Chapter Twelve
While recess was time for the other foals to go off to play, scream or to generally be up to no good, Feather found himself slowly nodding off several times. He didn’t actually want to sleep, but he didn’t particularly feel up to doing much of anything but resting. His thoughts continued to wander back to Big Mac, how he’d taken him fishing. It’d been a strange event for sure, but most things happening in Ponyville were quite a bit more exciting than what he was used to on the road.
As he pondered this on one side of the playground, Scootaloo was off playing with her friends, though she didn’t feel quite up to the task at hoof herself.
A red ball landed square in the pegasus’ face, causing her to shake her head in exasperation and sigh.
“Oops, sorry, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with a blush. “Uh, something wrong?” she asked with a raised brow.
Scootaloo shook her head while straightening out her nose. “No, just wasn’t paying attention,” she said, almost muttering her answer. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle glanced at one another and shrugged.
“Uh, so, what do you all wanna do after class?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I was thinking of cupcakes at Sugarcube Corner, then more cutie mark crusading!”
Both fillies blinked at their unicorn friend in confusion before replying. “Uh, didn’t we do that already?”
Sweetie frowned and thought back to the previous day before slowly shaking her head. “We didn’t actually get cupcakes, though…” she pointed out, pouting.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, but Scootaloo was looking at Feather, on the other side of the playground. Who was attempting not to look in her direction. Sighing to herself, she nodded slightly. “Uh, actually girls, I have to sort of do something at home after class. Sorry,” she said.
“Aww,” they both moaned in unison, pouting.
“Wow, look at her go,” Sweetie mentioned while glancing over to Princess Cadance, who rocketed back and forth on the swing set which had been apparently both large enough and sturdy enough to support her weight. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went to join her, though Scootaloo shuffled off, walking over toward Feather.
The colt in question was sitting alone, now watching Cadence with a bemused expression.
“What ya doin’, Feather Brain?”
Gasping and turning around, he blushed upon noticing her but said nothing else.
“Okay then...” she said with a chuckle and took a seat next to him. “So, where’d you stay last-?”
“Nowhere!” he blurted out suddenly. “Wasn’t in a strange cottage, nope…”
“Uh… good? Good…” she said, trailing off in confusion. “Um, listen, sorry for storming off, but you were acting like a jerk,” she said without skipping a beat.
“...I was hungry. Sorry,” he muttered.
“So you turn into a jerk when you’re starving? Got it,” she replied with a giggle. “Listen, I need to go do a job after class, once a week kind of thing. But when I’m done I wanna show you something, okay?”
“Uh, what job?” he questioned, his voice sounding a bit stressed.
She rolled her eyes and gave him a dismissive wave with her hoof.“Relax, it’s nothing big.”
“It’s just... if more adults see you doing so many--”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. But this job isn’t that hard to do. I help the mailmare sort her packages on Thursdays. She gets a heavy load, but not all of it gets sent to where she flies today,” Scootaloo said with a shrug.
“Uh, can’t she sort it?”
Again she shrugged. “Yes, but I’m much faster at it and she usually pays me a decent amount to help her out,” she said, though she noted the colt merely nodded in boredom. “She also usually gives me treats when I help her out…”
“Really?!”
“Colts…” she shook her head and sighed. “Yes, really.” He nodded with an actual smile and she couldn’t help but crack one herself. They were left in a pleasant silence for a few moments while they watched the Princess of Love playing like a young foal. They blinked in confusion on how somepony so old could act so young; it simply didn’t make sense.
Not that anything really makes sense in Ponyville… Feather thought with a silent snort to himself.
“So, wanna join me after class, while I do my thing?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Um…” he trailed off and thought about before shaking his head. “I’ll only be free for maybe half an hour, Pinkie needs me to work a shift today, though Twilight did at least say I don’t have to study with her every day.”
Scootaloo merely blinked in confusion.
“Oh, yeah. Twilight is helping me ‘catch up’ in school… I guess,” he said while blushing at his lack of elementary school knowledge.
“Oh, uh, how’s that been?” she asked awkwardly.
“...Please don’t make me relive those horrors,” he muttered out loud.
Rolling her eyes, she merely patted his back and sighed with him. “Hey, we’ve all been there. Twilight’s just talking about something casually, next thing you know you’re getting lectured nine ways from Sunday.”
