• Published 29th Jul 2013
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As Sweet As Lavender - Draconian Soul



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

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Try To Make Friends

“Really? She wrote that about you?”

Lavender stood in front of her teacher in the hall and explained why she had bolted out of the classroom.

“I see…”

“Mrs. Cheerilee,” Rarity began. “You’ll have to forgive Lavender. This is her first time being with ponies other than her family and close friends so she wasn’t aware that she could leave like that.”

“No need to apologize,” Cheerilee responded. “It must be hard for the poor dear to be labeled as different by the others.”
Spike stood with his arms folded, watching his daughter as she kicked at the ground sadly. “You’re not going to brush this off like it’s nothing are you?”

“Don’t worry Mr. Spike…”

“Stop with the formalities. I’ve known you since I was small; I don’t mind you talking to me like a regular associate.”

“Well that’s nice to hear,” Cheerilee smiled. “But like I was saying, the situation will be taken care of. I’m sure her mother will not take lightly to this kind of behavior.”

“Good.” Spike leaned down to Lavender and patted her head. “Sweetie, are you going to be okay?”

“No,” Lavender replied. “But since you’re making me come here, I’ll pretend I’m fine.”

“Now now, Lavender, everything will be alright,” Rarity consoled. “Even though you had a rough start, you’ll get through it alright.”

“Yeah right! You just don’t want me to be at the boutique anymore!” Lavender groaned.

“Young lady, you know that isn’t true!”

“But if I’m around, then you can’t play your adult games like you can when I’m here.”

Cheerilee looked at the couple in confusion. “Adult games?”

Spike and Rarity flushed, avoiding Cheerilee’s gaze to prevent further embarrassment.

“It’s a long story,” Spike coughed, “a long story I wish not to discuss here.”

“I see,” Cheerilee grinned, knowing what the dragon was implying. Lavender was still moping on the ground, not anticipating going back into the torture they called class. “Don’t worry you two. I’ll make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

“Thank you,” Rarity said. “Well, we’ve held you and your class for long enough. Please tell us if anything like this happens again.”

Lavender said goodbye to her parents and followed Cheerilee back into the class. The students quickly fell silent once they saw the two walk into the room. Cheerilee led Lavender to the front of the room, sternly looking over the young fillies and colts.

“So, apparently somepony here thought it would be funny to harass this poor girl with a hateful note,” Cheerilee scolded. “I don’t care how different somepony is from you, discrimination and bullying will not be tolerated! Sapphire!”

“Yes ma’am,” the filly answered.

“For emotionally abusing Lavender, you will have after-school detention and I’ll be having a nice long talk with your mother.”

“But, that’s not fair!” she groaned. “If Mom has to pick me up from after-school detention, I’m going to get grounded!”

“Well, maybe you’ll think about that the next time you try to pull a stunt like that again,” Cheerilee sharply responded. “Not only that, but you will no longer be sitting by Lavender. Instead, you will be switching seats with Fizzle.”

The colt sitting in the back looked up at the teacher disapprovingly.

“Um teacher, could you maybe move somepony else?” he asked meekly. “I don’t want to sit there.”

Lavender looked at the caramel colt, agitated with his reaction to having to sit by her. Why was everypony so against being friendly to her? Were they afraid of her? From what she could see, Fizzle was acting just like every other pony: judgmental and cruel.

“Fizzle, this is not up for negotiation. You and Sapphire will switch seats this instant.”

Fizzle sadly got up from his seat and walked towards the middle of the class, bypassing the muttering Sapphire as he trotted to his new seat.

“So, have I made myself clear on the consequences of bullying?” The class stated that they understood the teacher. “Good. Now Lavender, go take your seat. I’ll make sure nothing like this happens again.”

“Okay,” Lavender glumly responded as she walked towards her seat avoiding eye contact with the other ponies. Once she sat at her desk, she planted her head on it and listened to the teacher’s lecture.

She listened to the teacher talk on and on about cutie marks and learning your special talent, something that didn’t interest nor concern her, it felt like an eternity for Lavender, although just thirty minutes had barely passed.

“Why did she have to move me up here?”

“Excuse me?” Lavender whispered, causing the colt in question to jolt a bit.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing against you,” he clumsily responded. “I just don’t like attention. Th-they might be looking at me if I’m so close to the front.”

“Well at least all they’ll do is look,” Lavender groaned. “I’m pretty sure they’ll make snide remarks about me; ‘oh look at the ugly lizard. Don’t touch it, she’s probably infected!’ I can hear them now.”

“Yeah. Must be tough being a lizard….” Fizzle covered his mouth realizing what he had just said. Lavender glared daggers at the young colt. “W-wait, I didn’t mean to say that…”

“So, you’re just like her huh?” Lavender hissed.

