//------------------------------// // 107. The Marks are on! // Story: My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship // by Danieru //------------------------------// It felt like a long time ago since Star Twinkle had to come to the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse. The main reason for that being that he got his Cutie Mark already and was no longer in need to try out multiple things to get it. At least that is what he thought was the reason. He was glad that he no longer had to accompany them on their crazy adventure but at the same time, he also missed it. But now with him being the only member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders who actually got his Cutie Mark, he felt as if he needed to apologize or do something to make it up to them. The girls most likely planned that everyone got their Cutie Marks at the same time. Him showing up to accompany them to their quest now would certainly make them feel uncomfortable. They were probably doubting themselves and asked questions about why Star Twinkle got his Cutie Mark and they don't. "This is...awkward..." the stallion said just thinking about this scenario. He had a Cutie Mark, and they didn't. The three fillies were still in pursuit of their destiny or special talent and Star Twinkle had found his. Granted, they told him that he is still a Cutie Mark Crusader-Honorary member but now it felt to him as if they just allowed him to stick around because they got stuck with him. This all could have just been in Star Twinkle's head of course. As the stallion walked closer to the treehouse, he could already hear the voices of the three fillies. He was about to enter but he instead decided to put his ears against the door to figure out what was going in there. "Singing?" He said confused as he continued listening. "'Cause the Cutie Mark Crusaders don't give in We'll make our mark One way or another We'll make our mark On the day that we discover The ultimate reward of our cutie marks!" Hearing the upbeat voices of the three fillies inside the treehouse did surprise the stallion. Then again, the three were always good at keeping their motivation sky high when it came to Cutie Marks. "That is a good sign," Star Twinkle said to himself before he opened the door to enter the clubhouse. Obviously now was the best time to enter and talk with the girls. As the stallion entered, he was greeted by three huge smiles. It was the kind of smile that told him that they were ready to tackle the day. "Now that the last member arrived, we can start finding our Cutie Marks!" Apple Bloom announcement, completely ruling out the possibility that this could be another day where they would fail to archive exactly that. Scootaloo then looked over to Star Twinkle as if she tried to find something out about him. "What do you think we should do?" She then asked. "What?" Star Twinkle replied confused. "Yes!" Sweetie Belle agreed, even though Star Twinkle was not really sure to what. "You managed to get your Cutie Mark so you know better than any of us how to get one!" She pointed out. "Uhh..." was the only thing Star Twinkle could reply for now. The three fillies seemed to have come to the conclusion that Star Twinkle knew all about Cutie Marks now. That could not be further away from the truth though. Even if it was true, Cutie Marks are unique to everyone so him giving them tips would end up being in vain. Adding that up to what the three already tried so far and you'll end up with advice that will most likely disappoint them if they would fail. But then again, he could turn this all around and avoid accompanying them on some crazy task and talk them into some easier things. Star Twinkle did not want to manipulate those three though. He just realized that he probably thought too much into all of this and that he should give some kind of answer before they realized what kind of battle he was having in his mind. Thankfully, they were all interrupted by some words that a little colt shouted at them from outside. "Cutie Mark Crusaders! Help!" The voice of a little colt said. If his memory served him right, then this little pony was Pipsqueak, the little colt that moved from Trottingham to Ponyville a while ago. He remembered him back at Nightmare Night, the first one he and the little colt ever attended. It didn't take long until Star Twinkle realized how perfect Pipsqueaks timing was. "Hey! That sounds important!" He said in a slightly faked worry something that the three fillies quickly saw through. Still, it did sound urgent, judging from how worried the little pony looked so Apple Bloom did ask. "What's wrong, Pipsqueak?" The little colt explained. "I'm running for student pony president, I was hoping you would be my campaign managers!" "We've never tried gettin' our cutie marks in campaign managin'!" Apple Bloom pointed out. For Star Twinkle it was just important that this was not a dangerous or ridiculous thing. Compared to what they all tried so far, campaign managing sounded like a breeze so of course, he was on board. "What do ya say, Crusaders?" Apple Bloom then asked. It