Chapter Eleven - Party Time (Part Two)
“And then Aunt Twilight got up on her hind legs and started… I don’t even know what to call it!” Cotton laughed.
Princess Celestia chuckled. “Ah yes, your Aunt Twilight’s dancing skills do leave something to be desired, and apparently the humans’ dancing doesn’t translate very well to pony bodies.”
“We believe all of Twilight’s dancing abilities have escaped her, if they ever existed at all,” Luna sniggered.
Twilight tossed a pillow in Luna’s direction. “Even if you’re right, if you’re going to make fun of me, at least speak like a normal pony!”
“Art thou insulting Our dialect, Sparkle?” Luna asked, narrowing her eyes. “This shall not stand! Have at thee!”
Spike held up a claw and kept Luna in her seat. “That’s enough. No fighting on my daughter’s birthday.”
Luna looked over the top of his claw with a cocked brow. “We only jest, Sir Spike.”
Spike let out a low growl. “You’re determined to get on everypony’s nerves, aren’t you?”
Luna smirked. “Mayhaps.”
Cotton laughed. “Dad, please don’t cause any trouble. We’re in your room—you’ll have to deal with any mess in here.”
“She’s well awa—I mean, I’m well aware of that,” Spike answered. “That’s why your cousin Flurry Heart declined her invitation. She knew Rutherford II would cause a ruckus if everything wasn’t perfect, and he has a bit of an attachment issue, so she couldn’t leave him behind.”
Twilight rested her cheek on a hoof. “I still don’t know what Flurry sees in that yak. He’s not as bad as his father, but he has so many of his own… quirks.”
Spike shrugged, then nudged Luna over onto her rump with a smirk. “Love is fickle, Twilight. Leave it to Cadance—her title, her daughter. Stick with friendship.” He turned back to Cotton with a smile. “Speaking of which, I’m thrilled you had so much fun with your friends tonight, sweetie. It seemed that everything turned out as well as you hoped.”
Cotton sighed with a smile of her own. “Yeah. I haven’t seen my elementary school pals in a while. Glad to see they haven’t really changed much. They’re just as friendly—and immature—as they were then.” She let out a laugh, then another content sigh.
“Something else on your mind, Cotton? Everything alright?” Celestia asked.
“More than alright. I overheard a couple of my high school friends on the dance floor,” she said. “They didn’t care that the party wasn’t here at the castle—they were happy just having fun. Good to know there really are at least a few ponies at school who aren’t just trying to get on my ‘royal’ good graces.”
Spike smiled. “That’s wonderful, Cotton. Based on some of the other things I overheard a few of them say, you might be in for some questions when you go back to school on Monday. Be prepared.”
“I’ll try,” Cotton said.
“We believe this is as good a time as any,” Luna interjected. “Let the present-ations begin!”
Cotton sat up. “Oh come on, everypony! I asked all of you not to get me gifts this year!”
“It’s your Sweet Sixteenth, Cotton. You won’t be getting away without something from us,” Celestia responded. Cotton tried to pout, but failed at keeping a smile off her face.
“Me first,” Twilight said, giving Cotton a wrapped, rectangular object that could most certainly not be identified. Cotton tore open the wrapping paper to find a book inside. It looked like a journal, but the pages were already filled. Cotton, confused, looked at Twilight, who provided an explanation. “This is the journal that my friends and I kept after I ascended to alicornhood. Now that you’re part of the family of the Elements of Harmony, I would suggest you read some of the excerpts in there so you can get a good idea of what your honorary aunts were like back in the day. I could explain some of it to you myself, but I think it would be best if you read their own words instead of hearing them from me. Don’t feel obligated to go through the whole thing, but I would at least read a few of Rarity’s entries. I marked them for you. It should give you an idea of what your… could-have-been mother was like—a very special and generous pony, just like you.” Twilight smiled and patted Cotton on the shoulder. “Happy birthday,” she added.
Cotton smiled, hugging the book to her chest with one hoof and Twilight with the other. “Thank you, Aunt Twilight. I’ll try to get some reading done in between my homework, but no guarantees.”
“Good enough for me,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Homework comes first.”
“Let me go next,” Celestia said. Levitating a wrapped box forward, she set it at Cotton’s hooves. “Now, this isn’t your actual present, but it is a representation of it, should you wish to accept it.”
“Umm… okay,” Cotton said pensively, unwrapping the gift. Inside sat a polished, wooden box with Celestia’s mark of the sun, an ornate latch keeping it closed. Opening the box, Cotton found a set of golden shoes. “Whoa… Are these—”
“That is the first set of shoes I was given as part of my regalia when Luna and I were crowned. They likely are not your hoof size, so we would have you fitted for your own set,” Celestia explained.
