//------------------------------// // Taking After Mommy // Story: As Sweet As Lavender // by Draconian Soul //------------------------------// Spike sat up, stretching and yawning. He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. It was that day. Every two weeks, Spike was supposed to assist Twilight on her trip to Canterlot to keep her sane during royal reports and meetings. If anything, he was surprised he managed to come out of them sane. He turned towards Rarity and smiled. She was still sleeping, her eyes covered by the mask she wore. Her snores were soft, cute noises that escaped each time she exhaled. Spike brushed a claw against her mane and planted a kiss on her cheek. After giving her his daily dose of affection, he slowly got out of the bed. As he walked towards the bedroom door, he heard a drowsy moan. “You’re just going to leave me hanging with a mere peck, Spike?” She asked, rubbing her eyes while giving him a small grin. “You know, leaving a lady unattended is quite improper.” Spike turned around and smiled at her. “Oh? And what are the consequences for being improper?” Rarity smirked and sat up, pressing her hooves together. “Well, there’s a saying going around that a couple’s love life decreases dramatically if you don’t give the wife a good smooch before leaving for awhile. Wouldn’t want that happening, now would we?” Spike walked back towards the bed and kneeled down to be eye level with Rarity. “No, no we wouldn’t.” The two gazed at each other for a few moments, slowly leaning in to press their lips together. As they connected, the warmth, passion, and familiarity poured through them like a hot, soothing bath. They could have remained that way for all eternity, embracing each other as their tongues wrestled in each other’s mouths. However, they both knew it couldn’t last, and they eventually separated, staring at each other with strong desire. “Don’t be gone too long, Spikey-Poo,” Rarity said, pressing a hoof against his chest. Spike kissed her on the nose. “I’ll come running back as soon as I get the chance,” he said before getting back up. He stood up and stretched, growling in satisfaction. “I should really say goodbye to our little princess before I go. Breaks my heart to leave her again, but you know how it goes.” Rarity giggled. “Yes, I imagine she’ll be quite upset about it, as usual. Must be a burden staying with her dull, uninteresting mother all day long.” “If she acts like this all the time, I can imagine.” Spike chuckled and walked out the room, closing the door behind him. He walked towards Lavender’s bedroom door and pushed it open. Not a peep was heard, not even her usual loud snores. There wasn’t even a bulge in her bed, indicating she wasn’t there. Spike scratched his head, walking towards the bed. “Lavender? Little Princess?” Not a word was spoken. Spike looked under the bed, in the closet, and even doubled-checked the bed by patting it down. There was nothing, not even a peep from his daughter. He pressed his claw against his cheeks and hummed. “Where oh where did my little girl hide?” Without many options, he decided it would be best to check downstairs. As he walked down the steps, he heard the faint sounds of laughter and amusement growing louder. A wide smile spread across his face. As he reached the bottom floor, one thing was clear: a little dracony was roaming around. “Oh, Opal, it’s so nice to have you around, darling.” Spike couldn’t help but snort. Darling? She’s starting to sound like Rarity. There she was, playing with Opalescence. “Yes, I know! It’s so hard to find my inspuraction with that big old dragon always getting on my nerves.” Spike’s eyebrows raised. He walked slowly into Rarity’s workroom. There Lavender was, sporting Rarity’s sunhat and pearl necklace. She even had a few strokes of nail polish on her fingers. Spike had to fight back the urge to snicker. “Why, I have many projects to do, and so little time! If only I had a useful set of claws to help, but my hubby is sooo useless sometimes.” “Well, I don’t know how useful I can be with this little stranger, but I know my little Lavender likes my claws, especially when I do this!” Lavender froze, unable to turn around before Spike grabbed her and began to tickle her mercilessly. Lavender squirmed and laughed, kicking her feet to try and get away. Her attempts were in vain, as Spike lifted her up and turned her around. She still giggled, swatting playfully at Spike. “Well, hello there, cutie,” Spike said, nuzzling her nose. “What are you doing up so early? And why are you wearing Mommy’s stuff?” Lavender was still in a small fit of laughter. “I’m playing pretend, Daddy!” Lavender said. “If I want to be Mommy, I have to act like Mommy, voice and everything.’” She