A Daughter and her Dragon

by Level Dasher

Chapter Sixty-One - Mutual Benefits

Cotton shut the massive door to the castle behind her, then looked at the stationed sentries with a smile. “Good evening, gentlecolts.”

“Good evening, Cotton!” they chorused, stomping their spears on the floor.

“I just got back from dropping pies at one of the homeless shelters across town, buuut…” She reached into her saddlebag, where she’d stuffed one of her packing boxes sideways, then sat on her haunches and wiggled it in her hooves with a smirk. “Look what IIIIII’ve gooooot~~” she singsonged.

Hearing shuffling from inside the box, all four guards’ eyes widened as they smiled, trading glances with each other.

“After your shift’s over. I’ll keep ‘em in the kitchen until then. And I’ll make sure the kitchen crew leaves some for you if they manage to get their hooves on them.”

Princess Celestia descended the stairs with a chuckle. “What do you say, colts?”

“Thank you, Cotton!” they cried in unison.

“You’re welcome,” Cotton giggled. Her smile swiftly fell into a scowl as she turned and glared at Celestia. “I need to talk to you.”

Celestia eyed Cotton’s sudden change of tone with curiosity. “Why… of course, Cotton. Is something the matter?”

“Let’s go to my room.”

Ж

“Why in Equestria would you tell Blueblood to come to the shop??”

Narrowing her eyes at Cotton’s shout after she immediately shut the door upon entry, Celestia replied evenly, “Well, you didn’t want any of us to tell citizens to go, so I asked him to make an appearance instead; I thought if ponies saw the presence of a noble, they might follow his example.”

“Don’t justify that with a loophole! I asked you not to tell ponies unless they specifically asked! A bunch of ponies from the court already knew! They could’ve come of their own volition! Not many have, but…” Cotton let out a huff as she raised a hoof into the air. “I mean, look, I know you asked one noble to make an appearance. I get the logic, but…” Her scowl disappeared as she cut herself off, dropping the hoof as she sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful; I know your heart was in the right place, so thank you.” As Celestia started smiling, it was quickly cut off when Cotton cocked a brow and continued, “But seriously, of all the nobles in Canterlot, you picked Blueblood? The snobbiest one in the entire city?”

Celestia let out a nervous chuckle. “Well… he came to the court again on Friday, right at the midday break. Since he was already there, I took him aside and told him I would grant his request if he agreed to visit your bakery.”

“Dare I ask what you granted?”

Rolling her eyes, the princess replied, “His grandfather was looking for funding again. Though unnecessary, there was no harm in it.”

“Well, maybe not to the treasury, but it was to my shop.”

Celestia’s brows furrowed as she leaned down. “What did he do to you?”

Unfazed, Cotton responded, “He dissed my cookies and pies, and then had the gall to insult my family at the orphanage.”

After letting out a relieved sigh, Celestia asked, “So he didn’t cause any physical harm?”

“To me? No. To the shop? Kinda. I had a lot of mess to clean up.”

Celestia tilted her head as she returned to full standing height. “What happened?”

Cotton’s eyes shifted back and forth. “Uh, he tripped... and fell face first... into a pie tin… totally his fault.” She pursed her lips and snorted.

A hoof shooting to her muzzle, Celestia failed to suppress a chortle before she let out a full belly laugh. Cotton held her muzzle shut in a smirk as she laughed silently, tears falling down her cheeks. After a minute, Celestia wiped away the tears from under her eyes. “I don’t know if I should scold you or applaud you, Cotton, but I’m leaning towards the latter. I hope that didn’t inconvenience you too much, though.”

“Not really,” Cotton responded with a shrug, wiping away her own tears. “It only took about ten minutes to fully clean. Actually, I did get my one customer of the day after I finished, so I guess your plan… kinda worked?”

Celestia finished her laughing with a chuckle. “While I would happily take credit, I doubt the two are related.” As her residual smile faded, her eyebrows arched up slightly. “I do apologize, Cotton. I really was only trying to help. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Cotton smiled as she walked up to the princess and gave her a nuzzle. “Of course I do. But next time, maybe send someone like… I dunno, maybe Fancy Jacket. He’s actually got good taste.”

“‘Next time’?”

Wiggling her hoof, Cotton responded, “Well, maaaaaybe I’ll ask you to send someone if I’m still not having a lot of luck with customers. But for now, please don’t tell anyone else to come, okay? I wanna do this myself.”

