“Have you got all your books?” Spike carefully checked through the filly’s school bag.
“Yes, Spike.”
“Have you got your lunchbox?” Spike found it in the bag, opened it, and checked the contents. Juicebox? Check. Daisy sandwich? Check. Apple? Check. Chocolate pudding cup? Check.
“Yes, Spike.” Cotton giggled as she watched the dragon fret.
“Come on, Spike, you need to leave now. We don’t want Cotton to be tardy on her first day.” Twilight had woken earlier than usual, wanting to see the filly off on her first day back to school.
The three of them walked out into the gardens. Twilight leaned down to nuzzle the filly, then helped her onto Spike’s back. “You have a good day at school today. Pay lots of attention, and I’ll help you with your homework tonight; doesn’t that sound fun?”
Spike rolled his eyes, unseen by either ponies. “You ready, Cotton?” When the filly nodded, Spike spread his massive wings. “Welcome to Air-Drake, please keep your hooves clear of the wings at all times. It’s a pleasant day for flying, and we thank you for choosing Spike for your school transportation needs.”
Both Cotton and Twilight chuckled, the latter moving away from Spike as he prepared to take flight. With powerful strokes of his wings, they lifted into the air.
Cotton laughed as her stomach rose and fell with each beat of his wings. Being far larger than any pegasus and lacking their magic, Spike had to work his musculature harder to remain aloft.
“Are you okay back there?” Spike called over his shoulder, smiling as he saw the grin on her face. “Make sure you hold on, okay?” Cotton nodded, unable to speak over the roar of the wind.
Within minutes they arrived at their destination. Ponies cleared the streets below as Spike alighted on the cobblestone street in front of the schoolhouse. Spike stretched out his right wing, allowing Cotton to slide down the leathery appendage, laughing as she reached the ground. Ponies watched in shock as the dragon turned to the filly.
“Now make sure you study hard today, okay?” Spike nuzzled the filly as gently as he could. “I’ll be back to pick you up after school.”
Cotton waved as Spike took to the air again, then skipped through the gates of the school, oblivious to the stares of everypony around her.
Ж
Cotton unpacked her books from her saddle bag, placing them in her desk. There was a general hubbub about the room, many of the foals whispering excitedly. Some even dared to speak with Cotton.
“Is it true you rode to school on a dragon?” one filly asked.
“No! That wouldn’t happen; dragons aren’t allowed in Canterlot.”
Cotton shook her head. “Nope, he’s allowed here. He’s my new dad, Spike.”
“Your dad’s a dragon?” another filly asked, incredulously.
“Yep, and he’s a knight.” Normally one to shy away from attention, Cotton was happy to share her news with her classmates.
“But knights, like, slay dragons to save princesses.” Some of the colts had joined in on the conversation, considering knights and dragons a topic ‘cool enough’ to interest them.
“Yeah, when I grow up I’m going to be a knight and save Princess Twilight Sparkle from a mean dragon, or a hydra! Or a five-headed dragon! Then I’ll be a king.”
“You can’t be a king unless you marry a queen!” another filly interrupted. “And Equestria doesn’t have any queens.”
“Aegis could always marry Queen Bugface.” This earned a round of laughter from the foals, as well as some gagging from the knight-to-be.
The teacher, a middle-aged Earth pony mare with a turquoise coat and a pale pink mane, strode into the room. “Would everypony please take their seats?” When everypony had returned to their desks, she addressed the class. “Good morning, my little ponies.”
“Good morning Mrs. Withers,” the class responded in a sing-song chant.
“I hope everypony had a good holiday, and is ready to start another fun term of learning,” Mrs. Withers beamed at the class. “If everypony could get out their mathematics textbooks, we’ll start with some long division.”
A collective groan escaped from the foals as twenty-six hooves pulled their textbooks from out of their desks.
Ж
Cotton stared blankly at her textbook; mathematics was not a fun subject, no matter how exciting Mrs. Withers tried to make it. Concentration was hard enough, but something kept hitting her in the back of the head. Looking to the floor, she could see small bits of eraser beneath her seat. She could hear the two colts snickering each time.
