• Published 29th Jul 2013
  • 24,131 Views, 1,578 Comments

As Sweet As Lavender - Draconian Soul



The world sees her as an abomination. They see her as a gift.

  • ...
56
 1,578
 24,131

As Unstable as Lavender

Spike walked down the street towards Twilight’s abode, whistling a small tune. It wasn’t often he was requested to see his sister, and he often messed with her more than he did help her. Still, spending a little time with Twilight wasn’t all bad, and Spike did miss those wonderful days of annoying the snot out of her. If it was at all possible to relive that, he was going to.

It didn’t take Spike long to reach the library. In mere moments, he was standing on Twilight’s doorsteps. He walked up and knocked on the door several times. It didn’t take the mare in question long to open the door and greet him with a soft smile.

“So, you finally decided to show up,” she said. “I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“I’ve been busy, okay,” Spike said, inviting himself into his old home. “The Mrs. has my claws tied from time to time. Oh, and hello yourself.”

“Oh ha, ha!” Despite her snarky tone, she wrapped her forehooves around Spike and hugged him. “It’s not like I get to see you every single day anymore.”

He wrapped his claws around Twilight and smiled. “I know. I’ll try to show up more often, since you miss me that much.”

Twilight tapped his face playfully and lowered herself to the ground, closing the door behind them. Spike followed her to the table in the living room and sat down across from her. As he looked around the library, the memories came flooding back. His youth of being her assistant elicited a warm sigh. “You managed to keep this place clean,” he said, smirking. “I’m impressed.”

“Just because I don’t have an assistant anymore, doesn’t mean that I can’t keep my place clean,” she replied.

“Really? Cause the last time I was here there were books littered all over the place.”

Twilight blushed. “It was reorganization day!”

“In the middle of the week?” Spike folded his arms and raised his eyebrows. A wide grin formed on his face when he saw Twilight wince at his analysis.

“I was busy!” she shouted. “I didn’t have that much time to sort out all the books by the time you showed up! It would have been nice if you actually helped me instead of just sitting on them.”

Spike snickered. “Those books did make a comfy cushion.”

“I bet.” Despite her agitation, Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Still, it’s kind of lonely around here with you gone, even if you are only a few blocks down.” She folded her hooves and leaned on the table. “So, how are you and Rarity doing?”

“Ah, you know, same old thing you’re used to,” Spike began. “I love her, she loves me. I get on her nerves a lot and she bucks me in the gut… constantly. She’s still my pudgy marshmallow. Still hasn’t shaved off those pounds she claimed she would a few years ago.” After several moments of laughter, Spike leaned in and covered the side of his mouth with his right claw. “Don’t tell her I said that. She’d kill me if she knew I told you that.”

“Well, I might be able to keep my mouth shut, but you know how bad I am with secrets,” Twilight said with a sinister smirk on her face. “I might be able to keep my mouth shut if you’re around to jog my memory every now and then.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “I get it, Twilight. You want me to show up more than I have. I’ll make sure to come by more regularly, dragons honor!” He put his right claw on his chest and held his left out.

“Good. And I would like to see my niece more, especially since… you know.”

Spike’s happiness melted. He coughed and sat back down. “Yeah, well that episode she had will not happen again. Her old man will teach her how to handle it!”

“That’s… what kind of worries me,” Twilight admitted. She noticed Spike’s expression hardening, his suspicions coming to light. “By now, you probably figured out what I called you here to talk to you about today.”

“Yeah, I did,” Spike responded coldly, “and the answer still remains the same. I’m not letting you treat her like a test subject again.”

“I wasn’t treating her as a test subject!” Twilight exclaimed, offended by his claim. “She is the first of her kind. I wanted to learn about her in more depth, and see if there was anything about her that could be some use to you. We barely know about dragons as is. How would we know anything about her?”

Spike sighed. “I guess you have a point. Still, that was years ago. She’s a teenager now. I don’t want you to continue researching her anymore.”

“I figured you would say that,” Twilight said, looking glumly at him. “Which is why I didn’t ask for your permission.”

Spike’s face went cold. “What?”

“I asked Rarity a few days ago if she would mind me asking Lavender over to examine her at least once a week, and after some thought, she agreed it was for the best.”

“WHAT!?” Spike clenched the table and huffed in anger.

“Spike, calm down!” she replied, trying her best to remain orderly and relaxed. “I’m not going to do anything to her!”

“Except treat her like a lab rat,” he snarled.

“I’m doing no such thing,” Twilight denied. “I’m trying to help you. I would think you would want to learn more about your daughter, especially with the traitsshe has.”

Spike glared at Twilight. “What exactly do you mean?”

