A Daughter and her Dragon

by Level Dasher


Chapter Thirty - Forever Family

“So, we’re really okay? Your dad isn’t gonna like, eat me?”

Cotton groaned. “For the last time, Steady, yes, we’re fine! I already talked to my dad. And he already told you he wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Well, that was before we—” He stopped when Cotton glared at him. “Alright, alright! I mean, my mom doesn’t know a thing… I’m not really sure what she’d say,” Steadclaw said, looking over his shoulder to make sure his mother wasn’t lurking behind him. He blew out a sigh. “So how was your weekend up at the Crystal—”

“Don’t,” Cotton said, cutting him off as a shiver went down her spine. “Please don’t.”

Steadclaw tilted his head at her as they flew over Central Canterlot. “Umm… okay.” Taking in their surroundings, he then asked, “So, who exactly is this you’re taking me to meet?”

She smiled at the change of subject. “You’ll see. C’mon, it’s right over there.” She pointed to a building with an expansive yard and a low wrought-iron fence surrounding it, before circling down and landing on the street in front of it. The word ‘Welcome!’ wrapped above an ornate crescent moon hung above the gate. Peering at the building through the fence, she said, “Wow, almost didn’t recognize the place.”

When Steadclaw saw the sign above the building’s doors, he understood. “Oh.” He shuffled his paws for a moment before asking sheepishly, “How long since you’ve last been here?”

“Given the improvements, too long,” Cotton answered, taking in the building’s new appearance before she opened the gate with surprising ease. “Gotta be at least three and a half years, though. Probably longer.” Steadclaw looked around the yard warily as he followed her to the front doors. When they got close enough, they heard the chaos of badly restrained voices coming from inside. “Must be lunchtime,” Cotton giggled.

A few moments after she knocked on the door, Cotton heard a faint voice cut through the din. “Coming, coming! One second! Hey, no throwing food!” The sound of rapid clip-clopping reached their ears just before a panting, distracted middle-aged unicorn mare wearing a modest black smock answered the door. “Hello… I’m sorry, but—” The mare’s apology died in her throat when her gaze fell on a smiling Cotton; a wide grin split her features and her eyes sparkled. “MOTHER! MOTHER! COME TO THE DOOR!” she called behind her. “Wait, no, she can’t. NEVERMIND! I’LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!” The mare turned back to Cotton, galloped in place with glee for a beat, then thrust her forelegs open.

Cotton giggled as she embraced the mare. “It’s great to see you, too, Tender. I’m sorry it’s been so long. How’ve you been?”

The mare let out a deep, happy sigh before responding, “Good, Cotton, good. Just overwhelmed as usual. You know, chasing paperwork, cooking children, filling out meals… No, wait, I mean—” She leaned back from the hug and held Cotton’s shoulders, shaking her head. “Nevermind. It really hasn’t been the same since you left, but just look at you! You look absolutely stunning!” Cotton blushed as she accepted the compliment. “Mother Matron’s shown me all your letters. Obviously the life of royalty has done wonders for you!”

“Well, I can’t deny that,” Cotton responded with a sheepish smile.

The mare looked over at Steadclaw with a smile and asked, “So, is this the griffon you mentioned?”

Cotton nodded and answered, “Yeah. Tender, this is my boyfriend, Steadclaw.” Turning to him, she continued, “Steadclaw, this is Tender Care. She helps run the orphanage with Mother Matron.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Steadclaw said, hesitantly offering his claw.

“A pleasure to meet you as well,” Tender Care responded, giving him her hoof. Turning back to Cotton with a giddy smile, she whispered, “Wonders in more ways than one!”

Cotton blushed again before nodding. When a squealing foal’s voice punctuated the conversation, she asked, “I’m guessing it’s lunchtime?”

Tender Care’s eyebrows shot up. “Yes, and I need to get back in there! This group is running us ragged,” she grumbled. Looking at Cotton again with her ears flattened, she started, “Is there… any chance—”

“Of course,” Cotton answered with another smile. “Steadclaw’ll help, too.”

“Uh, I will?”

“Oh, you two are lifesavers,” Tender Care gasped out. “Come, I’ll bring you to the dining room. Mother Matron is going to be so happy to see you! Both of you!” As she turned around and rushed back down the hall, Steadclaw hesitated at the door.

“Uh, were you expecting to come and help out here?” he asked Cotton.

“Yeah,” she replied, guiding him inside with her wing before shutting the door behind her and walking ahead of him. “I’ve been writing them letters every now and then—I wrote them one recently and talked about you—but I’ve been meaning to actually come back here for a while now. Figured I’d take the opportunity to introduce you, and show you what life was like for me before I became a ‘royal,’” she giggled.