“Deal,” Celestia said with a nod, her smile returning. She tilted her head towards the door as she asked, “Shall we go have dinner? Unless you were eating your own stock again.”

“I only did that once,” Cotton grumbled. “But yes, let’s go.”

Ж

The next day, Cotton walked back into the shop at six, opening the door slowly and holding the bell so it wouldn’t jingle too loudly. After filling the case with her usual stock, she propped open the door at seven like always. Taking one of her cinnamon muffins from the display tray, she sat behind the counter with a cup from the coffee shop a few blocks over. “Mmm, vanilla chai.”

A little while later, a young, cream-colored unicorn mare with a cocoa mane walked through the door. “Hey, Cotton, we— You’re still drinking that? It’s been an hour and a half; isn’t it cold by now?”

“Oh, hey, Mocha! Nah, I keep it next to the ovens while I’m baking. Stays warm that way.”

Mocha raised her brows. “Woah. That’s genius. Anyway…” She walked up to the counter with a smirk. “Dad is considering that offer of yours.”

Cotton smiled. “Oh? He’s down with coffee for cookies?”

“Well, he’s got a counter offer; a coffee for a cookie is a one-bit loss for us every day. But he was thinking if you give us one pie on Mondays, we’ll supply you for the week. I know that’s a two-bit loss on your end, but it’s less for you than it would be for us. You cool with that? I know we could make it an even cookie-for-coffee trade with nine of your cookies, but… we all love your apple pie. We could always come buy cookies separately.”

Putting a hoof to her chin, Cotton thought about it for a moment. “Hmmm… Tell ya what: I’ll take him up on that if we do an advertising swap, too.”

Mocha cocked a brow. “Huh?

“Well, I’m having a little trouble with customers right now. You put up a sign on your counter telling ponies to come here for sweets, and I’ll put one on mine telling ponies to head your way for coffee. That way when I do start getting customers they’ll go to you if they haven’t already. Sound fair?”

“Sounds fair to me, but I’ll have to ask him.”

Nodding, Cotton responded, “Cool. He in today? Think he could give me an answer right away? I could probably come up with a sign idea pretty quick.”

“Yeah, he’s there,” Mocha answered. “I don’t know how long he’d need to think about it.”

Cotton shrugged. “That’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. Actually, hold on a second…” Putting up a hoof, she looked up in thought for a moment. “Here, I think I’ve already got it— ‘Need a kick for work? Head to Central Perk!’ Short and to the point.”

Giggling, Mocha replied, “I like that! It’s cute! I’ll go ask what he thinks.”

“Go for it. Like I said, I’m not going anywhere,” Cotton replied with a sigh.

“Sounds good. I’ll be back when he gives me an answer!” She waved as she walked out the door and turned the corner to return to the coffee shop.

Cotton tapped a hoof on the counter with a smirk. Y’know, that might really work out. I dunno how many daily customers they get, but at least they’re established.

Her muffin finished ten minutes later, Cotton was still sipping on her coffee when Mocha came back with a smile. “It was a quick ‘yes,’ and he thought of a sign along the same line as yours: ‘Want something sweet and dandy? Go see Cotton Candy!’ Took him a sec to rhyme with ‘Candy,’” she giggled.

Giggling in response, Cotton said, “I like it! I can make a sign at home tonight and have it ready by tomorrow.”

“Same. Dad’s done some woodworking, too, so it’d be quick. Anyway, since you’ve already paid twice this week, he offered to start this up next week. Deal?”

“Deal!”

Before leaving, Mocha added, “Hey, you should put up a tip jar like we have. Might get ya a few extra bits.”

Cotton shrugged. “Not a bad idea. I’ll bring one tomorrow.” As Mocha walked back down the block with a wave, Cotton's eyes widened. "Wait a second… Why didn't I think of putting up signs before?!"

Ж

Cotton yawned as she walked into the coffee shop the following morning, the sweet and smoky smells of different flavors filling her nostrils. As she approached the counter, she found an engraved, varnished and rainbow-painted sign sitting in front of the register. The little rhyme with her name was displayed in capital letters, along with an arrow pointed in the direction of the bakery.

When Mocha walked out from the back, both of them smiled as she pointed at it. “So? Whatcha think? I told you my dad was quick. I thought it looked kinda crude, but he said, ‘It pops, but still matches the rustic decor.’ Do you like it?”

Cotton’s smile widened as she nodded. “Yeah, I love it! Here, I wanted to show you mine— we tried to match the decor, too. Take a look.”