didn't take long until everyone agreed to help Pipsqueak. "Yeah!" The other two fillies replied before they all sealed it with a hoof bump. Pipsqueak tried to join in as well but since the three hoofs bumped so high in the air, his little size came in the way. Luckily, Sweetie Belle used some of her magic to lift him up so that he could reach as well. Star Twinkle was happy that him having a Cutie Mark was not discussed at all and quickly brushed off. He part of the group as always as if nothing happened and that is exactly how he liked it. On top of that, the three ponies were assigned to do something not dangerous so he didn't have to worry about too much. With that said though, they still needed to succeed in helping Pipsqueak. Later... The task for the Cutie Mark Crusaders was pretty easy. All they had to do was convincing every student to vote for Pipsqueak. They knew that Pipsqueak could be trusted with whatever he intended to do for the students so they just needed to make sure that everyone was aware of this as well. Star Twinkle was no student at this school, however, so the things he could do were limited but Miss Cheerilee offered the stallion to count the votes later on. It was easy enough and not complicated at all so of course, he was all too willing to do it. There was still some time left and the stallion just had to wait until that though. He was standing in front of the door of the Ponyville school with Miss Cheerilee standing next to him. "In only a few minutes the voting will start," Miss Cheerilee informed to the stallion. "Maybe you should go inside already?" She asked. "I'll just wait a few more minutes," Star Twinkle replied. He did want to see how things turn out with the Crusaders taking care of everything. The Cutie Mark Crusaders started their campaign. They provided a little box for Pipsqueak to stand on so that everyone would have a clear view on him and Apple Bloom already started to get things rolling. "So, Pip, how would you help the school if you were elected student pony president?" She said loudly enough so that every student around would hear it which was of course intended. Pipsqueak played along. "Our playground equipment took quite a beating during Twilight's battle with Tirek!" He pointed. Coincidentally, something broke on the playground right after he mentioned it. "If I'm voted in as student pony president, I'll go to the school board and right this wrong!" He assured. That was enough for the group to cheer for the colt. Things already started to look good without the help of Cutie Mark Crusaders. But of course, there was one obstacle standing in their way and the name of the obstacle...was Diamond Tiara. "Well, I think that's a ridiculous waste of money!" The little pony said as she showed up in front of everyone. "It's just like when Twist proposed to repair the window that Discord destroyed! She just wanted to repair it like a plain old schoolhouse window," she explained. Hearing all those reasons of why things needed to be repaired made Star Twinkle realize just how many times dangerous things happened in this town. Those bad guys really need to stay out of this town in the future if everyone wanted it to still stand. Diamond Tiara continued. "But you all know voting for me was the best choice because I convinced the school board to give that window visual appeal!" She said as she pointed towards the window, which turned out to be a colored window with Diamond Tiara on it, similar to the windows in Canterlot Castle. Star Twinkle lowered his eyebrows. "So that is how that happened..." he said quietly to himself. But Apple Bloom pointed out how Diamond Tiara managed to do that. "'Course, it doesn't hurt that her mother Spoiled Rich is president of the school board," she said boldly. It was obvious that Diamond Tiara herself was not putting any work into anything as long as she had her mother and her money to take care of things. Diamond Tiara was fully aware of this too and so was her friend Silver Spoon who, as always, was on Diamond Tiara's side. "Exactly! Which is why when Diamond Tiara is voted student pony president, the school will be putting a statue of her in the center of our schoolyard!" She announced happily. Instead of showing some excitement though, Diamond Tiara, for some reason clenched her teeth and looked rather angry. "Silver Spoon!" That was my big announcement for when I won!" She said. The filly clearly was not happy that her friend was revealing that surprise. "I was only trying to help," Silver Spoon replied in her defense. "I don't need that kind of help!" Diamond Tiara returned, her teeth still gritting in anger as she spoke those words. But Apple Bloom knew what to say to all of this. "Haven't we all had enough of Diamond Tiara?" She said. "Do we really need a big statue of her?" Scootaloo agreed. "Especially where our playground equipment should be?" Sweetie Belle pointed out. Every foal on the playground was whispering back and forth now. They knew that what the Cutie Mark Crusaders said was true. Pipsqueak was trying to make the school a better place while Diamond Tiara just