Chapter Five Part II
Feather’s breath came in shallow huffs as he tried to catch up to Diamond Tiara. He should have known better than to pick a competition with her, or anypony for that matter. He wasn’t the most athletic pony, and he was carrying several pounds worth of metal parts. Then again, so was the filly he was competing against. She had insisted on carrying one of the saddlebags if they were going to race. In her words, she wanted to “grind him into the dust fairly.”
“What’s taking so long?" Tiara called back, clearly delighted at the distance between them. “Getting tired, slowpoke?”
With a loud groan, Feather came to a stop. “What do you think?!" He yelled between labored breaths. “I give up! You win! Whatever!" He slumped to the ground, muttering, “I need a break.”
Diamond Tiara stopped and walked back to Feather. “You need to exercise a bit more, Feather. We’re only two blocks away.”
Feather wearily pulled himself to his hooves. “I’ll be ok, but can we walk the rest of the way?”
Diamond Tiara looked up and away. “Well, if that’s all you can handle, I suppose we don’t have a choice.”
Feather was not amused. He was too tired to glare at Diamond but he managed a passable scowl. “Shut up.”
She giggled in response. “You shut up. I’m just glad to have someone I can actually beat when it comes to sports and stuff.”
Feather sighed with as much air as his strained lungs could spare and started walking again. “Well, I’m glad at least one of us is happy.”
“Come on, Feather." She started walking alongside him, bumping into his side. “Don’t be like that. You’ve got to have something you’re good at.”
Feather rolled his eyes. “It’s not running. That’s for sure.”
Tiara giggled again. “Definitely not. Hey, what about being a buscolt? That apron looked like it was made for-”
She was cut off by a loud crashing noise. It was accompanied by the shrieks and yells of panicked Ponyville residents. Among the chaotic shouts, they could hear one word being repeated several times. That word was fire.
“Where do you think it is?" Tiara asked.
“I don’t know,” Feather replied. He pointed a hoof off to their left. “It sounds like it could be coming from over there.”
“What should we do?”
Feather shrugged. “What can we do? It would be best if we just avoided that area.”
“I guess you’re right." Diamond Tiara watched nervously as billowing white smoke started rising into the cloud-filled sky. “The weather ponies are probably going to start a rain storm to put it out.”
“Can they do that?" Feather looked up and gulped. “It doesn’t seem like there are enough clouds.”
“Of course they can." The filly started getting antsy as several colorful specks appeared in the sky. As they approached the smoke, they became recognizable as pegasi. There were two light purplish ones, a rainbow-colored one leading the charge, a dark gray one, and a yellow one that was hesitantly following the rest. “The weather team here is full of showoffs, they make sure everypony else knows what they’re capable of. Let’s get out of here before we get soaked." She started walking again, away from the fire, but also away from Sugarcube Corner, their original destination. “This way!”
Feather was about to follow her when he heard another voice among the panic. “Okay guys, weather team’s almost here, but this is our mess. We’ve got to do our best to help.”
He turned and shouted at the rising smoke. “Of course you had something to do with this!”
Diamond Tiara stopped and looked back. “Who did?”
Another shout from far off. “Sweetie Belle, are you sure that’s the last of the water?”
The earth pony filly slapped a hoof to her face. “Oh, her." Before she could say anything else, Feather ran off towards the fire. “Wait!” She yelled after him. “Feather! Where are you going?”
“Guys, we’re gonna have to get out of here." Scootaloo paced back and forth in front of a line of flames, flapping her wings with all she had. She seemed to be slowing its progress, but no matter how much she flapped, the fire refused to die. If anything, it was getting stronger. “This isn’t working!”
She looked up from her frantic task when she didn’t hear any sort of response to her shouts. She could see Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom at a nearby house trying and failing to get water out of a rusty old spigot.
The small park-like square was almost completely on fire, but it was surrounded on three sides by wide stone roads. There wasn’t much to burn besides grass and a few small trees, and the fire wouldn’t be able to spread past the roads. But, the last side connected to the front yards of several houses. If the fire got past her, ponies could lose their homes. With so much on the line, Scootaloo couldn’t help but feel helpless as the fire slowly forced her back.
She yelped when she was grabbed from behind and whirled around. “What are you doing, you idiot?!”
“Feather?!”
Feather was running towards her with a reluctant Diamond Tiara on his heels. “Blank flank!" The pink filly shouted. “Behind you!”
“What?" Scootaloo looked back. Without her fanning, the fire was resuming its course, and it was spitting out sparks as dry grass burned in its wake. Several of the angry red specks had landed in Scootaloo’s tail, and Feather ran up to her and stomped them out.
He then shoved her away from the flames just as a nearby clump of leaves exploded into sparks. They splattered his coat and he slapped at them as he backed away from the flames.
Scootaloo went and stood next to Diamond Tiara as she surveyed the fire. “Any ideas, guys? It’s not going so well.”
Diamond Tiara looked over at Scootaloo as Feather joined them. “No kidding! How did this even happen?”
The pegasus filly pointed at some sort of large kettle or grill tipped over nearby. “Well, we were trying for roa-”
“Not important right now." Feather cut her off. “We need to get out of here!”
“But we can’t!" Came a voice behind Feather.
