//------------------------------// // Chapter Fifty-Five - I Have Several Questions // Story: A Daughter and her Dragon // by Level Dasher //------------------------------// “So just to be clear— you did not sign anything?” “No, Daddy! He didn’t even have anything for me to sign yet!” “And you didn’t promise to sign anything?” Cotton dragged her hoof down her muzzle. “No, Daddy. I didn’t do anything you told me not to.” Spike breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, good. Well, it sounds like this went rather well, and he sounds like a good landlord. So you’re going to meet with him at the store’s location tomorrow evening after work?” Cotton nodded. “Yeah, he’s gonna give me an official tour of the shop space. I was actually hoping you could come with me.” Cocking a brow, Spike responded, “Oh? Well, I can certainly take a break from my schedule, but I thought you didn’t want him to know you were part of the Royal Family.” “I don’t,” Cotton sighed, “but he’s gonna have to. You need to sign the contract, too, and he needs to be there when you do it.” “Ahhh, yes, you need a guarantor. You’re not eighteen yet.”  “Yeah. And he said he’s gonna do a background check on us anyway.” Spike nodded. “Yes, competent landlords do. Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t have been able to hide the fact from him forever. He may as well know from the start.” “I guess.” Cotton shrugged. “I just don’t want him to freak out about it.” “I don’t think you should worry. I can’t imagine your family background would change his mind.” Frowning, Cotton said, “It changed all the bakers’.” Spike lifted a talon and opened his mouth slightly, but then retreated both. “Alright, but there’s nothing we can do about it. You already said you made a good first impression on him and his family. You’re a very sweet filly, and the way you acted while you spoke with him the first time should be proof enough that you would make a great tenant.” A small smile crept onto Cotton’s muzzle. “Thanks, Daddy.” “You’re very welcome, Sweetheart. Let’s go have dinner, hm?”  “Mhm.”  As Spike made his way to his door, Cotton walking beside him, he added, “You can tell your aunts this new development and see if they have any other advice.” Cotton’s eyebrows rose. “And tell Auntie Tia I won’t be cooking breakfast anymore? Maybe after we sign the contract.”  Bastion and Ravelin shrugged at each other when the combined laughter only subsided after the father and daughter made it to the top of the stairs. Ж “Well, no news is good news, I suppose,” Celestia said as she and Cotton exited the throne room’s rear doors the next day. “I’m sorry today was so boring, Cotton.” Cotton shrugged. “S’okay. Not like it’s the first time.” The two shared a nuzzle before she continued, “I’m gonna go grab Aunt Twilight. Then I’ve gotta get Dad. We have a meeting.” Celestia raised her brows. “Oh? With whom?” Her eyes widening, Cotton caught her slip-up too late. “Uh… with someone across town?” “Someone like…?” “…Like a landlord,” Cotton murmured.  Flinching slightly, Celestia responded, “A landlord? What fo—” “I-found-a-place-to-open-my-store-so-I’m-gonna-have-to-leave-early-and-not-cook-breakfast-anymore-kay-bye!” Cotton shouted before zipping off down the hall, leaving a puff of dust in her likeness to hover beside the princess. Celestia cocked a brow. “Well, that was certainly— wait, did she just say, ‘Not cook breakfast anymore’?” Ж After opening her office door, Twilight managed to barely avoid getting a hoof to her face as Cotton lifted hers to knock. “Woah! Thank you, Cotton, I’m on my way to court now,” she chuckled. “Sorry, Aunt Twilight. You’re usually engrossed in work,” Cotton giggled nervously, retracting her hoof. As she walked through the door and closed it behind her, Twilight nodded. “Yes, that’s usually the case, but I accidentally looked at the clock for once. I already marked your sheet, so the rest of the day is yours,” she said, giving Cotton a nuzzle before they both made their way back down the corridor to the main hall. Cotton cocked a brow. “You didn’t add anything extra, did you? I don’t care what Aunt