Vengeance: Lavender's Story

Hello. My name is Lavender and I'm half-pony, half-Changeling. I know – weird, right? My mother, Spring, was a Changeling drone. I never knew the name of my father, but I do know that he was a pony of Equestria. As you may have guessed already, love between a pony and a Changeling is forbidden, at least in the Hive it is.

Queen Thysanura, monarch of the Changeling Hive, was furious when she found out about my parents. She had my mother executed in front of the entire Hive – well, most of it; I don't know where the queen's daughters were that day. It was the worst day of my life; I can still remember and see it like it was yesterday. Marigold and I had to watch, trapped in a magic cage, as Queen Thysanura blasted Mother to dust with a simple destruction spell. That was it for Spring. BOOM, and then she was gone, a pile of gray ashes. I was just a little filly back then. I can't recall how long I spent crying. It felt like days, days of salty tears that spilled from my eyes.

I would not have recovered if it weren't for my twin sister, Marigold. She is a half-Changeling, half-pony, like me. Or rather, she was. She's not here anymore. I'll tell you about her later.

Right after my mother was killed, the queen hunted down my father. After they had me, he had left my mother for another mare, a pony mare, in Equestria. Queen Thysanura found him and murdered him personally. I wasn't too sad, mostly because I had never known him. I'm still angry at him for leaving Mother and Marigold and me alone, however.

This is what I had been told about my father. I don't know if all of it is true. But I do have one early memory of him and my mother together.

Here it is.

"Aren't they the cutest little things?"

A warm, loving voice was the first thing I ever heard. My eyes were still closed, so all I could see was darkness, but my hearing was exceptionally sharp, even back then. I instantly recognized the voice of my mother, Spring. I could feel my twin sister squirming next to me.

"They look like you and not me," said a grumpy-sounding voice. My pony father. "And tell me again, why did they hatch from an egg?"

"Oh, hush," Spring chided. I felt something soft and warm wrap around me. "They have your mane and tail, at least. What lovely shades of purple and gold! And their little violet and amber wings . . . they're beautiful!"

"Hmph." I could feel the disapproval radiating from my father. "What are we going to name them?"

"Something simple, I guess," Mother said thoughtfully, running a hoof across my wings.

It tickled. I squeaked and slowly opened my eyes. My vision was fuzzy, and I blinked a few times to clear it. Mother's face appeared over me, smiling down at me. She had the loveliest blue eyes. Father, on the other side, did not look as warm as she did. My sister, next to me, already had her eyes open. She flashed her fangs at me in a friendly way.

"Oh, look! Look, our other little darling has opened her eyes!" Spring squealed, her smile widening. "She even has your purple eyes!"

"Hmph," my father said again. "I want pony names for them."

Mother snorted and rolled her eyes. "One of those snobby city names from where you come from – Canterlot, was it? No way," she argued. "I don't want our daughters to grow up with those. Forget it."

"If you're so sure, then why don't you name them?" Father snapped.

"I will!" Mother stroked my damp mane and levitated a bit of eggshell from my black chitin coat, then did the same for my twin. "I think you'll be . . . Lavender," she said, beaming happily. "And you will be Marigold. Our precious little blossoms."

That's it. Father was always a grumpy stallion. I really have no idea why Mother fell for him in the first place. Shouldn't the one you marry be someone you want to spend your life with? Not someone who would leave you in the blink of an eye?

Do you want to hear my story? I am assuming yes.

Well, here we go. This is my tale and part of Marigold's: Lavender's Story.