Twilight got up from her seat and trotted towards her book shelf. She levitated a book from the top shelf and opened it, staring at Spike as she did so. “Because, from what I’ve heard about her, she has a more dominant dragon trait than a pony trait personality wise, something that could be harmful if not controlled.”

***

“...vender. Lavender?”

“Huh, wha…” Lavender snorted and leaned her head up. Still blinded by the cucumbers on her eyes, she could only go off of the giggles she heard from her mother.

“Enjoy your nap, sweetie?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah.” Lavender yawned and stretched out, popping her back. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Just for a few minutes,” Rarity answered. “I would have let you sleep a little longer, but then you would miss out on the experience.”

Lavender pulled the cucumbers off of her eyes and stared at Rarity in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Aloe walked over to Lavender, smiling widely. “Please, if you don’t mind, keep the cucumbers on your eyes for a little while longer.”

Lavender groaned and did as instructed.

“Could you also turn over on your back?” Lotus requested. “Our next treatment is about to begin.”

“Oooh! Lavender, you’re going to love this,” Rarity said in a giddy tone.

“Yeah, and what makes you say that?”

Rarity giggled. “You’ll find out soon enough, dear.”

Lavender was getting quite annoyed with the secrecies. It was one thing to not tell her before they got there, but they were sitting in the boring salon already. There wasn’t anything that she should be holding back from her. Still, she didn’t feel like arguing with her mother. She was still tired and extremely bored of the situation, so she did as instructed in hopes that something more interesting would happen.

Nothing did. All Lavender could make out was the hoofsteps of the mares trotting back and forth, along with what sounded like a cart being pulled in with sizzling items. Lavender’s ears perked up because of this.

“You’re going to burn me!?” Lavender shouted. “What kind of relaxation is that!?”

“Well, they’re going to put something hot on your back momentarily, but it’s not going to hurt,” Rarity explained. “In the meantime, enjoy what’s about to come.”

“What do you mean by th—”

Lavender was cut off by the feeling of hooves pressing against her back. The firm, smooth hooves kneaded her skin, working out the kinks in her body. Lavender stretched her claws out, letting them dangle off of her seat. She sighed dreamily as her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

“Enjoying yourself, Lavender?” Rarity asked.

Lavender quickly put her tongue back in her mouth and coughed. “It’s alright, I suppose. I guess I can see why you like coming here often.”

Rarity giggled. “Be honest, darling. You like it, don’t you?”

“Like I said, this is…” Lavender gasped as the hooves pressing against her back slowly switched to patting her back rapidly, causing her voice to vibrate. “...absolutely amazing.” Once again, her tongue dangled out of her mouth. The kinks that were in her back seemed to vanish with every tap. She was nearly lost in the bliss. “Hey, could you hit a little lower. That would be…. niiiiiiice.”

“I told you!” Rarity’s voice was happier than ever. “And you doubted me the entire walk here. I’m hurt, Lavender. You have to have a little bit more faith in your poor old mother.”

“I get it! I get it!” Lavender said between soft sighs of satisfaction. “You were right… for once.” Lavender purred. Her body felt as light as a feather, and all her cares and woes were lifted from one single massage.

“I’m just glad you’re finally warming up to the idea,” Rarity responded, sounds of satisfaction eliciting from her as well. “Speaking of warming up, are the stones ready yet?”

“Stones?” Lavender lifted her head up, throwing the cucumbers off of her face. Aloe was going to suggest putting them back, but at that point, they had fallen off more times than she could be bothered with, so she just let her be. Lavender noticed a small tray of steaming rocks.

“What are those for?” Lavender asked, watching as Lotus put dark gloves. Lavender looked back at Rarity and gave a puzzled expression. “Are they going to make us sit on those?”

“Heavens no!” Rarity shivered at the thought. “They aren’t going to do anything like that. They’re just going to place them on your back for a while.”

“And how is that any better?” Lavender asked.

“You’ll see! And I can assure you, that you’ll love it. You better enjoy it. I spent too many bits to get you that treatment.”

Lavender cringed a bit. She was used to certain degrees of heat, but putting piping hot stones on someone’s back seemed harmful to her. Still, she wasn’t going to get anywhere arguing with her mom about it. She took a deep breath and eased her tensions.

“If you say so,” she said with a sigh. She closed her eyes, expecting the worst from the spa treatment she was about to receive. She clenched her claws as the warmth radiated over her. She could almost feel them on her back. The rocks, smoldering her skin, burning, hurting….

...Feeling incredible and relaxing. Her eyes shot open, and she turned her head to her back to make sure she was seeing things correctly. Lotus was in fact placing the rocks on her back, adjusting them to certain spots that made Lavender feel even better.