Luna says, I—” Twilight shook her head. “No, not today. Luna did start to say something last night, but I closed her muzzle with a spell.” She flashed a smile, putting a hoof to her muzzle. “You should’ve seen her.” “Thanks,” Cotton said, holding back a snort. “You’re welcome,” Twilight responded. She winked as she added, “Oh, and have a good meeting today.” Cotton’s eyes widened as she started, “How did you—” “Your father,” Twilight answered. “Don’t worry, I haven’t said anything to anypony else. I hope it all goes well!” “Thanks,” Cotton said with a smile of her own. “Me too. Now I just have to go get him.” “He told me he’d—” They suddenly heard thumping on the floor beneath them. “—be in the main hall to meet you. He figured you’d want to leave right after Court finished.” Cotton smirked. “Well, that works.” As the two of them came to the top of the stairway to the main hall, they found Spike in the middle of turning around toward them. He smiled, crossing his arms as they descended. “Looks like I had perfect timing.” “Indeed you did,” Twilight responded. When the two mares reached the bottom of the staircase, Twilight turned to go to the throne room as Cotton approached her father. “Good luck, you two!” Waving at her, Cotton called back, “Thanks, Aunt Twilight!” Turning toward her father, she asked, “You ready to go?” Spike raised a brow. “Yes, but do you really want to leave this early? You aren’t supposed to be meeting him for another forty-five minutes.” “Well, it’s a half-hour flight,” Cotton replied, “and I wanna get there early.” With a smirk, Spike gently unfurled his wings as much as he could within the hall without hitting anybody. “Half-hour for you, sweetie.” Cotton’s face turned deadpan. “…Oh. Right.”  “Well, it’s been a while since you’ve taken a ride. How about for old time’s sake?” Rolling her eyes with a smirk of her own, Cotton answered, “Alright, sure. It has been a while. Come on, we can hang out in the park until he gets there.” As Spike pulled open the door, Cotton waved back at the guards. “Wish me luck, gentlecolts!” “Good luck, Cotton!” they all replied with light stomps of their spears. Flare’s right, I never get tired of that, Cotton giggled to herself. Ж After a much-shorter-than-a-half-hour flight to Canterlot’s east park, Spike hovered high above as Cotton brushed down some of her coat with her hooves. “Yeah, been way too long!” Cotton called to him. Spike chuckled. “We should have these father-daughter flights a little more often, then.” Hopping into Spike’s claw as he held it up for her, Cotton replied, “Maybe. We can’t make a habit of it, though, especially if I’m going to be coming here on my own. I need to be able to manage my time in the mornings.” “Fair enough. Okay, hold on; it’s been a while since I’ve needed to be this accurate when I land.” Cotton smirked. “I have a better idea.” Before Spike even had a chance to cock a brow, she leapt from his claw and fell into a nosedive. “Cotton!” Spike called, quickly looking downward. “You need to warn me when you do that!” He stared after her as he kept himself at height before even attempting to follow her. He grumbled before he added, “Be careful when you land! You’re in public city space! And don’t make any craters!” Ignoring her father’s calls, with a huge grin crossing her muzzle, Cotton thought to herself, Been too long since I’ve done this, too. She splayed her legs outward to slow her descent. But it’s not the kind of thing you forget. She found a relatively unoccupied place to land, close to the western entrance; a few small groups of ponies were around, but she still had plenty of space. Nice, I won’t need to walk across the whole park. When she was low enough to see ponies staring up at her, she could see various comments coming from their muzzles, but the distance and wind through her ears prevented her from hearing any of it. She flared out her wings and continued down in a spiral, aiming for her desired landing spot. When she reached just above building height, she flapped her wings, then did a single flip and landed. After taking a satisfying breath of air, she said, “Sweet, still got