“…Oh,” Steadclaw said, glancing down each of the adjoining hallways as he followed Cotton. “Um, alright.”

Cotton looked back at him to find his eyes uneasily shifting to and fro. “You okay?” she asked.

Letting out a breath, Steadclaw replied, “Yeah, it’s just… I dunno, this just feels kinda… weird. Something about this place. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it, it looks really nice. I just… Well, I don’t really know what I’m feeling.”

“Maybe upset that anyone would need to live here in the first place, no matter how friendly it may be,” Cotton answered readily, a touch of sadness in her voice.

When the sound of clicking claws on the wooden floors vanished, Cotton halted her stride and turned around to find Steadclaw standing in place, looking away from her. “…Yeah.”

Cotton sighed, then she put her forelegs softly over his shoulders. “It’s okay. You’re used to having family around, even if you don’t really talk much. The thought of someone not having one at all is probably just… unthinkable, right?”

Gently pulling out of Cotton’s embrace, he answered, “That… pretty much hits the nail on the head.”

Cotton nodded. “Well, it’s an unfortunate reality. I know you’ve only known me as the royal adopted daughter with a big family, but this was my home for a long time. I actually used to help out quite a bit myself since I was the oldest one here for a while. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back.” She turned around and added, “Now you’ll get to see me in action.”

“Yeah, sure,” Steadclaw responded, his voice distant.

Stopping again, Cotton asked, “Hey, do you wanna leave? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you’d be so uncomfortable here. I’m gonna stay, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Steadclaw replied, shaking his head as he got up to follow her again. “Sorry for freaking out like that.”

“Don’t worry about it, I understand,” Cotton said, kissing him on the cheek. “Thanks for stickin’ around. C’mon, lemme introduce you to Mother Matron.”

As Cotton reached the dining room, she cracked the door open just a bit to find a crowd of foals gathered around a large table, some actually eating, others doing everything except eating, but nearly all contributing to the bedlam. Mother Matron circled the table, attempting to keep some semblance of order while Tender Care fed an infant in a high chair, flicking her gaze toward the door.

“Mother Matron, I think somepony wants to see you in the hall,” Tender Care said with a grin.

“Tender, please, we don’t have any appointments with prospective parents today, and I have no time for solicitors,” Mother Matron said in exasperation. Her attention snapped to one of the colts at the table, and she shouted, “Hey, that goes in your mouth, not your nose!

Tender Care shrugged. “Well, alright, I guess they’ll just have to come in themselves,” she said, raising her voice as she winked at Cotton through the crack in the door.

Mother Matron groaned. “Tender, would you please—” She cut herself short when Cotton walked into the room with a wide grin as Steadclaw stayed in the hall. She let out an uncharacteristic ear-piercing squeal that silenced the entire group of foals as she dashed across the room and gave Cotton a bone-crushing hug. “COTTON! Oh, sweetie, it’s so good to see you!” Holding Cotton at foreleg’s length, she gave her a once-over and continued, “By Luna’s moon, you look absolutely incredible! How are you?”

Cotton giggled, “Thanks, Mother Matron. I’m good. I’m sorry it’s been so long, I’ve been meaning to—”

“Mama Matron? Who’s that?” one of the younger colts piped up from the table.

“Hey, I think that’s her on the wall!” a filly answered, pointing to an old picture of Cotton in a pale green dress and sun hat, sitting amongst a corkboard filled to bursting with photos.

“Huh?” Cotton asked. “What’s—”

“Indeed it is, Ruby,” Matron interrupted with a smile. Turning back to Cotton, she asked, “May I introduce you now?”

Cotton replied, “Can I introduce someone to you first?” Lowering her voice, she added, “Just go easy on him, he’s a little nervous.”

Matron tilted her head. “‘Him’?” Then she let out a gasp as she clapped her hooves together. “Him?” When Cotton nodded, Matron toned herself down. “Ahem, please do.”

Cotton giggled as she turned towards the door. “Come on in, Steadclaw.” When he hesitantly stuck his head through the door, a few of the younger children let out small gasps, and he flinched. Cotton took a quick glance at the group, then said, “Don’t worry, they won’t bite.”

“I know, but I don’t want them to think I will…” he replied.

“Nonsense, they’re just surprised,” Matron told him. “We don’t see many griffons around here. Please, come in.” Steadclaw nodded as he slowly made his way in and approached her. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Steadclaw,” she said, offering her hoof to him. “Cotton sounded so happy when she wrote to me about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Steadclaw responded, shaking her hoof before tilting his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t really know anything about you.”

