Lavender's Plight

by theNDinspector

Doubt

Four ponies sat in the commanding officer’s office of the Wonderbolt Academy. Two officers in navy-blue uniforms sat behind and beside the desk while two cadets in blue and yellow flight suits sat in front of it. It was evaluation time for Barrel Roll and Lavender after a week of training at the Academy for Equestria’s top team of elite flyers. But one of them expressed her desire not to continue. All eyes turned the purple mare with the silver badge.

“Are you sure about this?” Colonel Spitfire asked, looking into Lavender’s blue eyes, which were partially obscured by her blue mane.

Lavender’s eyes darted around the room, trying to avoid eye contact with Spitfire, Soarin and Barrel Roll. There were assorted medals, trophies and various Wonderbolt posters on the walls. Finally she resorted to staring at a statue of a pony in flight resting on Spitfire’s desk.

“Yes,” Lavender sighed.

Spitfire looked over to Soarin, who simply shrugged his shoulders, and back to Lavender. “May I at least ask why?”

Lavender was studying the wings of the pegaus statue, which were far too large for its body. Taking a deep breath, she looked back up into Spitfire’s amber eyes, “I never really wanted to be here.”

“Would you please elaborate?” Spitfire leaned on her desk and put her hooves together.

Lavender glanced over at the white stallion beside her, who gave her an encouraging nod. While it didn’t help much, Lavender felt glad of his support. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to Spitfire.

“Being a Wonderbolt has basically been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember,” Lavender explained. “There were a lot of expectations of me joining, but I never felt the same passion for it.”

“So, why did you sign up?” Major Soarin asked.

“I didn’t want to let anypony down, especially my dad,” Lavender sighed as she looked back at the desk ornament. “I tried to force myself through it, thinking that it would grow on me, but I lost steam three days ago. I just wanted to give up, but I couldn’t; it was against everything my dad taught me.”

“You were doing fine for the past two days,” Soarin pointed out. “What changed?”

Lavender broke her gaze from the statue’s goggles and looked at Soarin. “A couple of my roommates helped me out and suggested that I make it through the week in order to prove to myself and my dad that I could do this.”

“And who were these ponies?”

“Scootaloo and Blue Yonder.”

Both Spitfire and Soarin raised their eyebrows and glanced at each other. Lavender couldn’t understand why this particular bit of information was such big deal, especially since this was her evaluation.

“Well,” Spitfire started, recovering from her moment of surprise. “It’ll be a shame to see you go. You have a lot of talent. What was your father’s name by the way?”

“Cool Breeze,” Lavender answered.

“Cool Breeze?” Spitfire mused, tapping her chin. “Oh yeah, I remember him. He was also a fantastic flyer. He definitely left too soon.”

Lavender felt her stomach clench. “Yeah,” she muttered, and both she and Barrel Roll were dismissed from the office. The hallway was empty and all Lavender could look at was the floor in front of her.

“So, what are you going to tell your dad?” Barrel Roll asked, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know.”

***

After about an hour of flying, Lavender could finally see the Fillydelphia skyline. It wasn’t the largest city on Equestria’s eastern coast (an honor that had been taken by Manehattan), but it still pretty prestigious in its own right as being one of the oldest settlements in Equestria and home of the Harmony Bell.

It felt so good to be home again. Lavender had almost forgotten the pains of the past week; but it all came crashing down as she knew that this might be a bittersweet homecoming.

‘It can’t be much past two’ Lavender thought as she took a look at the sun’s position in the sky. ‘Dad’s still probably at the school. I wonder what his students are like this year.’

Lavender landed in the region commonly called West Filly and walked among the streets. Before returning to her home, she was drawn to a certain shop with a sign of a pretzel and lemon in the middle. The Salty Lemon was a bar and café that had only opened a couple of months ago by a couple of Lavender’s dearest friends. Slowly, she pushed open the door.

Inside were a series of tables and benches around the middle and perimeter of the room, along with a radio and several pictures of sights around the city. It was oddly quiet as nopony was sitting at any of these tables. Happy hour was still a couple of hours away, but Lavender thought that at least somepony would be here.

The only other pony in the room was busy cleaning a large counter where several stools rested and a cabinet of a wide variety of liquors and beverages were displayed behind it. The young earth-pony stallion tending the bar had a yellow coat and brown mane that was neatly brushed. He also wore a black vest and bow-tie, and had an image of a glass and some sliced lemons on his flank. Upon hearing the door close, the pony behind the counter looked up and smiled.