“Yeah!” said another. “If we leave now, without doin’ nothin’, ponies’re gonna lose their homes.”
Feather turned around. A white unicorn with a pink and purple mane, and a yellow earth pony with a red mane stood behind him. Both were fillies about his and Scootaloo’s age, both were carrying buckets, and both of them were wearing name tags. A quick glance at Scootaloo revealed that she was wearing one as well. “What can we do?" Feather asked them. “There are ponies on the way who know how to deal with this. We should just get out of here while we still can.”
The unicorn, Sweetie Belle by the name tag, dropped her bucket and looked down at it sadly. “Yeah, and we weren’t able to get any water to help put the fire out.”
The other one, Apple Bloom, headbutted her friend in the shoulder, dropping her own bucket in the process. “Don’t give up just ‘cause he is! Ah know it looks bad, but there’s gotta be somethin’ we can do." She looked over at Scootaloo who had been giving them orders. She saw the pagasus filly’s worried look, and her own resolve started to falter. “Right?" She asked hesitantly.
“I don’t know." Scootaloo glanced over at the fire. “I wasn’t able to put it out, and even if Feather helped, I don’t think we could push the fire back.”
“Of course not,” Feather shouted. “Fanning a flame makes it stronger.”
“But we don’t have any water." Sweetie Belle kicked her empty pail for emphasis. “What else can we use?”
Feather looked at the fillies around him. Out of the four of them, Diamond Tiara seemed to be the only one who wanted to leave as much as he did. With a loud groan Feather turned to Sweetie Belle. “We can use dirt to smother the flames. Use your magic, and throw as much dirt on the fire as you can. Focus on the flames that are spreading, and work back.”
Sweetie Belle nodded furiously. “I’ll try!" She looked at the ground below her and closed her eyes to focus. Her horn lit up first, then a patch ground. With a grunt of effort, Sweetie Belle pulled her head back, and dirt exploded up, catching Feather in the face. “Sorry!" The unicorn filly swatted at Feather's face, trying to dislodge the dirt that had stuck to him. “I can’t control my magic that well.”
“Sto- don’t-” Feather tried to fend off her well meaning hoof to no avail, eventually just having to shout at the unicorn filly. “Just stop!" While all four fillies stared at him in stunned silence, he spit out the dirt that had gotten in his mouth. “We tried. There’s no way we can move enough dirt to put the fire out without using magic. Let’s get out of here before we get hurt.”
The Scootaloo and her two friends all looked at each other, silently coming to a nodded agreement. The orange filly looked over at Feather, and was about to say something when Diamond Tiara spoke up. “What if we don’t put it out?”
All the other ponies looked at her. Apple Bloom stepped forward and pointed at Feather. “Ain’t that what he just said? And, why’re you here, anyway?”
The pink filly gave her fellow earth pony a look that was half sneer, half eye-roll. “Does it matter why I’m here? I am, and I’m about save you blank-flanks flank’s." She pointed at the hole in the ground left by Sweetie Belle’s failed magic attempt. “We do that." She ran away from the fire, stopping half-way between it and the houses it threatened. “Right here. Fire can’t burn dirt, so we make a trench and the fire can’t get past it.”
Feather was the first to move forward. “That might work, but we’ll have to hurry." He ran towards Diamond Tiara, and the others slowly followed his lead. There was then a bright flash, and Feather found himself hooves over head in midair. Diamond Tiara was above him, and the other three fillies were scattered around as well. They fell to the ground, tumbling and ending up splayed out in a brightly colored pile of foals.
“Ugh." Diamond Tiara had grabbed Feather by the neck when they fell, and was still hanging onto him. “What happened?”
“Why are you asking me?" Feather shook off the filly’s grip and stood up. The first thing he noticed was that they were pretty far away from the fire. They were in the front yard of a house, two houses down from the one they had been trying to save. The second thing he noticed was that the dragon from the library was walking up and down the front lawn of the first house, breathing flames and setting the grass aflame. Unlike the blaze the foals had been fighting, Spike’s green flames burned the grass away quickly and cleanly, without sparking or spreading.
In a matter of moments, the first house’s lawn was reduced to nothing but dirt. A few seconds later, he saw a pink sphere come out of the flames. The sphere quickly disappeared, leaving none other than Twilight in its place. She started talking to her scaled assistant, but Feather could only make out bits and pieces of their conversation.
“... don’t see anypony else.”
"...just them?”
“What were they…”
“Twi… focus on the fire?”
“Oh, right!”
The purple unicorn turned around. After a few seconds, she began casting spells. The watching foals figured it was to help reduce the flames, yet a few seconds of observation proved otherwise. Anything her magic touched burned much faster than everything around it. One small tree was reduced to ashes within seconds.
“That was my plan! They're getting rid of all the fuel so…” DIamond Tiara trailed off, her pupils slowly dilating in shock. It had begun to rain. She looked up. There wasn't much rain at the moment, but there were enough rainclouds to fuel a thunderstorm.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and silently exchanged hoof pumps, not wanting to draw attention. Scootaloo soon joined in, but Feather was distracted by the two purple library dwellers headed their way.
Scootaloo looked over at Feather, unaware of Twilight and Spike's approach. “What’s wrong?”