Matron chuckled. “Nothing to be sorry about, dear. Cotton clearly has plenty on her mind, especially given the family she was adopted into. There’s really not much time to talk about us.”

“Who is it?” one of the older colts asked.

“Who’s what, Aster?” Matron said.

“Who’s her new family?”

Matron put her hoof to her muzzle and chuckled again as she addressed Cotton. “Well, sweetie, now can I make the introduction?” When Cotton nodded, she continued, “Kids, this is Cotton Candy. She used to live here, too, but she was adopted four years ago by—” She stopped, then turned to Cotton with a smirk. “Why don’t you tell them? Just be ready to get swarmed.”

Cotton giggled, then turned to the group of children. “Who knows about Sir Spike of the Canterlot Archives?” The majority of the group swapped confused glances at each other, many of them shrugging. “The Dragon of Ponyville?” At that, all of them smiled and raised their hooves, and Cotton giggled again. “Well, he lives and works in Canterlot Castle with the Princesses now.”

“So?” Aster asked, plainly uninterested in the history lesson.

“So…” Cotton smirked as she paused, then answered, “He’s my dad.”

The sound of a large collection of gasps and the squeaking of chairs prompted Mother Matron to laugh and hold a hoof up in front of Steadclaw as she backed them both away from Cotton, giving the colts and fillies plenty of room to surround her.

“So you live in the castle, too?”
“Are you a princess?”
“Do I hafta call you ‘Your Highness’?”
“Where’s your tiara?”
“Do you have your own room?”
“How big is your bed?”
“Which princess is your mommy?”
“What’s a dragon daddy like?”
“Do you still hafta go to school?”
“Can you make school illegal?”

Looking back at Steadclaw, Cotton laughed as the kids barraged her with questions. Holding a claw to his beak to suppress his own laughter, Steadclaw then turned to Mother Matron and said, “Wow, you totally called that one.”

Matron smirked. “Well, Cotton was adopted into quite a unique family. She’s bound to have this happen, particularly with kids; they’re a very curious lot.” As Cotton ruffled a few of the kids’ manes and answered their questions as best she could, Matron let out a sigh, smiling as she turned to Steadclaw. “You’ve got quite a catch in her, young griffon.”

Steadclaw let out his own sigh. “I know. She’s amazing; just look at her,” he said, gesturing with his claw at Cotton, who had somehow settled the children into sitting down and listening to her intently as she spoke about her life in the castle. Steadclaw shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know what I did to deserve her.”

Matron smiled as she laid a hoof on his shoulder. “You make her happy, Steadclaw. The last letter I read from her had nothing but joy written in it. Cotton’s always told me about at least one thing that made her unhappy in her previous letters, but this past letter… nothing. If something has been upsetting her, she didn’t care to mention it. That’s because of you. You outshine anything that might be bothering her.”

“You really think so?” Steadclaw asked her.

Nodding, Matron answered, “I know so.” Then she gave Steadclaw a gentle hug. At first he flinched, then he returned it. “Thank you, Steadclaw. Cotton is very special to me. For all the years I’ve been running this orphanage, Cotton stayed here the longest. She became like a daughter to me. When Sir Spike decided to adopt her, I was overjoyed that she finally found a loving home, but at the same time… it broke my heart.” She looked over at the board covered in photos, many of them with little stickers of houses in the corners. Above it sat big, bold letters spelling out the words ‘Forever Family.’

“You’ve let go of a lot of foals over the years,” Steadclaw replied, looking at all of the house stickers.

“Indeed. But when Cotton left, I realized that all the children that have walked these halls have been my family, so I put that up on the wall. I looked back through our records of all of the adopted children that had ever been here, and put their pictures up. It was quite a collection, and it’s only grown since then. Whenever a child comes to live here, I put their picture on the board. When they are adopted, I put on a sticker. This current group has always seen that board here, so they have always known that if they reside in this home, they will always have at least one family to which they belong. Until they find another.” She sighed, then looked back at Cotton, still speaking to the enraptured children. “Cotton was here for so long. She had begun to lose hope…” After she allowed a single tear to roll down her cheek, Matron smiled. “But look at her now. A loving family, confidence in herself…” She turned to Steadclaw. “A special someone…” Steadclaw rubbed the back of his neck as his face flushed. Looking at Cotton once more, Matron said, “I’m so proud of her.”

Steadclaw just sat, nodding. Then he turned his attention back to the board, with Cotton’s picture set near the middle, surrounded by dozens of others. Family… he thought to himself.

And he smiled.