Maybe Twilight can help me understand; she’s super smart.
A particularly large piece of eraser hit her in the head, so she turned to glare at the culprits. Unfortunately, the second she turned her head towards them, another projectile caught her in the eye.
“Oww!” Cotton yelped as she brought her hoof up to rub at her eye.
“Is everything okay, Cotton?” Mrs. Withers asked.
“Yes, sorry, Mrs. Withers,” Cotton answered, as she heard the two colts chortling behind her.
“Well, please don’t interrupt class. Now…”
The small pieces of rubber continued to hit her as the lesson went on; she did her best to ignore them, and the two throwing them. The number of bits thrown at her slowed as recess approached, though not because they were giving up, but that they had likely come close to running out of eraser.
“Okay class, can I have your attention please?” Mrs. Withers trotted from the board back to her desk. “Now, as some of you may not know, during this term we’ll be having Family Appreciation Day. If everypony could take one of these forms home and have them signed…” Mrs. Withers was interrupted by guffawing at the rear of the classroom.
“Brick! Boulder! The two of you have been disruptive all morning. You can both come up here and hoof these out.” She placed the stack of papers on the desk. “Well, come on. Front and center!”
Two heavy-set colts walked to the front of the class. The larger of the two, Boulder, grasped half of the forms in his magic, the other colt tucking the rest under a wing. They walked down the isles, hoofing a note to every foal they passed, though both colts ignored Cotton’s desk.
She bit back her tears, remembering that Mother Matron had told her bullies only want to get a reaction out of you. The two finished passing out the papers and returned the remaining sheet to the teacher’s desk.
“Thank you, boys, you may return to your seats. Now—” As Mrs. Withers spoke, the bell for recess rang. “Alright children, I’ll see you all after recess.”
Cotton held back while the rest of the students filed out of the classroom. “Excuse me, Mrs. Withers. Could I please have a form?”
Mrs. Withers looked up from her desk to see the filly before her and beamed. “Oh, Cotton, of course you can! I saw Mother Matron at the market last week, she told me all about it. I’m so happy for you.” She paused for a moment. “Didn’t Brick or Boulder give you a form?”
“No,” Cotton replied. Because they’re big dumb fat stupid dumbheads, she thought. Out loud she responded, “Oh, they were probably just trying to not hurt my feelings.”
Mrs. Withers passed her a form, a frown on her face. She doubted that the two colts had kept the form from Cotton out of concern for her feelings. Matron had told her who Cotton’s new father was, and more importantly, what he was. She couldn’t wait! Having a dragon come in and meet the students would be an amazing learning experience for the foals, and perhaps while he was here, he could wipe the smug grins off of the faces of those two little—
“Thanks, Mrs. Withers.” Cotton skipped back to her desk, putting the form in her saddlebag.
“You’re most welcome, Cotton. Now go have fun outside with your friends, and I’ll see you after recess.”
Ж
Cotton joined a few of her classmates by the merry-go-round.
“Fo you liff in the caffle?” a chubby little earth filly, Sugar Sprinkles, asked around the donut in her mouth. She put the box of sweets in front of the foals so they could share.
“That’s so coooooool!” Tesla Coil bounced excitedly about. “Oh, have you seen Princess Twilight’s lab yet? I bet she has so many cool things!”
“My dad knows Sir Spike, he said he’s really huge!” Starry Knight added. “He says he’s the coolest dragon ever!”
“How awesome is it he’s your dad?” Aegis Ward picked up a donut and stuffed his face with it. “I bef he fighfs all kinf of monfers.”
Cotton giggled. “He actually works in a library.”
Aegis swallowed. “Fighting book monsters?” He blushed as all the other foals laughed.
“What are the princesses like?” Crimson Star asked.
“What do they eat?”
“They’re all so ni–”
“Well, what do we have here?” Boulder pushed through the group. “Hey Brick, check it out! Somepony left free donuts lying around.” He levitated the remaining treats, passing half to his partner-in-crime.
