//------------------------------// // Guilt // Story: Lavender's Plight // by theNDinspector //------------------------------// Lavender tightened the straps to her saddlebags. It was a long way back to the Wonderbolt Academy and she didn’t want them slipping mid-flight. “Travel safely,” Cool Breeze said, giving his daughter one last hug before departing. “Say hi to my old captain for me.” “I will Dad,” Lavender replied, spreading her wings. “I’ll make you proud.” “I know you will.” With that Lavender took off, leaving her father waving on the street bellow. He was still grinning ear to ear until he disappeared into the vast expanse of the neighborhood. Lavender gathered her bearings and headed west. “I know they’re not expecting me,” Lavender said to herself. “Maybe I can just talk with Spitfire about the whole thing and she’ll let me back in. Yeah, that’ll work.” Finding comfort in that plan, Lavender pressed forward. She could soon see dark outline of Wonderbolt Mountain just beyond the shadow casted Unicorn Range and the skies growing black. “Wow. That was faster than I thought.” Lavender looked back at the sun, which was still in the eastern sky. “But then why is everything so dark?” As she got closer, Lavender could discern storm clouds blanketing the sky ahead of her. Strong winds began to push her back. Flapping harder, she fought against the winds, slowly making headway. The roar of distant thunder startled her, but she continued on. Suddenly, the headwind disappeared and Lavender could feel it blowing from behind—the sudden shift causing her to tumble in the air. She tried to steady herself just like the exercise on the Dizzitron, but then another wind hit from the side—pushing her deeper into the storm. They seemed blow from every angle, each just as hard as the last. Lavender couldn’t tell which way she was facing, or even which direction was up. All that existed was the darkness of the clouds, the howling winds, and the roaring thunder. She could also hear voices. Had somepony seen her? “HELP!” Lavender cried. “Get in there you PANSY!” “What?” Lavender said shakily as lightning flashed across the darkness—briefly showing a ghostly image of an orange pony’s head glaring at her with purple eyes. Lavender tried to look away. “You’re so uptight!” Another flash of lightning blazed across her showing the face of a yellow, brown-maned stallion. “No I’m not!” Lavender began flapping her wings as fast as she could just to get out. “You need to finish what you started!” A steel-blue face shouted. “I’m trying to!” Lavender began crying. Another flash showed a yellow head with a fire-like mane. “He went too soon!” “I’m sorry!” Lavender cried out. Lavender tried closing her eyes, but that didn’t stop her from seeing another flash of lightning and a face she couldn’t immediately recognize. “You’re such a b-” “AAAAAAAAGH!!” There was no escape, no way out. All Lavender could do was close her eyes and plug her ears, but that didn’t block the sound nor flashes of lightning. She was swept mercilessly away by the rough winds, and thunder beat down on her ears that she could barely hear anything else. She was about to meet her end in this storm, and nopony would even care. “ENOUGH!!!” Suddenly, the thunder stopped. Lavender opened her eyes. The dark mist was being sucked away in a spiral towards what she presumed to be the sky above. Once it was gone, she could see a tall, dark figure approaching her. As it got closer, Lavender could make out an indigo coat, starry mane, unmoving wings spread out, and a black tiara behind a unicorn horn. “Greetings, Lavender,” the pony said in a regal voice. It was the same voice that commanded the insults to stop just a few moments ago. “Princess Luna,” Lavender sighed in relief and bowed while still staying airborne. Then she realized something odd, “Princess, you’re not flapping your wings! You’ll fall!” Luna simply smiled and put a hoof on Lavender’s tense shoulder. “Relax, my little pony,” she said calmly. “We have no more need of flying, for you are dreaming. Though, if it makes you feel better, we can find a place to rest.” Luna lit her horn and a white cloud appeared. Unlike the raging black storm clouds, this one was soft and calm. Tucking her wings away, Lavender got on all four legs, feeling as though she was walking on a really soft and fluffy bed. “I’m dreaming?” Lavender waved her hoof around and could see the air ripple as she did so, much like tossing a pebble into a pond. “I knew those mushrooms tasted funny.” “I know not about what you consumed Lavender, but I don’t think that they are the source of your woes.” Lavender looked up into Luna’s sapphire eyes and asked, “How do you know about that?” Luna smiled. “As Princess of Equestria—and guardian of the night—it is my duty to watch over ponies as they sleep. Often times, they are in need of help; so I enter their dreams. This past week I have noticed that you were in a desperate struggle, but have been unable to help as you kept waking up too quickly.” “Sorry,” Lavender said, lowering her ears and looking away. “There’s no need to apologize.” Luna lifted Lavender’s head back up with a hoof. “The sleep-cycle is a delicate thing, and can be disrupted by the very slightest of touches at times. Even I have to tread carefully. What matters is that I am here now. So, what is it that ails you so?” Lavender hesitated for a moment, rubbing her leg, but Luna waited patiently with an inviting look on her face. Lavender finally relented. “Well, I was in the Wonderbolt Academy when I didn’t want to be. I was there for my dad’s sake, but I couldn’t stand it. I ended up finishing the week, but I can’t tell him that I won’t be going back. I even lied to him about it.” Luna nodded her head. “Yes, dishonesty often causes guilt—especially when we lie to those whom we love. However, I suspect that this isn’t the source of your feelings.” “What do you mean?” “If I am correct, this event has only just occurred recently—probably yesterday. You have been suffering for much longer then that and I intend to find out the cause.” Luna’s eyes went white and her horn lit up with an indigo aura around it. Suddenly, the cloud they were sitting on disappeared and the sky swirled with color. The fluffy cloud she was standing on became smooth and sturdier. As the colors settled, Lavender recognized her new surroundings, or rather her normal ones. She was back at home in the spotless living room. Even though she knew it was a dream it still felt real. She could even smell the same flowery scent of the cleaner she used when she came back from the Wonderbolt Academy. Then Lavender turned her head and did a double take. She was staring at herself being hugged by her dad. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. I guess you need to go back in three days?” Lavender watched the panic on the face of the image of herself—a look of panic that her father couldn’t see. “Uh, yeah…pretty much.” Lavender facehooved as those words rang out. “How could I have just lied to him like that?” “I don’t know,” Luna said beside her, causing Lavender to jump in surprise. “That is what we’re here to find out.” Lavender looked into at the princess’ sapphire eyes. “How did we get here?” “I looked into your memories,” Luna explained. “Dreams are inseparable from the mind, so I can access certain areas. I could sense something important about this recent memory and brought us here.” Lavender felt a chill run down her spine. “You know, that’s more than a little creepy.” “Perhaps,” Luna said as she looked around the apartment. “I do apologize for invading like this, but I assure you that I’m only doing this to help you…hmm, this is interesting.” She paused at the one picture on the wall that wasn’t entirely Wonderbolt related. Luna studied the picture that Lavender knew as the one that showed three ponies together. A smaller copy of it rested on her bedside cabinet. “This appears to be a family portrait,” Luna commented. “Back in my day, over a thousand years ago, these were done vary sparsely since it took so long to paint and were rather expensive—practically exclusive to royalty and a few aristocrats. But with today’s technology of instantly capturing images, you can do these more frequently and economically. So why isn’t there a more recent one?” “Because it’s the last picture I ever took with my mom,” Lavender said with a croak in her voice. “Oh,” Luna said simply before the pupils in her eyes went wide in sudden understanding. “Ooooh…I’m so sorry.” “It’s not your fault,” Lavender said, trying to wipe away the tears in her eyes. “It was y-years ago…b-before you came back.” Luna nodded. “So who was she, and what was she like?” “W-well, her name’s Cinnamon,” Lavender sniffed. “It’s hard to r-remember since I was so young then, but she always cared for me, would read me stories and I guess she always had something snarky to say to my dad. She also did a lot of baking—always with love, she would say. I-I was devastated the night dad came back from the hospital, saying that she…she wouldn’t be coming home. I never even got to say goodbye.” Lavender started sobbing entirely, causing Luna to draw her close with a wing. Lavender squirmed in her grip as she resisted for a moment, but then relented. Luna could feel her leg getting damp as Lavender wept into it. Luna also had some tears in her eyes. “So,” Lavender sniffed before resuming again. “So after that, Dad got a hardship discharge so he could look after me. He got a job as a gym teacher at a local high school and as an instructor at summer flight camp. He would take me with him nearly every year. I guess that’s how I got so good at flying, especially since he trained me so hard. He calls me his ‘Number One Flyer.’ “He also talked a lot about the Wonderbolts and everything that he was able to do. Grandpa was the same way. I heard countless stories from them. My dad also wanted me to join to, but I didn’t have the same passion he did. I still went. I figured it was the least I could do after everything that happened; after everything he did for me…after everything he gave up.” Lavender fell silent as she still clung to Luna’s leg. Luna pondered her words for a moment. “And that’s when everything that happened at the Wonderbolt Academy occurred, isn’t it?” Luna asked. Lavender simply nodded in the affirmative. “Scootaloo told me to meet my dad halfway by making it through the first week—which I did—but I don’t know how my dad would take it.” “The thing about compromise is that both parties involved need to know the issue in question before trying to resolve it,” Luna said. She then lifted Lavender’s head up and looked into her puffy, tear-soaked eyes. “Once, I let my jealousy get the better of me without consulting my dear sister about my anger with her and myself. She tried to talk to me about it, but I rejected her. You know the rest, but the point is that you need to confront this challenge. You must tell your father and work this out. He’s going to find out sooner or later.” Suddenly, the winds began to pick up again, though not in the same force they were before. The room seemed to blow away, leaving a blank expanse of nothingness. Lavender could also see the ripples in the air again. “I must go,” Luna said as she started rising in the air, leaving Lavender behind. Luna called out to her as she disappeared, “Fair thee well!” *** Lavender opened her eyes. She was lying in her bed in the dark room, yet she could still make out the dark outlines of the dust-free bedside cabinet and the picture on top of it. She reached out for it and held it up. In the dim light, she could see the faces of both her mother and father. She hugged the picture close to her chest and cried herself back to sleep.