“Lavender,” he said gleefully. “Has it been a week already?”

“Yes, I’m back, Limoncello,” Lavender replied as she dropped her saddlebags on the floor and took a seat at the freshly cleaned counter. “Are you still having trouble with the new business?”

“No, not too much,” Limoncello said as he grabbed some glasses and started to wipe down the insides with a different cloth. “We get a descent sized crowd in the evening, particularly on the weekends. It’s still the middle of the day. Can I get you anything? Salzig just pulled out a fresh batch of pretzels from the oven.”

Lavender felt her mouth water and heard a small growl in her stomach. Pretzels weren’t exactly her favorite food, but her long flight did increase her appetite. “Sure.”

With that, Limoncello left through a door behind the counter and soon returned with a plate balanced in his hoof and set it before Lavender. The golden-brown, twisted knot of bread laid on it, still letting of wisps of steam. She tore off a chunk and threw it in her mouth. It was soft, baked perfectly and topped off with both butter and salt. Soon, the entire plate was empty, and Lavender felt rather satisfied.

“You look tired,” Limoncello commented as he looked into Lavenders now baggy blue eyes.

“Well, I did just fly all the way back from Cloudsdale practically,” Lavender stated, looking into the stallion’s deep brown eyes. It was only partly true. While flying was certainly a work out, Lavender also felt the weight of sleep depravity over the course of the past week. She woke up multiple times during the night while at the academy, always feeling as though she had run a marathon.

Limoncello smirked, “Still refuse to ride the train?”

“Don’t you know how filthy that thing is?! I’d rather take a hike through a swamp! At least that’s naturally disgusting!”

Limoncello simply chuckled at Lavender’s outburst. He had long known and was used to Lavender’s obsession with cleanliness, but he never shied away from an opportunity to mess with her about it.

Calming down, Limoncello asked, “So how did training at the Wonderbolt Academy go?”

Lavender lowered her head and ears drooped towards the ground. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes.

Limoncello’s smile faded, “That bad, huh?”

“Not really,” Lavender grimaced. “I honestly made it worse than it needed to be. I made it through—and technically passed—but…I can’t do it, I-I just can’t.” She then buried her face into her forelegs on the counter. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell my dad.”

Limoncello looked at the distraught mare for a few moments and gently placed a hoof on her shoulder. She didn’t flinch or recoil, but let him gently massage her. “Well, you said you were going to try, and you did that. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“I don’t know,” Lavender moaned. “It means everything to him.”

“Would you like a drink?”

Lavender rolled her head and opened one eye. “Isn’t it a bit early to be drinking?”

Limoncello tapped his chin for a moment before his eyes lit up. “I got just the thing.”

In a quick series of motions, Lavender watched as Limoncello took a few bottles and from the cabinet, poured liquid into a shaker, mixed it and grabbed a small shot glass. Gently, he poured a bright yellow liquid into the glass and placed it in front of Lavender, who just glared at it.

“Don’t worry, it’s clean,” Limoncello said, referring to the glass. “I scrub these things clean ten times now because of you.”

“I suppose that’ll do,” Lavender sighed as she picked up the glass and drained it in one gulp. It tasted a lot like lemonade, but with something extra. It was oddly pleasant. She could feel her body relax a little. “Thanks. You always know how to lift me up.”

“It’s what I do,” the stallion shrugged.

“Well, I guess I should get going. Although I’m not sure how I’m going to break this to my dad.” Lavender reached for her saddlebags and opened it to find her bit purse.

Upon seeing this, Limoncello raised a hoof, “Don’t worry, it’s on the house.”

“Oh come on!” Lavender gaped. “You can’t keep doing this!”

“I can and I will,” Limoncello said with a smug grin. “However, there is one payment I’ll accept, but you have to read this first.”

He grabbed an envelope from a drawer and gave it to Lavender. She tore the seal it and found a red card on the inside. Opening it revealed a pressed bunch of purple flowers much like the ones shown in Lavender’s cutie mark. There was also a note:

I love you my little flower.

Lavender’s cheeks flushed and she felt her heart flutter like a butterfly. She looked up and kissed Limoncello—lips locked in complete bliss.

“I love you too,” Lavender said as she broke the kiss and walked out the door and headed for home.

Comments

[FluffyDoom]

He might have to brush his teeth first though, Lavendar HATES germs XD.

So happy you are making this story