“Blergh!” Boulder spat the donut out, dropping his share on the ground. “These have to be the worst-tastin’ donuts ever.”
“Yeah,” Brick guffawed, dropping his share without even trying one. “Pretty bad that somepony with a cutie mark for making donuts can’t even do that.”
Boulder turned a mean eye to Sugar Sprinkles. “Don’t know how you got so pudgy, didn’t think nopony could eat this junk.”
The two bullies hoofbumped, as Sugar Sprinkles teared up. Crimson held Sugar’s hoof, while Cotton draped a wing over the filly’s back. “Don’t listen to them,” he whispered. “Your cooking is always really, really good.”
“Leave us alone!” Aegis shouted.
Starry stood next to Aegis. “Yeah, why don’t you just go away?”
“Yeah? Are you two gonna to make us?” Boulder pushed Aegis to the ground as Brick moved up next to his partner. “Look, Brick. These scrawny little dirt-ponies think they can tell us what to do.”
“Don’t call us dirt-ponies!” Aegis yelled, getting back to his hooves. Before he could get up, Brick pushed him down again.
“Hey Boulder, Aegis is in the dirt, where he belongs.”
“Leave us alone you big stupid-heads!” Tesla yelled. “Or Cotton’s dad will eat you up!”
The two bullies guffawed. “He’ll eat us up?”
“Yeah!” she continued. “He’s a big scary dragon, and he’ll eat you both up in one bite!”
“All that magic’s got to your brain, Sparky.” Boulder snarled at her. “Toastie doesn’t have a dad.”
“She does too!” Starry helped Aegis to his hooves. “My dad knows him and he is a big scary dragon, so you better leave us alone.”
Boulder and Brick stopped, looking at each other in confusion. A wicked grin crossed Boulder’s muzzle. “I guess that makes sense. No pony would ever want to adopt that toasted marshmallow!”
“Probably chose you so he doesn’t have to cook you later,” Brick laughed, holding up his hoof to Boulder.
“Nice…” Boulder bumped hooves. “… burn!”
Cotton burst into tears, as Crimson and Sugar hugged her.
The two bullies laughed, until Aegis reared up and struck Boulder across the muzzle. Brick pounced on Aegis, holding him down while Boulder raised his hoof to strike. Before the blow could land, Starry jumped forward and toppled the unicorn.
As the four colts fought, Tesla channeled magic into her horn, forming a small storm cloud above the fight. “Nopony calls me ‘Sparky’!” she yelled, as small forks of lightning arced off the cloud, zapping the bullies on their croups.
“You five stop right now!” Mrs. Withers stormed across the yard. “What on earth are you ponies—Tesla! Dispel that cloud, now!
“What in Celestia’s name has gotten into you children? I want the five of you to march inside right now!” Mrs. Withers turned to the crying foals. Kneeling to face them, she asked, “Are you three alright? Can you tell me what happened?”
Cotton was wailing, and Sugar was still quite teary.
Crimson answered for the fillies. “Brick and Boulder were being mean to Cotton and Sugar, Mrs. Withers. Boulder called Sugar… ummm big, and said she was a bad cook; then Brick said Cotton’s dad was going to eat her. And they also dropped Sugar’s donuts on the ground.”
Mrs. Withers bit her tongue, silently swearing at the two foals.
“A-and Boulder called Aegis and Starry…” Sugar added, between sobs. The final words were spoken through clenched teeth. “… dirt-ponies.”
The teacher took in two calming breaths, then smiled at the foals. “Don’t listen to them, children. Sugar, you are a wonderful little chef; the cookies you gave me on the last day of term got me all through the holidays. And Cotton, don’t let them get to you. Mother Matron told me all about Sir Spike, and he sounds like a wonderful dad. You’re very lucky to have him, okay?
“Now, why don’t the three of you enjoy the rest of your recess? Hmm?”
“C-can Starry and Aegis come back and play?” Sugar asked.
“And T-Tesla, too?” Cotton added, her crying finally subsiding.
