//------------------------------// // Epilogue, Part 2 // Story: On the Wings of a Pegasus // by Jinzou //------------------------------// The CMC shared uneasy glances. "I-is it weird I feel bad for her?" Sweetie Belle asked uncertainly. "If it is then... I'm weird too." Confessed Scootaloo. "She wants to change but doesn't know how." Replied Applebloom. "Seems she could use a friend or two to help her figure it out." Sweetie Belle decided. The three fillies had just gotten through overhearing quite an ordeal. After losing class president, Diamond Tiara had stormed off. She had apprehensively approached what was revealed to be her home, the anger turned to something that looked almost like fear. And in the few minutes that followed, much of Diamond Tiara's behavior had been explained. Diamond Tiara's mother had an outwards hatred toward foals without cutie marks, even going as far to call them "blank flanks" as well. When Diamond Tiara had revealed she had lost the election, Spoiled Rich had grabbed her daughters face and screamed in it. Diamond Tiara had flinched. Diamond Tiara flinched. As soon as Scootaloo saw that she felt a familiar feeling of dread and anger bubble up inside her. She recalled what Diamond Tiara had said to her when she found out about the trial. "I can't imagine what it's like to live with a parent who actually hits you and... well if I had known, I wouldn't have picked on you. Or made fun of the fact that you can't fly. I know what it's like to..." Scootaloo hadn't dwelled on her words at that point, but now knowing what Diamond Tiara was going through, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. She should have asked for clarification. She was just shocked that she has been apologized to at that moment that nothing else got through to her. And then Diamond Tiara had broken into song. It was a terrible, touching sad song. "I thought diamonds were hard, though I feel I could break..." Scootaloo felt her own heart break at that. Here she was, in front of the pony that had bullied her since she came to the school... and she felt pity. After a moment of consideration, Scootaloo made up her mind. She was going to befriend Diamond Tiara. "Hey, Diamond Tiara, wait up!" Applebloom called as the class ended and Diamond Tiara was starting to walk home. "What do you three want?" Diamond Tiara demanded. "To gloat? Rub in my defeat?" Her gaze softened as her eyes met Scootaloo's, but she broke eye contact immediately. "Actually..." Applebloom hesitated for a moment. "We wanted to invite you to our clubhouse to hang out." "...Really?" After some nods of confirmation, Diamond Tiara hesitantly followed the Crusaders to their clubhouse. As the Crusaders waited awkwardly by the door, Diamond Tiara began examining the posters marked full of failed Crusades. "Oh to hay with it." Scootaloo finally huffed. "Diamond Tiara, we overheard you yesterday." Diamond Tiara's eyes filled with a mixture of panic and anger. "What, are you trying to get your cutie marks in SPYING?! Is that on-" "Has she ever hit you?" Scootaloo interrupted. Diamond Tiara looked around awkwardly, afraid to answer. On one hand, Scootaloo did understand... less than desirable parents, but on the other hand, Diamond Tiara didn't think she could compare to Scootaloo's plight. Also the idea of opening up to... well anybody, but especially these three unnerved her. "I mean, sometimes when she got really mad she might have smacked me a couple times... But it was mostly verbal." Diamond Tiara found herself unable to stare at anything other than the floor. Her eyes started watering up. "Diamond Tiara, I... I know what it's like to have abusive parents. I know exactly what that can do to your head. And I know with the right ponies by your side, things can get way better. So I guess what I'm saying is... I'm here to help you. We're here to help you though this. So... friends?" Scootaloo offered an open hoof to the pink filly, who looked at it, unsure. A tense moment passed before the silence was broken by a fifth foal knocking on the clubhouse door. "HELP!" Cried Pipsqueak. "Cutie Mark Crusaders, I was at the school board meeting and they didn't approve my request for the new playground equipment!" "Why not?!" Sweetie Belle gasped. "There's no money in the budget! So I checked my piggybank to see if I had enough bits..." Pipsqueak emptied his piggybank out. There was dust, a piece of candy, and a dead ladybug. "But my little piggy wasn't nearly full enough." "Don't worry, Pip!" Sweetie