“N-no! I didn’t...” Fizzle tried to say, but he was at a lost of words. The colt plopped his head onto his desk, covering his mane with his hooves in embarrassment.

What’s his problem? Lavender thought to herself, refocusing attention to the teacher’s lecture. Her eyelids were growing heavy as sleep began to creep in on her. Her tired eyes finally closed and she faded into slumber.

“Lavender!”

“Hu..wha…” Small barrages of giggles filled the room as Cheerilee stood in front of her desk, looking at her sternly.

“Care to rejoin the class? Just because you had a rough start at school doesn’t excuse you to sleep in class, understand?”
Lavender made inaudible mumbling noises, not fully awake from her interrupted rest.

“I’ll just assume you said yes ma’am and hope we don’t have this happen again.” Cheerilee returned to the front of the class, leaving Lavender in a mix of confusion and embarrassment. Her first day was already shaping up to be the start of something dreadful.

It looked like it’d be a long year.

After several hours of class, the school bell finally rang. Lavender hoped it meant that the day was finally over and that she could go home.

“Okay students, time for your lunch break,” Cheerilee chimed. “When the bell rings, you’re allowed to go outside. You can eat, play, and just relax until the bell rings again for you to come back to class. Have fun!”

Lavender sighed. She was still stuck in school but with a brief break. If she had made any friends, this wouldn’t have been so painful. Most likely, she would just be watching the other ponies mingle while she sat in the sidelines. All of the students jolted towards the door, with the exception of Lavender and Fizzle, who was slowly trotting towards the exit.

“Lavender, may I speak with you for a moment?” Cheerilee asked, causing Lavender to freeze in place. She turned around and walked towards her teacher, not understanding why she had kept her from leaving.

“If it’s about me sleeping in class, I’m sorry Mrs. Cheerilee,” Lavender apologized. “It’s just, well, I don’t see a point in learning about cutie marks when I…”

“It’s okay Lavender,” Cheerilee interrupted. “That’s not why I stopped you though. It seems to me that you are pretty miserable here.”

Lavender frowned, looking at her concerned teacher. “It’s just…well…I don’t really fit in with the other ponies. They’ll either laugh at me or act like I’m a freak.”

“I know it must be tough being different,” Cheerilee began, looking directly at her distraught student. “However, not all ponies are going to be like Sapphire. There are many friendly ponies out there, just waiting to befriend you. Now I want you to try to socialize with some of them; finding a friend or two will make your time here more enjoyable. Trust me.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lavender responded. “Can I go now? I’m actually kind of hungry and I have a sandwich I want to eat.”

“Sure thing, Lavender,” Cheerilee responded, allowing her to leave, and looked at Lavender grabbing her lunchbox in her mouth and walking outside to join the other children. The magenta mare had a concerned look on her face; she was worried that the young dracony didn’t take her advice to heart.

***

The fields were littered with ponies conversing with each other as they ate their food. Lavender didn’t know where she would sit, but she took a shot at a random group of ponies. As she walked towards the group of talking fillies, they looked back at her in confusion.

“Hello,” Lavender waved. “Mind if I sit here?”

The fillies looked at each other nervously, whispering at each other frantically. Lavender was quickly losing hope with this group.

“Well…we would but, well, we’re saving our spot for some other friends,” one of the fillies replied.

“But, you have been sitting here for a while, and I haven’t seen anypony else wanting to sit here.”

“Trust us, they’ll show up eventually. I’m sorry… but you’re going to have to leave.”

Lavender glanced at the group, picking up on what they were really saying. They didn’t want to sit near her because of her differences. This fact upset her greatly, but Lavender decided it would be best to cut her losses and try other groups.

But no matter who she talked to, everypony turned her away. Some tried to be polite about it. Some feared her because of rumors they heard about things related to dragons. Others were downright hostile to her, referring to her as half breed and freak. She didn’t even dare go anywhere near Sapphire, and after the reaction Fizzle gave her, she left the isolated colt by himself.

Lavender found herself a spot at the walls of the school, away from all the ponies that had shunned her.

“These jerks, all of them,” she mumbled to herself unwrapping her sandwich. “Who needs any of them?!” She bit into her sandwich, glaring venomously at the other ponies as they enjoyed their recess.

I ought to show them how a “monster” really acts. Then they’d have a real reason to be scared.

Lavender’s sadness turned to rage. She wanted to teach the ponies why they shouldn’t mess with the spawn of a dragon.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a red ball bounced towards her. Lavender put down her sandwich and grabbed the ball, wondering where it came from.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it!” A high pitched voice echoed across the fields. Before long, a light yellow filly fluttered her wings, levitating slightly over the ground. Lavender glared at the pegasus, still holding malice towards the ponies.

“Excuse me, but can I have that red ball?” Her voice was bubbly and light, something foreign to Lavender when speaking to the other young ponies. She nodded and pushed the ball towards the filly.