thought of herself and her image. "A vote for Pip is a vote for the playground!" Pipsqueak said. "A vote for Diamond Tiara is a vote for more Diamond Tiara!" Diamond Tiara said. For Star Twinkle, even if he would not be on the side of the Crusaders, the decision who to vote for was obvious but he did not need to vote, it was the students who needed to and he just hoped that they would all do the right decision. Luckily, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were there to remind everyone of the right decision. "It's time to make a change!" Apple Bloom said. "Don't be afraid to do what's right!" Scootaloo added. "He's it! Vote for Pip!" Sweetie Belle added. The three joined in together. "A vote for Pip means having a change and fun again!" The three said in unison, lifting up the little colt in the air for everyone to see. Everyone quickly cheered at the sight of the little pony in excitement. Everyone except Diamond Tiara of course. "I don't believe what I am hearing!" She said in disgust. "Pipsqueak? Try "Pip's weak!" Don't you think? You better vote for me, not the weakest link!" She said in a rather serious and intimidating tone. The little pony then walked among the ponies, her facial expression showing anything but friendliness. "Everypony has their little secrets, a vote for me will help you keep them safe," she said, which started to sound as if she tried threatening everyone now. It definitely seemed as if some of the ponies felt addressed by those words, much like how Diamond Tiara planned it. "Come on now, ponies! Don't listen to her!" Apple Bloom said. "You don't have to worry about any of that when you vote for Pip!" Scootaloo added. "Yes! You don't have to live in fear when he is voted!" Sweetie Belle pointed out. This all went back and forth for a while. The Cutie Mark Crusaders did a good job showing everyone why voting for Diamond Tiara was a bad idea. It also helped that Diamond Tiara was slowly digging her own hole with her ideas. Some ponies already turned in their votes in a nearby voting cabin. Diamond Tiara realized that they were all not voting for her so eventually, she decided to take another direction to pursue everyone for her cause. "Stop! Everypony who hasn't voted, listen up!" She said, grabbing everyone's attention once more. "Pip makes promises he can't keep! Who says that I can't be nice?" She said before she went up to some ponies with some gifts, which included some sweets, new schoolbags, and other things. "There is a lot from where that came from and it can all be yours. And to get those things, all I want from you is just a vote," she assured with a wide grin on her face. As Star Twinkle was watching all of this unfold, he could see how some ponies were actually considering voting for her now. "Come on now," the stallion thought, looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders in hope that they would come up with something to preventing Diamond Tiara to get her votes. He was sure that Diamond Tiara would not keep her word and that she just said that because she wanted to get some more votes. Silver Spoon saw how not everyone was convinced to vote for her friend yet. She decided to help out a little to keep things in Diamond Tiara's favor. "I've a tiny suggestion. You could probably win this election if you show them all you real—" "I don't recall asking you to speak!" Diamond Tiara then interrupted annoyed in a sudden outburst that left everyone speechless. Sweetie Belle quickly took advantage of that ill behavior. "Well, if that's how you treat your best friend, then I choose Pipsqueak!" Most of the ponies came to the same realization that Diamond Tiara was not caring one bit about anything other than winning this. Sweetie Belle was right, if her best friend was treated like that then how would she treat everyone else? For this one short moment she was showing her true face and everyone could see it clearly. Star Twinkle couldn't help but smile at this. He saw how everyone was whispering to each other while looking at Diamond Tiara. It was a clear sign that they all came to the conclusion to vote for Pipsqueak and Star Twinkle knew that the winner was already decided. "Guess that takes care of that," he said under his breath. A little later... Inside the school, Star Twinkle just got done counting the votes and telling Miss Cheerilee the results. The mare was already outside and was now ready to tell everyone who won. "The votes have been counted!" Miss Cheerilee announced. This prompted both Pipsqueak and Diamond Tiara to stand ready for the result. Pipsqueak was really nervous, going so far biting his own hooves while Diamond Tiara looked more confident than ever to win this vote. Miss Cheerilee did not waste any more time and then announced the winner. "The student pony president is... Pipsqueak!" "Huh?!" Diamond Tiara said in shock while Pipsqueak was happy and beamed in relief. Everyone quickly cheered for their new student president. With the exception of Diamond Tiara, everyone was happy with this result, especially the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And of