“I’m sorry, my little ponies. Even if they were standing up to bullies, they shouldn’t have gotten into that fight. If something like this happens again, you should always come and get me, or another teacher. Okay?”
The three foals turned back to the merry-go-round, and Mrs. Withers walked back into the school building.
Ж
The remainder of the day was uneventful, aside from the scowls from Boulder and Brick, and the fact that three of her friends spent their lunch in detention. She waited alone for Spike to arrive.
“Spike!” Cotton bounded towards the dragon as he landed. He was holding one claw aloft, carrying a small basket.
“Hey, Cotton.” He gently nuzzled the filly. “Did you have a good day at school?”
“Mmmm,” Cotton mumbled, not wanting to burden Spike with her bully problems.
“Ready?” He lifted her onto his shoulder, where she gripped onto his dorsal plates. “Okay, hold on tight.”
They flew through the air, Spike circling the city, searching for somewhere to land. To the south, he spied what he searched for. He descended towards a small park just outside the Lower Canterlot Market district.
Cotton was surprised when they landed in the park; nopony seemed shocked to see the dragon land. If anything, most ponies seemed to be waving to Spike as they went about their day.
“Spike? Hey, Spike! Spike!” A unicorn teen with a muted opal mane trotted over to the pair.
“Dreamweaver? Is that you?” Spike asked the new arrival.
“Yeah! How are you? It’s been a while!”
“I’ll say it has!” Spike chuckled. “You’ve sprouted!”
“Haha yeah, I know. Hey, Spike, check it out! I got my cutie mark!” He twisted his body to show the dragon his cutie mark, a quill with a starburst exploding from the tip.
“That’s great, Dreamweaver! So what does that mean your special talent is?” Spike chuckled, as he suspected he knew what Dreamweaver’s talent was. Most adults tended to pick up on a young pony’s special talent long before they knew for themselves.
“Writing stories!” Dreamweaver sat on the grass to continue his tale. “I was telling Steel Masque a bedtime story, because Mom and Dad were busy, and—”
Dreamweaver stopped his story short as Spike helped Cotton off of his back. As soon as she was on the ground, she shuffled behind Spike’s forearm, hiding from the unknown colt.
Spike craned his neck to look at the little filly. “Cotton, I’d like to introduce you to Dreamweaver. His family used to live above the shop next to my wife’s old boutique. Come out and say hello.”
Cotton shuffled forward, keeping her right side pressed against the dragon, dipping her head so her mane covered her scars. “Ummm, hello.”
Spike turned to the young colt. “Dreamweaver, this is m— Cotton Candy.”
“Hiya, Cotton!” Dreamweaver thrust his hoof forward, but Cotton shied away. “So, uhh, what are you two doing here today?”
Cotton stared up at Spike, not actually knowing what they were doing there; she thought they were going straight home after school. Spike lifted the basket, getting their attention.
“I thought I’d see if Cotton wanted help with her homework. And what better place than in the park?” Spike pulled back the blanket covering the basket, revealing an assortment of fruits, muffins, and some juice boxes. “With plenty of brain-food to help her think. Cotton, would you mind if Dreamweaver joins us?”
“It’s okay,” Cotton mumbled.
“Dreamweaver, why don’t you go get your homework and come join us? I can help you, too, if you'd like.”
“Yeah! I’ll be right back.” Dreamweaver galloped back to his home to collect his homework.
Spike set the blanket under a willow tree, laying out the food he’d prepared for the picnic. Cotton opened her saddlebag and pulled out her homework. Dreamweaver returned to find Spike curled around the blanket chewing on an emerald, with Cotton picking on a muffin.
Cotton kept her right side near Spike, leaning against him. He would have found it endearing, that she wanted to be this close to him, had he not known she was just trying to hide her scars. Dreamweaver, for his part, paid little attention to them, only stealing a glance every now and then.
“So what are you working on, Cotton?” Dreamweaver broke the silence, obviously bored with his own homework.
“Long division,” she muttered around the quill in her mouth.
“Urgh, that’s so boring.” He let out a loud huff. “I hate math; it’s like…” He turned with a grin to Spike. “…The. Worst. Possible. Thing.”