“Hmm, you’re awfully quiet. Are you shy or something? Are you scared of me? I don’t bite!”

Lavender remained silent, though her expression lightened up slightly. The filly wasn’t being hostile to her. Her remark was rather annoying to Lavender, but nothing to make her think she was trying to be hurtful.

“Maybe I should introduce myself!” the filly giggled. “I’m Sugar Snap! You have a name right?”

Lavender was surprised that she wasn’t teasing her right now. Was she really trying to be friendly to her? Although being still skeptical, the dracony decided to speak to her.

“My name is Lavender,” she responded softly.

“Ooh, so she can speak!” Sugar Snap chuckled. “Whatcha eating?”

“Why are you so interested in my lunch?”

“Just want to know, that’s all.”

Lavender was hesitant to tell the swirly, pink maned filly what she was eating. “Um… A fish sandwich, trout really.”

“Fish, huh?” Lavender prepared for the worst, expecting insults to come her way. “That’s different. How does fish taste?”

“Um… Fishy?”

For some reason, this response caused Sugar Snap to laugh, confusing Lavender further.

“Hey Sugar Snap, you got our ball!?” One of the other fillies called out.

“Yeah, I have it!” She called out. “It’s right over here by a girl named Lavender! She looks kind of lonely though. Mind if she plays with us?”

As the filly trotted towards her friend, she looked at the dracony and gave Sugar Snap an unsatisfactory look.

“Did she touch the ball?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“And you touched it!?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You’re touching something that has been touched by that! Haven’t you heard? Her type plays in filth all the time, and probably never bathe, so you picked up the result of her filth.”

Lavender gritted her teeth at the filly who stated faulty things about her.

“Just let her keep the ball Sugar Snap. It’s already been tainted enough as it is. Now come on; let’s go somewhere else to play. ” The fillies walked away from Lavender, leaving Sugar Snap there, staring at the angered dracony. She dropped the ball in front of Lavender and fluttered away.

“Figures,” Lavender muttered rolling the ball with her hands sadly. “At least I got a free ball out of it…”

She went back to her lunch, isolated from the others once again. She had finally given up on the idea of ever making friends. It just wasn’t meant to be. Someone as different and weird as her was not meant to have friends.

As she told herself this, a familiar pink maned pegasus returned with a small bag in her mouth. She dropped it in front of her and smiled warmly.

“Sorry about those meanies back there,” Sugar Snap said. “But hey, at least you got a free ball out of it!”

Lavender stared at the contents of the bag as Sugar Snap opened it.

“I saw how upset you were, so I brought you some coconut macaroons! Here, take them.”

Lavender just stared at the filly, causing Sugar Snap to worry a bit.

“Are you angry at me!? I’m sorry for leaving you here without telling you where I was going! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!”

“No it’s not that,” Lavender began, smiling softly. “I just...”

“What? What is it!?”

“Well, I hate coconut.” Lavender chuckled.

“Oh…sorry then.”

“No, it’s alright,” Lavender said opening her lunch box and pulling out cookies wrapped in foil. “If you want, you can have a macadamia nut cookie. You like macadamia nut?”

Sugar Snap’s eyes lit up at her offer. “I love macadamia! It’s really really good! But are you sure you want to share? You only have like two of them.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Lavender stated. “I probably wasn’t going to eat both of them anyways. Besides, you’re the only pony who has been nice to me since I’ve been in school.”

“Must be tough being different, huh?”

“Yeah, it is,” Lavender sighed.

“Hey, don’t look so glum! I like you; you seem pretty cool.”

“Really?”

“Why would I say it if I didn’t mean it?” Sugar Snap giggled.

The two of them sat and talked to each other, exchanging things about them and enjoying the rest of their lunch. For the first time, Lavender felt comfortable with a pony her age.

“Well, the bell is bound to ring at any moment,” Sugar Snap stated. “Wanna play a game before we have to go back to class?”

“Well, my aunt and I usually play a game called Predator and Prey… but you probably don’t want to play it.”

“How does the game go?”

“Well, the predator has to stalk the prey while the prey tries to find and evade the predator into safety.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting!” Sugar Snap smiled. “I call predator!”

“But I’m usually predator!” Lavender cried out, causing her new friend to smile smugly.

“Well, you should have called it before I did,” Sugar Snap taunted slightly tapping Lavender’s nose with her hoof. “Besides, isn’t it polite to let the new one pick their position?”

“Fine, you can be the silly predator,” Lavender groaned playfully. “Not like you’ll do well at it anyways!”

“Oh, that sounds like a challenge.”

“Not really a challenge when I know I’ll win!”

Sugar Snap laughed at Lavender’s response. “A cocky one I see. I’m going to have to change that.”