course, Pipsqueak was thanking the Crusaders for their help. "I couldn't have won without the hard work of my campaign managers, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" He said in gratitude. And of course, as soon as Pipsqueak won, the three ponies came to one quick conclusion. "Campaign manager cutie marks!" They all said in unison as they looked back at their flanks, only to see that they still were empty. Star Twinkle could only shake his head as he watched from inside the school building. He expected this outcome of course. "Guess you're not as good as you thought, blank flanks!" Diamond Tiara said. Even though she just lost, as soon as she saw an opportunity, she took it to be mean to someone again. "In fact, I demand a recount!" She then added. But Miss Cheerilee assured that this was not necessary. "Trust me, Diamond Tiara. Pip won," she said. "I'll be the judge of that, Miss Cheerilee!" Diamond Tiara said as she walked past the teacher and right towards Star Twinkle, who was sitting in the middle of the room at a table with all the votes on them. "Oh boy..." Star Twinkle thought, not looking forward to exchanging words with this pony. The little angry pony walked up to Star Twinkle. Judging from her annoyed facial expression, she was not looking forward to talking with Star Twinkle as well. But when it came to her victory, she was more than willing to do that. "Recount my votes!" She demanded angrily as soon as she stood in front of the table where Star Twinkle was sitting at. But Star Twinkle only gave the filly a deadpan expression. "I don't think this will be necessary," he said without a single care in the world. Diamond Tiara would not accept this answer though and jumped on the table. "RE-COUNT-MY-VOTES!" She then yelled into his face, much to the stallion's annoyance. "Okay, okay!" He replied before he took the votes placed next to him. He took a piece of paper sitting on one side, which had Diamond Tiara written on it. The stallion coughed rasped for a moment and then started recounting the votes. "One." The little pony waited for the stallion to continue. That did not happen though, much to her dislike. "And? Continue! Count my votes!" She demanded. "I just did. That is all of them," he explained. "What!?" Diamond Tiara replied in shock. "That can't be right! Let me look!" She said before she took a look at the votes herself. Star Twinkle did not bother to stop her, he actually enjoyed seeing her like that a little bit after how she acted before in front of everyone. Needless to say, Diamond Tiara realized that there really was only one vote for her. "That can't be! All those stupid..." she started to say getting her anger out of all the other young ponies who did not vote for her but she then stopped once she came to another realization. "Wait a second...one vote? That can't be right!" She then said. Now Star Twinkle sighed in annoyance. "I am not recounting your one vote again..." he said. "No!" The filly replied with some frustration in her voice. "What I mean is, I know I voted for myself and so did..." but before she could finish her sentence, she ran out of the school to confirm her suspicion herself. She walked up to Silver Spoon, who did not bother looking at Diamond Tiara at all. "Silver Spoon! You didn't vote for me?!" She then asked. "No, I didn't," Silver Spoon replied. Diamond Tiara was shocked to hear that. "But you're my best friend!" She pointed out. For the first time now, Silver Spoon was looking at Diamond Tiara again. "Am I? 'Cause I tried to help by mentioning your 'surprise' statue, and suddenly I wasn't even allowed to speak!" The pony explained annoyed. "You could have actually won this election if you just listened to me. You wanna know how?" She said before she walked up closer to Diamond Tiara, closing her open jaw in the process. "Sorry. I'm not allowed to speak," she then whispered. Diamond Tiara could only scream in rage before then running away from all of this. Star Twinkle had a good view of all this. It was satisfying to see Diamond Tiara getting what she deserved. That the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped Pipsqueak winning was of course, also really good. Miss Cheerilee walked up to Star Twinkle. "I guess your work here is done," she said. This all concluded Star Twinkle's work here at school. He saw everyone celebrating Pipsqueak's victory outside and didn't want to interrupt them so he decided to just go home. As he was about to leave the school building though, something caught his eyes just outside the window. He saw a rather upset Diamond Tiara slowly walking away from school, something he did not expect to see at all. The little filly was letting her head hanging and her face looked as if she was about to tear up any second. Star Twinkle felt bad but then he remembered who that pony, he was watching was. "No need to feel bad, she got what she deserved after all," he said to himself. He tried to convince himself that this was justice for her being mean to everypony. He didn't have a reason to feel bad for her. But the longer he watched the filly, the more