He shuddered again so Scootaloo decided to just drop the subject. “Anyway, after school, you wanna stick around for a bit while I do my thing?”
He shrugged and nodded. “For a little bit, anyway.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the playground, Twilight had quickly joined the princess’ side and, reluctantly, joined her on the swing set. “So, how long will you be in Ponyville?”
The constant swinging motions from the pony princess seemed to waver only slightly. “Oh, um, maybe a few days. I’m sort of supposed to… maybebeattendingtoofficialroyaldutiesanddecidedtoslackoffbyhangingoutwithyou! So how about this swing, huh?”
Twilight blinked and nodded. “Um, that’s good. Is being a princess that demanding?”
With a solemn glance at her friend, Cadance could only give a quiet nod. Twilight gave her a sad smile and continued to mimic the slower swinging of the pony princess for a good two minutes.
“I miss watching over children, Twilight. Teaching them about the world and helping them grow just makes me smile. It’s why I loved foalsitting you so much.”
Twilight blushed a bit and nodded. The lavender unicorn swiveled her head over toward Feather who seemed to be casually talking with Scootaloo. A small smile escaped her lips as a quick idea formed.
“How would you like to join me tomorrow for one of Feather’s lessons?”
“Who?”
“Oh he’s a new student in Miss Cheerilee’s class, you’ve sort of met him. He’s over there with the hat,” she said, gesturing over toward him.
“Oh, him! Heh, it’s funny because I think my height kind of freaked the little guy out,” Cadance proclaimed with a quiet giggle.
Twilight smirked and nodded. “To be fair, I think Ponyville has made him go through a lot in a short amount of time. But he’s behind in a few subjects, so his father agreed to let me tutor him up to speed. Though he does have a job, also, working for Pinkie Pie. It’s possible he might not show up at all.”
Quirking a princess-styled brow at her, Cadance shook her head. “He has a job? Shouldn’t he be more focused on his education if he’s falling behind?”
Twilight considered her for a moment, taking a few more loops on her swing and then replied, “It’s… complicated. Honestly? I haven’t met his father yet and I’m starting to suspect something may be wrong with his home life…” she trailed off upon noticing the stern glare of her old foalsitter. “Oh, but I’m sure it’s nothing! He’s probably just a busy stallion with lots of work to do,” Twilight added hastily. “I did sort of have to strike a deal with him, though…” she muttered with a blush.
“Like what? Cupcakes and toys?” Cadance guessed though Twilight glanced at her strangely. “What? It worked on you as my cute little filly.”
Blushing more she merely shook her head. “Erm, more like engineering tips and fulfilling a complex enchanting order.”
“Engineering tips? He’s quite the little hobbyist then?”
Again Twilight hesitated and seemed to do a half nod motion. “Erm, well I haven’t actually conf--”
“I’m sure he has a few projects he’s working on? Goals he’s constantly striving for?”
“Well he showed me a blueprint of something. I’m still not quite sure what it is, but he seems pretty focused on getting it to work. Um, I think.”
The swinging motion of both ponies ceased as Princess Cadance went to stare at her friend again. “You think? If you’ve been hanging around this colt and tutoring him, surely you would know more about his goals, his interests, even his dreams? Why it only took me a day of foalsitting you to find out you wanted to be the world’s greatest--” Cadance tried to speak, but for the life of her she couldn’t since Twilight’s forehoof was now firmly placed squarely in her mouth.
“You promised you would never repeat that out loud,” Twilight said, punctuating each and every word with a harsh and ultimately unnecessary pause. “You promised.”
Blushing, she nodded. “Right, right… I keep my promises. Sorry. Though, to be fair, the very idea was just adorable and I think—” A stern glare and menacing magical spark from Twilight’s horn was all the Princess needed to shut her trap on the subject for good.
“Anyway,” Twilight said, “I may not know everything about Feather and, okay, he’s a bit guarded, but I’m getting there. I’m hoping to earn his trust and hopefully he’ll tell me just what’s been bothering him… or why he keeps lying to me.”
Cadance sighed as she took a long glance at the strange colt known as Feather. “Twilight, oh Twilight.”
“What?”
