//------------------------------// // Talking It Out // Story: A Shattered Diamond // by SuperPinkBrony12 //------------------------------// Scootaloo kept on running for a while, determined to put as much distance as possible between herself and home. She was in no mood to go back there right now, not while these feelings of jealousy still lingered so prominently and weighed so heavily on her mind. Eventually, the tomboyish filly stopped near a small creak, convinced she'd gone far enough. Struggling to contain her anger, she bent down, picked up a stone, and chucked it across the water as hard as she could. She'd hoped such an activity might at least let out some pent up anger, but nothing happened. All of a sudden, a familiar fancy sounding voice called out from the blue. "Hey there, slugger. What are you doing out here?" Scootaloo spun around, finding herself snout to snout with an earth pony mare with a peach colored coat. Said mare had reddish-pink eyes, not unlike that of the sky at sunset. Her mane and tail were two shades of orange, styled into curls similar to Scootaloo's mane and tail. She wore a beaded necklace similar in color to her eyes, and had a cutie mark that depicted a palm tree next to a golden heart, on a small patch of sand. Scootaloo recognized the mare at once. "Hey, Aunt Holiday." She greeted in a glum tone of voice. "Is something the matter, Scootaloo?" Aunt Holiday asked, bending down to look at the filly. "You know you can always talk to me about it. I don't like seeing my favorite niece upset." "It's nothing, just some stupid feelings I shouldn't even be having!" Scootaloo loudly remarked, kicking a stone out towards the water. It landed in the creek with a loud splash. Aunt Holiday wasn't so convinced. She knew Scootaloo well enough to tell when the filly was trying to hide something, especially something she didn't want others to know about. But at the same time, she knew she couldn't just force Scootaloo to tell, that would never work out in the filly's benefit. "It's okay, sweetie, you don't have to talk about it right now if you don't," She encouraged to her niece. "But why don't you come inside? Lofty's home now, and I'm sure she'd love the chance to see how big you're getting. I could even fix you up a little snack if you'd like." Scootaloo wanted to say no, but her stomach had other ideas. It let off a loud rumble, and before the filly had time to react, Aunt Holiday was ushering Scootaloo along towards the cottage she and her special somepony lived in. Immediately upon entering the main room of the cottage (not that it had many rooms to begin with), Scootaloo spotted a familiar bulky pegasus mare. She sported a blueish-green coat, light pink eyes, a very light purple mane and tail with even lighter purple streaks (in which the mane had a ponytail but the actual tail remained unstyled), a signature purple scarf, and a cutie mark which depicted a flying lamb. Of course, to Scootaloo, said mare was very familiar, Auntie Lofty. "Well hi there, Scootaloo," Auntie Lofty greeted in her usual warm tone, and playfully rubbed Scootaloo's mane a bit. "Always a pleasure to see you, my little pony. Is everything going okay with my favorite niece?" "Unfortunately not, dear," Aunt Holiday spoke up, trotting in and standing next to Scootaloo (though not before giving Lofty a kiss on the forehead). "Seems like there's something bothering the kid. I found her out by the creak, just throwing stones. And you know she doesn't do that just for the heck of it." Auntie Lofty's cheerful demeanor faded upon hearing that, replaced by eyes that now reflected concern. "Oh no, what is it this time? Family problems? Bullies? Maybe even cutie mark issues?" She asked. But Holiday interrupted. "Now, dear, let's not pry. I know Scootaloo enough to know that she'll tell us when she feels she's darn good and ready. Besides, I brought her in on the promise of getting her a snack, not on the promise of talking to her about whatever's troubling her." Lofty sighed, reluctantly backing off. "Okay, fine, let's give the kid a little space to be herself. But I still think we should try to nudge the conversation a little bit. It's not gonna do her any good to just keep it to herself, she at least needs to get it off her chest." "All in good time, my darling Lofty," Holiday cautioned in a gentle tone of voice. "Right now, we've got a hungry little filly who needs an after school snack." "Aunt Holiday, I can get my own food you know. I really don't need help." Scootaloo