he had trouble believing his own words. "She'll just get mad or scream at you if you try to cheer her up again," he said to himself, trying to not get involved. It didn't work though. She was just a filly and she needed some comfort now, even if she was not appreciating it. He could not just ignore seeing her like that. Maybe he was not the best pony to talk to her right now but he still decided to walk after her. "Why do I have to be like this?" He said annoyed. The stallion followed Diamond Tiara into town. All this time, she kept her head hanging and didn't bother to look at anyone. Star Twinkle tried to come up with some words of what to say in order to cheer her up again which was difficult to do since the pony who needed to be cheered up was Diamond Tiara who was far away from being the nicest pony in town. Somepony actually went up to the little filly before he could though. An Earth Pony mare. "Diamond Tiara! Why are you making that face? That is not the face of a winner," she said. Star Twinkle decided to hide around the corner of a building. "Who is that?" He wondered as he kept watching the two ponies. The Earth Pony mare had a pink coat color, a dark purple mane, opal colored eyes, and a diamond ring as a Cutie Mark. She also wore an aquamarine blue top and a gold necklace. Diamond Tiara answered, her voice sounding a little bit scared now. "Because... I didn't win." "What?!" The mare replied in shock. She pointed at some ponies carrying some stuff right in front of her, one of them carrying a statue that depicted Diamond Tiara. "You mean I hefted all these party supplies to celebrate nothing?!" She asked. Diamond Tiara could only reply one thing. "Sorry mother," she apologized. As soon as Star Twinkle heard that, he suddenly saw a resemblance between those two. They somehow had the same air around them. Star Twinkle managed to remember Apple Bloom mentioning Diamond Tiara's mother being the president of the school board before. He then recalled her name being Spoiled Rich. The mare did not seem to be too happy about the news of her daughter losing and she did not bother hiding it. "It's bad enough you lost to that transplant from Trottingham, but imagine if you'd lost to one of those blank flanks," she said, not being aware of that, ironically, that was the case. "As a Rich pony, you must always think of your social standing. That starts here in Ponyville and reaches all over Equestria. Don't ever forget that, Diamond Tiara. Ever!" The mare yelled in her daughter's face before she walked away, leaving a rather sad Diamond Tiara in the middle of the road. Being yelled at like this did not help Diamond Tiara to feel better at all and only left her more upset. She walked away with a frown on her face, only it to be replaced with a surprised expression as soon as she saw Star Twinkle standing there in front of him. His face showed signs that he was feeling bad for her, something that Diamond Tiara didn't notice in her surprise. "What do you want!?" She asked annoyed. She was clearly trying to hide how she felt at this very moment. "Uh..." Star Twinkle replied. He didn't really know how to tackle this situation at all. Admitting that he was eavesdropping would certainly not make her happy and being nice to her all of a sudden would be really suspicious. But since Star Twinkle already got this far, might as well go all the way. "Talking about pressure, right?" He said, trying to sound casual. Diamond Tiara widened her eyes in surprise. "You were eavesdropping!?" She asked angrily. It could not be avoided that the filly would get mad at him after he said that. She moved her head right into Star Twinkle's face. "You better not tell anypony or you'll regret it!" She threatened. "I wasn't planning on telling anypony," Star Twinkle replied. "I just wanted to cheer you up since you looked so down," he added. The filly's anger was just rising the more the stallion talked. "And who's fault do you think it was!? If I had won everything would be fine! But no, you and those Cutie Mark Loosers just had to show up, as always, and ruin everything!" She exclaimed right in Star Twinkle's face. But Star Twinkle remained calm. Right now, in front of him, he did not see an angry little filly but rather a frustrated and sad one. The frown on her face before was real, this much he could tell and he wanted to do something about it so he endured "You probably could have won the vote if you would have used some of your money to actually do some repairs at the playground instead of spending it for a statue. I'm sure everyone would have liked that," he pointed out. "Yeah, whatever you say," Diamond Tiara said before she just walked past the stallion, ignoring his advice completely. Star Twinkle did not want to give up though. "Maybe I can help you get on better terms with Silver Spoon again?" He offered. Diamond Tiara stopped for a moment, a good sign. The look on her face as she turned around though was still filled with annoyance and anger but also a hint of confusion. She started to look around as if she wanted to make sure nopony else was watching or listening to