“Remember when you accidently turned Spike’s scales pink? And you tried to lie to me and claimed a bucket of paint fell on his head?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“How would that even work? I mean, no matter what kind of paint it was, there’s no way in Tartarus it would perfectly cure to his skin in such a magical way. It was clearly a falsehood and--”
“I get it,” Twilight interrupted. “It was dumb.”
“No, it was silly, but I got the truth from you in an hour. But you’re telling me Twilight Sparkle, one of the six heroes of Equestria can’t pry the truth from that little colt? I’m shocked, appalled, even,” she said, sounding suspiciously like a certain Prince would speak.
“Cadance…”
“Give me an hour with Feather and I’ll have him singing like a bird. Just one hour,” she said with a wink.
“I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to end well, Cadance. Feather is very guarded, and I think he’s a lot more sensitive than he lets on. I’m worried about him, sure, but I don’t want to push him too hard.”
“I’m good with foals! Just one hour… you were going to invite me over for one of his lessons anyway,” Cadance pointed out.
Twilight groaned and glanced over to the foals as they were all being called back in from recess. Sighing, she shook her head and followed them too. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
Cheerilee rang the bell for the students to come back inside for school to continue.
“Honestly, Twilight. Have a little faith.”
After school was over, Feather started to leave with the other children. For a moment, Princess Cadance almost seemed to call to him as he looked back. Though when he looked carefully, Twilight was busy talking with her, smiling nervously. Feather shook his head and continued on his way down the path, wondering if Scootaloo was coming, or chit-chatting with her filly friends.
On the schoolhouse steps, Cadance was glaring at Twilight who immediately spoke up. “Not yet. Like I said, he’s quite guarded. Wait for him to come to his studies first.”
Cadance merely shook her head and sighed. “Oh Twilight…”
Feather, wandering slowly down the path towards town, was startled when Scootaloo virtually materialized next to him. She grabbed his hoof and, without warning, yanked him onto her scooter. “C’mon, I’m late!” she said as they sped off, causing the colt to yelp in surprise. He held onto Scoots and his hat while muttering to himself about crazy fillies.
After a solid two minutes—almost on the other side of town—Scootaloo suddenly skidded to an abrupt stop, causing Feather’s face to shudder as he was forced to hold onto Scootaloo even tighter.
“We’re here!”
“Oh, hey, Scoots! There you are!” Feather heard a mare call out to her. He looked around and, sure enough, a flying pegasus dressed like a mailmare was lazily hovering just above them. Her bag had been discarded on the ground, apparently expecting Scootaloo to be here as the filly had already eagerly started to dig into it.
Feather scratched his head and stared in awe as Scootaloo carefully laid out various letters, small packages and other awkwardly shaped tall yet slim boxes into neat piles. After that she sorted each category by address and tied them into a neat little pile using her teeth to finish off the tiny knot. They were then carefully placed in the mare’s bag along with the remaining packages in as organized a manner as possible. Feather couldn’t help but wonder how Scootaloo had gotten so quick at doing this. The mare smiled down at her with an awkward wink and reached into her bag, digging around.
“Great job, Scoots! Uh, let’s see here… I know it’s around here somewhere,” she said, muttering to herself.
“Thanks!”
The mare smiled before dumping a small sack of coins at their hooves and flying off to go deliver her nicely organized letters.
“Well… beats my job,” Feather noted with a shrug.
“Yeah, at least I don’t have to wear that frilly apron,” she noted with a chuckle and he rolled his eyes at that. “When do you need to be there?”
Feather looked at the non-existent watch on his wrist. “I should get going pretty soon, actually. Might take me awhile to get there.”
“I’ll give you a ride.”
“Cool, thanks.”
“So listen. After your job, can you meet me in front of town hall?”
“Sure.”
As the sun began to set on Ponyville, an impatient little colt was pacing back and forth in front of town hall.
“What’s taking that crazy filly so long?”
Finally Scootaloo buzzed her way up to Feather and stopped in front of him.
“What took you so long?” Feather asked.
“Um, sorry. Heh. Lost track of time, I guess?”
He grunted and shook his head in annoyance. “Crusading with your friends again?”
She simply shook her head. “Hmm, I didn’t really feel like hanging out with them right now.”
He quirked a brow at her quizzically. “Why?”
Scootaloo grunted in annoyance. “Look, I just didn’t feel up to Crusading today.”
“Uh, okay. To the clubhouse then?”
She merely shook her head at that.
