sure Spike would never want you to have such nasty, nasty hiccups. You’re his little princess after all!” At that, the little dracony smiled too.

“Promise?” She hiccupped again and shook her head.

“Promise.” Sweetie Belle let go of her niece and stood up. She looked around the station until she found that her baggage was being loaded onto the train and nodded to herself in satisfaction.

“Now promise me that you’ll be a good girl - and be careful on your way home. And you’ll see that tomorrow, the hiccups will be gone and all will be fine again. Ok?”

She cupped Lavender’s face in her hoof and gave her an encouraging smile. The purple dracony looked up at her, hiccupped, but still managed to form a weak smile. She wiped small tears from her eyes.

“Alright then. I’ll see you on Saturday. You have a nice evening now.” She gave Lavender a kiss on the forehead.

As she boarded the train, she turned around one more time and yelled:

“And ask Rarity! Maybe she knows something!” Then she waved her hoof and went inside.

As the train slowly rolled out of the station, Lavender mumbled to herself,

“Yeah right, as if…”

With a sigh and a hiccup, she turned to walk home.

The first stars were appearing in the sky when she finally reached Carousel Boutique. Slowly, she pushed the door open.

“Mommy?”

“In here!” Rarity replied from a broom closet in the back.

As Lavender closed the door behind her, her mother came back to the mannequins in the showroom. They were a good bit more clothed than they had been in the morning and looked as if they were close to finish. Splendid colours shone down from every one of them, small hats, feathers and ruffles accenting them in a truly outrageous fashion as only the owner of Carousel Boutique could pull it off. She pulled out a silver thread and needle and started to work on some smaller details.

Lavender perched herself beside one of the mannequins.

“Mommy, do you maybe kn – HICCUP! – know something that might help against hiccups?“

“Hm? What was that, dear?” Despite everything, her mother was still very much under work stress, only paying half attention. She fumbled with some pearls as her daughter waited for the message to trickle through. Instead she said:

“How was your day, sweetie?”

Lavender sighed again. She bunched up her fingers as she recalled the events of the day.

“It was horrible! First I w – HICCUP! – woke up with hiccups, but I didn’t know what they were yet, so I went downstairs and I talked with Sweetie Belle and she told me what they were, but she didn’t know what to do against them and then we went sh – HICCUP! – shopping, but I still had hiccups, so we went to Applejack and she said I should drink some w – HICCUP! – water, but that didn’t help, so then Apple – HICCUP! – Apple Bloom said I should try standing on my head, but that didn’t help either, mostly cause I can’t stand on my head – and then, then we w – HICCUP! – went to Twilight and she said I should hold my breath and count to ten, so I did, but that didn’t help either so she said I should try to count to hundred, but I couldn’t, so I went with Sweetie Belle to the train station because s – HICCUP! – Sweetie Belle had to leave and now I still have hiccups!”

Rarity licked her lips as she put a new thread through a needle eye.

“That’s nice dear.”

Lavender stood up and glared angrily at her mother.

“Mommy, are y – HICCUP! – you even listening?”

The white unicorn dismissively waved a hoof as she continued to work her magic.

“Of course dear, but mommy’s very busy right now, so you’ll have to forgive her if she can’t take care of your sneeze…”

The little dracony fumed.

“Sneeze?! I have…blasted hiccups!”

Her mother whirled around.

“Lavender! Language!”

And then it happened.

Another hiccup – the mother of all hiccups – tore into Lavender and sent her flying into the mannequin behind her. It toppled over, and fell onto the one beside it. And that one fell onto the one beside that. At the end, all the mannequins, even the one Rarity had been working on, lay in a ring on the floor, the fabrics crumpled on top of one another.

The purple dracony surveyed the damage.

“Sorry mommy…”

Her mother looked at her, her lower eyelid twitching – and Lavender ran.

She flew up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door behind her.

After some minutes – it might’ve been hours – the bedroom door opened again, slowly.

Rarity stuck her head inside and carefully looked around.

“Lavender?”

A small pile laid on the bed, the blanket pulled over it. To the untrained eye, it might’ve been a Lavender-shaped pile, but Rarity knew her daughter too well. She looked under the bed.

The little dracony was curled up against the wall, clutching a small purple mouse – Opal’s favourite toy. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy as she looked up.

“You don’t have to worry about the hiccups any more, mommy, you scared them away.” Her voice sounded tiny, muffled by the plush toy pressed against her face. Rarity felt her heart drop.

“Oh sweetie…”

Lavender choked. “I’m so sorry mommy! You’ve been working on these dresses all day, and I just stormed in and started complaining and then that stupid hiccup made me fall over and…and…now I’ve ruined everything and you hate me!” She sobbed into the plush mouse.

“Oh sweetie, no…my poor little baby, no. Come out of there. I don’t hate you.”

Lavender visibly hesitated although she dimly saw Rarity’s encouraging smile in front of the bed.

“Please, Lavender, come out of there. I promise I don’t hate you. Please.”

Slowly, she crawled towards the edge of the bed, but she still clutched the plush mouse to her chest, even when Rarity lifted her out and hugged her close.

“My Lavender…my sweet little Lavender…I could never hate you. You’re my precious little diamond! You didn’t ruin anything. Those dresses weren’t damaged, they only fell over. You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s ok. It’s fine.”

Rarity cradled her close, slowly rocking back and forth until Lavender’s ragged breathing stopped and returned to normal. She looked down.

“Feeling better now?” She smiled as she pushed a strand of hair out of her daughter’s face.

“You don’t hate me?” Lavender asked as she wiped the last of her tears from her eyes.

“No, I don’t hate you, I promise.” Her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead.

“Tell you what. How about mommy makes you pancakes? You like those, don’t you?”

The little dracony looked at her in astonishment.

“You can bake pancakes? But daddy’s the one who usually makes them!”

Rarity smiled at her. “Oh, I think I might’ve picked up a trick or two. What do you say?”

Her daughter smiled back and then dropped the plush mouse. “Ok.”

And they were the best pancakes she had eaten that day.

Author's Note

My first foray into pony fan-fiction. This was fun.
Big thanks to Eeveexpert for proof-reading and general tips.