Twilight stopped in front of the foals. As soon as she made sure they were all right, she was going to give them the lecture of their lives. But, she never even got a chance to open her mouth.
Feather snapped to attention and pointed off into the distance. “Scootaloo! She’s running off, she has my bag!” Feather then dashed off in the direction he pointed.
Far ahead of him, a pink filly could be seen running for all she was worth.
Scootaloo looked back and forth between Twilight and the fleeing Feather until the librarian sighed, rolled her eyes and nodded in his direction. The Pegasus then ran off after a hasty, "Thank you!"
Not content to be ignored, Twilight yelled after them. "I hope you realize how dangerous that was!"
The rain picked up speed, drenching the running foals, but did nothing to slow down the chase. Eventually they ended up in the housing district, with Scootaloo hot on Tiara’s tail. Feather trailed along behind them, but wasn't about to let either filly out of his sight.
Diamond Tiara ran through the front gate to the Rich family mansion without pause, leaving it swinging in her wake. She didn't notice that Feather's bag was slipping back, about to fall off, or that Scootaloo was just about ready to tackle her.
“Tiara wait up!” Feather yelled over the rain.
Both Scootaloo and Tiara glanced back. The pink filly was standing on the welcome mat, ringing the doorbell. Scootaloo, however, was still path to the door, and Feather's distraction made her slip. She slid in the mud until she slammed head first into Diamond Tiara, then both fillies crashed into the front door.
Feather stopped just in front of them to question if they were okay but before he could say anything the front door had swung open revealing a brown, very confused looking, stallion, who was now staring down at them. All three children let out a synchronized, very audible gulp.
Diamond Tiara lifted a hoof in a small, timid wave. “Hi daddy.”
Feather blinked, all other movements forgotten. Scootaloo slowly stood up, but did not bother to try and wipe any mud off.
“Sweetie,” he nodded to her but then turned his head over to Feather and then down to Scootaloo who also gave out a sheepish smile, not caring about her appearance in the slightest, “are these...Classmates of yours?"
Tiara looked back at Feather. He was the cleanest of the bunch, but he was staring at her father like he had seen a ghost. Scootaloo was acting normally at least, but she was caked in so much mud, you couldn't tell what color she was. Tiara gave a silent sigh. She slowly looked up at her father and broke out in a grin, talking in a tone that anypony but her father would call out as fake. “They sure are daddy! I wanted to invite them to a sleepover. I was going to ask you first, but it started raining, and Scootaloo can be kind of klutzy. She tripped, and I kind of got caught up in it. Can they come in so we can wash off?"
Her eyes were wide, her smile was gleaming, her voice was perky. Right now, she was the picture of a perfect of daughterly perfection. Scootaloo and Feather exchanged glances, and the same thought ran through both their heads. “There is no way in Tartarus that he is going to buy this.”
“Hmm, why certainly, no sense in letting your friends get so wet. Come in all of you,” he replied and waited for them to enter. He then gently shut the door.
Tiara turned to Scootaloo with the smile still plastered across her face. “The bathroom is upstairs and just to the left, why don’t you wipe some of that mud off while I speak with daddy, hmm?”
Scoots simply nodded and made a slow ascent up the staircase. She left a clear trail of hoofprints behind her, but the marble tile and stairway would clean easily enough.
Tiara's father winced as he watched the filly disappear into the bathroom. He then quietly looked down at Feather. "You seem to have stayed clean at least."
“Daddy,” breaking him out of his staring contest, he looked back to her daughter instantly switching from the glaring stallion to the smiling father, “I would like you to meet Feather.” She turned around giving him the same smile but she frantically moved her eyes back and forth from Feather to her father indicating for him to speak up and to speak up soon. "He's new in town."
“Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you sir,” Feather said, extending his right hoof. Hesitantly the stallion responded with a shake, stoic expression throughout.
“Sweetie,” he said addressing his daughter.
“Yes, what is it daddy?” The same fake tone.
He looked back at Feather and then took a quick glance up the stairs, then he let out a very quiet sigh. “Have fun with your sleepover, I’ll have Quiet Step send up dinner for the three of you.” He was about to leave, when he hesitated and stopped. “On second thought, how about I help get you cleaned off. That way your friends aren't kept waiting.”
She was whisked away without protest, carried on her father's back, so as to not leave a trail in the carpeted room they had to cross. Feather figured he was simply supposed to wait in the front room and air dry, since there was no mud on him. ”I just hope he doesn’t check the bag she’s wearing…”
With a sigh, Feather examined his surroundings in more detail. The mansion was even more impressive when it was lit up, especially without the fear caused by trespassing. Everything was clean and polished, with the exception of recent events, and the rooms were well lit.
There were three rooms that Feather could see from where he was, four if you count a hallway as a room. The foyer, where he was now, was tiled with white marble, and there was a large rug underhoof. The rug didn't quite seem to match the rest of the decor, so Feather could only assume it was put down for situations like this, probably at the first sign of rain. A coat hanger stood nearby, holding hats and scarves for the mansion’s occupants.
Off to the left, he could see the kitchen, the one room he really remembered. Though, it was much more inviting in the daylight, even if it was rainy and overcast. The countertops were wood in some spots, dark green stone in others, and all sorts of wooden containers, bowls, and baskets were arranged neatly atop the counters. There was a large, double oven, and enough stove top to cook for a small army. There was even something cooking now, in a large stock pot. And that something smelled good enough to remind Feather that half a cupcake wasn't a decent lunch.
