A continuation of my own personal universe. I'll be posting any other stories I can think of here, rather than make a new story for them all.
This story is a sequel to my story True Flight and is basically, as the short description says, a continuation of that universe. I'll be posting any other stories I think of in this universe, rather than create a new story for them. Most of them will be one shots, and occasionally there might be a longer story that spans a few chapters. Expect slice of life, a little romance, and everything you hoped to see me do with the world I made. The first story is one for Hearth's Warming Eve and I have one planned for Heart's and Hooves Day. Outside that I'm not sure, and can't guarantee any kind of update schedule. If I get an idea, and write it, I'll put it here.
Tagged alternate universe because, heck, I made an alternate universe. This story, much like the ones before it, disregard S3 and, of course, S4. The cover art is a recolour I made.
The few weeks after Scootaloo left the hospital were tough on her. Not because her dad had been arrested and imprisoned, that barely affected her, but because she wasn't able to even move her wings. She had to rely on Star Shine for rides for a while as Rainbow Dash was still sore and couldn't handle unnecessary weight on her body. The hospital deemed Scootaloo unnecessary weight even if Rainbow Dash disagreed. Scootaloo's wings were fastened securely to her body so she couldn't even move them accidentally. It was tough but thanks to Rainbow Dash and Star Shine she was able to get through those first few weeks. Star Shine ferried her too and from school with Rainbow Dash and helped her out when she needed it.
School was quite an adjustment for her. Now the whole town knew everything about her everypony was a lot nicer to her at school. They expressed their sympathies about what Diamond Tiara had done to her and asked her all about what happened with her dad. Kids will always be curious. Something like what had happened to her was bound to make the news as much as they didn't want it to. Scootaloo was left feeling a little uncomfortable by all the sympathy and attention she was getting. She mostly kept to herself outside of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She also took a lot of it as being pity and being pitied was the one thing she never wanted. It was one of the main reasons that she just hadn't told ponies the truth before Diamond Tiara had a chance to do it. With Diamond Tiara herself gone, Silver Spoon became a lot nicer too. She expressed how she felt about what Diamond Tiara was doing and that she had no idea how far Diamond Tiara would go. Diamond Tiara had refused to let her in on what was happening because of her reluctance. It was a bit of a slow process but she integrated with the rest of the school and made other friends. She was actually quite likeable. She just had a lot of bad influences with Diamond Tiara.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to treat Scootaloo just the same as they always had. They saw how uncomfortable Scootaloo had been because of the reaction to her. They asked her what had happened and after she told them, and answered their questions, they let her be. They were surprised that even after all of that Scootaloo still didn't have her Cutie Mark. Scootaloo had been so caught up in everything she hadn't even considered it. Even she was surprised she didn't have anything after all of that. She'd considered it might be flight related and if it wasn't there after all of that, then maybe it wasn't after all. At least some things stayed the same for her and she had some kind of consistency in her life. She needed it after all the changes that she had been through. One good thing about the few weeks she had to heal up was that she was able to stop and really think about everything that had happened. It was hard to believe that it had only been a few months since the day she jumped in the Gorge. Now she had a home, a family, the world knew the truth about her, Diamond Tiara was gone, her dad was gone, and Rainbow Dash had a coltfriend. That was probably one of the biggest shocks.
Star Shine and Rainbow Dash had decided to take things slow. As slow as they could considering that they already lived together. Rainbow Dash had taken him off of the couch and put him in her bed but things were just as innocent as they always were. It was just like those few times they had wound up sleeping on and or with eachother. Rainbow Dash was still too injured for anything more than a gentle hug anyway and they had to sleep on separate sides of the bed. They still hadn't had any kind of official date by the time Scootaloo was able to move her wings again.
That was when things had started to get a little bad for Scootaloo. She thought it was bad when she couldn't move her wings at all. It was worse when she could barely move them no matter how much she wanted to. Moving them too fast made them hurt quite a lot so she had to be careful. She started out moving them very slowly at least once a day; essentially stretching them. Every time she moved them she wanted to flap them properly and take off. It was quite a hard urge to resist. Star Shine considered putting the brace back on her and tightening it so much she couldn't move her wings properly. That would have just made things worse because she would have to struggle harder to get it to move in the first place. Twilight suggested putting the brace back on her though until she could move her wings properly. She theorised that with the way it worked, it might help heal her wings and get them moving sooner. Time proved her right, as it generally did with Twilight Sparkle. Star Shine couldn't explain it and the way Twilight had tried to explain it confused him. It boiled down to the magic being pumped into Scootaloo's wings healed them. Twilight used more words than that, more complicated ones too, to explain it.