“But Auntie Tia, only you princesses wear regalia like this! I’m not a princess,” Cotton said, her eyes growing wide.
“Perhaps not to the public, but you are to us,” Celestia replied with a warm smile, while Luna, Twilight, and Spike all nodded in agreement. Rising from her seat, Celestia walked toward Cotton. “When your Aunt Twilight was young, and first studying with me, she occasionally had frustrating days. When that happened, I would take off my shoes and allow her to walk around in them. Though she may have been a little clumsy doing so—” Celestia put a hoof to her muzzle and chuckled, while Twilight’s face flushed. “—it always raised her spirits.”
“Yeah, I remember falling over more than once,” Twilight giggled, rubbing the back of her head, “but it always made me feel better.”
Celestia continued, “I understand you’ve had your ‘down days’, so perhaps it may work for you as well. If you would like to be fitted for your own set, I would be more than happy to arrange it. I know how humble you are, so I suspect you wouldn’t want to wear them in public, but around the castle, you could think of them as formal slippers.”
A smile appeared on Cotton’s face. “That… that sounds perfect, Auntie Tia.” Cotton said, throwing her hooves around Celestia’s neck. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome. Happy birthday, Cotton. We’ll arrange to have you fitted; it won’t take long, but making the slippers might.”
“That’s fine,” Cotton said. Suddenly, the blood drained from her face. “Hold on a second, I just have to ask…”
“Yes, Cotton?” Celestia replied.
“Are you… prepping me to become a princess?”
Celestia’s eyes widened. Taking a moment to find the right words, she eventually asked, “Would you want that kind of responsibility?”
“No offense, but no way,” Cotton answered. “I just bake! I couldn’t run a country!”
“Then you needn’t worry,” Celestia said. She and Cotton both let out sighs of relief.
“We are next!” Luna cried, hopping to her hooves and approaching Spike’s giant double-doors. After she walked out of the room, they all heard Luna say, “Bring it forth!”
Spike’s pupils dilated before he glanced at Celestia, who pursed her lips. He then looked over to Twilight, who waved him toward her. He leaned down to her and she whispered, “Just saying, I did try to warn you. She went a little over the top.”
“Exactly how over the top?” Spike responded.
“You’ll see. Knowing Cotton, I’m not sure if she’ll want to use it, but it’s up to her. I could be wrong.”
“Uh-oh…”
Cotton looked at her father with wide eyes, and he shrugged. She gasped when Luna returned with her present.
“Behold!” Luna cried, “Thy very own chariot!” Spike’s jaw dropped. “We are most pleased with the design. We hope thou art as well.”
Cotton got up and approached the large, golden-wheeled chariot, painted a brilliant persian blue to match her eyes, and emblazoned with her cutie mark on either side. “Oh my gosh…” Cotton said, inspecting it from top to bottom. “Aunt Luna, this… this is incredible! But… what would I use it for?”
“Why, transportation, of course! What else dost thou use a chariot for?” Luna asked.
Spike put his palm to his snout. “Luna, that’s not what she means. She almost never uses the regular chariots when we offer them to her! This one’s a customized deluxe!”
Cotton’s face flushed. “I… don’t really like the attention. It’s okay when I’m travelling with you, but by myself… not so much.”
Luna glared at Twilight. “Well, We heard that a chariot is a common gift for one’s sixteenth.”
Twilight smacked her face with a hoof. “In the other universe, Luna! It’s not the same! I told you that! We were just brainstorming! You weren’t supposed to take everything I said literally!”
Luna let out an exasperated sigh. “Hmm… well, We appear to have succeeded in offering yet another gift that shant be put to use until the future, if ever,” she grumbled.
Cotton approached Luna from behind and gave her a hug. “Don’t get me wrong, Aunt Luna. It’s amazing! I’m sure I’ll use it, just… not right now. It might be a little while before I can handle that kind of attention.”
Luna’s smile returned and she replied, “Very well. We shall have it kept in chariot storage until thou art ready. We hope that day will be soon. Happy birthday, Cotton.”
“Thanks, Aunt Luna.”
“That just leaves me,” Spike said with a smile.
“I should have known,” Cotton laughed. “You wouldn’t let everypony else get me something and not do something yourself, huh?”
“Well, I am your father, after all,” Spike replied. He picked up a wrapped box from behind him and set it down in front of Cotton. “Actually, this is something that I had always intended to give you. I just had to wait until you were old enough. Be careful unwrapping it, okay?”
