“Dad! Come on!” Grey Feather heard a voice call. It was a voice he'd not heard in a few months. It was a voice he'd spent a lot of that time thinking about, as well as her mother. A small part of him thought that maybe she might be visiting him for some reason. She had even said “dad”. Would she actually call him dad again?
It had only been a few months but his loneliness was already eating away at him. He'd been crying himself to sleep for a while. He didn't even realise how much he needed the drink to keep out the guilt and pain. He'd begun to realise how wrong he was about things. He couldn't get how much Rainbow Dash and Star Shine (not that he really knew their names) had defended Scootaloo out of his mind. There must have been some reason for that. They definitely cared for her more than he ever had. The reason that he had never cared for her was that she couldn't fly. He had been so adamant that a Pegasus should be able to fly that he had never seen past that and saw what else there was about her. Maybe there was more to her than met the eye. Her mother had certainly cared for her. Then again, she was a Unicorn. She just didn't get it. No, that wasn't right either. Dawn Star was perfect. She could do no wrong. If she thought that Scootaloo was something special then maybe she really was. Dawn Star was probably just biased because she was Scootaloo's mother. If that was the case then it sure made him a pretty lousy dad. A dad is supposed to care for and love their children no matter what might be wrong with them.
“NO!” Grey Feather thought defiantly, shaking his head. It was the job of children to not be such a disappointment to their parents. To not be failures. That's all Scootaloo was as long as she couldn't fly. All she would ever amount to without that ability. It was like a Unicorn that couldn't do magic. That was just unheard of. To him at least. What a Unicorn parent do to a foal that couldn't do magic? They'd probably put it down. They were just as proud, if not more so, than the Pegasi. Putting themselves so high above the rest of society. Most Pegasi would probably have acted the same way that he did and treated Scootaloo the same way that he had.
Then again, there it was, the way that Star Shine and Rainbow Dash had defended her so vehemently. Star Shine had even torn out his, Gray Feather's, wing to protect her. Grey Feather looked back at his broken wing and sighed. The doctors had offered to fix it for him but he didn't take them up on their offer. At least now he had something in common with Scootaloo. Neither of them could fly. How cruel fate could be sometimes. Sometimes he'd laugh at how things had gone. He had abandoned Scootaloo because she couldn't fly and now he couldn't fly anyway.
“Jeez dad, what took you so long?” Grey Feather heard. It was that same voice again. Hers. That's when something hit him. Another reason that he had opted to not have his wing fixed was that he was in the tower. They'd never let a Pegasus who could fly in the tower. It'd be far too easy to escape. He was so high up only a Pegasus could get here from the outside and the voice sounded way too close to be coming from the ground. He barely ever heard anything from the ground. He practically leapt at the window and looked outside. There, hovering not far outside his window, was Scootaloo. She was wearing such a pretty little dress too. This had to be a trick. Maybe it was a Pegasus that looked a lot like her, and sounded a lot like her too. There was no way that she could be flying when he couldn't.
“Scootaloo, would you stop going up? It's tiring and we're going to be late. We're supposed to fly to the theatre, not above it.” Star Shine panted, finally catching up to Scootaloo. Rather than fly straight to the theatre from the train station, Scootaloo had indeed chosen a very elevated flight pattern.
“Sorry dad...” Scootaloo said, shifting in the air. “I just can't resist it. It's just been so long.” she added. She had just been so eager to fly that she kept going up. She'd rather fly around for a few hours than watch a play she'd seen before. Star Shine wanted to go to the theatre more than Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo. She was mostly doing it for him. Star Shine ruffled Scootaloo's mane, taking care to not knock the tiara off of her head. He quickly realised his mistake. Scootaloo had taken a bit of time before leaving to fix her hair up and now it was a mess.
“Don't tell Rarity I did that? Please?” Star Shine pleaded as he took in the mess he'd made. Scootaloo couldn't see it but she assumed it was bad. A wicked smile crossed her face.
“Oh no, I can't do that. If I do, then she'll tell me off. I ain't getting into trouble for you dad.” Scootaloo laughed and took off in the direction of Rainbow Dash, who was ahead of both of them and waiting. Rather impatiently at that. It was Rainbow Dash after all. “Hurry up, mom's waiting!” Scootaloo called back.
“If you do I'll let you call me dad!” Star Shine called out, chasing after Scootaloo.
“I do it anyway dad!” Scootaloo called back, laughing harder. Grey Feather watched them leave and went back to lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling. It had become one of his favourite past times. There wasn't much to do when you're imprisoned. Scootaloo had a new dad. One who loved her more than he ever did. Probably more than he ever could. She had a new mother too. Had she forgotten all about Dawn Star? All that he and her had done for her? He was almost beginning to feel sorry for Scootaloo and what he had done to her. Now his anger was coming back. She had completely abandoned and forgotten her former family. Then there was the other thing. That she was flying. That had been no trick and it was definitely Scootaloo that he had seen. A small part of him was proud of her for having flown. The rest of him was struggling to accept it and comprehend reality. He was stuck flightless while she was flying around Canterlot. The tables sure had turned on him.