it.” “Are you a Wonderbolt?” Cotton turned to find a young pegasus colt wearing a pair of goggles on his head galloping up to her and looking at her with wide eyes. Giggling as she shook her head, she answered, “No, just a thrill-seeker that likes to bake.” She turned and showed him her cutie mark, and he just nodded, his eyes still wide. She saw other ponies approaching her before she heard— “Bakewy! Cookies!” It was Cotton’s turn for her eyes to widen as she turned around and found Comet Tail galloping up to her, Pro Rate and Sun Flower just behind him. When they stopped in front of her, she asked, “Uhhh… I thought you wouldn’t be here until later…” Pro Rate started, “Considering the loops we saw you make yesterday when you left, we probably shouldn’t be surprised, but…” “That was certainly something,” Sun Flower finished for him. “Where did you come from?” Looking up to the sky, she found the blob that was her father ever-so-slowly getting bigger. With a nervous smile, she pointed up at it before turning back to them. “There.” Following the direction of her hoof, the three of them all squinted before Pro Rate asked, “What is that?” “My cosigner.” As the blob grew even larger, and the sight of purple scales and giant flapping wings came into view, Sun Flower gasped. “It can’t be. I’ve read Comet stories about— Is that Sir Spike the Dragon?” “Suh Spike da Dwagon! Woar!” Cotton rubbed the back of her head. “Heh, you might want to back up.” Noticing that almost the entire crowd of ponies that had approached her were now looking up as well, she waved her hooves forward and called out, “All of you should back up! Like, a lot!” They didn’t have much choice when the wind gusts began. Noticing that Cotton had cleared a space for him, Spike lined himself up before dropping onto the ground with a THUD, geoforming the park to his feet. “I thought you said no craters.” Spike looked at the earth below him, then stuck his tongue out at her. “That’s not a crater, that’s a divot.” She stuck her tongue back at him before they both started laughing. Then they heard a chorus of gasps. Spike turned around and added, “Right. Public park.” “Suh Spike da Dwagon!” “…Your father?” Sun Flower’s muzzle hung open. Cotton chuckled nervously as she rubbed one of her forelegs. “…Yeah. Kinnnnda why I wanted to bring the lease home. I didn’t want you to feel intimidated.”  “…Does that mean you’re a—” “No, I’m not a princess or anything,” Cotton quickly interrupted him. “I’ve been asked that more times than I’d like to admit.”  “Do you live in the castle?” Sun Flower asked. Cotton held back a groan. “Yes.” “With the Princesses?” She pointed at Spike. “And my dad, yes.” “And you… cook…” Pro Rate started. “For them, yes. Because I like to. And it’s how I’m making bits right now. It isn’t some kind of Cinderella story.” Cotton swiped a hoof down her muzzle. “I thought you didn’t have any other questions yesterday?” “That was yesterday. Now I have several,” Pro Rate responded. Spike poked her gently with a talon. “Can you really blame him?” Cotton sighed. “Guess not.” She looked back up at her potential landlord and said, “Alright, go ahead, ask away.” Groaning, she thought to herself, This’ll probably take until six anyway…  Ж At seven o’clock, Cotton walked out of the corner store’s front door, followed by Pro Rate. “So, Cotton, what do you think?” he asked her. Smiling, she answered, “It looks perfect. It has all the space I need for a case and counter and tables in the front, the kitchen has enough room to move around… I’ll need to install some wood over one of those long metal counters for work space…” She grimaced. “I think I need another oven, though. That’ll probably increase the rent for gas…”  Pro Rate looked back through the park entrance, where Sun Flower and multiple other parents watched with apprehension as their children were slipping and sliding over a laughing Spike’s back and tail. He smiled and asked Cotton, “Do you make chocolate-chip cookies?” Cotton smirked. “Those are my specialty.” “Then I’ll make the cookie fee a real thing, and that will cover the extra gas. How does that sound?” Giggling, Cotton