Sneak Peek; Happy Birthday, MLP:FIM! · 3:32pm Oct 10th, 2020
Heya, Folks!
Welp, we know what today is: ‘tis the ten-year anniversary of FIM’s original air date. I’ve been seeing a lot of people saying they’re planning to publish stories in honor of it, which I think is a great idea. Unfortunately, I’ve been trying to focus on DaD and its prequel—and even more unfortunately suffering some block, so I’ve been binge reading my most recent Austraeoh installment instead (I’m currently about halfway through Urohringr— no spoilers!)—so I haven’t been able to write something new in time.
However, you guys hopefully remember that I’d said I was going to put together an ‘Early Years’ side story anthology for DaD; I did start that a while ago (unless I later determine otherwise, it’ll be solely marked [Slice of Life], since aside from that there will likely be a combination of [comedy], [sad], and [drama], but I’m not totally sure yet). I wanted to wait until I finished the prequel to start publishing the side stories because the first entry will be Cotton’s introduction to the orphanage, which will, obviously, be the ending of the prequel, so I’d like to have those connected. But, I haven’t written to the end of the prequel, so I haven’t started that first entry.
HOWEVER!
I think I’ve said this before, but this anthology is going to be a combination of short-ish entries from not only Cotton’s time in the orphanage, but the first few years after the adoption, too (I’ll probably publish one of each every time I update). So, I do have the first post-adoption piece done. Since I don’t have a full, stand-alone story ready for publication for the show’s ten-year anniversary, I’d like to give you guys a sneak peek of the side stories anthology instead. I’ve even got a cover for it already thanks to the awesome Little Tigress.
With all that said, without further ado, here’s the first (finished) entry of:
.
.
.
A Daughter and her Dragon Side Stories:
The Early Years
"Love" in the Library
“Aunt Luna, is this really okay? Aunt Twilight said she likes things to be quiet in the library.”
“Oh, most assuredly, dear Cotton. Thine aunt Twilight doth quite enjoy surprise visits from Us. With thine accompaniment, her enjoyment will be doubled!”
With a tilt of her head, Cotton asked, “But aren’t you supposed to be asleep?”
“…We… had a minor bout of insomnia.” As Luna and Cotton approached the large double doors that led into the castle library, Luna held a hoof up to her muzzle. “Now thou must hush, dear Cotton. As thou hast already claimed, ‘tis a library; silence is crucial for our approach.”
Cotton nodded soundlessly as the princess slowly opened one of the doors, making nary a sound, then beckoned for her to follow as the door shut behind her via Luna’s aura.
Walking on the tips of her hooves, Luna crept along the side walls of the library, Cotton following her example as they maneuvered around carts of unshelved, but still organized books. They could hear the faint clip-clop of Twilight’s hooves as she traversed the aisles, her aura returning several airbound tomes to their proper places on the shelves.
As they neared the numerous rows of bookshelves, Luna stopped, then turned around and cast a spell on her and Cotton’s hooves.
With a tilt of her head, Cotton whispered, “What’s that, Aunt Luna?”
“‘Tis a sound dampening spell. We do not want to reveal ourselves to thine aunt Twilight just yet,” Luna quietly replied, covering a snicker as they continued along their path. When they reached the entrance of an aisle, Luna pressed herself up against the side of the massive bookshelf, beckoning for Cotton to do the same. Peeking around the edge and finding the aisle empty, she then gestured for Cotton to follow behind her as her ears pursued the sound of Twilight’s hooves.
As the two of them pressed themselves against the edge of the next shelf, Cotton whispered, “Aunt Luna, what—”
“Shh, dear Cotton,” Luna interrupted, her ears up at attention. “She is not far.” After peeking around the edge of the shelf again, Luna beckoned for Cotton’s accompaniment once more.
At the next shelf, Luna repeated the process, then at the following shelf, after peeking around the corner, the princess’s head snapped back and a wicked grin crossed her muzzle. Leaning down to Cotton’s ear, she whispered, “Remain here, dear Cotton. And We would advise thee to shield thine ears.” When the filly furrowed her brows in confusion, she added, “Just trust Us.”
Cotton shrugged, then covered her ears with her hooves. Luna nodded, peeked around the corner again, then silently crept into the center of the aisle. Cotton saw Luna inhale deeply…
Then the entire library shook.
.
“HUZZAH!”
.
Cotton clenched her teeth and eyes together with the shout, then she heard an ear-piercing shriek from down the aisle, followed by a boisterous laugh and the sound of several books slamming onto the floor. Looking back for her lunar aunt, all she found was a dust cloud in the princess’s likeness.
“Flee, Cotton, flee!”
Cotton quickly looked around the corner of the shelf and saw Twilight gnashing her teeth together with a growl before rushing to the end of the aisle and swiping away the dust cloud with a wing.
.
“LUNAAAA!”
.
Her eyes widening, Cotton scrambled behind the massive bookshelf as she watched Twilight pant for breath, anger carved in her features. The princess looked from side to side, spotting Cotton cringing behind the shelf; then she smacked her face with a hoof and groaned.
“She hasn’t even been here a week, Luna!”
Twilight let out a sigh as she shook her head and approached Cotton, who stood peeking out from behind the other side of the shelf.
“I-I’m sorry,” Cotton stammered. “She said you liked it when you got surprise visits.”
With a light chuckle, Twilight responded, “You have no reason to apologize, Cotton. Luna does that to me all the time. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” She looked back towards the door to the library and let out a huff. “One of these days I’ll get her back, but I’ve never been good at pranks.”
Cotton shuffled on her hooves for a minute as she looked at the floor, then mumbled, “Well, I…”
Looking back down to Cotton, Twilight raised her brows and said, “Hm? Is everything alright, Cotton?”
“Well…” Cotton sat and rubbed a foreleg for a second, then a tiny smile made its way onto her muzzle as her eyes glanced up to meet Twilight’s. “When I was younger, one of the older colts set Mother Matron’s alarm clock to go off in the middle of the night…”
Twilight’s eyebrows lowered to their original position. After a moment, she smirked as she side-eyed the library doors. “That’s so simple. Why didn’t I think of that?” Tousling Cotton’s mane and eliciting a giggle from the filly, she added, “Somewhere up there, Rainbow Dash is clapping her hooves for you, Cotton…”
.
Dammit, I love writing Luna so much. 
Bear in mind, this is self-edited, and the entirety of the anthology likely will be, too, so if you catch any errors, please let me know!
Until next time, folks!
.
Also, to those of you reading in Night Mode, sorry for the random white periods. For some reason the site wouldn't put gaps in some places where I wanted them, no matter how many times I hit 'Enter', so I had to use placeholders. ^^;
That was delightful, Dash! I love how you make Luna into such a prankster and Twilight into her foil. And Cotton, as always is so cute. Can't wait to see more of her younger years.