“Not right now, Applejack’s been working in the fields late on certain days and it’s kind of tough to pin down when it’ll be clear or not,” she said before packing everything away and settling onto her scooter again.
“Wonderful,” he said with a sigh.
She shrugged. “Just hop on. I got another place we can go to, it’s usually free, well, when it’s not summertime at least.”
Feather paused at that and gulped upon thinking about what she’d just said. “Uh… y- you know I have a bad time breaking and entering into other ponies’ places. Why do you think I picked out the clubhouse when I first got here?”
“Ah, relax, will ya? Trust me, this place is free right now,” she said rather confidently, but Feather wouldn't budge. He struck a sitting pose and began to put his hooves at his sides.
Sighing, she merely shook her head. “Feather! Trust me, okay? It’s a big empty place that’s on the outskirts of town. It’s a summer home. As in it’s not summer right now, alright?”
Grudgingly he nodded and figured that it was a damn sight better than sleeping outside.
“Now quit being such a foal and get on already!”
Resigning himself to this craziness, he secured his bag and got on, and they were off in a flash. Feather noted, as they went, Scootaloo would wave to random ponies and smile in their direction, as if she knew them. The more he hung around the town, the friendlier it seemed to him, though plenty of the ponies she would wave to were definitely far more adult than their age, something he certainly took note of and would talk to her about later.
Eventually, the thatched roof houses and quaint shops of Ponyville vanished as they seemed to leave the town entirely on a dirt path which lead far away from Fluttershy’s cottage in the other direction. They traveled for a good four minutes of “Scootaloo Speed” until, finally, the silhouette of a lone building appeared off in the distance.
“Is that it?” Feather yelled over the near deafening wind rushing by and constant buzzing of her tiny wings.
“Huh? Oh yeah, that’s it alright!” she yelled before finally skidding to a stop.
Under what little sunlight remained, Feather could see that the place was a large building, not quite the size of Diamond Tiara’s mansion, but it certainly had an aura of wealth about it, with neat, finely laid out bricks and a roof that wasn’t made of straw or hay. It would certainly serve their purpose for the night.
“Cool. So how do we get in?”
“Around back, it’s not hard,” she noted and began carefully cantering around the back. She wheeled her scooter with her. “It’s right over here,” she said while pointing to a vague square shape. “Just wait in the front and I’ll let you in,” she said.
Around front, he could hear Scootaloo making odd noises and cursing to herself as she seemed to trip on something. In that very moment, Feather’s breath caught in his throat with his eyes turning to pinpricks, though the moment passed without incident. No sudden lights turned on with no angry ponies demanding they leave; the place was truly unoccupied.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door swung open and the hallway light had been turned on. “Come on in, Feather Brain!”
“Don’t call me that,” he said, practically seething as he strolled by her. He glanced around. “Wow, this place looks nice… how did you find it?”
She didn’t answer at first and instead strolled by him to find more lights to turn on. “Well, I heard ponies talk about this summer home a year back and realized it was really just a vacation home a family uses, well, during the summer. Kind of stupid to just leave a perfectly good house all by itself and all, but eh. That’s rich ponies for ya,” she said while rolling her eyes.
He laughed a bit and shook his head. “Sure seems like a waste,” he noted.
“Oh, you haven’t seen the best part, come with me!”
They began walking upstairs, the wood flooring creaking with every step. Nervously Feather would look around, wondering when the jig would be up and they’d be run out of town or worse, yet nothing came. They entered an ordinary door as Scootaloo turned on another light and his jaw dropped. In its full glory was a massive stone tile bathtub featuring jacuzzi jets and numerous faucets to fill the thing. Beyond it was a fittingly large picture window framing the view of the night landscape lit only by the soft light of Luna’s moon. It was simply stunning.
“Yeah, that was my reaction first time around,” she said while giggling. Feather stared ahead in silence, his mouth agape.
The bath had more in common with a swimming pool, Feather thought. As he got closer, he could see that the tiles were accented with gemstones and lined with a trimming of gold, which made spirals and various shapes. The moonlight made the gems, gold, and tile sparkle and shimmer.
Feather nearly jumped out of his skin when the thing suddenly turned on, dozens of open tubes blasting the tub with water, filling it up. He looked around and spotted Scootaloo’s hoof messing with some knobs over to the side.