Off to the right, was a small sitting room. It was carpeted, except for the corner around the fireplace, that had dark slate tile. There were several chairs, and short bookshelves. The tops of the shelves were cluttered with stand-up picture frames. Half the pictures were of Tiara and her father. The other half were of seemingly random events in Ponyville, but each one had Diamond Tiara in it somewhere.
In front of him, the marble staircase, caked with pegasus prints, led to a hallway. He couldn't see much of it, but he could see more pictures hanging on the walls, and a bright, brass and crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Feather laid down on the carpet with a slight shiver. He resisted the urge to shake the water off, and kept looking around. He had camped out in model homes once or twice before. Those fancy, spruced up examples of what somepony's house could look like, but never would. Most of them weren't as fancy as this, some were even fancier, but this house felt different. It wasn't as cold as the others.
He still felt cold, no doubt about that, but that was from his still damp fur. The house though, it was warm, inviting. It wasn't a wall of wealth, keeping others out. It was a crafted, polished piece of perfection, something that somepony worked to put together for somepony else, for somepony lucky to still have-
Feather yelped in response to a tug on his ear.“C’mon you," Tiara whispered, "we’re having a sleepover, and we have to make it good.”
“Tiara-”
“No talking until we reach my room, so shut it!”
Feather did just that. He didn't have much of a choice, being dragged by the ear wasn't exactly pleasant. Especially not when you're going up a flight of stairs. But he did notice that, despite being clean and dry, she still had his bag still on her back, so he sighed in relief.
He also noticed that the house was huge, much larger than he would have guessed from the few rooms he had seen. Then hallway at the top of the stairs seemed to stretch forever, and large oak doors stood like silent guards at regular intervals on either side.
He almost didn't realize that Diamond Tiara had let go of his ear and was now opening one of the doors. Tiara had to wave him over to break him away from the hallway's hypnosis. He followed her into the room, third door on the left, and his jaw hit the floor.
It was impossible to tell how big her room was. It could have been the largest room in the mansion, or the smallest. The only thing you could tell about it was that it was full. Toys. Dozens of toys. Hundreds. One or two thousand may not be off the mark. A young filly's life laid out in time wasters.
At least, that's how the average adult pony might see it. Another filly might see it as a collection to be envious of. A colt might see it as just a bit frilly for their tastes. Feather, he saw so much more.
He saw a life that he never knew. Toys of every variety, each one a choice made, or gift received. Each one a piece of a story, either for their owner, or somepony close. There were stuffed animals ranging from bears to ponies, and even a few dragons. Some of the ponies were even recognizable from around town.
He moved his head slowly to scan the rest of the toys. Each one he saw filled him longing. Not jealousy, but a sad desire to know more about what he saw. The young colt was given gifts, trinkets, and playthings when he was younger, but those things were distant memories. All he had now were his tools. What would it be like to just pick up a toy and play with it?
He shook his head, clearing it of those thoughts. It had been so long, he probably wouldn't know how to pick out a toy, let alone play with it. His eyes again scanned across her playthings. But, maybe he could just pick one up to study it?
Toy cars littered a corner nearby. They had obviously not been played with in some time, yet they still looked quite worn. One of those would be easy enough to pick up, maybe see if they were still mechanically sound.
Moving on, he found a bin containing sports equipment, balls, jump ropes, nets, and all manner of things all piled together. It brought to mind his recent athletic defeat at Tiara's hooves.
Eventually, his eyes moved to a stuffed, red-colored dragon, it looked nothing like the librarian's assistant, Spike, and was several times larger, but it was kind of cute. Still, it wasn’t the dragon that interested him most, it was what the dragon was holding.
The plush creature had two claws out in front of him, with a set of train tracks going up to, and over, the claws, then back down to the ground.
He followed the tracks. It eventually led him to the back of a bed that would be better suited to a palace, not a filly's bedroom. Big enough for a dozen ponies or more, and covered in soft, downy looking blankets and pillows, it gave feather the tough choice between following the tracks or cannonballing the bed then and there.
A few seconds of internal debate, and Feather chose the train tracks. Following them behind the bed, and through a few more toys and animals, he was eventually stopped by a mountain side. Further inspection revealed it to be a miniature model of a mountain, one he recognized. He had crossed it on his way to Ponyville.
The train came out the other side, and passed by several more recognizable landmarks. Each one was perfectly scaled, leading up to a miniaturized Ponyville with a real mini steam train slowly running along the tracks. A little conductor rag doll sat in the engine, and smaller plastic ponies filled the passenger cars being towed behind.
Diamond Tiara stood off to the side, watching. She was more interested in his reaction to her beloved trainset than the actual train. His eyes kept moving, but he focused the most on the winding-down engine of the train. The look in his eyes was one of curiosity, of wanting to know how something worked.
She closed the door and walked over to him. She was about to explain the little engine when there was a shout from the hallway. "Hey! I'm cleaned up! Where is everypony?"
The pink filly groaned, then yelled back. "Third door on the left! Its got my cutie mark on it."
