Despite having a new priority investigation coming up, Scootaloo and Sebastian remained in Ponyville for the next several weeks. Balancing the dual lives meant maintaining the cover created of having Sebastian stay the substitute teacher until Cheerilee returned, and there was still no word back from her...save through Princess Luna, who sent a letter stating that Cheerilee was...enjoying her vacation. Scootaloo found the vaguely worded letter rather delightful for the implications it carried.
Scootaloo was not one to sit idly despite the delay, however. During the day, she attended classes, spent time with her friends, and pulled crazy tricks on her scooter just to prove to herself that nothing had changed, no matter how much evidence indicated to the contrary. This actually began to drastically improve as compared to previous visits to Ponyville, as before the first week was out Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's bullying had completely ceased. Much to Scootaloo's surprise, Diamond Tiara could be surprisingly pleasant when she wasn't going out of her way to be a brat. Scootaloo privately felt a stronger word applied, but 'teacher' Sebastian didn't approve of 'his students' using such language to describe their peers.
A big surprise that occurred was when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon actually came to the Clubhouse while the Crusaders were planning their next Cutie Mark attempt. While it wasn't the first time the pair had swung by there to tease, the hesitant expression on Diamond's face and the box of pastries on Silver's back suggested something different. Diamond's words as they stood at the door proved this even more so. "Can we come in?"
"Uh...sure?" Apple Bloom had offered in surprise. The pair had entered, carefully setting the box of pastries down on the floor.
Diamond shifted awkwardly before finally clearing her throat. "I...I've been talking with Daddy a lot lately," she began nervously. "About...about what's been happening in my life, how I've been behaving, the things I've been doing. He's...disappointed in me. I..." She swallowed convulsively, trying to find her voice. "Mom always drilled it into my head about our position, and how important it was that everypony remember we were important...and by the time I knew how to speak my own mind, I didn't know how not to be like her. It's...it's not an excuse for how I've treated all of you - well, everyone really - or for dragging Silver into it..." She turned worriedly towards Silver Spoon, who only smiled encouragingly. Turning back to the Crusaders, Diamond Tiara cleared her throat one last time. "I...I just want to say I'm sorry...for everything." She offered a shaky, nervous, hopeful smile.
The trio had glanced at each other in surprise...but it was Scootaloo who finally responded. "Apology accepted," she'd stated firmly.
"R-really?" Diamond asked in surprise. "J-Just like that? I mean...I was probably worse to you than-"
"Diamond, Bluebottle's told me about some of the fillies he knows up in Canterlot," Scootaloo explained. "Controlling parents are controlling parents, and it takes a lot to keep from being shaped. I'm just glad after everything your mother did that there was still some good in you." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly chorused their agreement.
Diamond Tiara managed to relax. "Do...do you think we could start over?" she asked hopefully. "I...I'd like a chance to try being friends."
"Ah think we can give it a shot," Apple Bloom allowed with a grin.
"What's in the box?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously.
Silver Spoon opened it up, revealing several cupcakes with stamps of apologetic pony faces on them. "We asked Pinkie Pie to help us make apology cupcakes," she explained. "She...apparently has a 'I'm sorry' stamp for that."
As the fillies eagerly dug into the cupcakes, Diamond cleared her throat. "So...how much hazing can I expect?" she asked carefully.
"...hazing?" Sweetie Belle asked in confusion.
"Some 'cliques' will give new members a hard time in various prank-related ways to make them 'earn' full membership," Scootaloo explained. "This is most common in high schools or college fraternities or sororities, but it happens with some younger groups, especially amongst the nobility or other 'influential' classes. Making them fetch and carry, wet willies, and the like."
"Not that I can't say I don't deserve it," Diamond confirmed, "but...I'd like to know how much I'm in for ahead of time. Makes it easier to push through."
Scootaloo tapped her chin thoughtfully. "So...you said your mom drilled it into you how important your social status is. That still important to you?"
"Well, yeah!" Diamond Tiara replied firmly. "We're still important, and I still want to be at the top...but it's like Dad said. If you have to step on someone to make it to the top, you're doing it wrong. So I'm going to stay on top Dad's way, not Mom's."