Lavender stuck her tongue out at the pegasus and ran off, tempting Sugar Snap to chase her. For the rest of recess, the two enjoyed playing the multitude of games they thought up, laughing and teasing each other at times. However, their time was cut short once they heard the bell rang, signaling the end of their recess.

“Aww,” Lavender groaned. “This sucks. I wanted to play some more!”

“I did too,” Sugar Snap stated. “But hey, we don’t have to limit ourselves to recess! If you want, we can hang out all the time.”

“Really?” Lavender’s eyes lit up with the promise of a new friend.

“Sure. I don’t see why not! But… I do have a couple of rules if you want to be my friend.”

“Such as?”

“Well, you know that little growling thing you did when the others were around? Yeah, don’t do that. Makes you look ugly." Sugar Snap flicked Lavender’s mane playfully. “The second is I’m always right! Doesn’t matter the situation, if I say it is, it is.”

Lavender looked at Sugar Snap confusedly. “But what if you are wrong?”

“See, you already challenged the second rule! I see some problems in our future,” Sugar Snap giggled. “But, since I’m a tolerant pony, I’ll let it slide. Oh yeah, I also made you something while we were playing!”

Sugar Snap flew towards the nearest bush and pulled out a headband made out of tulips, returning with a wide smile. “Here you go! It’ll look good on you.”

Lavender grabbed the headband and looked at it, before stuffing the flowers into her mouth. Sugar Snap looked at her disapprovingly.

“Um, you know you were supposed to wear that right?”

“Maybe, but if you hang around me long enough, you’ll learn that I hate flowers… or anything fru fru-ish.”

“Well, I’m learning more about you by the minute,” Sugar Snap chuckled. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind Lavender.”

The filly extended her hoof to shake Lavender’s claw, which the dracony happily accepted. It was the start of a new friendship, and a good step forward into making her school year enjoyable.

***

“So, you don’t think we should get anypony else involved?” Spike asked, rubbing his claws up and down his wife’s back.
“Oh, right there, honey,” Rarity moaned under Spike’s hands. “Now, to answer your question, I don’t think we should get anypony else involved just because a filly mocked our daughter.”

“But, what if it gets worse? You know better than I that this won’t be the last time she’s taunted!”

“Then we’ll… Ahh! … Deal with it ourselves,” Rarity sighed dreamily. “As long as no one hurts our baby physically… Yes, scratch right there… Then we should be able to handle it. She’s not going to fit in if she has princesses guarding her from verbal slander. It’ll just showcase how much different she is.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Spike agreed working Rarity’s back, causing her to melt under his touch. “Though, I think that filly’s parents need to be sterner on her.”

“Oh, trust me. I plan to talk to the parents of that child,” Rarity stated. “But now, I rather enjoy the little back treatment you’re giving me.”

“Yeah I can tell,” Spike smirked. “You’ve practically been purring throughout our conversation.”

“The benefits of marrying a guy with magic claws,” Rarity cooed. “Oh, Spike, if you could just go a little lower I’d love it. Lower… AHH! Not that low!”

“Oops, sorry!” Spike laughed, raising his hands from her backside and scratching her back, making her purr in delight.
“Daddy! Mommy!” The boutique door swung open and the voice of their daughter filled the house.

“Sounds like our little girl’s home,” Rarity pointed out. “Though she sounds… happy.”

Lavender walked into the living room, making sure not to step on the sleeping Opalescence’s tail.

“Mommy, Daddy, guess what!” the excited dracony exclaimed wagging her tail. “I made a friend today, an actual friend!”

“That’s fantastic sweetie!” Rarity congratulated. “So, what’s the young dear’s name?”

“Sugar Snap,” Lavender answered bouncing around. “She says I can play with her anytime I want!”

“Well that’s good,” Spike stated with a smile. “I bet it feels nice to have somepony act friendly towards you.”

“Sure does, Daddy! At first I thought all were jerks and wished horrible, nasty things upon them, but now that I made a friend…”

“Excuse me?” Rarity’s eyes widened at Lavender’s statement. “What do you mean horrible, nasty things?”

Oblivious to her mother’s question, Lavender hummed to herself and trotted to her room. “Sugar Snap, Sugar Snap! Sugar Sugar Sugar Snap!”

Rarity sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing even more than she already had.

“I have to say, we have an interesting dau— AAHHH! Spike! I told you not to touch me there!!”

Spike snickered at her reaction. “Oh, and what are you going to do about it?”

Without warning, Spike was assaulted by a barrage of pillows, pushing him off the couch.

“I swear I married the most immature dragon in Equestria!” Rarity shouted, playfully continuing her assault on her husband. What had started as a rough day for the entire family ended up with all of them in high spirits.

Author's Note:

There are no pictures this time, so I hope words are enough. If you read for anything other than words...then I'm a sad camper :'c

Pictures are not dead though.