//------------------------------// // Chapter Fifty-Three - The Next Chapter // Story: A Daughter and her Dragon // by Level Dasher //------------------------------// Cotton and Celestia exited the throne room’s rear doors, another session of Day Court completed. “Wonderful job today as usual, Cotton,” Celestia told her niece with a smile. “Thank you for your help with the cadet from the Wonderbolts. How did you know about her family’s real estate woes?” “Her daughter is one of the fillies Flarechaser looks after at the academy,” Cotton answered. “She actually talked to Flare about it, and Flare told me.” Celestia raised a brow. “Even if it was given to your friend freely, that is not information she should’ve shared with you.” She hummed to herself. “It seems it did help in the long-run, but next time you see her, please tell your friend not to divulge her clients’ private matters again.”  Nodding, Cotton responded, “I will, Auntie. Sorry about that; I didn’t know.” “It’s alright; it was beneficial in this one case. But still—” “She shouldn’t do it,” Cotton finished for her. “Got it, I’ll tell her. I’m gonna go get Aunt Twilight for Dusk Court. Gotta clock out, too.” Celestia chuckled. “I’ve told you many times, Cotton, you don’t need to ‘clock out.’ We know when you’ve worked.” “I know,” Cotton said with a shrug, “but it sounds more official that way. See ya later, Auntie,” she finished, giving Celestia a nuzzle.  “I’ll see you later, Cotton,” Celestia responded, nuzzling her in return. “I have a meeting with Ambassador Gulliver shortly, so you may run into him.” “Sounds good.” After making her way to Twilight’s study on the second floor, Cotton knocked on the door. “Come in!” “Hey, Aunt Twilight,” Cotton said as she stepped into the room. “Dusk Court’s coming up.” Twilight smiled as she looked up from her desk. “Oh, hello, Cotton. Thank you. How was Day Court today?” Cotton shrugged. “Good. Not much different than usual. Did manage to help out one of the Wonderbolt cadets, though.” “That’s great! I’m sure they were very grateful you were there.” After pulling open a drawer and doing a quick shuffle through a few pieces of parchment, Twilight withdrew one marked-up piece and set it on her desk. “Usual hours today, I assume.” “Yep,” Cotton replied with a nod. “Three hours for breakfast and lunch prep, and five for Day Court. ” “Alright. Those crepes this morning were delicious, by the way.” Cotton smiled. “Thanks. I am kinda partial to the berry combo.” “So am I. Okay, I marked the extra hour you spent helping with dinner yesterday, and Luna also asked me to give you another hour’s worth for that batch of cookies you made specially for her.” Cotton huffed. “Don’t put that on there. I told Aunt Luna I made her those as a thank-you for that awesome dream the other night.”  Twilight chuckled. “She said you’d say that. She was insistent.” Dragging a hoof down her muzzle, Cotton grumbled, “Dammit, Aunt Luna.” “This really is quite impressive,” Twilight said with a smile, her eyebrows rising. Looking up at her aunt, Cotton asked, “What is?” Turning the parchment around on her desk, Twilight replied, “Look how much you’ve earned over the past six months.” Cotton walked up to Twilight’s desk and looked at the parchment. Numerous lines of simple equations ran down it, total values including the previous line’s final number beside each one. Cotton’s jaw almost dropped when she saw the number Twilight had just written on the sheet. “Seriously?” Twilight nodded. “And that’s after your various withdrawals.” “…Damn.” Just then, wisps of green smoke came in from under Twilight’s door, then a scroll apparated in front of Cotton. “What does your dad have to say?” Looking at the seal on the scroll, Cotton answered, “It’s not Dad, it’s from the front door. Gotta tell ya, Dad putting that flame at the castle entrance has been seriously convenient.” Twilight chuckled again. “Your father is always coming up with new ways to make communication easier around here.” After unrolling and reading the scroll, Cotton smiled and said, “One of my friends is here. I gotta go.”  Twilight stood up and responded, “So do I; I need to get to court.” Cotton gave Twilight a nuzzle as she came around her desk. “See ya later, Aunt Twilight.” “See you later, Cotton,” Twilight said, nuzzling her back before she ran out the door. After making her way to the top of the main staircase, Cotton found the front door open with one of the guards standing beside it, gesturing to the filly standing there. “Miss Flarechaser for you, Cotton.” “Cotton! I found it!” the filly cried, dancing on her hooves. “I found the perfect place!” Starting down the stairs, Cotton asked, “Place for what?” “For your bakery, duh!” Cotton grinned. “Seriously? Finally! You gotta show me!” She galloped down the rest of the stairs and met her friend at the door. First she turned around and addressed the guards. “Thanks, gentlecolts. Later!” “See you later, Cotton!” they chorused in unison, before stamping their spears on the floor. Flarechaser laughed. “I love it when they do that. C’mon!”  