replied, “I certainly wouldn’t complain. How many?” Pro Rate looked up to match a brow. “Let’s saaaay… two dozen.” “Baker’s dozens?” “I certainly wouldn’t complain.” The two of them laughed as they walked back into the park. When Spike saw them coming, he craned his neck toward the foals and said, “Alright, little ones, playtime’s over.” This was followed by a chorus of ‘awwwww’s. Then many sighs of relief as parents gathered their children. “So, is everything to everypony’s satisfaction?” Sun Flower asked, catching Comet Tail as Spike lifted him off his back. Pro Rate nodded. “I just need to make a minor change to the contract.” “Like?” Spike asked, cocking a brow. “Something easy that I agreed to,” Cotton replied, glaring at him. Pro Rate smiled. “Little else needs to be changed— just some rewording to ensure consistency—so I won’t need to do a full rewrite. It actually shouldn’t take long to do. Maybe an hour at most. We could meet tomorrow if you’d like; if you agree with all the contract’s terms, we could finalize it then and there.” “Really? I mean—” Cotton paused. “That would be great. Is six o’clock alright again? I do actually work until five.” Pro Rate chuckled under his breath. “Yes, that’s fine. If you don’t mind my asking, do you really cook all day?” After pursing her lips, Cotton replied, “Uhhh…”  “It isn’t like it’s a secret, sweetie,” Spike told her. “They clearly just haven’t had any reason to go.” Sun Flower tilted her head. “Go where?” Letting out a quick breath, Cotton responded, “I sit in on Day Court with Princess Celestia. I remembered one of your neighbors came to the court looking for road repairs a few months ago, actually; he said he lived on your street. It sounded urgent, so I asked Aunt Celestia to expedite the request. The road was really nice when I went to your house, so it looks like it all worked out.” After a gasp, Sun Flower cried, “Wait! He did mention you! You’re Princess Celestia’s niece?!” “She calls me that, yeah.” The mare let out a happy sigh. “Thank you very much for that. The children have been much safer on the road lately.” “You’re welcome.” With a smirk, Sun Flower looked at her husband and said, “I told you I had a feeling.” Pro Rate smiled. “You know I’ve never doubted your intuition.”  “About what?” Cotton asked. “I told him he was smart to make an exception for you,” the mare replied. “And that was before we knew your… family history.” Nodding, Cotton said, “That’s why I don’t tell anybody; I don’t like getting special treatment. And it’s how I know if someone is just being nice because I’m, well, technically royalty.” “Why would you hesitate to say that?” Pro Rate asked her. Cotton shrugged. “It’s like having a spotlight on you. It has advantages, but it can be lonely. And ponies treat you differently, like you’re not a pony but something else. I hate that.”  “Anyway,” Spike cut in, “six o’clock tomorrow— would you like to come to the castle to discuss the new contract?” The stallion’s eyebrows rose. “The castle?” “Yes, we can speak in my chamber. I won’t exactly fit anywhere else appropriate. Unless you’d prefer the Canterlot Archives, and the place is rather dusty.” “Uh…” Pro Rate looked at his wife, then back at Spike. “I can do that. I’ll just need to leave my home a bit sooner, but that’s no trouble.” Spike waved a claw. “That’s nonsense, we’ll send a chariot for you.” As the stallion’s eyes widened, he looked at Sun Flower and added, “You two can come as well, if you’d like.” When Cotton sighed and nodded in confirmation, Sun Flower replied, “It would be an honor, Sir Spike.” Spike let out a small huff. “Please, don’t call me ‘Sir.’ Just ‘Spike’ is fine.” Pro Rate turned and looked at his wife. “Like father, like daughter, I suppose,” he chuckled. Sun Flower nodded at him with a smile. “Suh Spike da Dwagon!” Comet Tail cried with a huge smile, waving his hooves in his mother’s grasp. Cotton laughed as she looked up at her father. “I don’t think you’ll prevent him from saying it, though.” Spike shrugged with a smirk. “Fair enough. If you could do me a favor, please bring a second copy of the contract with you.” “Uh, of course.”