The doctor who was treating Scootaloo had originally estimated that it would take about six months for her wings to heal properly and for her to fly again properly. It was mostly a matter of time needed for her wings to build their strength back up. That was also cut down thanks to the brace. It's main purpose was to strengthen her wings and it did that job just as admirably as it did before. Much to the surprise of her doctor, she was all good and healed after just a few months. Just in time for Hearth's Warming Eve.
“Hey Mom, can you not tell dad about this?” Scootaloo asked Rainbow Dash. They were sat in the doctor's office, having just been given the all clear. The doctor was busy poking and prodding Scootaloo's wings trying to understand just what had happened. Rainbow Dash was sat next to her. Star Shine had business to attend to. Foals still needed training and he was still a flight trainer.
“He's not your dad...” Rainbow Dash said, facehoofing. Star Shine was rubbing off on her. That phrase was becoming the most said thing in the house. Scootaloo had stopped referring to him by anything other than “dad” a while ago, no matter how much they protested.
“Yeah yeah...not until you're married.” Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.
“You don't want him to know you can fly yet? He's been really worried about you and he'd want to know.” Rainbow Dash asked. Scootaloo shook her head. Star Shine had been pretty worried. He was hoping to get her flying again as soon as he could. He was trying his best to hide it. He was also failing terribly at it.
“I know he'd like to know.” Scootaloo replied.
“So why hide it?” Rainbow Dash asked. The doctor stopped analysing Scootaloo and simply shook his head.
“I don't get it. How are your wings fixed so quickly? What did you do to them?” the doctor asked. He was still rubbing his chin in thought and trying to make sense of it all. Scootaloo shrugged and hovered up into the air a little. It felt great to be flying on her own. She giggled as she felt it. She'd not able to really concentrate on how she felt the last time she flew. She was kind of busy saving Rainbow Dash to do that. This was the first time she had flown since then and it felt pretty great.
“I dunno, ask my dad I guess.” Scootaloo replied. “I've got a surprise for him to plan.” she grinned, flying out the window of the room. Who needs doors when you have wings? It was easy to understand why Rainbow Dash never used them. Rainbow Dash ran to the window and jumped out after her.
“Hey! If you fly around like that he's gonna know!” Rainbow Dash called after her. Scootaloo calmed down and landed gently on Rainbow Dash's back. Her body was feeling much better and she was able to ferry Scootaloo around again now.
“So what's your plan for Star Shine?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning as best as she could to face Scootaloo.
“I'll tell you about it on the way home Mom. I might need your help pulling it off.” Scootaloo replied, nuzzling up to the back of Rainbow Dash's neck. One downside of flying on her own again would be missing out on cuddling up to Rainbow Dash like that. Rainbow Dash spread her wings, and took off in the direction of her house.
The doctor, left even more confused than before, simply called in his next patient and went on with his day.
The next week or so was a little tough for Scootaloo as she continued to pretend that she couldn't fly yet. She had to keep up the act in school as well as home in case anypony saw and told Star Shine. Luckily it wasn't very long at all until Hearth's Warming Eve as she might not have done what she planned if it was. She was only in school for a few more days which helped there. The house was richly decorated with everything from hoof-made (by Pegasi) tinsel to a wreath on the seldom used front door. There was also a fairly large tree in the lounge. The tree was also in a Pegasus made pot to keep it from falling through anything. Not decorating had been one of the hardest parts of Scootaloo's charade. She wanted to fly up and down the room and hang things with Star Shine and Rainbow Dash. She also wanted to be the one to put the little star on top of the tree. Star Shine had been nice enough to pick her up and carry her there so she still got to do it. Rainbow Dash also sneakily did some decorating when Star Shine was out and let Scootaloo fly around and hang things up, claiming she had done it all herself later. Star Shine was probably more excitable than the other two when it came to decorating. He had never really bothered to decorate back in Trottingham. He loved Hearth's Warming and the decorations, he just felt there was no point in decorating when there was no one around to appreciate it. He would decorate a little tree for himself and leave it at that. He was all about decorating this year now he had someone to share in it with. They had been putting off decorating in the hope that Scootaloo would be able to join in properly which was why they left it so late.
Scootaloo had told Rainbow Dash her plan and shortly before they decided to go through with it, Rainbow Dash came up with a way to make it even better. Scootaloo had giggled at Rainbow Dash's suggestion and agreed to it. Rainbow Dash wanted to hijack Scootaloo's present for her own means as well. She'd need permission for that one. Plus it meant that Scootaloo would still get to hang something on her own for Star Shine.