did her best to simulate Rarity’s tone, but did a rather poor job doing so. “Wow, you totally nailed it,” Spike said with a smile. “If I wasn’t looking right at you, I’d think you were actually her!” Lavender smiled, wagging her tail. “Thanks, Daddy. Um… what are inspurations and hubbies?” “I’ll tell you later, Lavender,” Spike said, setting her on the ground. “Right now, Daddy has to go do important royal stuff with Twilight.” “Aww!” Lavender whined, removing the hat from her head and placing it on the floor. “But you’re always gone too long!” “I’m only going to be gone for the weekend.” “And that’s a weekend I won’t be able to play with you!” Lavender folded her arms and pouted. “Mommy never has time to play with me.” Spike patted Lavender on the head. “I’m sure Rarity will have time for you when she gets done with her projects today. You just have to be patient.” Lavender still kept her head hung low, but nodded all the same. “Yes, Daddy.” “Now, I want you to put Mommy’s stuff back where you found it. You know how she gets when someone moves her stuff around.” “Okay!” Lavender trotted towards the dresser where she got the sunhat, and stood on the chair, putting it on the middle shelf. She then took off the beads and stuck them in the middle drawer, which held other jewelry such as earrings and hoofbands. She closed the drawer and stepped off the chair, running back to Spike. Spike gave Lavender a warm smile. “Good. Now come on. Let’s get you back into the bed.” “But I’m not tired,” Lavender groaned. “I don’t wanna go back to bed!” “Now, Lavender.” Spike’s voice was a little more stern than before, but still light so he didn’t scare her. “What will your mother think if she catches you up this early in the morning?” Lavender sighed. “She would tell me that I’m going to be a very cranky dracony if I don’t get my beauty sleep.” “And how long will you have to listen to that?” Lavender giggled. “Forever and ever until I say ‘yes, ma’am.’” “Ding ding!” Spike picked Lavender up and tossed her in the air, catching her as soon as she came back down. “And we don’t wanna hear that, now do we?” Lavender’s disappointment quickly melted into glee as Spike twirled her around in the air and then cradled her on his shoulders. “No, sir. I don’t want to hear Mommy talking me to death.” “Then it’s settled. You’re going to go back to sleep until Mommy tells gets up, okay?” Lavender didn’t have much of a choice. She was being carried by Spike, and she doubted that he would let her go even if she wanted him to. “Yes, Daddy.” Spike smiled. He carried her up to her room, stroking her back. He placed her on her bed, tucking her under the covers. Lavender wiggled around, trying to get comfortable. Spike bent down and planted a kiss on Lavender’s forehead, who in turn grabbed her father’s nose and gave it a smooch. “I’ll tell Twilight that you said hi, okay, sweetie?” Lavender nodded, anticipating another kiss before Spike left. She wasn’t disappointed. “Alright, Princess. Be good for me while I’m gone. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” “Yes, Daddy! Bye bye!” Lavender waved as Spike left her room, blowing another kiss at her. As he closed the door, she closed her eyes and sank under her covers, ready to go back to sleep until her Mom woke up. Or at least tried to go to sleep. In reality, all she did for nearly an hour was roll around in the bed, growing increasingly bored. Nearly thirty minutes later, she threw her pillow at the end of her bed in frustration. “I can’t sleep,” she said to herself, grunting. “Why can’t Mommy get up early so I can play?” She slouched in her bed, folding her arms. She looked at her clock impatiently, noticing that the little hand was almost on the seven. Surely Rarity would have to get up soon. Unfortunately for Lavender, that wasn’t the case. The clock passed the normal time, and the sun was shining through the window. Yet Rarity still wasn’t awake yet. Finally at the limits of her patience, Lavender kicked the covers off her and got off the bed. She walked towards Rarity’s room and pushed the door open. Just as she thought. Still asleep with that silly, fuzzy sleeping mask on her. Her snores were light, but still a clear enough sigh that she wasn’t awake. Not that it was going to stop Lavender from waking her up anyways. She walked towards Rarity’s bed and leaned against it. “Mommy?” Lavender received no response. Frustrated, she put her claws on Rarity’s shoulders and shook her. “Mommy!” Rarity grunted, shifting her head up slightly but not taking off her mask. “Huh, wha? Is that you, dear?” “Yes, ma’am. Can you get up now? I’m really bored and want to play, but Daddy said I couldn’t get up until you did.” Rarity rolled over on her side, yawning. “Do