“Sure, Dad.” Cotton gently unwrapped the gift, and found an ornate golden box inside, with a symbol of three sparkling diamonds on top. Cotton put a hoof to her muzzle. “Dad, is this… a jewelry box?”
Spike nodded. “Indeed it is, a very special one. Take a closer look at the symbol on the lid. Do you recognize it from any of your schoolbooks?”
Upon closer inspection, Cotton let out a gasp. “Lady Rarity’s cutie mark! You mean this belonged to—”
“My late wife. The pony who should have been your mother,” Spike finished. “It’s finally time for you to have this.”
Cotton furrowed her brows. “But Dad, I don’t have any real jewelry. Just a few cheap knockoffs from when I went shopping with the girls. There’s nothing I have of real value that I could put in here.”
Spike smiled. “Yes there is. It’s already in there.”
Cotton’s eyes widened, and her lips fell slack. She slowly opened the jewelry box; inside sat a golden necklace with a heart-shaped fire ruby embedded on the front. She gasped again. “I’ve seen this in pictures! Is this the necklace that—” Her breath hitched in her throat.
Spike nodded once again. “I gave Rarity that fire ruby when I was a young, little drake with an infatuation. She didn’t reciprocate my feelings then, but she was very gracious. She loved gems, but not as much as the gesture. She called it one of the kindest acts she had ever experienced. She embedded the ruby in that necklace, and it became her favorite. She eventually did return my love for her, and after we got married, she wore that necklace frequently, particularly to special occasions—likely ones that you’ve seen documented.” Spike let out a sniffle. “She kept that box in a very safe place, so it survived the fire. I’ve kept it hidden away ever since. There was no one else I could see wearing it—” He looked down at Cotton and smiled. “—until now.”
When Spike picked up the necklace and moved toward Cotton, she backed up a step. “Daddy, you mean—”
“Yes,” Spike answered simply. “Something so beautiful shouldn’t be hidden away.” He clasped the necklace around Cotton’s neck, and it fell on her chest like it belonged there. Spike brushed Cotton’s mane out of her eyes and added, “And the same goes for the pony who now wears it.”
Cotton blushed, looking into the mirror set in the jewelry box’s inner lid. Feeling the weight of the necklace, she looked down at the ruby, back into the mirror, then smiled up at her father. “Th-thank you, Daddy. I’m honored. As soon as there’s an occasion for me to—” Cotton suddenly took in a sharp breath. She felt a strange warmth course through her body. “Dad, is there some kind of magic in this necklace? I feel…” She stopped, looking in the mirror again, then let out a soft sigh.
Twilight caught the expression. “Feel what, Cotton?”
“I don’t know. Like… like there’s somepony else standing beside me. Holding me.”
Twilight looked up at Spike and smiled. Spike looked up at the ceiling before he said, “That’s probably Rarity saying hello. You’ll carry her with you whenever you wear that necklace. She did always say it was special.”
Cotton’s mouth hung open for a minute before she finally took in a breath and responded, “You’re right. It feels like… like love.” She felt a tear well up in her eye. Looking up at her father, she saw the same happening to him.
Spike said, “I told you this when you first came into the family, Sweetheart, but you may have forgotten. The ponies that we love never leave us. They live on…” He leaned forward and smiled, then pointed at the ruby in the necklace. “…in our hearts.” Twilight, Celestia, and Luna all smiled and nodded. “The love you’re feeling isn’t from the necklace; it’s from inside you. All you needed was a little reminder. Your parents love you. We love you. And even though you never met her, Rarity loves you, too.”
Cotton looked into the mirror once more at her reflection, the fire ruby sparkling upon her chest. A smile appeared on her muzzle as a tear dripped down her face. She lifted herself up and hugged Spike’s cheek. “Thank you, Daddy.”
Spike held Cotton against him in a hug, then let her go before responding, “You’re very welcome, Sweetheart. Happy birthday.”
Cotton turned to the three princesses in the room and repeated, “Thank you, all of you. This is all so wonderful.” She gave all three of them a hug in turn, each of them wishing her a happy birthday once again. Turning back to the jewelry box, Cotton looked at her reflection once more before she unclasped the necklace and placed it back inside. “Let’s keep this safe. I don’t want anything happening to it.”
Spike smiled. “That’s my girl. I knew I could trust you with that.”
“Of course,” Cotton responded. With a yawn, she added, “Can I bring this and Aunt Twilight’s journal back to my room? I’ve got a good place for the box, and I’ll try to read a little bit before I go to sleep.”