protested. "I'm sure you are, slugger," Holiday said with a smile. "But this isn't like when Lofty and I come over to foalsit you, you're in our house so you have to abide by our rules. And one of my rules is, troubled fillies get a free snack when they come inside, no ifs, ands, or buts." Lofty just chuckled, knowing it was no use arguing with her special somepony. She just watched as Scootaloo sat down at the kitchen table, while Holiday set to work on fixing up a pasta and potato sandwich on sourdough, which as of lately had become Scootaloo's favorite snack. Scootaloo didn't say anything while she was seated at the table, not even while Holiday was busy preparing her snack. Now Lofty knew that something was up, something that was really troubling her favorite niece. Scootaloo tended to be a very vocal filly, so it was an unwritten rule that whenever she wasn't talking even just a little about something, she was really upset. The mare tried to properly judge the filly's body language for any clues, but found nothing. "I'll let her have her snack, but then I have to least try to get her to talk. I could always swear to secrecy if it's something really embarrassing." Lofty thought to herself. Holiday was no slouch in the kitchen (as Lofty would attest on many occasions. In fact it was often joked that Holiday, despite being the younger of the two mares, was the one who wore the pants in their relationship because of stuff like that), soon she had prepared the sandwich, carefully cut it up into slices, and presented it to Scootaloo. She then took a seat next to her darling Lofty, giving her a knowing wink. Scootaloo was glad to have something else to occupy her mind, and as much as the filly would've liked to claim otherwise she was getting kind of hungry. She greedily scarfed down the sandwich slices, crumbs flying everywhere, and when she was done she let out a huge burp! "Excuse me." She politely responded. Her Aunt Holiday tended to be a stickler for table manners and dining etiquette, probably because she ran that travel agency. "You're excused." Holiday smiled in approval, offering the filly a rag to wipe her face clean. Scootaloo accepted without fanfare, and Holiday just took the empty place to the sink to rinse it off. When Holiday came back, Scootaloo remained silent for a few minutes, saying nothing. But then Lofty broke the silence, as she not so subtly asked her niece. "So, do you mind telling Holiday and I why you've come all this way? Is there something you want to discuss?" "Lofty!" Holiday scolded. But Scootaloo interrupted. "No, no, no, it's fine. I suppose I had to talk to somepony sooner or later. I actually was kind of hoping to talk to my mom about it but you two will do," Sighing and taking a deep breath, the filly tried to explain. "Diamond Tiara's dad died on Sunday of a cerebral hemorrhage, whatever that means, so her mom dumped her off at the orphanage and just left her there." Holiday and Lofty both gasped! Holiday commented. "Oh the poor dear! I can't believe Spoiled Rich would do such a cold blooded thing! That's low, even for her! In fact I dare say she's a real... well, I can't say that word because I don't want a filly like you repeating it. I guess witch will have to do." "Yeah, Spoiled's a total butthead, but that's beside the point," Scootaloo giggled, before she resumed her story. "So, my mom happened to stop by the orphanage that same day to donate some toys, and when she saw Diamond Tiara she decided to adopt her. So that technically makes Diamond Tiara my sister now, as weird as it is to call her that." "Well, I'm glad to hear that," Lofty cheerfully replied with a smile. "Had I known about all of this, Holiday and I would've gladly stopped by to say hello to our new niece, or at least send her a gift basket." Scootaloo groaned, pounding her hoof on the kitchen table in protest! "That's the thing! I know it's only been a day and what not, but I'm so sick and tired of Diamond getting all this special treatment! I get it, her dad died and her mom cruelly dumped her like some unwanted toy, I'm supposed to feel sorry for her!" "Well, do you?" Lofty bluntly asked. "Of course I do, I'm not cruel and petty like that!" Scootaloo remarked. "It's just, I can't help but feel jealous and even kind of ignored. Even my parents seemed to be giving her more attention than they were giving to me. And that's the thing that bothers me, I know I shouldn't be jealous, especially since it hasn't even been a week yet. But I still do, and I