what Daddy said so. He’s the boss...mmm. Boss.” Lavender rolled her eyes. Her mother was hopeless, still completely asleep. Even more agitated than before, Lavender shook Rarity a little more insistently. “Mom! The sun is already up! You can’t sleep all day!” Rarity smiled. “Sleep… all day. That sounds wonderful… but I can’t… too many projects...” Lavender pouted, sighing in defeat. “Forget it.” She slowly waddled towards the door, giving up hope of ever being able to play. On her way back to her room, she pouted and mumbled to herself. “Why does she always have to sleep so late,” Lavender said, kicking at the floor. “She always makes me get up on school days, but never gets up when I wanna get up. Not fair.” She planted herself on the floor, staring into her empty room. “I don’t wanna go back to sleep. If it wasn’t for those projects that Mommy has to do, maybe she wouldn’t be so sleepy.” With that, Lavender’s ears perked up, and her eyes widened. She put a claw against her chin and began to think. Too many projects. The words repeated in Lavender’s mind constantly. “Too many…” And then it hit her. “Too many projects! I know what I can do!” She carefully tip-toed down the steps, giggling to herself as she made way back to the workroom. Opalescence was lying in her bed, ready to take a nap now that the room was quiet again.The enthusiastic dracony, however, had other plans. “Opal, I think I know why Mommy won’t get up on the weekends anymore!” Opalescence growled in agitation, knowing that Lavender was going to interrupt her sleeping session yet again. “She has so much stuff to do, that she’s too tired to get up anymore. Last time she didn’t get up until the little hand was on the ten. That’s almost lunch time!” Opal sat in her basket, scratching her fur while listening to Lavender go on. If only she had the ability to speak their language. Then she could tell her to buzz off like she really wanted to. “Well, maybe if she doesn’t have so many of these projects to do, she can get up earlier, and I can play! So, I thought it would be fun to try and make a dress for her!” Opalescence eyes widened immediately. She shook her head frantically, attempting to convince Lavender otherwise. “What?” Lavender raised an eyebrow in confusion. “It can’t be that hard. Mommy does it all the time, and she told me once that ‘everypony in the family carries the same amount of grace and talent’. I bet I can make a dress as pretty as she can!” Opalescence slouched in her bed, ears flopping and whiskers twitching. She had a feeling that only bad things could come from this, most dealing with how frustrated Rarity would be when she saw Lavender’s creation. “But how am I going to make dresses like Mom does if I don’t think like her?” Lavender looked around the room. Most of the mannequins were leaning against the wall, and the fabric were hanging on wracks. However, much of the room was covered in the leftover bits and pieces of material that Rarity was using before. But Lavender’s main focus was on Rarity’s reading glasses. They were sitting by the golden pin cushion near the sewing machine. A grin formed on Lavender’s face as she walked towards the counter to grab them. She unfolded them, looking them over curiously. Opalescence brushed against Lavender’s side, urging her to put them back. “You’re right, Opal. Daddy did say not to play with Mommy’s stuff without asking.” After looking at the glasses one more time, she smiled and held them in front of her face. “But I’m not playing with them. I’m using them to spark some inspuration!” She carefully slid the pair of glasses onto her face, hooking the ends behind her ears. It was an awkward fit at first. The glasses were slightly too big for Lavender to wear properly, but after a small amount of tampering, she managed to get them to stay put. Unfortunately, it didn’t have the effect that she hoped they would. Her vision was immediately distorted, and she squinted just to alleviate the pain. “Ouchy!” Lavender cried out. “How does Mommy wear these things? They hurt!” Lavender rubbed her temples. “It’s okay. Mommy uses them all the time to make her dresses. Maybe I just have to get used to them.” Lavender cleared her throat and turned towards Opalescence. “Well, darling, do tell. How do I look?” Once again, she tried to impersonate Rarity’s voice, but the childish tone belied her efforts. Opalescence just stared at her, looking unimpressed. “Well, if I’m very well going to look like Mom, I have to talk like her, too. How else am I going to make these dresses perfect?” Lavender walked up to the work table, opening Rarity’s notebook. “Okay then, customers. Time to give you something dazzling, graceful, and marva… M-marvaloose? Marvalish… erm… Mar… Marevle… Pretty!” She