“Absolutely, Honey,” Spike answered. “I’ll clean up. And yes, Tia, you can have some more cake.” Celestia clapped her hooves together and trotted off to a table on the far side of the room. Spike leaned forward, allowing Cotton to kiss him on the cheek before she walked out of his room with her gifts. After she left, he poked Luna and said, “You’re on duty tonight. Make it a good one.”
“Indeed, We shall,” Luna answered with a nod. “Should We induce sleep, or let her read first?”
“Let her fall asleep on her own. With everything that happened today, I’m sure it won’t take long. Besides, your induction spell isn’t exactly subtle,” Spike replied with a grin.
Luna shrugged. “Very well, We shall wait. Have thou any requests?”
Spike scratched his chin. “Well, you know how to read her. Just make sure she feels loved. The look on her face when she wore that necklace was just as wonderful to see as it must have felt. Let’s help that continue through the night.”
Luna thought for a minute. “We have an idea, but We must request thy permission first, Spike.”
“What do you need my permission for?”
“Well,” Luna began, “so far as We have seen, Cotton has not learned the art of lucid dreaming, so she consistently believes her dreams to be true while asleep. We have occasionally seen faint figments of her parents in past dreams, and given the oration thou just delivered, We believe a visit from them would be a most welcome event. Art thou agreeable with Our doing so?”
Spike hesitated for only a moment. “If you think it’ll make her happy, go ahead.”
“Very good,” Luna said. “If it would appease thee, We also intended to project Lady Rarity to her.”
Spike smiled. “Thanks, Luna. Just make sure she’s accurate, okay? I know it’s been a while, but I haven’t heard of you losing your touch with personalities you’re familiar with.”
“Of course, but We were not finished,” Luna said. “We intended to project all of us. A circle of family—past and present, lost and gained—perhaps all at the same time.”
“That… sounds perfect,” Spike said with a grin.
“Excellent. The performance shall begin when she falls into slumber,” Luna said, before teleporting herself out of the room.
Twilight approached Spike from under his wing. “So, did our party go as well as you hoped?”
Spike let out a content sigh. “Better. I don’t think I’ve seen her this happy since the day we went to Horseshoe Park a few years ago.”
“Yes, I remember her excitement when you all returned home that day,” Celestia said, taking a bite of a piece of cake. She swallowed before continuing, “The journal was a wonderful idea, Twilight, and I believe she will look quite stunning in regalia shoes, don’t you?”
“We’ll have to see what style of shoes she prefers,” Twilight answered. “Couple those with Rarity’s necklace, and I think she would look like a princess, though she clearly doesn’t want to be one.” She looked over at Celestia. “You got reeeeeeally lucky there.”
“Believe me, I know,” Celestia responded.
Spike chuckled. “Hey, my princess doesn’t need to be one. She’s perfect the way she is.”
“And we agree wholeheartedly,” Twilight replied. “Though Rarity’s necklace makes her look like royalty.”
“I second that,” Celestia said.
“Thank you, girls. I thought it was about time,” Spike said. “When she’s old enough to go to the Gala, she’s going to look splendid.”
“There’re still a couple years to go before then,” Twilight said. “One year at a time, Spike.”
“I know,” Spike answered. “I just love seeing that necklace around somepony’s neck again… Hey!” Spike scanned the room.
“Something the matter, Spike?” Celestia asked.
Spike crossed his arms as his mouth dropped into a flat line. “Yes. Your sister managed to slip out of here before I could ask her what was going through her head to make her think getting my daughter a chariot was a good idea.” Celestia and Twilight both chuckled. Turning to Twilight, he said, “And don’t give me any ‘I tried to tell yous.’ I know.”
“Fine, I won’t…” Twilight answered. After a moment, she smirked and said, “We didst attempt to inform thee!”
Celestia spat out a mouthful of cake and laughed along with Twilight as Spike grumbled under his breath. “Alicorns…”
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We certainly appreciate this most glorious chapter!
We hath enjoyeth thine chapter. LET THE FUN BE DOUBLED!
7404154 Thy* Someone needs to check their Modern English conjugations. :trolluna: (dammit I wish that existed
) I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. 
In all seriousness, thank you. 
And for all I know, there may be a few ways to go about archaic English, so mayhaps We should keep Our trap shut? 
7404167 We welcome thee
That was both hilarious and heartwarming.
I'm looking an the picture, and I have to say: What the heck happened to that pony?
BAHAHAHAHA!!!!
I felt a roller coaster of emotions here. Well done
7404646
Yeah
Your missing a zi on the na just though I should tell u. Lol, I purposely spelling a few words wrong. Ironic XD I also left out a comma.