He wanted to fly again just to spite her but every time he thought about flying again his head was filled with the memory of plummeting thanks to Shining Armor. Was that how Scootaloo had felt all those times he'd dropped her? Had she gained a fear of flight much like the one he had now? There was no point to flying again anyway. He knew he would probably rot and die in the prison. There was nowhere to fly to or from. His cell was barely big enough for him to hover a little and when he did hover, they'd move him down to the dungeon and take away his precious sky. He had lost a lot of things but he still had that sweet sky outside his window. That was almost enough to help him keep what remained of his sanity.
Almost.
Over the course of his incarceration Grey Feather would go insane. He was prone to violent outbursts and would go from crying to laughing manically at the drop of a hat. He would at least go on to live far longer than anyone predicted he would. He had several psychiatrists but never really told them anything and they never really helped him. Eventually they stopped caring and the help never came again. Until about fifteen years later he was visited by a young psychologist who was practically fresh out of university. Grey Feather was actually her first case and she had chosen him specifically. She knew she had no chance of helping him, she just wanted to talk to him a little. The name had piqued her interest. Grey Feather had managed to become quite infamous. This particular psychiatrist knew him before all of that. She had known him back when he wasn't in prison.
“Excuse me, Mr Grey Feather?” Diamond Tiara asked from the door to his cell. Grey Feather was laid on his bed and didn't move. He just grunted to acknowledge that he had heard her. He was getting very old and wasn't leaving his bed much anymore. Diamond Tiara would probably be his last ever visitor. “I'm coming in, is that okay?” she asked. Another grunt from Grey Feather. Diamond Tiara motioned to the guard who opened the door for her to go in. She went inside and sat down by his bed. Grey Feather still barely moved. Even his eyes were closed. “I don't know if you remember me sir, but I met you when I was just a little filly. I came to see you to ask you about Scootaloo.” Diamond Tiara said, hoping to jog his memory somewhat. Grey Feather's eyes snapped open at the mention of Scootaloo's name and he looked at Diamond Tiara maniacally. His eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were barely there. It was unnerving to say the least.
“Scootaloo? You know my Scootaloo?” Grey Feather asked, completely ignoring the rest of what Diamond Tiara had said. He had no interested in who she was and couldn't remember her. It didn't matter to him. Nopony had told him anything about Scootaloo and she'd never visited. As time passed, he began to really hope that she might. Just so he could say sorry. He felt he could die happy if he had her forgiveness. Diamond Tiara shook her head.
“I've not seen her since I moved out of Ponyville. I sent her a letter once, apologising for what I did, but I never heard anything back from her. It's a shame because she's really overcome everything and gone on to do what she has.” Diamond Tiara replied. If it wasn't for Scootaloo, she had had no idea where she would be right now. She had grown up happy and healthy in a loving environment; something she'd never had in Ponyville and may never have had.
“What she's done? What did she do?” Grey Feather asked, coughing. He was getting too excited and his body was starting to give out on him. Diamond Tiara shook her head again.
“I'm afraid I can't tell you. They won't let me. They never told you anything about Scootaloo because they wanted to protect her from you.” Diamond Tiara explained.
“Oh.” Grey Feather replied quietly, closing his eyes again. He wasn't interested anymore.
“There is one thing I can tell you though. That's why I'm here.” Diamond Tiara said. She leaned in to whisper into Grey Feather's ear. What she was about to tell him came under the things that he wasn't supposed to know. “She's told the story of how she learned to fly a lot. She had some kind of disease that stopped her from flying. That's why you could never get her to fly. She overcame it thanks to you too. It was after you attacked Rainbow Dash, when Scootaloo jumped after her. She wanted to save Rainbow Dash so badly that she flew. You're the reason she can fly. I just thought you should know that before...well, you know.” Diamond Tiara explained in a hushed tone. Grey Feather's eyes went wide and he started to cry again.
“See...See Dawn Star, I did do something for her. I did. I got her to fly. It was because of me that she could fly. You forgive me don't you? You'll be waiting for me won't you? I'm so sorry for what I did to our little girl. What I did to you. You forgive me, don't you? Please tell me you forgive me? I'm...I'm coming. Be there. Please.” Grey Feather raved between sobs and coughs. He looked at Diamond Tiara one more time. He didn't see her anymore though. All he saw was the accusing stare of his dead wife. “You...you love me, don't you? Please tell me you love me Dawn Star.” he begged. One of the things he had slowly come to terms with in his years alone was how Dawn Star would have reacted to the way he treated Scootaloo and what he did to her. He wanted her forgiveness more than anything. Diamond Tiara was unnerved and very uncomfortable. She recognised what was happening, and did what she knew had to be done.
“Of...of course I love you Grey Feather. Now come on, I'm waiting for you.” Diamond Tiara said as sincerely as she could. The least she could do is let the colt die happy. She kissed him on the forehead and stroked his mane until he slowly breathed his last and passed on.
It didn't take very long.