just don't know what to do. Is it really so wrong of me if I can't help but feel jealous even though I know I shouldn't be?" "And did you actually tell your parents about this, Scootaloo? Be honest now, you know I hate it when you lie to me." Holiday sternly cautioned. Scootaloo sighed as the expression on her face changed from one of anger, to one of regret. "Actually... no. I... was gonna try and tell my mom, but I sort of lost my temper and shouted at her and Diamond, all because of some stupid nonsensical record I didn't even bother to write down. And now, she and Diamond probably just think I'm an ungrateful, jealous brat, even though I really don't want to be. I wouldn't be surprised if Mom wanted to dump me off at the Ponyville orphanage for my crazy outburst.” Scootaloo said in an annoyed tone. "Scootaloo, I'm surprised at you, really," Holiday said in a sweet yet concerned tone of voice. "It's like you don't know your mother at all. I know she knows that she raised you to be better than that, and one outburst isn't suddenly going to make her think you're not a good filly. Celestia knows your Auntie Lofty and I have gotten into fights over far more trivial things than a record. Why, once, we argued over whose turn it was do the dishes." "And that's when I learned it's best not to tick off your Aunt Holiday," Lofty teased. "I ended up sleeping on the couch all night because of that fight. Heck, I slept on the couch every night for a week." Holiday blushed, before she cleared her throat and continued. "Anyway... my point is, one outburst isn't going to suddenly make your mom think any differently of you. She's known you for years, from the day you were born in fact. And I'm sure that right now, she's worried sick about you, wondering what could've caused you to snap like that." "Kid, take it from somepony who got into arguments with her parents a lot growing up," Lofty advised, getting up from her seat and wrapping a wing around Scootaloo for comfort. "Nothing's going to get better if you just keep it all bottled up inside. You have to at least try to talk to somepony about how you're feeling. Barring that, you can at least find a pillow and give it a good punch or two. I find that works wonders whenever I'm mad with your Aunt Holiday over silly things like who's paying the bills this month." "What's most important is that you realize how you're feeling," Holiday instructed, lighting stroking Scootaloo's mane with a hoof. "I can tell you're a very conflicted filly at the moment, and it's very brave of you to try and tackle it all by yourself. But it would even braver to tell ponies how you're feeling, preferably without them having to ask you first. Now, how about we take you back to your mom, and you two can talk it all out? I'm sure she'll understand." "But, what if she doesn't?" Scootaloo nervously asked, not wanting to imagine such a scenario. Holiday smiled, as she stood next to Lofty. "She will, or she'll answer to us. You know we'll always do our best to be there for you when you need it." Just then, there was an unexpected knock at the front door. Lofty smiled, ending the wing hug as she lightly commented with a smile. "Well, well, well, I wonder who that could be? Probably your mom come to see if you're here safe and sound." But when Lofty opened the door, she was surprised to see instead a pink coated filly with cornflower blue eyes. Of course, it took the pegasus mare but a moment to realize who this filly must be (her cutie mark was practically a dead giveaway). "Hello Ms. um... whatever your name is. I'm looking for Scootaloo, she's kind of my adopted little sister now and what not. Have you seen her?" "Diamond?" Scootaloo remarked, rushing to the front door. Sure enough, there was the very filly responsible for such conflicting feelings in the young pegasus. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" "Easy, I followed your hoofprints, they led right to here," Diamond explained, eyeing the two mares Scootaloo was currently with. "And uh, who are these two? Mind introducing me?" "Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, of course!" Scootaloo eagerly replied, buzzing her wings a bit. "This is my Auntie Lofty, and my Aunt Holiday!" She explained, pointing first to the bulky pegasus mare that Tiara had met at the door, and then to the earth pony mare she hadn't seen yet. "Aunt Holiday, Auntie Lofty, this is Diamond Tiara." "Wait a minute, are you two the same Holiday and Lofty I overheard Scootaloo's dad talking about last