“So, what do you think?” Lotus asked with a smile. “This hot stone treatment was requested by Rarity just for you. They work out all the kinks in your body and relaxes certain pressure points.”

“Oh, I feel relaxed alright,” Lavender cooed. Her tail flicked around, displaying her satisfied nature. “Hey, could you avoid the spines a bit? I don’t want them to get, you know.”

“Whatever you want, sweetie.” Lotus continued to place the stones on her back. As the treatment continued, Lavender’s sighs and purrs deepened. Rarity couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. She couldn’t quite see Lavender’s reaction,but she knew that she had finally lightened up and relaxed. Though there was little interaction with them since they got there, she had high hopes that by the end of the day, they would carry out a decent conversation with each other.

The stone therapy continued for about ten minutes before Lotus lifted them from her back. Lavender stretched her claws, showcasing her talons, and let out a squeak. The sounds of her bones popping could be heard, sending shivers down Rarity’s spine.

“Wow, that was pretty good,” Lavender said, scratching her ear. “I got to admit, I thought this was going to be boring and useless, and this facial stuff sure didn’t help.” She poked at the substance, taking note of it’s new texture. It was no longer the soft, cream material they warned her not to mess with. Instead, it was a hardened shell encasing her face. “Speaking of which, am I allowed to take this off now?”

“Not quite yet, Lavender,” Rarity stated, deciding to finally take off the cucumbers from her eyes. “You have to keep it on until we’re done for the day.”

Lavender rolled on her back and groaned. “I have to have it on all day?”

“Well, you don’t have to. It’s just advised that you do. It'll keep your skin silky and smooth, just like mine!”

Lavender brought her claw to her lips and chuckled.

“What was that, Lavender?” Rarity glared at her daughter, causing her to chuckle even louder.

“Oh, it’s nothing, Mom. Relax, okay?”

Rarity stuck her nose in the air, trying to contain her own smile. “You would be the one talking about being relaxed. I had to drag you out of the bed just to bring you here!”

“I was being nice, Mom. I didn’t want you crying all day. You look pretty pitiful when you do that.”

Rarity flipped her mane and wavered at Lavender. “Oh, that was just a little motivation to get you out of the bed. I have to do what it takes to get you out of the bed.”

“That sounded like whining to me, Mom.”

“Whining. Motivation. Same thing.”

Rarity smiled warmly. Lavender was laughing and easing up, something Rarity rarely saw her do. Most of all, she was spending time with her daughter. The distance that she felt between them were slowly closing, and it delighted the aging mare.

But the day wasn’t quite over yet. They still had several hours left in the salon, and Rarity wanted to get the most of it. She tapped her hooves together, calling the two spa mares to her attention.

“Ms. Aloe and Lotus, are we quite done here?”

The two nodded.

“Of course, Mrs. Rarity,” Aloe answered. “You two may get up when you wish.”

“We’re just preparing your next treatment,” Lotus said, winking specifically at Lavender. “I’m pretty sure your daughter will like this one.”

Lavender, once again, gave a puzzled look. She opened her mouth to try to speak, but stopped herself. What did she care? As much as she hated to admit, she enjoyed all of what she was being treated to. She might as well continue to put her trust in the girls. She was too lazy to care about what was going on, anyways.

“I’ll hold you two on that,” Lavender said with a toothy grin. The spa twins turned and walked towards the back room, carrying on a small conversation with each other.

Lavender sat there, boredom returning to her. It didn’t take her long to lose interest when there was nothing to do. All that was left was to sit there with a mask of green paste and cucumbers covering her eyes. Or, to be more accurate, her mother’s eyes. Her cucumbers were set on her seat. Lavender looked around, scanning the spa and making sure no one was looking. With the area clear and safe, she slowly grabbed the cucumber and brought it to her mouth. She bit down on the juicy vegetable, leaving a faint crunch.

“Lavender, what are you doing?” Rarity lifted one of her cucumbers from her eyes to check on her daughter. Lavender jerked and tossed the cucumber to the side swiftly. With an unconvincing smile, Lavender turned to Rarity and said:

“Nophing, Mwam!”

***

“Listen, I don’t care if you asked her, I’m not going to let you do that again!” Spike stood up, staring Twilight Sparkle down. “I already said no, and that’s the end of it!”

“This is not the end of it, Spike!” Twilight snapped back, not faltering from her decision. “You have to think about what’s best for her.”

“You consider treating her as a lab experiment helping her!”

“No. I consider trying to understand her draconic genetics helping her.”

Spike growled in aggravation. “She doesn’t need that, Twilight. We are perfectly able to raise her without your studies.”

“Oh really?” Twilight glared at Spike condescendingly. “So tell me this, if you can control and raise her properly, then how come she has recently had several violent streaks with the ponies at her school?”