flipped through the pages, looking for something that would interest her. Many of the dresses the customer wanted were really complicated, having different assortments of ribbons, bows, glitter, and even gems, something that made Lavender salivate a little. She wiped her lips and continued skimming. “These don’t look so easy,” Lavender said, scratching her cheek. “There has to be an easy on here somewhere.” She went through nearly half the book, and still didn’t find anything. Lavender was just about to give up and try her luck with a difficult looking one when something caught her eyes. “A small dress for the filly Beansprout.” Lavender had to suppress a giggle at the name. “She wants it to be purple, with some of this fluffy stuff on the end of it. This will be simply delightful. And easy.” Lavender looked around, hoping to find the required materials among Rarity’s organized mess, all the while ignoring her building headache and blurry vision from the glasses. After a thorough search, she found some of the fabric she needed lying on the floor nearby. Lavender grabbed it by the edge and pulled, unfolding and dragging it across the floor. It was so long and thin that dragging it any further would probably result in it getting dangled around some kind of furniture. Lavender pulled it towards the work table, then looked at the picture again. The dress design looked simple enough, but she soon scratched her head when she didn’t notice any instructions. “How am I supposed to make this if I don’t know how big it’s supposed to be?” Lavender groaned, resting her head on the table. Partly from frustration, and partly because the cool wooden table helped soothe her glasses-induced headache. Opalescence nudged at Lavender’s legs, meowing at her to gain her attention. “What’s that, Opal?” Lavender looked at Opalescence flail her claws, trying to decipher what she wanted. Within seconds, Lavender’s eyes lit up, and she lifted Opalescence, smiling widely. “Oh, right! What a splendid idea, darling! I can use the man-thingies to measure how big the dress needs to be. You’re such a helpful cat, sweetie!” Opalescence ears drooped. She gave up any lingering hope that Lavender would actually listen to her. “Maybe if I get that small one in the corner…” Lavender trotted towards the mannequin in question, completely ignoring the fact that she was trodding all over the fabric. The mannequins were all lined up in order of height. Some of them were already covered by Rarity's unfinished projects. “Hmm. Now let’s see here. Which one looks like the right size?” Lavender pointed at each mannequin, trying to scale the proper one in her mind, though without the expertise of her mother, that was turning out to be a bit more difficult than she’d hoped. “Maybe I should use this one.” She walked towards the smallest one she could see and pushed it over to work table. By that point, her eyes were really starting to hurt. She was barely able to walk straight anymore. Under those conditions, she finally decided that maybe she didn’t need to look exactly like Rarity when doing the project. As soon as she reached the table, she took the glasses off and set them on the counter, immediately rubbing her eyes. “Well, that wasn’t as helpful as I thought it would be,” Lavender said, with Opalescence meowed in an aggravated manner. “Oh well. No reason to worry about that. I need to finish this masterpiece before Mommy wakes up.” Lavender stretched the fabric out and pulled it tightly around the edge of the table. She grabbed the scissors and began to carefully cut through the cloth, following the edge of the table to keep the line straight “Easy,” she said aloud. “Easy. Easy does—” Her claws slipped, and she tore a ragged line through the fabric. “Uh oh.” Lavender dropped the scissors and covered her mouth. “If Mommy sees this, she’ll be so mad at me!” Lavender looked around nervously, hoping to find a solution to her problem. There were many different tools laying around, but most of them were sharp and a little intimidating. The ones she recognized were needles and thread, pin cushions, various cutting tools, and a sewing machine, all of which she had been instructed not to touch. Lavender sat on the floor, mulling over her options. “Hmm… Mommy did always say that using the sewing machine was safer than working with the stuff. If I’m going to finish this young girls project, I simply must use it!” She slowly tore the rest of the fabric off, making sure not to make too much noise. “I’ll fix that later. Right now, I must finish this dress!” Lavender salvaged as much of the fabric as she could and made her way over to the sewing machine, sliding it in place underneath the needle. She then frowned and