Lavender's Plight

by theNDinspector

Grief

Lavender woke up with the sun shining on her face. Groaning, she looked at the clock; 11:42. She slowly got out of the bed and stretched out her back and each of her legs.

“How could I have slept in so late?” she moaned as she shook her head and groggily made her way to the kitchen.

Cool Breeze was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t surprise Lavender given the time of day. She grabbed some apples and bananas from the kitchen, cut them up and made a fruit salad for a belated breakfast.

‘I need to tell him,’ Lavender thought as her eyes drifted over to the family portrait on the wall. ‘But I can’t wait around here all day. I’ve already cleaned everything.’

The chirping of a robin drew her ears to the window. It was such a nice day outside. The sun was shining and the skies were clear. It was also still warm out as it was still technically summer.

‘I know. I’ll go to the park for a couple of hours.’

After cleaning her dirty dishes, brushing her teeth and making herself more presentable, she stepped out of the apartment door and trotted down towards the street.

Maremount Park was Fillydelphia’s largest park, or rather a series of parks all throughout the city. Combined, it was far larger than Centrot Park in Manehattan, yet not as well known. It had just about everything you could imagine a park would have: trails, race tracks, playgrounds, meadows, tourist spots containing historical information, and so forth. There was certainly a lot one could do.

After walking along one of the trails, Lavender decided to climb up a small grassy hill and rest beneath the shade of a willow tree. Through the long curtain of leafy branches that draped the tree, Lavender could see a small playground below.

Several foals, not quite old enough for school, ran and jumped around the ground and the multi-colored play structure while being watched by parents, foalsitters, or other relatives. Some were sliding down the slide, others swung across bars in the jungle gym, went up and down on a see-saw, or just ran around having a good time. All of it brought back memories of when Lavender’s mother used to bring her to this very park.

***

“Come on Lavender, you can do it,” a scarlet earth-pony called from the bottom of the slide.

“But it’s so high,” a small purple pegasus filly wailed from the top of the slide. “And there’s icky mud down there!”

It was the first sunny day after about a week of rain, and while the slide was dry, there was still a puddle on the ground below it. But it was sunny out, and Lavender wanted to go outside. Cinnamon tried to warn her about the mud, but she didn’t listen; now she wished she had. She wasn’t a strong flyer yet at her young age, so she could still splash into the icky ground.

“Oh just go down already!” yelled a yellow colt behind Lavender.

Lavender glared at the colt and his messy brown mane. “Shut up Lemon chop…Lemon chi…whatever your name is!”

“Limoncello!” he growled.

“Whatever!”

At this moment, Cinnamon called back up to her. “Now you better stop that young lady, or you two might end up getting married one day.”

Lavender and Limoncello both glanced at each other in horror and turned away, simultaneously crying, “Eeeeeew!”

“Now come on down, darling,” Cinnamon said. “I promise you won’t hit the mud.”

“You sure?” Lavender called back.

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

Lavender gingerly put one hoof on the slanted surface, and then another. As soon as she lifted one of her hind legs, she slipped and started sliding down on her belly. She could feel the wind whip at her face and her whole body tingling as if she was falling. Lavender couldn’t help but squeal in delight.

“WEEEEEeeeeeeee!”

As Lavender got to the bottom of the slide, she felt something grab her sides and pick her up. The next thing she knew, she was being spun around in a circle with her mommy holding her.

“WhooooaaaaWhooooaaaaWhooooaaaa,” Cinnamon cried while moving slowly to the grass at the edge of the playground. As soon as they reached the border, she fell down to the ground, gently placing her giggling daughter beside her.

“Again!” Lavender shouted as she galloped back towards the slide.

Several more times, Lavender went down the slide. Each time, Cinnamon caught her and carried her to the clean grass. Soon they were both tuckered out and it was time to go home. The little filly—who once had so much energy—was now draped over Cinnamon’s back as they slowly traveled down the path.

“I love you, Mommy,” Lavender yawned as she closed her eyes.

“I love you too, darling,” Cinnamon said as she nuzzled the little purple bundle on her back, causing it to giggle.

Everything was perfect in Lavender’s young, naive mind. The world may have been big, but it was a wonderful place of joy and laughter. Even if something went bad, she always would have her mommy and occasionally her daddy. Nothing could put a damper on Lavender’s spirits while they were around.

A few months after that, however, her mother had fallen gravely ill. Lavender could still remember how Cinnamon fell down one morning and couldn’t get up—no matter how hard she tried. She could still see the long walks down the clean hospital hallways behind her father in uniform as they approached one dark room on the far end. Most of all, she could still vividly remember the ragged sight of a mare who was hooked up to several strange machines. Her coat lost its sheen, was missing a few patches and her mane was in complete disarray.

Yet, despite all that, Lavender approached the bedside. Then the mare in the bed would open her eyes. They were dull compared to their usual brightly colored brown, and looked very tired. But the mare smiled, extended a hoof and rubbed the side of the young filly’s face.

“Hey,” she would say weakly, her voice croaking like a frog. “How’s my little one doing?”

“Okay.” Lavender would always stare deeply into her mother’s eyes. It was the only part of her that she could bear looking at. “When are you coming home, Mommy?”

“Soon,” Cinnamon would always say a little too quickly. “The doctors still need to look at some things, but I’ll be home soon.”

At this point, Lavender’s dad would often start talking with Cinnamon. Lavender never really listened to these conversations. Instead she continued nuzzling her mother’s extended hoof as if clinging onto it for dear life. She dreaded the time where they would have to be separated again—more so than the trip to the hospital itself—but it had to be done.

“I love you, Mommy,” Lavender would say as she was pulled out of the embrace.

“I love you too, darling.”

Lavender and her father would then return back to their apartment which—much like Lavender’s cheek—had grown cold and lonely.

***

Lavender wiped the tears from her eyes. That was all years ago. Surely, she thought she should have moved on from all this by now. She should have forgotten everything. Yet she didn’t…couldn’t forget. It was too painful.

Since the night her dad came bearing the terrible news of her mother’s passing, Lavender had grown distant. She let very few ponies close to her and even fewer to physically touch her. She had also taken up the habit of cleaning everything like her mother often showed her. Mother wouldn’t like a dirty house, and neither did Lavender. She got very good at it too—providing a way for her to cope with the pain and sorrow.

Sighing, Lavender looked back towards the playground. It was empty now, a couple of swings swaying in the gentle breeze. She thought about going over there—to go down the slide one more time—but didn’t. She was likely too big for it now; and nopony would be at the bottom waiting to catch her.

Lavender looked at the sun, which was getting pretty low in the sky. She had to have been laying there for hours, but it only felt like a few moments. Her dad had to have been home for a while now, probably wondering where she was since there really wasn’t anyplace for her to be. She had no current obligations to a job—and going back to the Wonderbolt Academy was out of the picture—but the prospect of dashing her father’s hopes seemed unbearable; yet it had to be done.

‘Well, I guess it’s now or never.’ Lavender gingerly got back on all fours—her legs aching after the extended period of disuse—and headed back home.

Comments

[megkit]

Well, I haven't read this yet and already I see a huge problem; plight. And not flight.

[FluffyDoom]

Sad

But good!

[theNDinspector]

5260645 Well, I recommend that you read the prequel story first if you haven't already. It's mainly to understand some of the context of what this character is going through. And yes, the similarity of the word "plight" to "flight" was intentional in the way that I used it.

[megkit]

5261477 oh.