“She’s a teenaged dracony!” Spike yelled, offended that Twilight was questioning his parenting. “She practically has nopony her age supporting her. Of course she’s going to be a little aggressive!”

“It’s not a little aggressive when she claws at a pony for calling her a 'lizard freak', Spike. That isn’t healthy, nor is it something that should be ignored!”

Spike began puffing smoke out of his nostrils. His claws dug through the table, tearing through it easily. Twilight tried her best to not seem intimidated, but his behavior was concerning.

“We can take care of her ourselves, Twilight,” Spike snarled. “She is our responsibility, and we don’t need you doing your research on her.”

“Spike, Rarity agreed to it! Does that not mean anything to you?”

“I don’t care what she agreed to! I will not let you do it!”

Twilight looked at Spike. His claws were clinching harder and harder into the wooden table. It looked as if the splints of wood were spreading onto his sharp claws. “But she needs it! She could be developing anger similar to your species. It doesn’t help Lavender if we just hide her problems like you’re doing. You can barely handle your anger yourself!”

“I’m… perfectly… able… to… control my anger,” Spike said disdainfully.

“Yeah, and you’re doing so well at being rational and collected right now,” Twilight pointed out. “You’re tearing through my table.”

“This isn’t about me, Twilight! This is about you treating my daughter as an experiment. Keep your obsession with science out of our family!”

Spike’s words cut through Twilight deeply. They haven’t seen each other for over a week and their conversation had already turned sour really fast. “Spike, you’re being selfish! This isn’t for my benefit, I’m just trying to—“

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Spike pounded his fist on the table, causing Twilight to jolt. “You are not going to do research on my daughter! If you bring this up again, I’ll… I’ll…”

Spike’s rage began to recede, realizing what he was doing. Twilight pointed her horn at him, not wanting to do anything drastic but willing to if he was to make a wrong move. The sorrow in her eyes softened his, and he looked down at the damage he had already caused to her property. Spike cuffed his head with his claws and sat on the ground.

“Twilight, I’m sorry,” he apologized, looking somberly at the ruined table. “I just… you know, Lavender is my daughter, and she’s had to put up with so much through her life. She wasn’t sheltered like I was with you, and she isn’t guarded from the judgmental ponies out there like I was.”

Twilight lowered her guard and walked towards her brother. Pain replaced the burning anger that was alight just moments ago. No longer worried about what Spike might do, she sat beside him to show her support and to comfort him.

“I want Lavender to be treated like everypony is, to not have others call her a ‘freak’, or ‘lizard’, or an ‘abomination’. I’ve had to hear these ponies ridicule her and my wife for nearly seventeen years now, and it’s really weighing down on me. I just want her to be accepted, have an easy life, and this constant testing on her isn’t helping. I don’t want her to feel like her own aunt is treating her like an animal.”

Spike sighed and lowered his head. He felt soft, affectionate hooves rub his scaly back, trying to ease him of his tensions and worries.

“I understand, Spike,” Twilight began. “I know it’s tough for you to have to deal with that, and I would never dream of doing anything to demean her. With that said, you really need to think about what’s best for her, and after her outbursts recently, we have to take some measures to ensure that she doesn’t keep getting in trouble.” Twilight looked at Spike more sternly this time. “You do know that if she does what she did again, she runs the risk of being expelled from the school, right?”

Spike nodded. “I’m well aware of that.”

“And about this feeling like an animal thing, tell me this: was that what she said or what you said.”

The agitated glare returned to Spike. “Of course it’s what she said!”

Twilight folded her hooves, unconvinced about his claim. Her expression forced Spike to lower his guard and reveal more of the truth.

“Well, not exactly like that, but I’m sure she is thinking it.”

Still, Twilight wasn’t convinced. Her eyes rose, hoping for Spike to stop being so dodgy with her. Spike sighed and turned his head in embarrassment.

“I said it,” he muttered under his breath.

“What was that, Spike?” Twilight said, holding a hoof to her ear. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

Spike gritted his teeth and turned his head towards Twilight. “I said it, okay? I don’t want her to be seen any differently than others, and I just want to make sure she doesn’t feel different in her own family.”

Twilight chuckled. “Aw, isn’t that cute! My little Spike has grown up to be an overly concerned parent. Didn’t I tell you it was going to happen?”

“Shut up,” Spike said, trying to stave off his smile. “At least I’m actually married. How many years has it been now since you’ve had a date? Tsk tsk, Twilight. And I thought you were going to make something of your life.”

Twilight smacked Spike on the top of his head. He feigned pain by playfully glaring at Twilight and rubbing his scalp.

“Way to hit low there, Spike,” Twilight said. “I’ve been trying. I just… haven’t found the right one yet.”