Ж

“Well, that looks like the last one,” Cotton said, looking over at the table as she placed the last dish in the drying rack, then wiped her hooves. “You two really have a lot—” Cotton put a hoof to her forehead. “Dammit, Dad, why did you give me puns?”

“What do we ‘have a lot’ of?” Mother Matron asked her from the cupboard. “And language, please.”

Cotton groaned. “A lot on your plates. And sorry.”

Matron chuckled, “That was good! The children would’ve laughed!”

“I blame my dad. I’m officially the unintentional punner. If that’s even a word,” Cotton huffed.

“Hey, if you can’t help it, embrace it,” Steadclaw called from the table with a smirk as he wiped it clean with a cloth.

“Hush, you,” Cotton responded, sticking her tongue out at him. “And wipe that smirk off your… face. Ugghhhhh,” she finished, as Steadclaw and Matron both laughed.

“Thank you so much, both of you,” Matron said. “Cleaning up for us while Tender watches the kids gave me time to finish up some important paperwork. I even got to make the beds! The children will be shocked,” she chuckled.

“You’re welcome, Mother Matron,” Cotton and Steadclaw said in unison, before looking at each other and smirking.

Looking out the window into the back yard, Matron let out a sigh. “This is the most well-behaved I’ve ever seen them all. It must be something about you. There’s usually at least one argument, but not today.” She shrugged, then released another happy sigh. “It really is the little things.”

Cotton smiled herself as she approached Matron. “So what happened to this place? It looks almost brand new!”

Smiling, Matron answered, “That would be your father, sweetie.” She looked around the room. “We’ve had a constant stream of funding since you left. Granted, the children still share rooms, but over the years we’ve gotten new beds, new furniture, new toys and games, we repaved and re-planted the grass in the front and back play yards… and you must have seen the front gate.”

“Yeah, I was surprised when I didn’t need to jiggle the door to get it open. And the new paint job looks great!” Cotton’s gaze shifted to the board hanging on the wall. Walking up to it, she asked, “So… when did this go up?”

“Just after you left,” Steadclaw answered from behind her.

When Cotton cocked a brow at him, Matron nodded and gave her a similar explanation to the one she gave Steadclaw, accompanied by a few tears on both mares’ parts.

As Cotton released herself from a hug with Mother Matron, she said, “Guess there’s another reason some of them call you ‘Mama,’ huh?”

“You can’t have some of the reasons to be ‘Mama.’ You’ve got to have all of them,” she replied with a smile that reached her eyes.

Cotton sat back and looked at the board once again, searching its contents and pointing to a few pictures with stickers here and there, her smile growing slightly with each point. After a while, she said, “Yeah, that’s everyone. They all left?”

“All your ‘brothers and sisters,’ yes. They all found loving homes,” Matron answered with a nod, smiling herself. “Like I said, this is a whole new group, each of them with their own stories and their own quirks.” Looking out the window with a deadpan stare, she added, “And each of them with their own special method of driving us up the wall.” Cotton and Steadclaw couldn’t help but chuckle. When a few fillies’ heads popped into the window frame to peer at them, Matron smiled again. “Come, let me bring you out back while they’re still behaving. It looks like you may have more questions to answer, if that’s alright with you.”

“Sure,” Cotton giggled, allowing Mother Matron to lead her and Steadclaw outside.

As the three of them walked out into the play yard, they were approached by Ruby and another filly, with Aster trailing just behind them.

“Mother Matron, can we ask Miss Cotton something?” the other filly asked.

Cotton rolled her eyes. I can’t escape the ‘Miss’ thing anywhere, can I?

“I’m not the one whose permission you need, Amber,” Mother Matron replied, turning to Cotton.

Lowering her head to meet the filly’s eye, Cotton said, “You can ask me anything as long as you just call me ‘Cotton.’”

Nodding, the fillies glanced at each other, then looked up at Aster. He rolled his eyes at them, then looked at Cotton and casually waved his hoof up and down at her. “They wanna know how you got those scars.” Both fillies flinched at the uninterested tone of his voice before staring at Cotton once more.

“Ah.” Cotton gave Aster a knowing look, then turned to the fillies and asked, “Have you learned about the Great Canterlot Fire that happened thirteen years ago?” She noticed their shoulders relaxing a little as they nodded. Nodding in return, she said, “That’s how. And it’s why I came here.”

“Told ya,” Aster said to the fillies, who shrugged at him with unsure smiles. Looking back at Cotton, he asked her, “Why’d you try to cover ‘em up in your picture?”