scratched at her mane as she looked over the machine. "How in Equestria do I even use this thing?" She started with the only thing she could think of and pressed the red button on the side. Immediately, the machine whirred to life and the needle began jolting up and down, making a loud noise. Lavender turned a knob on the side and the needle began to slow down, reducing the noise. “I don’t we need that much power, do you, Opal?” Opalescence meowed and shook her head, agreeing with Lavender for the first time that entire morning. “Yeah, I think so too, darling!” Lavender slowly pushed the fabric through machine. She wasn’t entirely sure what the purpose of it was, but if Rarity did it it must have been important. She could only assume that she was supposed to do the same thing. She noticed the fabric were being hemmed together at the base. Looking back at the design for the dress, she noticed that the end of the dress looked similar to what she was doing. Lavender smiled, realizing that she must be doing it right. “Yes! Yes, it’s all becoming clear!” Lavender began pushing the fabric through even faster than, getting her claws near the needle of the machine. She pulled her hands back, and pushed more of the fabric in the machine until it slid on the other side. When she was out of fabric to hem together, she scratched her head and tried to figure out what else to do. “Hmm. It doesn’t look right with only one side done,” Lavender mused. “I should go ahead and do the other side…” Lavender tugged the fabric back, hoping to achieve the same results. Unfortunately, the patterns on the hem were lopsided. Lavender pursed her lips, slowing down her progress to a near screeching halt. She pulled it out and examined her work. “It looks awful,” Lavender whined. “How am I going to fix this?” She examined where the mistakes were, trying to figure out where she went wrong. “Maybe if I drape it over the mann thingy, it will look better. Mommy always says that sometimes, you have to follow your instincts and see what you end up with.” Sure that this was the clear answer, she walked towards the mannequin and tossed the fabric over it, trying her best to even it out. Unfortunately, it was too long, and then ends dragged along the floor. “Well, we can always fix these little mistakes later,” Lavender said, waving off the potential issues with the dress. “I should focus on what comes next.” Lavender looked at the page once again, trying to figure out where to go from there. Bits of cream fabric were carefully woven into the sides of the dress, and puffy cotton along the seams. “This dress will look absolutely stunning when I’m finished with it!” Lavender exclaimed. “Don’t you think, darling?” She looked at Opalescence for approval, but only received a glared in return, deciding to bathe herself instead of trying to amuse the child any longer. Lavender flared her nose and huffed. “Everyone’s a critic. I’ll show you, Opal.” Lavender stuck her nose in the air and trotted towards Rarity’s craft shelf. It was stacked to the brim with all of her extra utensils for beautifying her dresses. It ranged from multicolored beads, ribbons, pins, sparkles, and a low supply of gems, no doubt the result of Lavender and Spike’s midnight snack. Unfortunately though, the one item she needed to make her dress a success was at the very top of the dresser, out of reach for Lavender. “Horse apples,” Lavender said, immediately covering her mouth after she realized she said a bad word. “How am I going to get that jar down?” Lavender weighed her options before shrugging. I can do that later. I should always focus on the patterns first. All I have to do is cut them into thin strips and sew them onto the dress. Easy as pie.” Lavender found a roll of cream-colored ribbon, along with the needle she needed to sew it in place. The tip was shiny and sharp, so Lavender carefully grabbed the base, holding the end of it in her mouth. Opalescence made sure to keep her distance, not trusting Lavender’s motor skills. Lavender spat the needle on the table and began to uncurl the ribbon. “I wonder how long she wanted this,” she said to herself. “Maybe it needs to be the same length as the dress.” Lavender grabbed the scissors and snipped a piece of the ribbon off the roll. She put what little she cut off on the desk, realizing she had cut it too short. “Well, nothing a little sewing can’t fix. A fashion designer must know when to make the good out of the bad… I think.” She grabbed the needle and began sewing the ribbon on the sides. In the process, she ended up smooshing some of the fabric together, and accidently crumpled it into a messy fold. The dress was completely wrinkled, parts of it sewed in a fashion that was impossible for a