night?" Tiara inquired out of curiosity. Holiday and Lofty both nodded, and Holiday confirmed. "You bet we are, we've been together since Scootaloo was a foal. I just happen to be Quick Shot's older sister." "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both." Tiara greeted, shaking the two older mares' hooves. "The pleasure's all ours," Lofty replied with a smile. "Why don't you come in and have a look around? My darling Holiday could probably fix you up a quick snack if you'd like." Tiara shook her head. "I'm just here for Scootaloo, but thanks for the offer," Then to Scootaloo she explained. "Your mother, or I guess our mother if you want to be technically correct, is worried about you. She was going to look for you herself, but I told her I wanted to do it because you ran off because of me." "Oh," Scootaloo realized. Suddenly she wasn't so happy anymore. "Look, if this is about the outburst, I'm sorry and I didn't mean what I said. But right now, I just need some time to think." But Holiday nudged Scootaloo towards the door. "Scootaloo, we just talked about this," She advised. "You NEED to talk to your mom about this, the sooner the better. It's not gonna go away until you do." "But you don't understand what it's like to be in this situation!" Scootaloo protested quite stubbornly. "I wouldn't say that." Lofty said with a raised eyebrow, looking across to her special somepony. Holiday sighed a bit, she knew what Lofty was implying. "I suppose the time has come to tell you a personal story, Scootaloo," She confessed. "You and Diamond Tiara probably better come inside and have a seat, it's a bit of a long one." "Can't you just tell a shortened version really quick?" Diamond suggested. Holiday put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well, I suppose I could try," She proceeded to explain. "Scootaloo, you already know I'm your dad's older sister. But I don't think I ever told you that growing up, we were really close, especially once our parents divorced and our mom moved out. So, imagine how I felt when he first started dating your mom." "But, they were both pegasus ponies, why would you feel jealous?" Scootaloo innocently asked Holiday. "Because, as much as I'm ashamed to admit it, I feared that your father would no longer have a place for me in his heart. And that he'd forget all about me and move up to Cloudsdale," Holiday confessed with another sigh. "Of course, it turned out my fears were unfounded, but that's beside the point. I felt the same way you're feeling now, Scootaloo. I knew I shouldn't feel jealous, I knew I should be happy that your dad had found true happiness with your mom, but a part of me couldn't help but feel jealous all the same. Those feelings slowly went away over time, but it helped that I told your dad and our dad how I was feeling. Heck, I even got our mom involved, because I felt she might have some helpful advice and she did. She was the first pony I told, and the one who encouraged me to be more open." "So, you think I should do the same with Diamond Tiara and my mom?" Scootaloo asked. Holiday nodded. "You know what happens when you keep things like that to yourself. You've got a loving family that will gladly help you, but only if you let them. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" "More or less, yeah," Scootaloo nodded back. "I suppose I owe my mom an explanation anyway, at least for my outburst earlier. Thanks again Aunt Holiday and Auntie Loftie, you two are the best!" "Oh, don't mention it, Scootaloo! Always happy to help." Lofty happily replied, and then she and Holiday waved until Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara were out of sight. On the way back home, Diamond stopped briefly to talk to Scootaloo. "I'm sorry about the slip up earlier, and that I was making you feel neglected because of how your parents were treating me," She apologized. "I probably shouldn't have picked out that Wonderbolts puzzle, and I probably should've told Mo... er Mrs. Twister that you wanted a smiley face pancake too." "You couldn't have known," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "It wasn't really your fault. And I appreciate you coming after me. Kind of makes me feel bad I snapped at you for your slip of the tongue. But you know, you can call my mom just 'Mom' or 'Mother' if you want, I'm sure she'd like that." "Maybe, but right now I'm just not comfortable with the idea, it's gonna take some getting used to before I feel comfortable enough to start calling her that," Tiara