Belle smiled. "We'll meet you back at school." Chirped Scootaloo. "And help you find a solution!" Applebloom added. Pipsqueak smiled brightly and thanked them before trotting off. Diamond Tiara figured she could use this moment to try to make her comeback. Maybe I could knock Pipsqueak out of office and try to take president status for my own. Maybe I could become a winner again. Maybe then my mom would love me again, if even only for a bit. But... aside from Silver Spoon, nobody's ever wanted to become my friend before... so can I really just... Scootaloo turned around to face Diamond Tiara, quietly waiting for confirmation. She silently held out her hoof again. "Friends?" She offered again. Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and locked eyes with the pegasus. Time seemed to slow down as she cautiously lifted one of her forelegs and placed her hoof on Scootaloo's. "Friends." She replied shakily. Scootaloo fixed her with a reassuring smile as Diamond Tiara felt the water well up in her eyes again. She was a strong pony. She was a Diamond. She didn't need to cry in front of others, that was a sign of weakness, and that meant she was getting punished when she got home. But the other fillies in the room didn't stare at her with cold, angry eyes. Instead, their warm looks made her almost feel worse. Diamond Tiara squeezed her eyes tightly, not knowing what to do. But Scootaloo did know what to do. It was going to be awkward, and might not even be taken well, but there was only one thing to do. Diamond Tiara slowly felt a warm presence against her body, and opened her eyes to find Scootaloo had pulled her into a hug. Diamond Tiara wasn't sure what to do. She hadn't gotten a hug for as long as she remembered. While her father wasn't verbally abusive, he was emotionally distant and didn't seem to know how to be a father, so Diamond Tiara wasn't really used to physical affection. She carefully returned the hug as the floodgates opened up. She felt herself quietly start to sob into Scootaloo's shoulder, relieving years of internalized emotion. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom gaped at each other. If they were told the day before that their classroom bully would be breaking down in front of them, and they'd be trying to make her feel better, they'd have called you crazy. But as far as moments like these went, they both knew without speaking what it is they had to do. The two fillies walked over and joined the other two in a group hug as Diamond Tiara just sobbed louder, her cries eventually turning into wails of anguish as she released the pent up emotion she's been trying her best to suppress for as long as she could remember. This carried on for several moments before Diamond Tiara broke free and wiped her nose. She wasn't sure what to do in stations like this. Should she apologize? Try and pretend nothing had happened? She looked over at Scootaloo, ready to gauge her actions based on how Scootaloo responded, and was somewhat surprised to see a knowing smile on Scootaloo's face. "I know that look Diamond Tiara. We're not going to judge you for having feelings. Nobody in here thinks less of you." Scootaloo just smiled at her. Diamond Tiara's mind was meanwhile racing a mile per minute. She wasn't gonna be judged? Or yelled at? She'd just broken down in front of three fillies she'd spent years tormenting and they didn't even hate her a little? She had to do something to repay them... And after a moment of contemplation she had a pretty good idea on what. "We should probably get back to the school." Diamond Tiara spoke with a much softer voice. "And on the way, I think I know how we can fix Pip's issue." The four fillies made it back to the school, shortly after the school meeting had finished. For some reason, even though both school and the school meeting had adjourned, most of the class was still there. Pipsqueak was speaking with Cheerilee, a very depressed look plastered on his face. Diamond Tiara took a steadying breath and cleared her throat. "Everyone, may I please have your attention?" The rest of the schoolponies didn't know what shocked them more: the fact that Diamond Tiara had said "please", the fact that her red eyes clearly showed she'd been crying recently, or the fact that she didn't seem to care and had a genuine smile on her face. "I've just asked my father to donate the money for new playground equipment!" There was a moment of silence as the rest of the foals digested what the pony that had only known for years as