child to fix. “Oh no!” Lavender sat on her bottom and frowned. “I already ruined the dress. How am I supposed to help Mommy with her work if I can’t do one simple thing?” Lavender slouched, pushing the ribbon out of the way and watching it unroll. She sighed, opting to give up and lie on the floor. Nothing could possibly make her feel worse. “Lavender? Deary? Where are you?” Lavender's ears perked and her eyes shot wide open. Oh no! Mom’s awake! Lavender immediately scrambled around, trying to clean up the mess she made while working. There was fabric and pieces of ribbon scattered all over the place, along with drawers being left open. There was no way she could clean it all up before Rarity found her. “Lavender, darling, what in Equestria are you doing up at this hour?” You’re the one who slept in later than normal. Lavender thought as she struggled to hide her mess. However, before she put the materials away, she had a new idea. I have to finish this before Mom comes down! Lavender looked up at the top cabinet where the fluff was. “And I need that to do it.” Lavender ran towards the dresser and began to climb up it. She scaled the shelves with determination, trying her best to block out the sound of hoofsteps prancing around. “Lavender! If you don’t tell me where you are this instant—” She also tried to block out the voice of her mother, but that proved to be a lot harder. Her pulse began to race, and her palms started to sweat, making them slippery as she attempted to climb the shelves. But with persistence and caution, she finally made it to the top. She carefully reached out for the jar of fluff, smiling in triumph. “Lavender! What in Equestria are you doing!?” And then she flinched. It was all over. Lavender had failed to finish the dress before Rarity came. And even worse, she had left Rarity’s workshop in a bigger mess than it usually was. She could already see Rarity’s left eye start twitching. Lavender smiled nervously, and waved at her. “Um… good morning, Mommy,” Lavender said, still hanging onto the shelf. “Nice to see you get up so—” “Do not ‘good morning’ me, young lady,” Rarity snapped. Even Opalescence backed away when she saw how angry Rarity was. “Would you mind telling me why you deliberately disobeyed me and started tampering with Mommy’s work material?” She started looking around the room, trying her best to control her temper. “And… you’re using my good ribbons. I needed those to…. to…” Rarity fell silent, except for her breathing. Lavender looked at Rarity, scared of what she might do. “Mom, I can ex—” “Lavender.” Rarity sternly looked up at her. “Come down here, now.” Lavender began to tear up. “But Mom, I was just—” “This instant, young lady!” Lavender frowned and began to step off the shelf. As she did so, her legs slipped and she lost her balance. She tried to grab onto the shelf, but ended up tilting the jar and losing her grip. She went careening towards the ground, landing with a loud thud. The jar also fell, shattering into many pieces. Opalescence jolted and screeched, running away in fear. “Lavender!” Just like that, Rarity’s anger melted into concern as she darted towards her. When she reached her, she moved all the glass shards away from her. “Lavender, are you okay?” Lavender sat up, tears streaming down her face as she held up her right arm. She sniffled, holding back as many tears as she could. “Lavender, what’s wrong with your arm?” Rarity asked. Lavender still held onto it, sniffling. “N-nothing.” “Now, Lavender, you know better than to tell a fib, especially when something could be wrong. Now show me your arm. It’ll be okay.” Lavender had tears trickling down her face. As she released her claw from her arm, the scrape on it seeped out blood. Rarity immediately lifted her with magic and placed her on her back. She quickly made her way to the medicine cabinet, grabbing cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, and a bandage roll. Lavender was still crying, but had calmed down a little. “It’s going to be okay, Lavender,” Rarity reassured. “Now, I want you to be a brave girl for me and be still. This might sting a bit, okay?” “Yes, Mommy.” Rarity poured the alcohol on a cotton ball and levitated it toward Lavender’s injured arm. Lavender yelped when it made contact with her wound, but resisted the urge to squirm away and waited for Rarity to finish. “Is it going to be okay?” Lavender asked, watching Rarity wipe down her arm with the cotton swab. “You’ll be perfectly fine, Lavender,” Rarity said, unwrapping the bandages with her mouth. “I just want to know what you were doing climbing up there. You know I’ve told you not to do that.” Lavender looked down at the ground, too ashamed to reply. Rarity put her front hoof on her chin