The door opened much much more softly than Tiara was expecting, and Scootaloo strolled in. The freshly cleaned pegasus was still damp and steaming, and had a towel draped over her shoulders. "That has to be the biggest bathroom I've ever seen. It's even bigger than the one at Sweetie Belle's sister's place!" Scootaloo took one corner of her towel and rubbed it in her ear, getting water out. "And the hot water didn't seem like it was going to run out either. I just had to get out 'cause I got bored... Oh, hey, nice train set.”
Feather glared back at the other pegasus.
“What? What'd I do?” She asked in an innocent tone.
“Do you mind tell me what that fire was all about?”
“Oh, that." The orange filly switched to the other ear. "Apple Bloom insisted we try and get our cutie marks in cooking, but AJ wouldn't have it and kept us three out of the kitchen-”
“I don’t blame her,” came the reply of the pink filly.
Scootaloo chuckled, even though the remark was aimed at her. “Whatever, anyway we found that old grille and for a while everything was fine until Sweetie Belle decided to practice her magic. I mean, she’s been getting better, but I guess today was an off day. Then you two found us and here we are!” She finished with a sheepish smile. “Man, I hope they’re not too upset that we abandoned them back with Twilight.”
“Do you have any idea how reckless that was?!” Feather raged. “Can you at least pretend that you’re upset? Or that you even care if you get caught? Causing mayhem with a group of other foals is gonna get their parents involved, and that’s gonna get you stuck in an orphanage.”
“Hey! They are my friends, I don’t care if they’re a-”
“Liability?” He finished, causing a long glare but to his surprise she stopped it and sighed, suddenly finding the floor a lot more interesting.
“Look, I know what we do as friends is risky sometimes...Okay risky may not be strong enough.” She finished when she saw the deadpan looks from both. “But we don’t do anything too dangerous on purpose, it’s fun, and I dunno, makes you feel alive.”
“It also makes you noticed, by the wrong ponies,” Feather said.
“Well maybe I want to be noticed!” She stomped her hoof down as hard as she could without drawing attention from elsewhere in the house. Feather looked on shocked while Tiara choose to remain overly quiet, wanting to see what they were getting at.
"Excuse me?” Feather asked, voice low and slow. He couldn’t quite believe what he heard. “You want to get caught?”
“That’s not what I said.” she replied, just as quiet.
“That’s what it sounded like." He shook his head. “Okay, If you don’t want to get caught, what did you mean?”
“I’m not- Look." Scootaloo pointed at Diamond Tiara. “I’m not saying anything in front of her.”
Curiosity getting the better of her, the pink filly egged the other filly on. “Why not? Just for today, I’m not going to make fun of you. And I think it’s obvious that anything involving him has to be kept a secret.” Scootaloo was not convinced and continued to glare almost releasing a snarl in response. Tiara sighed and took in a deep breath. “Alright listen up, I know I give you and your bl- your friends a hard time, I’ll stop alright? Just say what you gotta say and I promise I will keep my mouth shut...Unless it’s really funny.” She added a chuckle after that last part, which actually calmed Scootaloo down a bit.
Feather turned back to the other pegasus and shrugged. “There, what else can you want?”
“Fine.” Scootaloo looked away from the other foals. “At first, I never wanted to form that stupid club. Well it’s not stupid, but at the time I thought it was. I mean, I wanted friends badly, desperately. Even so, I defended Apple Bloom when she needed it even though it got me ridiculed by the prissy pink princess here. And then, the idea of the Cutie Mark Crusaders got tossed in and I couldn't just say no. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were the only ponies that would talk to me after that.” She gagged. “I was so desperate to agree with them, that I would have shaved my mane if they asked. I think my exact words were,‘I’m Liking this idea!” The orange filly sighed. “At the time, I didn't know that we would be getting into so much trouble, and I started to regret it. I kept thinking that we would upset somepony that would demand to see our parents. But, we kept doing stuff, and it got harder to stop. I started having fun for once, and I stopped caring.”
“How is not caring the same as wanting to get caught?” Tiara asked.
“It’s not, but I’m getting there. Eventually though I noticed that some of the other adults would start noticing us. Some were just confused, others got mad if we disrupted things. But, so far nopony has gotten so far as to call on our parents. Not even when we ran off into the Everfree Forest and Fluttershy had to save us.” She laughed at the memory and looked down. “Yeah,” she muttered to herself, “that one was pretty stupid.”
“You think so?” Feather asked sarcastically. “It sounded like a stroke of absolute genius to me.”
Tiara gave Feather a solid smack on the shoulder. “Alright shut it, blank boy.” She rolled a hoof at Scootaloo. “Go on. I want to hear the rest.”
The orange filly’s head tilted in confusion. “Really?”
This prompted an eyeroll from Tiara. “Yes, really.”
Scootaloo pawed at the ground. “Well, you see…”
“She’s trying to get caught by somepony specific.” Feather blurted out.
“I am not!” She huffed angrily. She then looked away quickly. “Well, not anypony specific...”
Feather shook his head. He had never heard of something so crazy before. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything." Scootaloo advanced on him. “Maybe I want to get noticed so I can impress some adults, you ever think that? Huh?” She poked him in the chest. “You aren’t the only one who’s got it rough, and I’ve probably been doing this as long as you have. But all I have are my friends. I can’t leave ponyville, and I can’t stay here forever without somepony finding out. I can only hope that somepony notices and considers adopting me or something! It can happen!”