“Probably because you’re always nose deep in these books.”

“They can help… sometimes.”

“Suuure they can.” Spike rolled his eyes and smiled at the blushing mare in front of him.

“Tell you what then, you start letting me see Lavender regularly for the evaluations, as well as regular visits, and I’ll try to go looking for other ponies. Sounds fair?”

Spike thought on this briefly. He was still skeptical about Twilight doing the evaluations on her. He didn’t want Lavender to think she was just some kind of monster, some ticking time bomb that will explode and hurt others, like he could. However, Twilight was his sister, and he trusted her judgment, for the most part. That and Lavender didn’t have a problem with it when she was a kid. It wasn’t like she was trying to dissect her or anything. Though knowing Twilight, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the thought crossed her mind.

“Fine by me,” Spike agreed, hugging Twilight tightly. “I need to start talking to you more anyways.”

Twilight patted Spike on the back. “I don’t know why you stopped.”

Spike smiled. “And you promise that you won’t go overboard like you did when she was little?”

Twilight blushed. “Yes, Spike. I won’t go through that again.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

Twilight sighed and mumbled to herself. She let go of Spike and stepped back, going through the motions. “Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my e-EAAAAWWW!”

Spike snickered, watching Twilight grasp her eye in pain. “Still haven’t mastered it yet! It seems that you don't have your eye on the prize!”

Twilight launched a book into Spike’s face. “It’s not funny, you jerk!”

Spike groaned and laughed at the same time, rubbing off the growing migraine from the hardcover book. “Yeah, I’m going to have to come back more often.”

***

Lavender yawned and scratched her backside, reading one of the magazines they had lying around. Most of it were pretty ponies posing for magazines. Many stallions saw these mares as beautiful. Lavender thought they were plastic looking. She flipped through the book, chuckling at everypony that tried to pull off a look with fake eyelashes and mascara.

“They wish they could pull that look off like my mom can,” she said silently so her mom couldn’t hear her. As much as she gave Rarity a hard time, she admired her ability to stay beautiful in almost any situation, even when faced with a giant mud ball to the face. With nothing else to do, she tossed the magazines to the side and turned towards Rarity.

“What is taking them so long?” Lavender asked. “If I have to wait any longer, I might die of boredom.”

“Lavender, they have only been gone for about ten minutes,” Rarity replied.

“Ten minutes too long!” Lavender flailed her arms around, eventually tiring out her energy and letting them hang limp.

“You’re such a drama queen, you know that?” Rarity giggled. “You can wait a little while longer. It’s not going to kill you to learn some patience.”

Lavender grasped at her throat and gagged. “Ehh… sooo boring… can’t… breath.” She fainted and raised her claw in the air. It wavered and shook before flopping to the ground with her tongue lolling out.

“I thought that having a little girl meant she would grow up to be a refined, classy young lady,” Rarity teased. “Where did I go wrong?”

“You didn’t marry Dad sooner?” Lavender replied.

“I thought you were supposed to be dead, darling,” Rarity said with a smile. “Dead ponies don’t talk.”

“Dead draconies do!” Lavender stuck her tongue out at Rarity and continued her bad attempt of feigning death. Rarity just shook her head and continued relaxing on her chair, reading through the same magazines that Lavender thought were droll.

It didn’t take the twins long to return, bearing good news.

“Your spa treatment is ready, girls,” Aloe said.

“Please, follow us,” Lotus continued.

“Thank you, sweet Celestia!” Lavender cried out, leaping from the seat. “I’ve been waiting for ages for this!” She looked back at her mother, who gave her a sly look. Lavender changed her expression and walked slowly. “Not that I care, of course.”

Rarity followed behind Lavender as they were led to the back room. The room felt stuffy and the air was dry. Lavender’s curiosity rose as she entered the new hardwood room. The two spa girls stopped in front of the door and opened it, revealing a big pool. Only, there wasn’t water. To Lavender’s surprise, it was filled with a substance that her mother normally would be against.

“Mud?” Lavender looked up at the spa twins, who nodded with a small smile. “Did you guys just get bored and dump a bunch of dirt into the pool?”

“No, sweetie,” Lotus Blossoms said. “This is actually a treatment.”

“This is a common way for our customers to relax,” Aloe said. “It’s not used as much as our sauna or hot tub, but it’s still a common luxury for our clients.”

“Oh,” Lavender walked closer to the pool of mud and stuck a claw into it. It was warm and sticky, drying almost instantly on her nails. She looked back at Rarity for confirmation, eager to jump into the mud.