admitted. "Though it did kind of feel right to call her that, even if it wasn't intentional. And speaking of family, I have to say, your aunts are pretty cool, I can't believe I've never met them before." "Probably 'cause you were always out sick or on vacation whenever I brought them in for Family Appreciation Day." Scootaloo acknowledged, before she and Diamond resumed their trek back home. Dizzy Twister was waiting anxiously when the two fillies returned, immediately wrapping both in tight wing hugs! "Oh thank goodness you're both okay!" She exclaimed in relief. She ended the hug for Diamond a second later, but kept up the one for Scootaloo. "Mom, stop it! You're embarrassing me, seriously!" Scootaloo whined (though part of her actually quite liked this open display of affection). "I just want you to know that I still love you, my little Wonderbolt," Dizzy cooed in a motherly tone. "I'm sorry if I haven't perhaps shown that in the best way as of late. I know it's only been a day, and I was trying my best not to neglect you, but it seems I did so anyway." But Scootaloo shook her head and protested. "No, Mom, you didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault for not telling you how I was feeling, and letting it all spiral out of control. Maybe if I'd spoken up this morning about Diamond sleeping with you and Dad, we could've avoided all of this. Or at least avoided my big outburst over the record. Speaking of which, I'm sorry I yelled like that, I shouldn't done have it." "We both said and did things that we probably shouldn't have," Dizzy acknowledged to her daughter. "At the least I should've pulled you aside sooner and told you what you need to hear now. Just because your father and I are giving Diamond a bit more attention at the moment, it doesn't mean we don't love you. We love you with all of our heart, always have and always will be. Sure, sometimes you can make that love hard, but we won't stop loving you just because we have a new daughter we need to give some attention to." "Yeah, I know that now and to some extent I always did anyway," Scootaloo admittedly somewhat shamefully. "It's not that I doubted you and Dad loved me, it's just that for some reason I couldn't help but feel jealous. I know it was wrong of me, I know I shouldn't be jealous. But somehow it wouldn't go away," Hanging her head, she added. "You probably think I'm ungrateful because of that." But Dizzy, to Scootaloo's surprise, firmly said. "Scootaloo, please look into my eyes! What I'm about to tell you is VERY important!" Scootaloo reluctantly did so, her purple eyes looking square into her mom's rose colored ones. In a tone of voice that was loud and clear, Dizzy told her daughter. "It's inevitable that you'll feel jealous, it's not always something you can control. What's important is that you're acknowledging it now and letting me know about it. The fact that you feel ashamed and torn up about it, is all the proof I need to know that you're still the same sweet filly who inherited my big heart. Together, you, your father, Diamond, and I, can all work to help you overcome your jealousy. And no matter what, I won't suddenly think you're ungrateful just because of something like this. Because I know I raised you to be better than that." Scootaloo couldn't stop the water works that resulted from such a strong and passionate statement. She immediately buried her face in her mother's chest, hugging her tightly. When she inevitably found the courage to look back up, she said with a slight sniffle. "Thank you, Mom. I really needed to hear that! You're the best mom in the whole wide world of Equestria, and even beyond!" Diamond Tiara felt some tears come out as she watched the two. It was so sweet how these two loved one another, her ex-mother would've never given her this kind of affection. "I know, my little Scootaloo, I know," Dizzy smiled, trying to contain her own tears. Once she was certain her biological daughter had stopped crying, she looked at both her daughters and cleared her throat as she announced. "Now then, I hope you're both not too worn out from everything that happened over the last half hour or so. And I hope you both still have an appetite. Because tonight we're going to have dinner at the Hay Burger!" Scootaloo's mouth dropped wide open! "No way! You really mean it?! We can actually go there and eat?!" She asked, hoping beyond hope that she hadn't misheard. Dizzy nodded with a bright smile, as she stood up. "Of course, Scootaloo. It's my treat."