“It can also go wrong! Very wrong, like ending up in an orphanage where you’ll never see your friends again, wrong.” Feather’s brow furrowed, but the determined look on Scootaloo’s face made it clear that she was not going to give up on this plan. He looked over at Tiara. “She’s not gonna listen to me, can you tell her?”
“You think she’d listen to me?" The pink filly scoffed. “Until you came along, we were bitter enemies. Now, we’re still enemies, just less bitter." She looked over at Scootaloo. “But, how is anypony supposed to adopt you if none of them know you’re an orphan in the first place? I didn’t even know until recently.”
Scootaloo gave a hollow laugh and grabbed a nearby toy. It was a little wooden cart, full of little wooden apples, being pulled by a red wooden pony. “Did you carve these?”
Tiara and Feather exchanged weary glances before dropping their faces to their hooves. “She didn’t even think about that.”
“Why are we even surprised at this point?”
“Okay, cut it out, you two." Scootaloo picked up another toy, a softer one, some sort of plush animal she didn’t recognize. She chucked it at Feather and started to search for another to throw at Diamond Tiara. “I was planning to tell somepony once I was sure they’d adopt me.”
“Hey, careful!” Tiara shouted as the pegasus grabbed another plush, a blue-ish dragon this time. “I worked hard on those.”
The pegasus filly stopped and looked at the toy in her hoof. It looked like a store bought toy, cleanly stitched and perfectly fluffy. “You mean, you really did make these?”
“Yeah, in my spare time.” Tiara blushed. “I made quite a bit of this, and sometimes daddy helped...”
Feather and Scootaloo waded into the toys, examining everything they could find with newfound appreciation. They both gawked at the detail of each building, prop, and plaything while Tiara waited on the sidelines and smiled. Every so often, one of the pegasi would find something and ask about it.
Scootaloo found some artwork. Charcoal sketches of places and ponies around town. “Did you draw all these?”
Tiara nodded. “Sure did.”
The mechanically minded Feather was more interested in anything related to the train set. “What about these little bridges?
Another nod. “Every single one.”
Feather hit a button near one of the bridges, causing it to lift up with a mechanical whine. “It’s loud." He inspected it closer, looking specifically at the motor and gearing tucked away beneath it. “Are these stepper motors? That seems a little much for a model bridge.”
“Maybe." The pink filly walked over to the bridge and hit the button. “But, it’s direct drive, see?" She pointed at the motor as the bridge closed. “I don’t have to worry about reduction gearing this way, and I can control the timing better.”
Feather looked at another bridge and saw that it was set up in a similar fashion. “What about the controls? You would need a separate controller in order to get any sort of precision out of the stepper motors. Do you have something like that?”
Diamond Tiara’s face lit up. “You bet I do!" She grabbed Feather’s hoof and dragged him away.
At this point, Scootaloo decided to check out the rest of the room. She spotted a wide closet with the door slightly ajar, and curiosity got the best of her. Inside she found a lone painting. It was half finished, and depicted a sunset coming down over a mountain. “Hey,” the pegasus called from the closet, “did you paint this?”
Tiara stopped dragging Feather to look for the other filly. She didn’t see her, but there weren’t any paintings in here that weren’t hers. “Yes.”
“It’s really good...” came the reply.
Tiara gave a faint smile and shrugged. She then turned to continue guiding Feather to the control unit. Only, he wasn’t where she left him.
He was across the room, gently picking up what he a golden stringed instrument. He turned it over in his hooves and gave it an experimental pluck. Even though he knew nothing about music, he could tell it was horribly out of tune. “Hey, what is this?”
Tiara looked over and sighed. “That’s something I used to play, it’s a Lyre. I used to take lessons from somepony in town.” She started dragging Feather back to the train set before he could start asking about the other musical instruments that were near the Lyre.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo kept digging around in the closet. Under a messy pile of fancy dresses, she found a chest. There was no lock, so naturally, she opened it. “Hey! This is a movie camera!” Placed inside a chest that he rudely opened was a hoof held film camera, and it wasn’t a cheap little antique like the one Apple Bloom’s brother gave her to play with. “How do you have one of these?”
There was no immediate answer, so she kept exploring. She soon came across a filthy sheet covering a lumpy shape that was taller than she was. Whatever it was, she couldn’t leave it hidden. She carefully lifted the sheet, revealing a half-finished sculpture of Princess Luna in one-quarter scale. Her head tilted to the side as she stared at it. It was mostly well made, quite life-like.
Scootaloo shook her head and let the sheet fall back into place. There were a lot of things around here that were either unfinished or forgotten. Tiara must have gone through a crusade of her her own, and abandoned these things when she got her cutie mark. It was really too bad, a lot of these things were amazing, better than anything the Crusaders managed. So, why was Tiara’s cutie mark such a useless one? It could at least be one for being a craftspony, not that silly headpiece.
Scootaloo sighed. “I’d almost rather not get a cutie mark if it’s like that." She quickly shook her head. “Nah, mine’s gonna be awesome, and it’ll suit me perfectly, I know it will." She left the closet and started searching for the other two foals.