“Go ahead, Lavender,” Rarity said. “Just make sure you take your time getting in. It’s a little hot. Oh, and don’t dive in—"

Lavender didn’t waste any time. She jumped, curled herself into a ball, and dived into the mud, sending the thick substance flying towards the others. Rarity used her magic to shield the three from the mud. Lavender rose from it, caked in the stuff.

“Heh, this is neat!” Lavender chanted, swimming around the mud completely caked in it. “Ahh, this is so warm.” She tried to wipe the mud from her eyes, but her dirty claws failed to clean it all. She shook her head, sending clusters of muck flying across. “Hey Mom, I appreciate you setting this up for me, and I know how much you don’t like getting dirty, so you should just go and… relax… somewhere else…”

Rarity slowly lowered herself into the mud bath, making sure her head didn’t get too submerged. Lavender’s mouth hung open in awe.

“What? Never thought I would jump into the mud bath with you?” Rarity sighed in satisfaction and paddled her way towards Lavender. “This is a good way for your skin to become soft and elegant.” Rarity giggled. “It’s one of the reasons why your father still calls me his marshmallow.

“So, you do this often?”

“About once a week.” Lavender tapped her claw in the mud and chuckled. “What’s so funny, sweetie?”

“Let me get this straight, you will get into a bath of mud but you won’t play around with me in the mud at home?”

“That’s different, Lavender,” Rarity explained. “Here, the mud isn’t as… grimy or dirty as it is at home. Also, you tend to get leaves and bugs and—“ Rarity shuttered at the thought of those things trailing around the house. “Let’s just say that this is much better.”

“Whatever you say, Mom,” Lavender said, balling up some mud and cuffing it in her hand. “Mud is mud to me. And that means it’s just as resourceful.”

She tossed the ball at Rarity, who blocked it off with a shield of magic. Lavender groaned and crossed her arms.

“Killjoy.”

“Well forgive me for not partaking in such a juvenile game inside the spa,” Rarity quipped. “Time and place for everything, dear.”

Lavender rolled her eyes and sank into the mud. She made small bubbles from her nose.

“So, now that we have a little time to ourselves, let’s talk,” Rarity said.

Lavender stuck her head up and spat out the mud from her mouth. Rarity scooted back to make sure she wasn’t in the area of the salivated muck. “What do you want to talk about, Mom?”

“Whatever you want to talk about. How things are going in school, your friends, anything you and your father talk about, just for example.”

Lavender’s eyes wavered. “Look, I swore to Daddy I wouldn’t tell you, and I can’t break a Pinkie Promise.”

Rarity’s eyebrows rose. “Tell me what, exactly?”

“Nothing.” Lavender coughed into her dirty claw, chuckling nervously. “Anyway, school isn’t that bad, I suppose. Just like every other day. Still don’t know why you made me go to that place.”

“It’s a higher learning facility, Lavender,” Rarity said with a sophisticated smile. “Believe it or not, you’re a very bright girl, and I want you to excel with your knowledge.”

“But it’s soooo boooooriiing!”

“Please, it can’t be that bad.”

“If you call sitting in a math class for an hour listening to an old professor talk about math junk not that bad, you obviously never sat through one of those schools.”

“Well, no I haven’t,” Rarity answered, “but what about your friends? Don’t you mingle to make your time a little less boring?”

“Well, there’s just one. Everypony else either avoids me, makes fun of me, or just don’t go to that school because some ponies don’t make their children go to extra years of school!”

“Yes, but they aren’t my children, Lavender. But at least you still have friends to hang around with.”

“Yeah, just two out of school.” Lavender groaned and flopped around in the pool, splashing the mud all over the place. “At least Fizzle has to go. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what I would do if he wasn’t around. I would probably go insane!”

Rarity giggled. She always found their chemistry interesting, and was more than interested in their interaction. “And how so? You talk to him much?”

“Practically every day,” Lavender explained. “He’s the only one worth talking to in that Celestia forsaken school. He’s also a pretty good help when it comes to classes, especially chemistry. This one time, he helped me—“ Lavender’s ears perked, realizing she was about to spill something her mother would not approve of. “Well, that’s not important actually.” She chuckled nervously, receiving an unconvinced glance from Rarity. The air became thicker and stuffier than it was before, prompting Lavender to cough and try to come up with something else to sway from the slip-up.

“Well, other than that totally not important thing you aren’t going to hear about, we still hang out with Sugar Snap all the time. She’s still the bossy little menace she was when she was a filly—"

“As expected,” Rarity finished with a laugh.

“And Fizzle… well… he’s still kind of weird, but he’s still fun to be around.”

Rarity lips formed into a wide smile. “And just how is he weird?

The barrage of questions made Lavender wary of her mother’s true intentions. “You know, I didn’t think we were playing twenty questions, Mom.”