Spike chuckled, ruffling the colt’s mane.
“W-what are you working on?” Cotton asked, looking up from her work.
“I’m working on a story for my Creative Writing class. It’s about a secret society of knights who keep Equestria safe from the monsters of Tartarus.”
“And I bet one of them is a dragon, am I right?” Spike chuckled. It sounded similar to a story he’d told the colt when he was younger.
Dreamweaver grinned, replying with a non-committal, “Maybe.”
“C-can I hear it?” Cotton asked nervously.
Spike raised an eyebrow towards the colt. “There’s nothing untoward in the story, is there?”
Dreamweaver smiled, shaking his head. “No, Sir!”
“Well then, noble minstrel, spin us your tale!”
Cotton sidled up next to Spike, leaning on his shoulder. With a bow and a flourish, Dreamweaver began his tale.
“T’was a dark an’ stormy eve…”
Ж
Spike returned to the castle later that evening, Cotton wrapped in a makeshift sling around his neck. Lying against the warmth of Spike’s side, she’d fallen asleep through Dreamweaver’s masterful tale.
Spike alighted in the gardens of the castle, helping Cotton out of the sling. They made their way inside, the filly stumbling on her hooves in front of him.
“You ready for bed, Cotton?” Spike whispered.
“Mmmhmm,” she mumbled, swaying from side to side. He led them to her bedroom, helping her into bed as best he could, despite not being able to fit in the room. He pulled her covers over her, and stacked her saddlebags by the door.
“Goodnight, Cotton,” he whispered as he extracted his head from the room. “May Luna bless you with pleasant dreams.”
Ж
Cotton awoke in the dark, snuggled in her warm comforter. Looking out the window, she could see the royal gardens outside lit by gentle moonlight. The last thing she could recall was being in the park with Spike and Dreamweaver. Searching her room, she spied her saddlebags by the door.
Oh no! I didn’t ask Spike about the form!
She crawled out of the warm bed, and put on her slippers. Rummaging through her bags, she found the form, and crept out into the hall.
Spike’s room was just down the hall from her own. She knocked on the door but got no response. Listening through the thick wooden doors, she could hear the scratching of quill on paper. Satisfied he was still awake, she pushed open the doors.
Ж
Spike grumbled as he responded to Papyrus’s letter. The Manehattan Public Library had lost three of the rare Clover the Clever scrolls on loan from the Royal Canterlot Archives. As chief librarian, Papyrus was correct in sending the news to Spike.
He placed the quill back into the inkwell, ready for the next letter. Rolling the letter up and sealing it with wax, he breathed a flame across the scroll. Trusting it to its destination, he picked up the quill to write the next letter, but was interrupted by a piercing scream.
Ж
Cotton screamed as the cloud of green flame swept towards her. She turned back into the hall, screaming as she ran.
Spike dropped the quill and parchment, rushing for the door. “Cotton, wait!” he called as he clambered through the hallway after her. “Wait up, it’s okay.” He cursed himself for his size. He cursed the castle for being so Celestia-damned small. He cursed himself for using fire magic around his would-be daughter.
The flame followed Cotton as she galloped for the door to the gardens, but the slippers on her hooves continually failed to get any purchase on the marble floors. The encroaching flame was gaining on her; she continued to run, tears streaming from her eyes. Cotton burst through the door, screaming as the flames blew through her. Pins of static flicked across her body as the cloud passed through her into the night.
Two bat-winged noctis ponies stood guard on either side of the door. Cotton galloped past them, spread her wings, and flew into the garden before either could respond.
“Cotton, wait!” the dragon yelled, hurtling through the door. Turning to the noctii, he shouted, “Nightshade, go get Princess Twilight, now! Anathem, you’re with me. We have to find her!”
Cotton Candy landed on the grass where she and Luna had played a week earlier. She looked to the sky, and could see Spike circling, calling her name; he sounded so angry. Cotton moved over to a small stone bench and crawled underneath it.
She lowered her face to her hooves, and cried softly.