A Daughter and Her Dragon Chapter 65: Sneak Peek · 8:06am Apr 8th, 2021
Heya, Folks!
I know, it's been a long time since my last chapter update. I'm sorry. 
As I've said in previous blogs, I promise, I AM still working on it. I want to finish and publish the prequel first, though; ever since I decided to actually write a prequel at all after starting my "Early Years" side story anthology (still have every intention of publishing that, too, after I've got more of the main story ready), I realized there needs to be proper continuity between them all, so the prequel will have to be finalized and published first so I know what I'm working with for chapter 65. Unfortunately, like I said in my last blog, I've run into some nasty writer's block with both the prequel and the main story (and the anthology...). 
That said, the first part of chapter 65 that I do have written won't (well, shouldn't) be affected by what still needs to be written for the prequel. When I first started it I actually kinda thought it would make for its own chapter, but it's way too short, so I'll want to finish the rest of the chapter before I publish it in full. But even though my editor hasn't looked at it yet, I feel like I owe you guys something, so I'm gonna give you a sneak peek at the beginning of chapter 65. Spoiler: it's mostly fluff.
Bear in mind, even though I'm pretty happy with it at the moment, since this hasn't been edited yet, it is subject to change. There shouldn't be, but if any major changes are made to this segment, I'll probably delete this blog.
For now, though, take a peek...
“Here you go, ma’am: one slice of apple pie, two snickerdoodles, and one chocolate chip cookie.”
The mare smiled as she put eight bits on the counter, Cotton sliding a go-box to her in return. “Thank you very much. Have a good day!”
“You too, ma’am!” Cotton called after her, before turning to the stallion stepping up to the counter with a filly and colt on either side of him. “Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?” She smiled as she looked over the counter at the foals scanning her case.
“I’ll tell you in just a moment; my apologies,” he responded, looking back and forth between the foals before he spoke to them. “I thought you two were looking while we were in line.”
“But I couldn’t see everything!”
“Yeah!”
Cotton giggled. “Take your time, there’s a lot to choose from.”
The stallion smiled. “Thank you, but we don’t want to take too much time with that line behind us.”
Looking up at the line stretching back to the door, Cotton replied, “I appreciate that, sir.”
Cotton suddenly heard a combination of voices. “Blapplerry!”
“I don’t think I have ‘blapplerry,’” Cotton giggled. She looked over the counter at the foals again. “One slice of apple pie and one slice of blueberry?” Both of them nodded as they grinned.
The stallion chuckled. “Good ear. And I’d like a slice of coconut crème… and one key lime for my wife, please.”
“Absolutely,” Cotton replied with a nod. “To go?”
“Yes, please. The park is gorgeous today.”
“It certainly looks like it. Just a second…” Cotton grabbed one of her go-boxes and knelt down to her case. One by one she picked out each slice of pie, then added four plastic forks into the box and shut it before placing the box on the counter. “That’s twelve bits, please.”
The stallion reached into his bit pouch and deposited the bits onto the counter, then looked down at the filly and colt. “What do you say, you two?”
“Thank you!” they cried in unison.
“Yes, thank you,” the stallion added immediately after, putting a bit in the tip jar.
Cotton smiled. “You’re very welcome, and thank you. Have a great day!” She watched the stallion and his children walk out, scooching through the door so the pony at the end of the line wouldn’t get hit.
Woah. Gonna be a long day, Cotton thought to herself as she swiped the bits into her till. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when it’s beautiful out on a Saturday morning. Then she turned to the mare in front of the counter, a colt at her side. “How can I help you, ma’am?”
Ж
“Thank you very much, miss. Enjoy your day,” the stallion in front of the counter said, taking a bag of cookies in his wing.
“You’re welcome. And thank you, you too,” Cotton responded. The stallion nodded with a smile, then walked out the door, leaving the rest of the shop empty.
After just standing still behind the counter for a moment, Cotton let out a long, deep breath before she plopped onto her haunches. “…Sweet aunties. Is this how every Saturday is gonna be?” She looked into her case, which sported very little of her usual stock. “I’m gonna have to skip lunch to get anywhere close to half full.” She glanced up at the clock, which read only two minutes before one. “Phew, good timing.” After walking toward the door and peering down all three ends of the intersection, she shrugged. “Eh, it’s only two minutes. I think I can close for now. Gimme a chance to start everything.” After flipping her ‘open’ sign to ‘closed,’ Cotton went back into the kitchen and picked up a cookie tray to start wiping it down. A minute later, she heard the bell forcefully ring. Of course. Rolling her eyes, she called, “I’m sorry, I just closed for lunch. I’ll reopen in an hour.”
“I… apol… ogize… but… could I…” Cotton listened closely, noting that the feminine words were being spoken between panting breaths. “…take just… one moment… of your time?”
Cotton sighed. Sounds like they went at a full gallop to get here in time. Alright, fine. “Okay, ma’am, I’ll be out in a second.”
She heard a deep breath, followed by, “Thank you.”
Cotton finished wiping down the tray, then put it down and made her way to the kitchen door. As she pushed it open, she found a middle-aged unicorn mare with a sky blue coat and a somewhat faded pink mane with a nurse’s hat sticking partway out of her saddlebag. Stepping back behind the counter, Cotton asked, “How can I help you?”
As the mare looked Cotton up and down, her mouth slowly fell open, her eyebrows arching. She sat on her haunches as her forehooves met in front of her muzzle.
“Oh, look at you… you’re absolutely beautiful...”
Given what I've said about the prequel so far (however little it may be), you probably have a good idea what's coming next. But for now...
Until next time!
—LD
Ahhhhh! Cotton is just so perfect here. I can't wait to read more!
Take your time, Dash and take care of yourself. We'll be here.
I love a good slice of
pielife bitDon't think I've seen the prequel, but I have sneaking suspicions as to who the mare at the end is -thinking face-
Hope that block ends eventually, it's such a delight reading about Cotton
5502854
You haven't seen the prequel. I haven't released any of it yet.
I want to finish it first, and it's multi-chapter. I don't know how many it'll be, but when I'm ready I'll release them once daily. That'll take at least a week, minimum. Probably two, maybe three at the rate I'm going. But I'll want it all edited first also, and my editor is shipping out in a couple weeks for at least a month, sooo... I'll try and finish that up, keep going with DaD, and maybe have a buttload of chapters to throw at him when he gets back.
In terms of who that mare is... I'll just say— you haven't met her before.
5503933
Okay cool, I was feeling a bit crazy about missing something in this...."Cottonverse" lol
Yeah, I figured she wasn't a named character yet. My sneaky suspicion is more of "what" the character is, or how they know Cotton, moreso than knowing the exact name or identity. Currently semi-split on something along the lines of a biological relative, maybe an aunt. Could also be a family friend from before orphanage times. <- My current guesses. Obviously I'll have to wait and see though.