“I just want to know, that’s all.” It took all of Rarity’s strength to withhold her giggles, doing everything she could to ward off suspicions.

“Well, even after all these years, he’s still nervous around me. I can barely get a word out of him without him locking up and turning red.” Lavender could have sworn she heard a small snicker from Rarity, but ignored it and continued her statement. “He’s really skittish around me for some reason. I would be lying if I said it was a tad bit annoying, and Sugar Snap doesn’t make it any better. Still, he’s a nice colt to be around. Plus he gives me chocolate nut clusters from time to time.” Lavender licked her lips, ignoring the mud she lapped up. “Those are delicious.”

Rarity leaned against the edge of the bath, still withholding that pearly smile. “Well, isn’t that just adorable.”

One of Lavender’s ears flopped, and she cocked her head to the side. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh nothing, nothing.” Rarity waved her muddy hoof in the air. “I’m just glad that you have such a good friend helping you out with your time in school. You aren’t still bullied much, are you?”

Lavender shook her head. “Not lately.”

“Good. And you haven’t done anything… rash have you?”

Lavender looked somberly at the mud, refusing to say a word. Rarity’s smile shrank, and turned into a more firm, serious look.

“Lavender, when I ask you a question, I expect you to answer it,” Rarity asked sternly. “Did you do anything rash recently?”

Lavender sighed and looked at Rarity with wide, purple eyes, tapping her claws together. “Well, I… um—"

“Well?”

Lavender didn’t want to look at Rarity’s fiery eyes. They were the eyes that distilled fear into anyone’s heart, especially if they knew something was wrong. She rubbed her head and chuckled nervously. “Well, just the other day, I kind of snuck a skunk into Sapphire’s locker and it sprayed her.” The thought of that prank made her laugh a little, though that enjoyment soon ended when she saw Rarity’s face.

“Lavender…”

That voice. It was that unsettling, disappointed look that made Lavender sink into the mud in shame.

“What have we talked about when it comes to your anger? You have to have a better outlet than what you’re doing.”

“I didn’t hurt anypony!” Lavender argued. “I just made one a little smelly for a day, and she actually deserved it.” Lavender looked down at the mud with aggravation. “Her fault for calling me a smelly sewer rat. I showed her who the smelly sewer rat was.”

Rarity gasped. “Lavender, I’ve raised you better than that! Vengeance isn’t the answer.”

“Hey, I didn’t claw anypony’s eyes out this time. At least I’m trying!”

“Not hard enough, Lavender,” Rarity scolded. “This isn’t a better solution to your problem. This isn’t going to help you any!”

“But she deserved it!”

“True as that might be, you have to act civilized in these situations.” Rarity swam closer to her daughter. “We’ve talked about this before, Lavender. When you’re having a problem, you talk to a trusted adult. You have me, your father, Twilight, and my other friends to talk to. We’ll listen. You don’t have to take this in your own hands. What if you were to get expelled, or not able to go to your little casual ball you will have soon?”

Lavender groaned and mumbled. “I don’t care about the stupid ball. You’re the one who wants me to go to that thing, even though I don’t want to.”

“It’s good for you to go to a refined event,” Rarity explained. “It’ll also help you build a little confidence if you can find you somepony to go with. If I had the opportunity, I would go in a pinch, no questions asked!”

Lavender folded her claws. “Oh please! The only reason you want me to go is so you and Dad can have a little private time while I’m out!”

Rarity’s face went crimson, nearly sinking into the mud in embarrassment. “That’s… not entirely true, dearie. I just want you to find a more positive outlet than what you are doing. This is one of the reasons I brought you out here, to relax you and hopefully get you to understand how to properly handle things like a lady would.”

“But Dad said you threatened to rip apart a diamond dog before, and kicked your friend in the face before over a rock.”

“He did what!?” Rarity’s face completely flushed. It almost looked like the mud was hardening around her. “I told him not to tell anyone that… should have never shared that with that big oaf.” She shook her head, straightening her face and refocusing her attention back on Lavender. “But that’s beside the point. You’re going to have to figure out how to handle your temper, and Twilight is going to help you with that.”

Lavender’s ears perked from the news. “So, we’re doing the little research thing again?”

“It’s not so much research as it is learning about your traits so we can handle them. We discussed this earlier this week and we thought it would be for the best.”

“Fine by me,” Lavender agreed.

“And I don’t want to hear any arguments from you, young lady. You’re going and that’s—“ Rarity blinked her eyes when Lavender didn’t show any opposition. “Wait, so you’re fine with this?”

“Why not? I get to see my aunt a little more, and all I gotta do is have her ask me questions. To be honest, I never really was bothered by it, especially since she feeds me afterwards.”