“Been a while, but I think this one makes it hot…” she said quietly, mumbling to herself.
While a nice warm bath in an oversized royal jacuzzi sounded heavenly to Feather, he couldn't quite shake that unnerving feeling like they were being watched, though with nothing apparent to give them away. He couldn't hear anypony around over the water and it was far too dark out for anypony to have followed them, but still the feeling remained.
“Well, you going in or what?” Scootaloo asked impatiently. The bath had finally finished filling as the two awkwardly stared at it.
Hot steam wafted through the room as the Jacuzzi jets continued to flow in an endless loop, the water bubbling and simmering. Practically begging the two to get in.
He sighed. “Um, I guess. But are you sure this place is safe?”
He just never lets his guard down, does he? she thought in a daze. “Look, I get you’ve been on your own for a while, but so have I. Almost nopony even knows this place exists in Ponyville, I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen ponies near it.”
“Except in the summer?”
“Well, it’s not summer. Now get going,” she commanded and then, not waiting for him to reply, she jumped in.
Feather grunted as a small splash of hot water hit his hooves. She gave him a cheeky smile then dove under the water.
“Fine.” Reluctantly, he took his saddlebag off and gently set it aside before gingerly getting in. The colt couldn’t help himself as he let loose a quiet moan of pleasure with his face morphing into a goofy grin. The moment of pure silence and relaxation was quickly cut short when the filly suddenly re-surfaced with a loud, shattering breath.
“Phew, that feels good!”
“Heh, yeah, I guess it does.”
She nodded then flapped her wings gently through the water. The high temperature relaxed their muscles, relieving all tension in the room.
Does feel nice, but I still don’t like this… he thought, stubborn as ever. While it would have been nice to fully relax for once, being cautious even at the best of times is what had always kept him safe.
Both ponies eventually settled into seats on opposite ends of the tub, feeling the multitude of jets sloshing around and pressing against their backs. Scootaloo smiled dreamily down into the tub, watching Luna’s light shine through the various colored gems. Had Spike been around, there’d be no doubt they would soon go missing.
It seemed a disquieting metamorphosis had taken place in the room. Nothing seemed to matter outside the room, out there in the rest of the world. Outside that window seemed a place now covered in shadow. In fact, everything seemed peaceful. Sublime. And it was strange to them. Alien, somehow.
Both ponies looked at one another, both sensing the same change in the air. Feather took off his hat, and set it on the side of the bath.
“I wondered why you wear that thing,” Scootaloo commented, her voice devoid of sarcasm and of judgement.
“You won’t tell anypony,” Feather said, not asked as a question, or told as a demand, just a comment, that seemed to be more of a statement of the obvious.
She shook her head ‘no’ just slightly.
Rolling his eyes and grumbling to himself, he took a quick dip under the water and sighed pleasantly. It took Feather much longer to resurface, and when he did he let out a huge gasp for air before sighing again. “Wow, that felt great.”
“Eeyup,” she said lazily.
The steam almost lulled them to sleep, but seemed to simply relax them just enough to stay awake. An awkward silence soon took over the room as they simply stared into the bath at seemingly nothing, yet it seemed that there should be some kind of conversation. Until she spoke.
“So, how long you been tinkering with that thing?”
He blinked in astonishment and tried to recall a concrete number, something that made sense before simply shrugging. “I guess a few years…”
She nodded, looking to be deep in thought. “Has it ever… you know, worked?”
He gave her a deadpan stare of astonishment as if to say really?!.
Rolling her eyes, she elaborated, “I mean, has the wing ever moved like it was working? You know, like,” she lifted one wing out of the water and slowly flapped it up and down.
“Sort of,” he said while looking back at it. “I’ve definitely gotten it to move before, just like my wing, but not for very long before it just, you know, breaks,” he exclaimed with a heavy sigh.
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, it sure does.”
“Do ponies ever… you know, make fun of you for not being able to fly?”
“Not… really. I think they just feel sorry for me. But not like that’s any better…”
“Oh. Yeah I saw some of that at your party, that doesn’t sound fun.”
“Eenope.” He resisted the urge to sigh again and instead looked away. “How about you? I take it Diamond Tiara probably wasn’t the first bully you ever had?”
“That’s an understatement. Back at my old place, the other ponies weren’t exactly kind about my wings. Eventually I got sick of it and just up and left; not like anypony wanted to adopt a flightless pegasus filly anyway…”
“Your old place?”