Cotton looked at him for a moment, then felt Steadclaw nudge her. Looking at the griffon beside her, she saw him raise his eyebrows with a smug smirk. Shrugging, she turned back to Aster and shook her head. “I dunno. Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

Shaking his head in return, Aster said, “No, you shouldn’t’ve. You look good like that.” Then he casually turned around and strolled back into the yard.

Steadclaw watched the colt walk away, then he let out a grunt as he put a claw around Cotton’s withers. “I think that kid’s trying to steal you from me.”

Ruby and Amber swapped excited glances before Amber asked, “Do you like, like-like each other?”

“Are you in love?” Ruby quickly added.

Cotton and Steadclaw smiled at each other before Cotton turned and gave him a kiss on the beak. Then she asked, “Does that answer your questions?”

The fillies giggled before Amber asked, “Are you gonna get married?”

Steadclaw glanced at Cotton and rubbed the back of his head as he answered, “Uh, we haven’t thought that far ahead.”

The fillies jumped up and down, ignoring his answer before they chimed in unison, “Are you gonna have kids?

Both Cotton’s and Steadclaw’s eyes widened as they stared at each other.

“Okay girls, I think that’s enough,” Mother Matron chided. After shooing the giggling fillies back into the play yard, she said, “Sorry about that, those two are an interesting pair.” When she got no response, she turned back to look at Cotton and Steadclaw.

They still stared at each other.

Ж

Mother Matron let out a long, happy sigh. “It was so good to see you again, Cotton. Thank you so much for stopping by. Please, don’t be a stranger.”

Letting go of the hug, Cotton responded, “Great to see you, too. And I won’t.” After glancing around the front yard at all the children, she whispered, “Maybe you can all take a day trip to the castle one day. No guarantees, but I’ll talk to my dad and see if I can make it happen.”

Matron smiled. “Oh, that would be wonderful! Thank you! The children would be thrilled.”

“And it might give us a bit of a break,” Tender Care chuckled from beside her, taking her turn to hug Cotton. “Speaking of which, thank you for helping earlier. And thank you for the treats; they were absolutely delicious! You’ve really grown into your cutie mark!”

Cotton giggled. “You’re welcome. And thanks.”

Mother Matron called out to all the children in the yard, “Everypony, what do you say to Cotton for making that wonderful batch of cookies for us?”

“Thank you, Cotton!” they all chimed in unison, before going back to their own activities.

“You’re welcome, everyone,” Cotton called back with a smile.

“It was great to meet you both,” Steadclaw said to both Mother Matron and Tender Care, shaking their hooves in turn. “Kinda cool to see Cotton’s roots,” he added with a smile.

“Well, they blossomed rather well, didn’t they?” Matron replied with a grin. Cotton groaned. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Steadclaw. Take care of yourself.”

“And take care of Cotton, or you’ll have to answer to us,” Tender Care said with a smirk, giving him a light nudge to the shoulder.

“I will,” Steadclaw replied. The three of them chuckled. Cotton groaned once again.

Ж

“So, you glad you stayed?” Cotton asked Steadclaw as they flew back towards the castle.

“Yeah. It was actually kinda cool. Felt pretty good to help out like that,” he replied. Smirking, he added, “And I finally got to eat your cookies.”

Cotton faltered in midair before her cheeks reddened. “You’re lucky I’m flying, you jerk,” she retorted, blowing a raspberry at him. “So are you gonna tell your mom about our little roll in the clouds? My dad already knows.”

Rubbing the back of his neck as he blushed, Steadclaw answered, “Uhhhhhh…  did I mention your baking is really good?” When Cotton cocked a brow at him, he let out a breath. “Not yet. Maybe later.”

As the two of them neared the castle, they saw Spike standing out in front of the main doors, speaking with a smaller figure beside him. When they drew closer, Steadclaw flinched. “Orrrr… Maybe she already knows,” he muttered.

Cotton let out a small sigh. “Relax, I’m sure it won’t be that bad. My dad didn’t make a huge fuss out of it; your mom probably won’t, either.”

Steadclaw sighed as well. “I reeeeeeeally hope you’re right.”

When Spike and Stella caught sight of them, they shifted their posture. Spike stood straight, his claws resting on his knees as he hid any sign of emotion. Stella, however, curled her head down into her chest plumage and closed her eyes.

As the teens landed, Steadclaw said, “Uhhh… hi, Mom. What are you doing here?”

Stella said nothing. She just let out a deep sigh.

Steadclaw turned his head and looked at Cotton with worry, then dared to look up at Spike. The dragon was just as silent.

As he crept toward his mother, Steadclaw tried again. “Mom… is everything okay?”

Stella straightened her head, then let out another deep sigh before she opened her eyes and gave her son a level stare.

“Steadclaw… We need to talk.”