Rarity giggled. “Isn’t that just like you? Always thinking with your stomach. Keep that up, and you’ll end up getting a little chubby.”

Lavender considered bringing up Rarity’s stomach, but knowing how sensitive she was, it would not have been the wisest decision. “And is Dad okay with it? You know how he can get when it comes down to me being ‘experimented on’.

“Your father is just a big baby at times,” Rarity snorted. “He’ll get over it eventually. And if he doesn’t, then he’ll just have to take his temper tantrums downstairs for the night.”

“So, kick him on the couch… again?”

“Quite.”

Lavender chuckled. “Seems like he’s spent a bit of time down there recently.”

“Yes, well he’s been acting up recently.”

Lavender chuckled and paddled towards her mother. “Well, you know what I think about that?”

Rarity was concerned by the sly, devious smile Lavender was giving her. “No, Lavender. I do not know what you think about it.”

Rarity wasn’t prepared for the cold, caked cluster of mud that collided against her face, but once it happened, she mumbled and screeched, flailing her hooves around. Lavender laughed, leaning her head away from Rarity’s wild hooves.

“I personally think that was a very dirty thing for you to do to Daddy!” She chuckled like a little school filly, watching as Rarity groaned and wiped the mud away from her face. Part of her face mask began peeling off, causing Rarity to growl in frustration.

“Lavender, what has gotten into you!?” She shook her hooves to knock off the excess mud. “This could have gotten in my eyes or… nooo. NOOO! It’s in my mane!” Rarity glared daggers at her daughter. “You messed up my mane!”

Lavender stuck her tongue out at Rarity. “Yeah, and I’ll do it again. What are you going to do abou—“

Her snarky statement was drowned by the mud that filled her mouth as Rarity pushed Lavender down. She held her there for two seconds before letting go, sending Lavender coming back up instantly. Her purple mane and coat was now completely caked in mud.

“If I have to clean myself up, you’re going to have to as well,” Rarity said with a victorious grin.

Lavender and Rarity continued their little war with each other for the next several minutes, each trying to make each other dirtier than the other, just to ruin each other’s appearance. Lavender was laughing and smiling, enjoying the time with her mother.

And that was all that mattered to Rarity. It required her to get dirtier than she wanted to, but the quality time she had spent with her was something she wanted to do more often with her and break that barrier they had. Rarity continued throwing mud at Lavender and vice versa, turning the relaxing mud bad treatment into an all-out assault.

“You two seem to be having fun.”

Rarity paused and turned around, seeing both Lotus and Aloe giggling at them.

“We hate to be of an inconvenience, but your time here has expired,” Lotus said.

“However, since you’re a recurring customer, we can extend it a bit, if you would like,” Aloe offered.

“That is quite sweet of you two,” Rarity began, blushing in embarrassment, “but I wouldn’t dare milk you girls out of your hard work. The time we registered is the time we registered after all. Besides, I’m sure my daughter is a bit hungry right now, isn’t that right, Lavender?”

Lavender opened her mouth to say no, but her stomach answered for her. Rarity nodded to the sisters to confirm their decision.

“Alright then. We’ll charge today on your account as usual, Mrs. Rarity,” Lotus Blossom said.

“You can shower and get cleaned up at the room over there.” Aloe pointed to a small shower room near the exit of the pool. “We’ll be waiting at the counter for you two, and thank you for your services.”

The two sisters smiled, bowed slightly, and left the two to clean themselves up. Lavender shook off most of the mud herself, leaving spots of brown from place to place. She also sent some of the mud flying across the room, but that was something the twins would have to deal with.

“Well, let’s get cleaned up and get something to eat,” Rarity said. “It’s about time we head back soon.”

“Sweet, I could use some grub!” Lavender exclaimed rubbing her stomach. “So, where are we going to eat?”

“What can your allowance afford, sweetie?” Rarity asked slyly, causing Lavender’s warm, eager smile to melt a bit.

“What?”

“You thought you were going to get away with getting your mother all dirty and grimy? There’s got to be some discipline.” Rarity trotted towards the shower room, turning back to Lavender. “Oh, and because of the skunk incident, you can pay for part of the spa bill today.”

Lavender’s eyes twitched. She clenched her claw and groaned.

“Oh, and by the way Lavender… you’re grounded for a week now.”

It was that moment that Lavender thought that she would snap. A day of relaxation, blown out of the water. She sighed and followed Rarity into the shower room, trying to think positively about her situation. It could always be worse.

She could have to go the day without eating.

Author's Note:

I wonder why Fizzle hasn't gutted up and told Lavender how he felt yet. I also wonder why Lavender is so oblivious to it. And when the hell will Twilight get a man in her life.

Only two of these questions will be addressed next time.