and made her look at her. “I’m not mad at you, dear. I just want you to tell the truth. Why were you playing with Mommy’s things?” “I wasn’t playing, Mommy.” Lavender wiped her eyes. “I just wanted to help you with your dresses so you wouldn’t be so tired all the time.” Rarity’s eyebrows went up as she continued bandaging Lavender’s arm. “You never have time to play with me, because you have so many projects. You’re always busy or sleeping when I want to do something. So I thought that if I helped make the dresses, you’d have more time for me.” Lavender’s eyes began to well up again. “But I just made a mess, and now you’re mad at me.” Rarity's expression softened, and she felt feelings of guilt stirring inside her. Lavender had been so lonely that she'd tried to do her job for her, just so she could spend more time with her. Rarity pulled Lavender close to her, hugging her tightly. “Oh Lavender. Sweet, little Lavender.” Rarity cradled her, and Lavender wrapped her claws around her mother. “I’m not mad at you, dear.” “Y-you’re not?” Rarity shook her head. “No, not at all. In fact, It was really sweet of you to try doing this for me. I’d have to force your father to help me with something like this.” Lavender rubbed her eyes, a small smile forming on her face. “But that doesn’t mean I want you doing this without permission ever again. You could have gotten hurt even worse than you did.” “I know,” Lavender said. “I’m sorry.” “And Lavender, if you ever feel this way, please tell me. I didn’t know you were feeling so neglected. I thought you were fine playing with Spike and Opal while I was busy.” Lavender pouted. “Well, Daddy isn’t here right now, and Opal doesn’t like getting dirty.” Neither do I, honestly, Rarity thought to herself, but knew better than to say that out loud. “Well, I suppose that leaves just me then.” Rarity finished bandaging Lavender’s arm. “In any case, let’s go see what the damage is.” Lavender wiggled her arm around, wincing a bit when it stung, but able to walk on it without too much trouble. “Okay.” The two walked back into Rarity’s workshop. It was just as messy as it was when they rushed out, plus one cat and a ball of yarn. Rarity eyed the mannequin that Lavender had been using, examining the project she had been work on. “Well… what’ do you think?” Lavender asked, ears folding back in shame. She didn’t know why she even bothered asking. She already knew what Rarity would say, and it wouldn’t be anything good. “It’s a little too long, and the seams have been sewn together too much. The wrinkles aren’t distributed evenly and so is the ribbon you pinned on, sweetie.” Lavender’s head drooped, having heard exactly what she dreaded. “However, for a first time, this is actually quite good. It’s not perfect, but we can easily fix it up.” Lavender’s ears perked up, and her tail wagged around rapidly. “We?” Rarity nodded, smiling down at her. “I have some work to do first so I can afford to buy you your favorite ice cream, but I think my little girl has proven herself to be a good assistant. The more help I have, the sooner I’ll be done” Lavender smiled and jumped in excitement. “And that means you can play with me!” Rarity pressed her nose against Lavender, nudging against it. “Why, you are a very smart girl. That’s exactly what I mean. So, what do you say? Would you to help Mommy finish some marvelous dresses?” Lavender smiled and hugged Rarity. “Why of course, darling. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.” Rarity couldn’t help but giggle. “My, my. Sounds like somepony wants to be just like Mommy.” Lavender giggled and wagged her tail. “Well, if you want to be like Mommy, you have to do more than sound like me. You also have to carry yourself like me.” Lavender tilted her head. “Does that mean I have to wear those glasses?” Lavender asked, groaning. “Those things hurt.” “No, dear. You won’t have to wear these,” Rarity said, as she put them on. “But, I was thinking of something else that would bring out your beauty more. Hmm… Aha!” Rarity went to her cabinet, lifting up the sunhat and the bead necklace Lavender was playing with earlier. “I think this will work just perfectly.” Rarity placed the bead necklace around Lavender’s neck, and then placed the hat on top of her. Lavender pushed the hat up to see Rarity, giving a wide, toothy grin. “So, what do you think, Mother?” Lavender said, still trying to sound like Rarity. “Do I not look simply stunning?” “Stunning?” Rarity playfully covered her mouth with her hoof. “That doesn’t even begin to describe how you look, darling. You look absolutely marvelous.” “Do tell.” Rarity giggled. “In fact, I’m quite jealous. I don’t think there’s anypony out there as stylish and beautiful as you, Lavender.”