Setting everything up wasn't very difficult. Rainbow Dash was able to set up what she needed while Star Shine was picking Scootaloo up from school. It was Scootaloo's last day and she agreed to let Rainbow Dash stay behind and set things up and be picked up just by Star Shine. Rainbow Dash was supposed to be working too but that never stopped her from taking a nap. Why would it stop her from working on something? Other than her actual job. She was living proof that if you were efficient enough you actually could afford to be lazy. Her shift was almost over anyway. Scootaloo only required one thing; a small platform made out of clouds, preferably not very far from the house as Star Shine would have to take her there. She giggled and blushed a little herself as she thought about what she planned to do. One of the trickier aspects of the plan was that Rainbow Dash had to hide something underneath the cloud too. It wouldn't have been a very good idea for Scootaloo to carry something with her. It might have given the game away. This was also easily remedied in the end. It was something that could be hung from string, so she was able to hold it in place and use another piece of cloud to secure it all together. She just had to hope Star Shine didn't notice it. Rainbow Dash put a little bit of extra cloud to hide what she had attached properly. It would have to stay there for another few days.
“Ummm, Rainbow Dash? What's with the platform outside? Are you planning an extension or something?” Star Shine asked, looking out the window. Scootaloo was safely at home and curled up with Rainbow Dash on the couch. Star Shine was about to cook some dinner for them when he saw the platform out the window. Celestia only knew how he didn't notice it before. He got a little nervous as a thought occurred to him. “You aren't err...you can't...we haven't...” he asked, twitching a little. Of all the things to think it was, he thought it was a new room. Of all the rooms to think it was, he thought it was a nursery and that Rainbow Dash was pregnant, despite the fact that she couldn't possibly be. They hadn't exactly done anything together that would result in Rainbow Dash being pregnant.
“She's not what, dad?” Scootaloo asked, looking across at him. Rainbow Dash blushed a deep crimson before Star Shine even had a chance to respond.
“Pregnant.” Star Shine said simply, not even bothering to correct Scootaloo this one time. Contrary to Rainbow Dash, it looked like nearly all the blood had been drained for Star Shine's face.
“Of course I'm not pregnant you idiot! How can I be?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Now it was Star Shine's turn to blush. “It's for Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash said, calming down. “She asked me to make it for her. It's part of your Hearth's Warming present from her.” she explained.
“Ohhhhhhhhhh...” Star Shine said. “...sorry. I'll just...go make dinner now.” he added quietly, skulking into kitchen and feeling very, very stupid. Rainbow Dash hovered over to him and gave him a little nuzzle.
“Hey, relax okay? I didn't think you'd say something like that is all. I made it when you were picking Scoots up earlier. She said it was okay for just you to pick her up so I could make it. If I was pregnant then I'd tell you first before building anything, and you'd INSIST on building it for me.” she reassured him. Star Shine laughed a little.
“Well of course I would. I wouldn't want you straining yourself by building something in that condition.” Star Shine replied, returning the nuzzle.
“Hey can I change my present?” Scootaloo piped up from the couch. Her quasi-parents looked across at her. “Can I have a little sister for Hearth's Warming?” she asked so sweetly that Star Shine briefly considered if it was possible. Rainbow Dash blushed again and Star Shine couldn't help but laugh at her reaction.
“'Fraid not kiddo. Maybe next year. Little sisters take a while to make and sometimes they're defective and you end up with little brothers instead.” Star Shine explained. Scootaloo giggled.
“It's okay, I can wait. I think I'd be okay with a little brother too.” Scootaloo said, causing Star Shine to laugh again.
“For now I'm gonna go work on dinner, which shouldn't take long at all. Okay?” Star Shine asked. Scootaloo nodded and he went back to his work. Not before giving Rainbow Dash a quick kiss.
“You're so lucky I love you...” Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth. Star Shine was beginning to push his luck by teasing her along with Scootaloo. The kiss didn't help too much.
“Me, or Scootaloo?” Star Shine asked, walking into the kitchen.
“Both of you.” Rainbow Dash replied, looking back and forth between the pair. Star Shine was still laughing as he walked into the kitchen and got to work. Scootaloo wasn't looking as pleased with herself, feeling that Rainbow Dash was actually a little mad at her. Rainbow Dash jumped back over to the couch and went back to cuddling up to Scootaloo.
“Hey Squirt, you okay?” Rainbow Dash asked. She ruffled Scootaloo's mane a little which brought her back and put a smile on her face.
“Are you mad at me?” Scootaloo asked worriedly. Rainbow Dash would never have been able to resist that pout if she was mad. Luckily she wasn't mad at all anyway.