“An... orphanage for ‘lost foals.’”
“Oh. How long ago was that?”
“A few years. I roamed about from town to town, but no place really felt like home. Until I found Ponyville. I still don’t understand how Pinkie just throws a party for everypony, cause she certainly didn’t know me or anything, but it was the best day I could remember in so long. I was gonna leave right after-”
“I would have,” he said, interrupting her. “I take it everypony in town was invited? Right?” she nodded. “It’s already suspicious to be at a huge party by yourself, at our age. I mean, think about it.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I thought about that back then, but I didn’t really have a chance to leave before a storm kicked in overnight. Stupid weather ponies. So I stayed and I remember applying for school with Sweetie Belle’s help, well, mainly her big sister’s help. All I said was my folks were too busy and before I knew it, I was in the same class. It took a while, but I had a home, even if it didn’t always feel like one.”
He nodded.
Silence again as the two fought the urge to either get out or just sleep in the water, which was obviously a bad idea, they might get all pruney.
“Are you… do you mind if I ask you about your parents?”
Feather sighed. It hurt to remember, but the warmth of the bathwater seemed to dull the pain… at least a little. “My mother… I never got to know her. She… died. A long time ago. And my dad…” he paused to rub a tear from his eye.
“I’m sorry.”
“I just… I try not to think about it, you know?”
Scootaloo nodded and looked down at her wet coat. “Um, remember that half magic stuff Twilight was talking about in school today?”
“Hmm, yeah,” he mumbled.
“Well, I’m pretty sure my parents were both earth ponies. I kind of… maybe think that’s why I can’t fly,” she admitted hastily.
He stood up and leaned. “...Pretty sure?”
“Well, I was pretty young when they kicked the bucket. I don’t really remember a whole a lot about them,” said with a shrug.
“I’m… sorry. Is that why you seemed kind of grumpy at recess? And why you didn’t go ‘crusading’ with your friends today?”
“...Yes. I just went off to think, but that just made me feel worse,” she said and looked behind herself to examine her wings, flexing them a few times. “They just look so scrawny. I mean, even if I had my parents, I doubt they’d even want a filly with wings like these.”
“Then buck parents. If they don’t want you, then who cares about them? And who cares if your wings aren’t strong enough to lift you? Make them stronger. Hay, I’m missing a whole wing, but I know I’ll find a way to fly someday. I bet you can too,” he said more confidently.
She blinked and nodded in thought before quickly getting out. “That’s probably the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said, much to his annoyance, but she still smiled. “But thanks, I think? I needed it.”
“Um, you’re welcome?” Fillies are weird… he thought.
She went to find a towel and showed him where he could locate one. “When you’re dry, you can find me in the room at the end of the hall. There are two beds there. You gonna stay up and work on that thing?”
“Probably,” he said without even thinking about it. She rolled her eyes before trotting off, almost looking happy.
After drying off and grabbing his hat, he went to look at his device while biting his lip, wondering if it was even worth working on that night. He slumped to the floor, silently blaming the warm bath for making him too sleepy to work. “Eh, maybe not tonight,” he muttered.
He grabbed his backpack and hat and walked off to go find the nice comfy bed, feeling more relaxed than he’d been in ages.
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A new chapter appears... let the comments flow through you.
So.... Featured story, sounds good. Will have to read it to find out though but from how the summary sounds it's gonna be good
9037562
Hopefully, my slow updates don't drive you too insane, but glad new people are interested.
9037581
Your human and you is worse
9037590
...683k words...? Wow. That's commitment.
9037612
Dude your still alive ?
9037758
Yep. Brony for life. I don't plan on quitting on this story, this fandom or this website ever.
Very nice chapter. If Cadence tries to get him to open up...i honestly hope he doesn't. I do want him to eventually, but not because Princess of Toys thinks its easy for her.
9037867
Thank you!
As for Princess Candance...
Man, I’ve forgotten about this story! I have to read this again soon to remember...
Anywho, I can’t wait to see more!
9037950
I know that feeling... too many stories to remember them all, lol.
Let me know if you catch any logic mistakes in the plot, we tried our best and had to re-read this tale twice before we finished our full summary and this chapter.