She found them, rather found their flanks, sticking out from under the bed. They were underneath the bed skirt, in an animated discussion regarding crystals, interference frequencies, and variable something or others. Feather’s bag was nearby, so they had to be talking about something of hers… something that just so happened to be under the bed.
With a snicker, Scootaloo parked herself behind them and started singing. “Tiara and Feather, sitting in a tree-”
“What?! No!" Diamond Tiara angrily scrambled out to face the orange pegasus. “Finish that, and you’ll be kissing my hoof.”
Scootaloo giggled. “What? Can’t you take a joke?”
Feather backed out from under the bed a moment later. “I don’t get you, Scootaloo. Why are you singing about trees all of a sudden?”
Scootaloo giggled harder, and Tiara even joined her. “He doesn’t get it.”
“He’s totally clueless.”
Feather sighed. “Whatever." He held up a small wooden box. Unlike the rest of the room’s contents, it was plain wood, without paint, and only bearing a light polish. It was also older than anything else in the room, and showed the scuffs and scratches that such age brings. “What’s this? I found it under the bed.”
“Oh, that.” Tiara’s expression changed when she saw the box. It was something Feather couldn’t quite place, kind of sad, but not really, more like longing. “It’s a music box, I was told it belonged to my mom. But it doesn't work anymore, can’t seem to fix it or anything.”
Looking at the little box in his hooves, Feather realized that Tiara had never mentioned her mother before, only her father. Come to think of it, there was no sign of her mother in the house either. He hadn’t seen much of it, but there were things missing. The coat hanger he saw only had two pony’s clothes on, a filly’s scarf, definitely Tiara’s, and a matching coal-grey hat and scarf, most likely her father’s.
“Feather! What are you doing?" Diamond Tiara’s panicked voice broke him away from his thoughts, and he realized that he had opened up the music box and had it partially disassembled.
“Uh, hold on!" Before she could say anything else, he set the box down carefully and ran across the room. He ran to his saddlebag and started rummaging around inside. He eventually found a few tools and ran back to the music box.
Seeing that he was trying to fix it, Diamond Tiara decided to let him work. She figured someone who had worked on a flying device for the last couple years of his life could at least handle a music box. Though, he never got the flying device to work. Slightly worried, the pink filly started toying around with the nearest part of the train set to distract herself. After a while, Scootaloo grew bored and began to play around with it too, joining her in a silent truce.
Feather continued working on the box, following the mechanisms and gears like lines on a map. He found the problem quickly, the main coil spring had broken off from its harness. It would be impossible to completely fix it without a new, but he could get it close. He bent the broken part of the thin sheet metal back over itself, then poke a hole in it with his screwdriver. He wound the thin coil spring back around and started reassembling the music box. It would play a little faster, and the spring would probably keep breaking, but it work for a while at least.
The last piece clicked into place and started turning. Seconds later, the soft chimes of some antique melody started to play.
Tiara ran over to Feather and grabbed the box. “You did it!" She looked it over, trying to see what she had missed. “The spring, I didn’t even notice. Wow! You really are good with little devices.” Tiara gave Feather a smile and set the music box in one of the open carriages on the train as it passed. The music box played as the train brought it around the room, filling the air with the soft melody.
The pink filly hummed along with it until it reached a certain. Then, she started singing. “You are my shunshine, my only sunshine. You keep me happy, when skies are grey." She stopped and smiled to herself. “My daddy used to sing that to me. Thanks, Feather. I tried to fix it, but couldn’t. So did Daddy. Even Quiet Step tried his hoof at it, but he stinks at putting things together.”
“A shortcoming for which I heartily apologize, madam Tiara.”
All three children screamed and whipped around to spot a brand new pony standing just inside the door. As the scare he gave them wore off, Scootaloo and Feather examined him carefully. He was an unicorn, grey coat and mane. His eyes were silver colored and he had a cutie mark of a hoof holding a tray, or a stick, it was kind of hard to tell.
“I thought I said to stop doing that!” Diamond Tiara practically screamed, causing a snicker from the other two foals.
The stallion raised an eyebrow. “I am still unsure what ‘that’ refers to, but I have brought your meals. A shared dish I believed would be simpler, amongst your guests. Enjoy.” He left in a hurry, not bothering to introduce himself. What he left in his place was a dish containing three soups, cut up sandwiches, and to their delight, a tiny cake that was cut into a bunch of tiny slices.
The butler left them to it and went back to the kitchen to gather up the next meal of the night. The one to be delivered to the master of the manor, Filthy Rich. It was a pleasant change of pace to see Tiara with other foals. She usually hung around with that one grey foal, but they were never quite so boisterous, preferring to read or draw most of the time.
After grabbing the meal, he carefully carried it up the flight of stairs, and two rooms past Diamond Tiara’s. It was the study, where Rich, as he preferred to be called, spent most of his time. He quietly walked in and found the stallion sitting in his armchair. He was holding something, and staring at it in the dark. A glint of gold reflected off rectangular shape as he ran his hoof along its edge.
The butler walked in and cleared his throat. “It is not good for the eyes to wallow in the dark like this."
“Yes, of course. Thank you, Quiet Step." Filthy Rich straightened up in the chair, but made no move to get up. “The candle went out, and I didn’t bother to relight it.”