“Nah, I could never be mad at you.” Rainbow Dash reassured her. “I did mean it when I said I love you though.” she added, kissing Scootaloo on the cheek. “And don't worry, I'll get him back on Hearth's Warming.” Scootaloo buried herself in Rainbow Dash's chest and cuddled up to her. She was smiling properly again. Both at the love of Rainbow Dash, and her knowledge of what would be in store for Star Shine in just a few days. It was the first time she'd looked forward to Hearth's Warming for quite a while. The Orphanage had always cared about the holidays and she'd had some good ones there. The staff would run a donation drive where ponies could donate their old toys to give to the children. She had gotten some nice things but they'd been left behind when she ran away. She'd never gotten many presents after that when she was living on her own. Rainbow Dash had gotten her things and the Cutie Mark Crusaders did too. She never had anywhere to put them though. No matter how much she wanted to keep them, she couldn't leave things lying around the Clubhouse. She'd ended up selling most of it so that she could buy some food or something to keep her going. Now she had room to keep everything and better than that, she had the thing that not just Hearth's Warming, but every holidays was really about; a loving family to spend it with.
The big day, Hearth's Warming Eve, came and with it came the annual pageant in Canterlot to commemorate the story behind the holiday. Rainbow Dash and her friends had taken part in it last year and this year she was looking forward to sitting in the audience and seeing a professional acting troupe take care of performing the show. Convincing Scootaloo to go had been harder than performing the show. She was well aware that her dad, while he was in prison, was still in Canterlot. Rainbow Dash had asked Twilight to send Shining Armor a message to help ease Scootaloo's worries. His reply had been swift and served it's purpose. He reassured them all that Grey Feather was safely contained in the castle. He was actually one of the few Pegasi to ever be placed in the tower because he couldn't fly. He also explained Grey Feather's punishment in a little more detail. The reason Grey Feather was confined to Canterlot was that if he actually lived long enough to find himself outside of prison, it would be much easier to keep an eye on him if he was to be contained within the city limits. If Scootaloo wanted to visit Canterlot then he would be confined even further if needed. This was of course if he even made it out. By the time that happened he would be old and feeble and Scootaloo would be a powerful Pegasus in the prime of her life. The tables would have been very much turned. Before they headed out, there was just one more little thing to take care of; Scootaloo's surprise.
The three Pegasi were all dressed up in the clothes they had worn for their dinner together in Canterlot. Scootaloo wasn't wearing her brace because she felt it would have made her stand out too much. She didn't want that and Star Shine had agreed that if she didn't want to wear it then she didn't have to. They were just about to leave when Scootaloo poked Star Shine's forelegs to get his attention.
“You having second thoughts about going?” Star Shine asked her, leaning down. He was aware of how apprehensive Scootaloo might still be about going to Canterlot in any circumstances. Scootaloo shook her head and smiled at him.
“It's not that. It's just it's time for your surprise. Can you take me over to that platform Rainbow Dash made?” Scootaloo asked. Rainbow Dash was grinning at the pair of them.
“Are you sure? Isn't it a Hearth's Warming surprise?” Star Shine asked. Ever a stickler for tradition. Presents were usually exchanged on Hearth's Warming itself.
“Well yeah. But it's a surprise, not a present. So you can have it a day early.” Rainbow Dash said. Scootaloo wanted to get this done and Rainbow Dash wasn't about to let Star Shine stop her due to a technicality. Star Shine shrugged and plucked Scootaloo up, putting her on his back. It was a good enough argument for him. Rainbow Dash followed him to the door but didn't fly out after him.
“Aren't you coming too?” he asked, turning to face her when he noticed she wasn't behind him. Rainbow Dash shook her head.
“It's your surprise, not mine. Go enjoy it and tell me about it when it's over.” she replied. Star Shine was confused. He did as he was told and continued on towards the platform. Scootaloo turned around and winked at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash smirked in response and prepared to take off. She would fly over when she was good and ready to. It would be more of a surprise if he wasn't expecting her to be there.
Star Shine made it to the platform and Scootaloo jumped down from his back onto the soft cloud layer below. She couldn't resist jumping around a little given how soft and bouncy it was.
“You be careful now, okay? I don't want you falling off.” Star Shine said worriedly, watching Scootaloo hop about. She was also pretty excited about what she was about to do. It took a lot of effort to keep her wings tucked in. She stopped bouncing and looked down at the cloud apologetically.
“Sorry, I'll be more careful.” she said quietly. Star Shine sighed and nuzzled up to her. He never could resist a sad voice. It made him a pretty bad disciplinarian, even if Rainbow Dash had said before that he made a good one.
“It's alright, I just got a little worried.” Star Shine reassured her. Scootaloo giggled and returned the nuzzle.