them before she walked over to the stallion. "Why would you help me? Up until now, I was nothing but mean to you and the Cutie Mark Crusaders," she pointed out. The stallion wished he knew the answer to that. Why should he worry about the feelings of a pony that wasn't really nice to him so far? It must have been all those adventures around Equestria that caused him to act like someone who always wanted to help others. Or maybe he was always like this? Star Twinkle simply gave the first answer that came to his mind. "I just saw you being sad so I wanted to help you," he casually explained. "I am not sad!" Diamond Tiara replied annoyed. "Why would I? You think losing my only friend is gonna make me sad?" She added before she realized what she said and widened her eyes. Star Twinkle had a suspicion that Diamond Tiara did not have many friends with how she acted towards everypony but knowing that Silver Spoon was her only friend definitely made it worse. The stallion quickly saw himself in Diamond Tiara. He didn't have any friends and thought that it was alright but deep down he knew it wasn't and he just told himself this over and over again so that he would feel better. Diamond Tiara, however, knew that she wanted friendship but didn't want to admit it to anypony else because she had to keep up her "High Class" character in front of everyone, something that her mother hammered into her head for probably all of her life. But that is not what the little pony wanted to be, this much Star Twinkle could tell. "So you rather want things to stay like this?" Star Twinkle boldly said. He was hoping that Diamond Tiara would give the right answer to this question if she was being honest with herself. It was all he needed to offer his help. After some internal struggle from Diamond Tiara, the answer did come. "No..." she then answered with a frown on her face. It did take some strength of her to say those words. "It's just so unfair!" she then said in a frustrated tone. "I'm supposed to be a diamond, something grand and special! But what do I have now!?! I'm no School President, I have no friends left, and my mother is disappointed in me too!" Diamond Tiara didn't even try to hide her feelings anymore. She needed to get all of this out and tell someone how she felt, even if it meant telling it someone she didn't even like at all. Star Twinkle listened and didn't interrupt her at all. He took this very seriously. He felt as if he was watching his younger self if his younger self actually was honest with himself. Of course, Diamond Tiara's life was different, and so was her problem but Star Twinkle didn't spend time with his friends without learning a few things himself. One of them is that real friends don't leave you easily. Silver Spoon was most likely no different. "I think the first thing you should do is trying to be...well...nicer..." Star Twinkle explained. He could see how Diamond Tiara was not too excited to hear that but he needed to tell her this. "There is no point in settling things with your friend if you still treat her wrong after all. That would only result in her leaving you again," the stallion further explained. Star Twinkle could not believe what he was saying here. It sounded almost like professional advice but that couldn't be true since it came from him. But despite that, Diamond Tiara was taking this advice seriously. "Maybe..." she said with some hesitation in her voice. There was not too much to talk about for now. Diamond Tiara said that she needed some time to think about it. It was understandable since the change would not come easily, especially when it came to your own character. There wasn't anything else that Star Twinkle could do for the filly now so he walked away. As he walked around the corner though, he could see three fillies standing there looking at him as if they just broke something and didn't want him to find out about it. It was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo and they were obviously eavesdropping on him and Diamond Tiara. He couldn't even blame him for that since he did the same thing before on Diamond Tiara as well. "I guess you heard it all?" He asked, to which the three ponies nodded in response. "Is it weird that I feel bad for her?" Sweetie Belle asked. "If it is, then... I'm weird, too," Scootaloo added. "She wants to change, but she doesn't know how," Apple Bloom figured. They surprisingly saw the problem too and tried to come up with a solution to fix it. It didn't take long until they all had a good idea of how to deal with this problem. Since the three ponies overheard everything anyway they knew what to do and if Diamond Tiara really wanted to change then everything should turn out fine in the end. The next day... The bells of the Ponyville school were ringing and all the students walked outside, one of them being a still very upset Diamond Tiara, who was on her way home. Star Twinkle was not too far away, hiding behind a tree. He wanted to have a closer look at how everything went with her and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. As planned, the three fillies ran up