"Fair enough," Scootaloo replied with a wide, mischievous grin. "In that case, there's only going to be one bit of hazing. I'm going to tell you a secret...that the both of you will Pinkie Promise not to tell anyone, or ask questions about. The hazing will be handling that secret without talking to anyone about it or figuring out the answers behind it. Up to it?"
"Must be some secret," Silver murmured before joining Diamond in saying the words and making the motions of the 'unbreakable' Pinkie Promise.
"You saw how Bluebottle greeted me, right?" Scootaloo continued, seeing Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle slowly grinning eagerly. "Did you ever wonder how I knew him?"
"Absolutely!" Diamond Tiara confirmed. "I mean, he's a Prince and you're just-" She suddenly corked her mouth with her hoof. "...sorry. Habits are hard to break..."
"Yer trying, that's what's important," Apple Bloom reassured her.
Scootaloo's grin turned positively wicked. "As for how I know Bluebottle..." She leaned in conspiratorially. Once Diamond and Silver leaned in eagerly, she whispered, "...he's my fiance."
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo took one look at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's faces and fell over on their backs, rolling across the floor in laughter.
During the evening, Scootaloo did homework, continued her studies as Sunrise, and did research regarding the cult the would be investigating as she planned their approach. Sebastian was always at her side for that, and though he didn't contribute much she always spoke aloud to him. It made things easier to conceptualize.
"So the cult is specifically targeting nobility," Scootaloo murmured as she observed reports regarding the group's 'recruitment' practices recently. "Looks like they're trying to get a political power base for whatever reason."
"It would seem so," Sebastian agreed mildly.
"And given how it promises being reunited with lost loved ones, anyone recently bereaved would likely be welcomed with open arms," she continued.
"A logical deduction," Sebastian confirmed.
"Then if they are up to no good, they'd leap at the chance to induct a recently bereaved noble," Scootaloo continued. "I could infiltrate the cult as Sunrise. Young nobility, heir to the family, recently bereaved...if they got me under their control, they could get control of the entire estate and all political power thereof. They're bound to go for it."
"...as you say, My Lady," Sebastian agreed blandly.
"You disagree," Scootaloo stated flatly, not a question.
"My Lady, I am but your humble servant," Sebastian offered mildly. "It is not my place to disagree-"
"Minotaur manure," Scootaloo snapped back. "Your contract states you serve me in the role declared to the best of your ability until such time as I achieve my revenge to my satisfaction. That doesn't just mean you clean house and make meals. That means your skills, your experience, your wisdom are also at my disposal. So if I throw a plan of action at you and you think I'm making a mistake, you speak up and tell me." Lifting her eyepatch, she revealed the symbol of contract. "Is that understood?"
Much to her surprise, Sebastian shivered in pleasure. "Yes, My Lady," he confirmed, bowing low before her.
Scootaloo lowered the eyepatch. "...do you like it when I dominate you or something?" she asked in concern. "Cause that makes me really nervous about expectations and appearances once I hit my majority."
Sebastian chuckled softly. "Nothing like that, My Lady. It is just that few Masters have ever utilized me to my fullest in a way that led to extended acquaintance. You keep me bound to the Contract as is proper...and yet you are able to enforce interpretations of the Contract I had not considered. It is...exciting."
"...you suck at being reassuring," Scootaloo pointed out blandly.
"If it is an important part of my role, I shall endeavor to improve in that area, My Lady," Sebastian promised.
"Now you were saying about my plan?" Scootaloo pointed out, returning to the original discussion.
"Wingshadow's true role is not completely unknown," Sebastian pointed out. "If anyone in the cult knows, you will be walking into a trap of your own making by going as Countess Sunrise Wingshadow. Then there is another possibility regarding your vengeance."
"...my vengeance?" Scootaloo inquired coldly.
"When I heeded your call and the Contract was bound..." Sebastian began carefully. "The place it happened had cultish overtones. What if it was a stronghold of this cult? As you may recall, on your orders your liberation was...far from quiet."
Scootaloo nodded in recognition of the delicate phrasing. "And I made you let one get away, so they'd know I was coming for them. And if this is them..."
"Precisely," Sebastian confirmed. "Caution must always be exercised...just in case the ones you investigate are the ones we hunt...ones ready for us."
"Or so they think," Scootaloo corrected. "However, your point is well made." She turned back to the papers to devise a new strategy.