“I know.” Scootaloo replied softly. “Anyway, close your eyes. It's time for your surprise!” she said quickly, perking back up again. Star Shine closed his eyes and smiled in anticipation. He had no clue at all what Scootaloo could be up to. Maybe she was going to make him a small cloud sculpture or something? Maybe she had already made him something. What would she need the platform for then? Maybe Rainbow Dash would be joining them and they were pulling a prank on him. Whatever it was she was doing, she was taking her time to do it and Star Shine started to worry again.
“Scootaloo? Are you there?” Star Shine asked nervously, keeping his eyes closed. He risked opening them when he didn't get a response. He couldn't see Scootaloo in front of him anymore. He quickly looked back to check but didn't see her anywhere. Rainbow Dash wasn't stood at the door to the house either. He panicked and ran to the edge of the cloud. He feared that maybe she had fallen off the layer and Rainbow Dash was missing because she was trying to catch her. He narrowed his eyes but saw no sign of either Scootaloo or Rainbow Dash when he looked down. He kept scanning but couldn't see anything. He was just about to jump down when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked back and was surprised to see Rainbow Dash looking at him, a large smile on her face. She looked pretty pleased about something.
“Rainbow? Thank Celestia. I don't know where Scootaloo is! I think she fell or something. Did you see wha-” Star Shine began quickly before Rainbow Dash put a hoof in his mouth to shut him up. She gestured upwards with her other foreleg and Star Shine's eyes followed her hoof. There, hovering just above the pair of them, was Scootaloo. She was flying again and on her own. She was grinning down at him mischievously.
“Did we get you dad?” Scootaloo asked, trying to suppress her laughter. Star Shine nodded slowly. Rainbow Dash still had her hoof in his mouth. That's when Star Shine noticed that Scootaloo was holding something between her front hooves. He had no idea where she had gotten it from. It was a piece of mistletoe and there wasn't any in the house. Rainbow Dash took her hoof out of Star Shine's mouth and leaned in for a kiss. Star Shine's heart beat faster as he realised what was happening. It took a few seconds to comprehend it all. Scootaloo was flying again and, not just that, she was holding mistletoe. Rainbow Dash was after a kiss under the mistletoe with him.
Well, he always was a stickler for tradition after all.
He leaned in and kissed Rainbow Dash before she had a chance to kiss him. Scootaloo resisted the urge to make retching noises and just smiled down at them both. Star Shine pressed his lips harder against Rainbow Dash's and that's when Scootaloo decided that she'd had enough. She made a small coughing noise to remind them both that children were still present. Star Shine broke the kiss and awkwardly laughed up at Scootaloo. Rainbow Dash gave him one more quick kiss on the cheek and cuddled up to him.
“This...how...what?” Star Shine asked. He was still very very confused and still just a little lost in the moment. He couldn't get the kiss he'd just had out of his mind. Or where things might have gone if Scootaloo wasn't around. Scootaloo tapped him on the head to try and kickstart his brain again and came down to the ground. She explained what their plan was in place of Rainbow Dash who looked far too loved up to be good for much for a while. It'd take more than a tap to the head to bring her back around.
Scootaloo explained that she had learned that she could fly again the last time she went to the doctors. She'd managed to keep it hidden to surprise Star Shine with it for Hearth's Warming. The timing had just been too great to resist. Originally Scootaloo planned to fly under the platform and tap Star Shine from behind and above. Rainbow Dash had suggested modifying the plan a little when she learned about it. She wanted to kiss Star Shine under the mistletoe and she wanted it to be special and memorable for all involved. She suggested that as well as flying under the platform, Scootaloo could grab some mistletoe that Rainbow Dash would put there. Scootaloo would still fly, and hover above Star Shine, but Rainbow Dash would be the one to tap him. Scootaloo had agreed, thinking that it would be pretty cute to see.
By the time Scootaloo was finished Star Shine was curled up with Rainbow Dash and twitching a little. He was very, very sensitive to sweet and romantic gestures. It wasn't often somepony planned one involving him. He always loved a good romance story. Real life had proven to be far, far greater. Scootaloo joined the huddle and nestled herself between Star Shine and Rainbow Dash.
“Happy Hearth's Warming Dad, Mom.” Scootaloo said, looking between the two of them. Rainbow Dash still hadn't stopped smiling and probably wouldn't for a while. Star Shine kissed both of them on the forehead.
“Happy Hearth's Warming girls.” Star Shine said, cuddling back up. They stayed like that for a little while before finally heading off to the pageant after all. All of them agreed to not tell Rarity they had been crumpled up together on cloud in the clothes she made. It probably wouldn't have gone well for any of them.
“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.