to Diamond Tiara. "Hey, Diamond Tiara! Wait up!" Apple Bloom called after her. The pink Earth Pony did not seem too excited that the three wanted something from her and got quickly annoyed. "What do you three want? To gloat? Rub in my defeat?" She asked. Apple Bloom explained. "Actually, we wanted to invite you to our clubhouse to hang out," she offered. Of course, Diamond Tiara was confused to hear this. "Really?" She asked in her confusion. "Yeah, for real!" Scootaloo replied. Diamond Tiara was not trusting the three, especially since partly, they were the reason for her misery. She was about to refuse their offer first but then her eyes spotted Star Twinkle in the distance, hiding behind a tree and gesturing to her to take the offer. She did not forget her little talk with him the day before and was about to take it seriously. "Well, thanks to you all, I don't have any important class president business to attend to or anything. So I might as well," she said with some hesitation in her voice. The girls were not sure at first if that was supposed to be a yes but they still led the way to their clubhouse and Diamond Tiara followed them. The plan was that the Cutie Mark Crusaders befriended her so that Diamond Tiara would end up changing her ways and hopefully be a happier pony in the end. If Star Twinkle learned one thing, then it was that one or two good friends could make a big difference in one's life and if Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were one thing, then it was good friends. Later, at the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse... When Star Twinkle arrived at the clubhouse, the four ponies were already there. Diamond Tiara got a good look at the clubhouse and wasn't really impressed. Something that did get her attention was a self-made poster on the wall, that showed multiple drawings of activities, that were all crossed out. It was a list of things that the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to archive their Cutie Marks. Diamond Tiara quickly realized what this list was as well but still asked away. "So, do you all just sit around here plotting out different ways to try and get your cutie marks?" She asked, her voice sounding rather disinterested. Apple Bloom gave a quick answer. "Actually, yeah." "One day we definitely find our Cutie Marks like this!" Scootaloo added. Star Twinkle was about to say that he was not too sure about that. Theoretically, they should stumble around their destiny if they ended up doing literally everything but judging from how many things they already tried, it looked more and more as if they were wasting their time. He could not say that though because their whole life was centered around getting their Cutie Marks and he was not about to ruin that for them. The pink pony looked back at the list. It still seemed as if she was not taking this all seriously. "You three are..." she said in a more arrogant tone before she stopped for a moment. "...Really lucky," she then added with a more envying tone in her voice. This caught the Cutie Mark Crusaders by surprise "We are?!" They asked in surprise. "Yeah!" Diamond Tiara replied. "You get to explore all these options, learning who you really are before you're stuck with something you don't understand," she said as she looked up her own flank showing her tiara Cutie Mark. Star Twinkle knew how that must have felt. His white star on his flank was no different. He was not completely sure what it was about either but he also tried to not worry too much about it, not anymore at least. This bought up a question for Apple Bloom though. "But... you've done that, right?" She asked. Diamond Tiara looked rather offended by this question. "Yeah, 'cause I have my cutie mark!" She said as she pointed at her flank. "And I'm not struggling at all to figure out who I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing with this mark that's already on my flank!" She explained. Star Twinkle knew that this was not true but he didn't say anything. He also did not want to make it look as if he told someone about Diamond Tiara's problem. In a way, he did not do that actually, the three fillies just happened to overhear everything. "Uh... are you sure about that?" Apple Bloom then asked, much to Star Twinkle's surprise. He had the bad feeling that she wanted Diamond Tiara to tell them about her problem, something that Star Twinkle didn't think was such a great idea, at least for now. But Diamond Tiara was not about to tell them anything. "That's a weird question," she said as she looked over to Star Twinkle. She must have suspected him already to tell on them. "Did you tell them anything!?" She asked, pointing her hoof angrily at him. "No! I didn't!" He replied, which technically, was not a lie at all. Sweetie Belle decided it was a good idea to just went out with the truth. She probably also didn't want Star Twinkle to be blamed for all this. "He didn't tell us. We just happen to overhear your conversation yesterday," she admitted. Whatever the reason was, Diamond Tiara still didn't look too happy about them knowing all this. "Were you