I'm annoyed I did this XD I'm a grammar nazi too. Sort of, so it's hard for me to willingly spell stuff wrong.
You know, I like fluff.
But where's this going?
Twilight Snarkle second in snarkiness only to Sunset
Twilight Snarkle
7404847
Who says it has to go anywhere? Not all stories need to have some great baddie to fight or emotional breakdowns to shift through followed with emotionally drawn out recovery periods.
7404646
7404669
That original comment was answered by the original author a while ago. I didn't write those chapters. And honestly, my new editor said the same—he felt like she was acting a bit younger than 12. But that's how the original script was written, and I wasn't going to change it. I've just taken over from Act 2 and on.
7404847
It's been so long since this has been updated, I don't recall if you're an original reader, so I'm not sure if you mean the whole story so far, or just the beginning of the second Act. The new two-parter was really more for setup because of the time lapse (introduction of new friends, whatnot), but like 7405209 said, not everything necessarily has to go anywhere (though this was in the original script, which I intend to stick to). Remember, this is a Slice of Life story—you're not necessarily going to find major action scenes. If it wasn't obvious, this story is about Spike adopting a daughter and how they go through their lives together as a family. In a way, it's sort of like The Brady Bunch, just with ponies, and a fire-breathing dragon.
Okay, I am happy to see this is alive. The fandom is building itself back up. ^^
7405498
Fair enough
4448535
3433597
Now that the story is in my hands, and it was never really clarified, I'm kind of partial to the idea of Pinkie going through parthenogenesis. Of any of the Mane Six, I feel like she'd be the one to be able to pull it off. Maybe the Moose had a different idea, but that's going to be my headcanon. I mean, this is Pinkie we're talking about.
Otherwise, you can default to the ole' MLP standby:
s31.postimg.org/yjp5q2cmz/MAGIC.png
7409984 Hmm... It's happening to me now, too. I think it's a temporary issue with Drive. Maybe try again later?
Pfft Spike and Luna are in laws in this fic.
This was a cute chapter. Still think the jump was a bit much, but this was still cute.
7427514
The reason for the jump was originally my idea, which LD is just following through with. The original story was going to show snippets of her and Spike's life, right up until her death (of old age). That would have been sixty odd years, and the first eleven chapters covered less than a year's worth of story.
I am not sure what LD has planned for the end of the story now, but there will still be split into Acts, which will show certain ages through out her life.
7427078 7427295 7427335
Believe me, I know the difference between the singular and plural of 'ya'. If I recall correctly, I believe I was encouraged to leave those "y'alls" in intentionally to show an exaggeration of the Southern drawl that was picked up by the younger generation of the Apple family (couldn't do it all the time—it would have gone a little overboard). Looking back on it, though, you're right. I've gone back and fixed 'em up, here and in my personal documents. And thanks for the other input! The line break in the flashback was added as well.
7427514 7427709
I know, the time jump is a bit of a shock to the system, but that's how the Moose wrote it. I believe that's why the story's been done in acts. While character development could certainly have been one of them, there was only so much that could have been done in those gap years. If I didn't clarify it, I took over after the beginning of chapter 10 had already been written. That gap time wasn't my choice. I'm following the original script as much as I can, so I'm trying not to change too much. The next arc is going to have much more detail in a shorter time span (in the story, not the update rate unfortunately), so hopefully that'll be more satisfying.
Thanks for coming back! I'm sorry to say that the update rate won't be frequent, but I promise, the story IS being worked on, albeit somewhat slowly. I hope you enjoy what's to come!
7428211
Ah. Cool, and hopefully she doesn't die too soon (chapter wise).
7428249
It'll be more enjoyable, most definitely. And I understand, IRL sometimes has a way of not co-operating with writers as much as we'd like XD. Still an update is an update, and something to look forward too ^_^.
7427441 Adults don't get to torment children; I loathe bullying in all its forms, but Luna was wrong to do what she did. Then again, so was Spike, even moreso. Friends in high places, I suppose.
7428511 Children don't get to torment children either, but adults overlook that as 'kids being kids' even if the things they do to each other would have you in prison for years if you were a few years older. It's either wrong for everyone and everyone should be punished equally, or it's wrong for no one.
*
incoming feels artillery barrage. hit the deck. *
Ack, too late, they got me.
I can feel the feels overtaking me, it is a good pain.
7614720 wait... Was that that a 40 k reference
ya know when i first saw the cover art for this i thought coton's scars were dragon scales and that she was a hybrid or a kirin, still like her how she is but it gets the what iff train going
More tears..... damnit.