“I see,” the butler replied. He set the meal on a nearby desk and relit the candle. “I do hope you can be bothered to eat. You have outdone yourself this time, and I am quite looking forward to a meal myself.”
“You don’t have to flatter me, Quiet Step. I only followed the recipe Old Lady Smith gave me." With a sigh, he walked over to the desk and set down the thing he had been holding. It was a picture frame. The photo inside showed him, from a much younger time, standing with a mare that looked like Diamond Tiara would in fifteen years or so. “She sounds just like her, doesn’t she?”
“I’ll take your word for it, sir." Quiet Step watched the stallion as he tasted the soup. He seemed tired. And, though he may have have tried to hide it, it was obvious that he had recently been crying. “I never had the pleasure of hearing the young misses sing. I must also confess that this is the first time I have ever heard Tiara sing, though she does so quite well.”
Filthy rich sighed again. “That she does, that she does." He shook his head and walked away from the desk. “I’m sorry, I don’t have much of an appetite right now. Would you mind putting away the leftovers? No sense wasting it.”
“Of course, sir." He picked up the tray and headed for the door. He stopped just short of leaving. “Will there be anything else?”
“No, that should be all." Filthy climbed back into his chair. “Oh, I almost forgot to thank you for fixing the music box. I’m sure Tiara is happy to finally hear it again.”
“Sir, I did not fix it. One of miss Tiara’s friends did, the young colt.”
Filthy blinked. “The colt? His name was Feather, if I recall correctly.”
Quiet Step nodded. “Yes, I believe so. He took it apart and reassembled it quite skillfully.”
Filthy scratched his chin with a hoof. “Quiet Step, about that colt...”
“Yes, sir?”
“My daughter said he was new in town. It’s nice to see her making new friends for a change. We should invite his family over one of these days. I would like to meet them, and it would give them a chance to play.”
“Excellent idea, sir. I will make arrangements as soon as your schedule opens up.”
Filthy leaned back in his chair. “Thank you, Quiet Step. And, good night.”
“Goodnight sir.” The butler left with a nod.
Back in Tiara’s room the three were arguing on their sleeping arrangements.
“I may have a truce with her but I’m not sleeping in the same bed!” Scootaloo glared back at Tiara who simply sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Suit yourself, but it is comfy. I can just give you some blankets and you can take the floor. What about you Feather?” He snapped out of the daze he was in.
“Uh, sure the floor is fine by me.”
Tiara nodded and left to go gather up a set of blankets and pillows from a nearby closest. Feather turned to Scootaloo who just shrugged and flopped down on the floor near some train tracks. She returned and gave each a set with a smile. The pink filly then climbed back into her bed and snuggled in with several of her many stuffed animals.
“Goodnight you two.” Her voice sounded genuine, no hint of smugness which bothered Scootaloo.
“Uhh, goodnight Diamond Tiara,” they both replied in union.
“Horseapples, I’m getting used to her.” Scootaloo thought bitterly and did her best to get to sleep.
Feather on the other hoof was not the least bit interested in sleeping. Too much going on in his mind and the unfamiliar circumstances just made it seem weirder. He glanced around to find something to help him with his nightly ritual.
“Hey, Tiara?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you have any books I could read, they uh, help me get to sleep.”
She stood up for a moment and pointed off near the closest.“Books are over there.”
He groaned. “Got any suggestions? I hate picking...”
She tilted her head to the side, trying to think of something Feather would find interesting. “How about the user manual for my train? It’s pretty detailed!” He considered that and walked over to the bookshelf, scanning the titles he eventually found the manual. A hardback covered book that looked quite thick, he scanned over some of the pages and broke into a grin.
“Thanks! Goodnight.”
“Night.”
Feather climbed into his covers and began to read through the pages, the room had enough light to just be able to read the lines. Scootaloo had already fallen asleep right next to some tracks, he noticed that she would toss and turn every once in awhile but shrugged it off as he continued his reading late into the night.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I absolutely love this story!!
Keep up the good work!
This is a great story!
The characters are done so well. The pacing is perfect too. Just don't make the mistake of ending it too quickly--ruining the ending...I don't like when writers ruin a perfectly good story like that. Can't wait to see what happens next!
Awesome story
. Hope to read more soon.
Thank you all! Also don;t worry, we have plenty more ideas that need to be written down still!
I won't ruin this story early! 3930886
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3931007
Oh-ho-hooo... Rich wants to meet Feather's parents. I foresee bad things and awkward moments in our near future.
Also, I like how you're making Tiara out to be this... not-Tiara pony. I'm actually beginning to feel a bit sorry for her, and ,dare I say, like her as a character.
Like her as a character?!
Heh, but that is the fun of writing Fan Fics. Your not liking DT from the show, your liking out DT
3937837
3937870 Precisely.
I don't know which one to ship!!
You mean Feather x Scootaloo or Feather x Diamond? 3972569
3972806 yes! I'm so conflicted!
>> Cold Spike Dont forget scootaloo x diamond
That would be pretty weird, if they just started making out in a scene
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3979203 naaa it can be done.
I'm dying out of shiping....... buuuuuut i prefer Fether x Diamond
I whude love some scootabelle in here :D but I like fetherscoot 2 :3
Oh dear, the excrement is about to hit the air circulation device!