a bully had just said, then came the cacophony of cheers. "I know you were worried for a second there, weren't you?" Diamond Tiara asked, winking at Pip. "Hah, well I think it's all gonna work out just fine, Mister President!" Pip beamed. As they watched the rest of the schoolponies and even some adult volunteers get to work dropping off and building the new equipment, the CMC looked on from the back, stunned about how much had changed in just one day. "I've been thinkin', Crusaders. We spend an awful lot of time fussin' and frettin' tryin' to discover our true talent. But when we take a little time off, we end up helpin' other ponies figure out their true talent!" Applebloom sighed happily. "Yeah!" Sweetie Belle grinned. "And I think that's way more important than worrying about our cutie marks, don't you? Scootaloo pulled her friends into a hug. "Absolutely! I don't care if I ever get my cutie mark as long as I get to hang out with my best friends." "So what do you say, Crusaders? Want to just focus on helpin' others find their cutie marks?" Applebloom chirped. There was a unified shout of "Yeah!" and the fillies clapped their hooves together. The three then found their hooves suddenly stuck together as a magical aura started surrounding them. Floating up along with her friends, Scootaloo felt magic coursing through her body like lightning. There was a sudden flash of light, then all three fillies found themselves back on the ground, disoriented. "What happened?"? "What's goin' on?" "It's your cutie marks!" Diamond Tiara gasped happily. "They're amazing!" All three Crusader's eyes shot wide open and they snapped their heads to each look at their own flank. There were indeed, cutie marks on each one. Each Crusader had a shield with three portions, each adorned with the color of Scootaloo's and Applebloom's manes, and Sweetie Belle's coat respectively. Inside the shield each Crusader had something different. Applebloom had an apple inside a heart, Sweetie Belle had a musical note inside a star, and Scootaloo had a lightning bolt inside a wing. The three friends looked at each other, disbelief slowly turning to excitment as they realized the one thing they've been seeking since they met had finally come to them. Ecstatic and barely believing their eyes, the Crusaders pushed their rumps together and shouted together in glee: "We all got the same cutie mark! Cutie Mark Crusaders forever!" "Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash get up!" Twilight screamed, dashing into the bedroom they both shared and waking her with a start. "Twilight, wha-" Rainbow didn't have time to finish her thought, as Twilight pulled her into a hug and teleported her to Sweet Apple Acres, grabbing Applejack and teleporting again before Applejack has the chance to say anything. Twilight grabbed Rarity in much the same way, and finally teleported the four of them to Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were a little scrambled from the rapid teleportations, but Rarity instantly turned on Twilight, who had a big dumb grin plastered on her face and began nagging at her. "Now really Twilight, I was in the middle of completing a rather complicated frock and-" "The Crusaders got their marks!" Twilight yelled in glee, causing everyone around her to start staring. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all stared at her in surprise, and began to grin themselves. "Oh, I should go get Big Mac and Granny! Fluttershy and Pinkie too!" Twilight gasped, before instantly teleporting off. She teleported back with the aformentioned ponies, and instantly collapsed. Rainbow dashed to pick her up. "Twi, you okay?!" "Too... much magic spent." Twilight gasped. "Just... put me down and I'll be okay." Rainbow Dash did as she asked, and then she found she could hear the distinct sound of three very familiar, very special fillies singing as they marched toward the mares. The fillies instantly ran for their sisters (and adopted mother in Scootaloo's case). Rainbow Dash flew over and scooped up Scootaloo in a flying hug, squeezing her tight. "I'm so dang proud of you kid." Rainbow whispered in her ear. "I'm the proudest mother in all of Equestria right now." Neither pony said anything else, just quietly hugging as tears ran down both of their respective faces. "So proud." Rainbow whispered again. Scootaloo squeezed Rainbow Dash twice as hard. "I love you, mom." Rainbow Dash just nuzzled the filly that had come to mean more to her than life itself. "I love you too, Scootaloo."