Wow, so I’m just imagining Cadance trying to question him and my first reaction is that he would react negatively to her, think someone is snooping or close and just straight up disappear. This then gives Twilight an “I told you so” moment. Although with their influence, it could immediately be followed by using their connections to start a hunt to find him.
9038020
Maybe, though Princess Cadance isn't exactly supposed to be there. 
Would give her away if she started an official investigation for Feather. 
9038010
I’ll be sure to comment if I see anything. Also, I see this story was written 5 years ago! I mean for the first chapter. Boy, so much has changed since then
Good to know this one is still coming along.
9038115
It sure is, I just wanted it updated before I went to Bronycon so I don't feel so bad.
9038044
This doenst sounds ominous at all.
Yay, my favorite little revolutionary is back to his antics.
9038567
revolutionary?
9038586
Oh its just me reading too much into it.
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9038593
I'm way curious now, what do you think is going on?
9038611
Lets just say that, by the end of this story, i expect Feather to create something that will bring hope to Children, and on a lesser degree, make adults realize to not underestimate their young.
Anymore than this might be spoilery.
9038626
Spoil it up! Just use the spoil code thingy.
I look forward to seeing Cadence learn the meaning of the phrase 'Pride goeth before a fall'.
9038648
Feather and Scootaloo are both Handicapped, from what was said earlier it seems there is no real solution, prosthetics and such, His fathers invention might be the very first functional prototype. For the other aspect, Feather seems to believe that adult will try to convince to stop what he is doing and accept his disability, hence the reason he avoids them at all cost, most likely from a previous experience, likely involving a public worker that was more interested in following the standard rules than actually try and think how to help in his unique case.
9038691
Let's just hope he doesn't make her cry...
9038705
Interesting theory...
9037590
Filly please, I follow Harmony Theory.
Plus I follow a bunch of fics that are so close to dead that I have to read the chapter twice to remember the story.
9043383
I hear that, lol.
...I just made myself sad.
9043483
yeah, a moment of silence for all the dead and nearly dead fics of quality.
I’m just waiting to see the summer home turning out to be Cadance’s summer home.
According to the date archive chapter ten was released after chapter eleven
9053854
Oh wow, that would be amazing. 
9053956
Just read the notes in ten, and you'll understand why. But basically, I posted eleven before ten stupidity.
Distance between each chapter release
1-2 7days
2-3 0days
3-4 32days
4-5 0days
5-6 42days
6-7 55days
7-8 66days
8-9 17days
9-10 105days
10-11 320days
11-12 0days
12-13 33days
13-14 97days
14-15 105days
15-16 223days
16-17 82days
17-18 -17days
18-19 212days
19-20 433days
Days between First chapter and most recent chapter
1813days 20chapters(15 if you add up the chapters that are split into parts)
9054028
Just did that
9054035
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/11/13/471809__safe_scootaloo_flight+to+the+finish_season+4_animated_fake_fan+animation_scootasad_solo_spoiler.gif
9054042
Same
9054035
See the issue is life got in the way, but also I didn't have a clear-cut outline for the entire story. I had a goal in mind, but that's changed several times as I've been writing it and I had to settle on something, but it took me a while to finally nail down what I wanted. Chapters should come quicker, especially now that I know exactly what I want.
9054035
But I really need to get over my nerves of posting something new.
Then again, I've started to write new stories again and I'm really nervous about posting them, but if I get more up then that could mean fewer updates for this one.
9054056
It’s ok. I haven’t been able to write one story let alone a good one. And if you are nervous about a story being forgotten then create a stockpile of chapters for it and release them occasionally
9054060
Not so nervous about that (though that fear is there) but just feedback.
9054066
Well this is a place for people to share their stories and ideas. Not everyone will like it but those who do will enjoy it and share it with others who they think will like it. So don’t be afraid to try writing something new because someone is going to like it.
9054096
9054101
More of this story!!! Yay off my dead list and back on tracked.
9234549
Been working on other stories and finding a job... I really need to fire this one up again.
9054140
I said all of that and it's been a year since a new chapter. Ugh.
I got so caught up in Reflection of Nightmares which I still love as a story. I am sorry.
9852761
It’s ok I just glad that you haven’t forgotten it and like I said Fimfiction is a place to share stories and to have fun.
9852787
I do have fun, but I worry about its future. Even with the inspiring blog post from Wanderer D