Reaching into her saddlebag, Cotton pulled out a sign of her own, also varnished and engraved. With images of dark coffee beans and a white, steaming mug of coffee, it also sported an arrow pointed in the opposite direction.

Mocha's eyes widened. “Whoa, talk about intricate. That's incredible."

"Yeah, one of our guards has a good rotary drill and really steady hornwriting," Cotton giggled.

"No kidding. That’s so cute! The mug is such a nice touch! Dad’ll love it. And it’s funny that we both thought of the arrows.” She tilted her head before she asked, “By the way, when you say ‘we,’ do you mean you did part of it, too?”

Cotton put the sign back in her bag. “Yeah. The guard did the cutting and engraving, but I designed and painted it.”

Her eyebrows rising, Mocha responded, “Wow. I thought you’d just ask one of the guards to do the whole thing. Guessing Sir Spike couldn’t do something that size… Dad did all the work on ours.”

“Nah, it was fun doing the safe parts myself.” Cotton then smirked and put three bits on the counter. “The usual, please.”

“Comin’ right up. I’ll probably be over later for some cookies. Since we’ll have a whole apple pie next week.” She winked as she moved toward the coffee makers.

“Sounds good!”

Ж

Cotton put three cookies in a bag as the mare in front of her put five bits on the counter. “Here you are, ma’am. Enjoy!”

“If these are as good as I hear, I’m certain I shall, Miss Candy! Have a good day!” The last pony in line from the unexpected surge, the mare smiled, then put a single bit in Cotton’s new tip jar beside the register before she walked out the door.

“Thank you, ma’am! And just 'Cotton' is fine!” Cotton called after her. Nearly collapsing onto the counter, her case now less than half full and the shop finally empty, she let out a deep sigh. “Holy horseapples… one day of a sign in a coffee shop and half of Canterlot comes in? They must get more customers than I thought.” She took a look inside her case. “Okay, all out of chocolate chip—definitely need to make more. Also need… apple and coconut crème… huh, oughta make more snickerdoodles, too. That’s kinda surprising; didn’t know those would be so popular.”

Just as she headed towards the kitchen, a familiar voice came from the door. “Hey, Cotton!”

Turning back around, Cotton smiled at the new arrival. “Dreamweaver! Hey! How are you doing? I haven’t seen you since— Wow, not since the war, I think.”

“Yeah, I think so,” he replied. “I didn’t even know you opened up shop! How’s it going?”

Cotton let out a breath. “Well, it hadn’t been going that great. I had less than a dozen customers total over the whole week, until now. I just had like, a hundred over the past couple hours. I have to go make more stuff if the rest of the day’ll be like that. I didn’t know so many ponies went to Central Perk.”

Dreamweaver cocked a brow, then looked at the sign in front of her register. “You mean the place a few blocks over? I've been there.”

“Yeah,” Cotton replied with a nod. “They just put up a sign for me, too.”

“Uhh, I don’t think it was all them, Cotton. You don’t read the paper, do you?”

Cotton tilted her head at him. “…No. Why?”

Smirking, Dreamweaver reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a newspaper, then dropped it onto the counter. “This is today’s. Take a look at page 4C.”

Author's Note:

Signs drawn by the always adorable Ninny!

Before you all go to the next ‘chapter,’ I just want to give a quick shout-out to Rambling Writer, because even though it wouldn’t surprise me if someone else has used it also, I totally stole the name ‘Fancy Jacket’ from Moondog's third story.

Also: when I went to college, along with Starbucks and Dunkin’, there were three different indie coffee shops on the main stretch: The Perfect Blend, Brew HaHa! (I almost used this one), and Central Perk. ‘Perk’ made for the best rhyme for me. That, and the fact that I'm from New York also gives me a bit of a bias.

Comments

[Morphy]

I'm gonna guess the paper had a splash about how good the treats were while downplaying all the bluff and bluster Blueblood junior claims from the confectionary "assault". Who knows, maybe her pies are so good that only they should be hurled into the face of pompous nobility? You wouldn't want to throw just any old substandard mass produced pie at a Blueblood, right?

...at least all this will finally release the floodgates and allow the royals to visit the shop without it looking like favoritism.

Other things Candy may want to think about is returning the favor to the newspaper. Set up one of those small ad racks for local papers to sell or take in the case of the free ones?

[Love able chaos]

Lol this was great and the art of the sighs are great.