When the guard closed the door behind them, and Flarechaser readied to take off, Cotton held her back. “Wait, Flare, hold up real quick.” The filly stopped and asked, “‘Sup?” “Aunt Celestia told me to tell you not to talk about your clients’ private stuff again. Like the one with the real estate issue.” Flarechaser’s ears flattened. “Oh… Sorry. I told you ‘cause she said she was gonna go talk to Princess Celestia in the court, and I knew you were gonna be there. Thought it’d be nice for her to have a little advantage.” Cotton deadpanned at her. “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have told me.” “…Oops.” She held up a hoof and crossed the other across her chest. “Won’t do it again, I swear.”  As Flarechaser readied to take off again, the smile lifted back onto Cotton’s muzzle. “Good. Now— oh, hold up.”  Twisting her body back around like a pretzel, Flarechaser groaned, “Again?” Raising a hoof, Cotton said, “Just for a sec.” An amber griffon with a satchel over his shoulder detached itself from the air traffic; he landed with a smile. “Good evening, Miss Cotton.” “Good evening, Ambassador Gulliver. Aunt Celestia said you had a meeting?” “Indeed we do. And it seems you have one of your own.” Cotton smiled back at him. “I guess you could say that. Have a good one, sir.” “You as well, Miss Cotton.” He then turned and knocked on the door. The guard opened up and welcomed him in. Rolling her eyes, Flarechaser said, “I don’t get why you’re so friendly with him. Especially—”  “Different king, different ambassador,” Cotton interrupted. “Now come on, show me this place.” “Yeah! C’mon!” Flarechaser shook her head, then lifted off into the air and made a left, Cotton following behind her. “So where is it?” “It’s on Oak Street, right by East Canterlot Park. It’s a great spot, too.” Cotton grimaced as she caught up to Flarechaser’s side. “Oak Street? That’s like, as far south as you can go and still be in the upper east side. That’s a bit further than I’d like. Remember, I’d have to get there early every day to prep. I’d need to get up super early to get to Oak.” “I know, I know. But just wait ‘til you see the place.” With a shrug, Cotton said, “Alright, doesn’t hurt to look. Hey, wait—how did you end up on the east side? The Wonderbolt Academy is on the completely opposite side of Canterlot. And south!” “There was a, uh… bit of an accident at HQ—no, I didn’t cause it—so there’s some construction going on. The nursery is out of commission, so I didn’t have to work today. That cadet who came and talked to you and Princess Celestia? She told me about some of the places she’d looked at. This is one of them.”  “Wow, this mare must confide in you a lot.” Flarechaser shrugged. “She’s a friend of the changeling that got me the job up there. She’s actually got a son around our age, too. Went to school in Central. So she talks to me ‘cause she’s used to talking to ponies our age. And she doesn’t wanna tell him about their problems.” Cocking a brow, Cotton smirked and asked, “This someone that Zora-Terra should be worried about?” “Pfft, nah, Zora’s got my full attention. I’m nothing if not loyal. Captain Dash would be proud.” “Hey, speaking of loyalty, if your client’s been looking for places, why are you taking me to one that she might want?” Flarechaser shook her head. “It isn’t residential. There’s one above it, but it’s taken. I even asked her if it was cool for us to take a look, and she said go for it. Since I’ve got the day off I figured I’d just come and check it out, and damn, am I glad I did! This spot’s perfect!” Cotton tilted her head as they continued flying. “You came all the way out here for me?” Flipping around and flying upside down in the same direction, Flarechaser smirked and pointed at Cotton as she responded, “Hey, gotta help a filly out when she needs it!” Then she tumbled in the air and righted herself before they continued forward. “Okay, still gotta practice that.” Cotton chuckled. “Not bad, though. Wanna learn how to dead drop?” The filly’s eyes widened as she put on a grin. “Totally. But another day.” “Sounds good.” After a half-hour flight, the fillies touched down in front of the western entrance to the city’s east park. Across the street on the building’s corner, they saw an empty storefront with cardboard covering the floor and walls, and a sign in the window that read, ‘FOR RENT OR LEASE.’ “See?” Flarechaser said. “It’s literally right across the street from the park exit. The first thing anypony walking out of the park will see will be you. And check it…” She galloped across the street, beckoning Cotton to follow her. Looking through the window through a gap in the cardboard, she pointed to the back of the room and through a door, showing her what appeared to be a stove hidden in the dim light. “…It looks like this was a cafe or something, so it’s already got a kitchen. And look down the block.” She turned around and pointed her hooves in both directions from the corner. A jeweler, a bookstore, a stylist, an antique store, a pharmacy, and a carriage dealer had all set up shop. “This entire street is practically all retail. No restaurants, no cafes, no ice cream shops, nothing. So no competition! And look, you’ve got a bookstore right across the street that way; Princess Twilight will be here all the time. Or you could bring her something back as a present, or something. I’m telling you, this place is perfect!” Cotton put a hoof to her muzzle, first looking at the building, then the park entrance, then down both sides of the street. “Oh, sweet aunties… it is perfect.”  Turning back around, Flarechaser pointed at the sign in the window. “It’s two-thousand bits a month for rent. That’s pretty legit for a city storefront. How much’ve you made at home the past few months?” Her eyes widening, Cotton rubbed one of her forelegs. “Uh…” “Oh c’mon, you can’t tell me the royals have been stiffing you.” “Umm… no, not exactly.” “Then how much you got? You can’t tell me you can’t afford at least the first month or two.” Cotton bowed her head, then mumbled, “Just about nineteen thousand bits.” “WHAT? Holy horseapples, girl, you’ve got this in the bag!” “I mean, yeah, I guess, but—” “Don’t give me ‘I guess,’” Flarechaser huffed. “You’ve totally got this.”  Looking up at the windows above the shop, Cotton said, “But what about the folks who live upstairs? I’d have to get here really early. I don’t wanna wake them up.” “Oh, stop being so damn generous and think about yourself for once. You’d be paying for the place, they can deal with it. Besides, who wouldn’t wanna wake up to the smell of fresh-baked sweets in the morning?” Cotton put a hoof to her muzzle and smiled. “I guess that’s true.” Flarechaser pointed at the bottom of the sign. “Look, there’s a name and an address here. At least go talk to the guy that owns the joint.” Cotton nodded. “Alright, I will. I wanna talk to my dad first, though.” “Legit. Zora’s waiting for me at the hive, so I’ll see ya later, Cotton!” she said as she flew off. “See ya! And thanks!” Cotton called after her. “No prob!” Ж “So… yeah,” Cotton said, finishing her pitch to her father. “Long story short, I finally found a place I can open up shop.” Spike smiled as he crossed his arms. “Well, Cotton, I’m impressed. You’ve stuck to your every word since we made our agreement last year. I’m very proud of you.” He leaned down and kissed Cotton on top of her head. “I’ll miss having you around the castle during the day—as will everypony else, I’m sure—but this is what you’ve been working and striving for, so it looks like it’s time for you to begin the next chapter of your life.” “You make it sound so deep,” Cotton giggled. “I’m just opening up a shop.”  “You’re becoming a self-sufficient adult,” Spike said. “Talk to the landlord and see what comes of it. Would you like me to come with you?” Cotton waved a hoof at him. “Uhhh, I dunno if that’ll make the best first impression. He might think I’m trying to intimidate him.” Spike smirked, fire leaking out of his nose. “I don’t see how that’s relevant,” he chuckled.  Cotton ignored him. “And honestly, I don’t wanna tell him I’m technically royalty. I don’t wanna have a repeat of what happened with my apprenticeship.” Nodding, Spike said, “Another valid point. Besides, you have always said you don’t like using your connections.” He smiled and finished, “I say go for it.” Flying up to his snout, Cotton gave her father a hug. “Thanks, Daddy.” She turned and looked at his clock. “The sign said he’s available until seven, and he’s closer to here than the shop is; I’ve got like, a half-hour, so I’m gonna see if I can catch him.” “Alright,” Spike said, crossing his arms. “But don’t just sign something without talking to me first, okay? I know you’re excited, but many landlords include fine print in their contracts that put tenants over a barrel. Despite your time with Celestia in court, I don’t know if you’re fluent in legalese yet.” “I won’t, Daddy, I promise,” Cotton chuckled. “Good. Now, you said you have half an hour to get to him?” When Cotton nodded, he smiled again before gesturing towards his doors. “Then get out of here! You know how to reach me if you need me.” Cotton nodded, then turned and called back, “Thanks, Daddy! See ya later!” as she flew out of his room.  Still smiling, Spike said to himself, “Tia’s going to miss those pancakes.”