trying to get your cutie mark in spying? Is that on your little chart?" She asked angrily. "No!" Sweetie Belle replied before she went out in full on honest mode, much to Diamond Tiara's dislike. "We were just worried about you when you lost the election, and then you lost your friend, and then your mom yelled at you..." The more Sweetie Belle talked, the more Diamond Tiara had trouble's holding back how upset she was. Star Twinkle was about to change the subject or something to stop this situation from escalating but thankfully, someone else took away this job from him. "Help!" Pipsqueak yelled from outside the clubhouse. Everyone quickly opened the door and checked what was going on outside. They found a pretty distressed Pipsqueak in front of them. "Cutie Mark Crusaders!" He said in a panic. "What's going on?" Star Twinkle asked. The little colt explained the situation. "I was at the school board meeting and they didn't approve my request for the new playground equipment!" "Why not?" Sweetie Belle asked. "There's no money in the budget!" He replied before he pulled out his piggy bank. "So I checked my Peggy bank to see if I had enough bits, but my little Peggy wasn't nearly full enough!" He said in frustration seeing how there was not a single bit inside of it. But the Cutie Mark Crusaders were ready to help the little guy once more. "Don't worry, Pip!" Sweetie Belle said. "We'll meet you back at school," Scootaloo added. "And help you find a solution!" Apple Bloom assured. Again, the little pony was grateful for their help in his time of need. "Thanks, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" He said before he ran back to the school and wait for the Cutie Mark Crusaders to help him out. This raised the question though. "And...what exactly did you have in mind to help him?" Star Twinkle asked into the round but this only got him puzzled expressions from the three girls. This is when Diamond Tiara stepped up with an idea. "Oh! I already have a solution! Our new student pony president is gonna be kicked out of office, and I'll be reinstated!" She said with a smile on her face before she ran past the four ponies to head to the school. This was bad news, not to mention that Star Twinkle expected her to not act this way after talking with her yesterday. The stallion quickly ran after her and the Cutie Mark Crusaders followed right behind. "After them!" Apple Bloom said, running after the two ponies along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle next to her. Diamond Tiara was running really fast but Star Twinkle easily managed to catch up with her once she reached the town again. He needed to stop her, not only so that she would not kick Pipsqueak out as school president but because he really wanted her to understand that what she was about to do was wrong. He was running next to her, trying to stop her but before he could say anything, he tripped over a little stone on the road, making him stumble to the ground. He didn't notice it since his eyes were fixed on the little pony the whole time. The stallion got up on his hooves again and continued his chase again. "Ow!" He then said, making a pain-filled face as soon as he started walking. "Come on!" He said annoyed. Star Twinkle must have hurt himself after tripping just now. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were quickly at his side. They watched this happening from afar. "Are you all right!?" Apple Bloom asked in concern. As Star Twinkle was sitting on the ground, he saw Diamond Tiara running towards the school. "Go after her! I'll be fine!" He said. Stopping Diamond Tiara was more important now. Star Twinkle wasn't hurt that bad after all. The Crusaders did have some initial trouble leaving the stallion but they also were aware of the situation and continued following Diamond Tiara. The stallion watched the ponies running off into the distance. He quickly found out that his hoof was sprained. This made it quite hard to run but luckily, Star Twinkle knew how to get around it. He didn't have his transformation for nothing. The stallion transformed into a Pegasus and used his wings to fly after the four fillies. Flying after them took him definitely longer since he was faster on hooves than in the air but at least he could move like this without much pain. He managed to locate the four fillies running around the town from up in the sky and quickly chased after them now. "Stop Diamond Tiara!" Apple Bloom screamed after her. "Yes!" Scootaloo added. "you don't have to do this!" "We know that you are better than this!" Sweetie Belle said. Diamond Tiara was aware of the Cutie Mark Crusaders running after her but she still focused her sight ahead. "You know nothing about me!" She said as she looked forward. "I can still win! I'm a diamond after all, and I never break! I can still become school president! I can still prove that I can succeed! " She explained. "But in order to succeed you don't have to be mean!" Sweetie Belle pointed out. "She's right!" Scootaloo added. "Pipsqueak wants to help everypony in school." "You can help him instead of trying to get in his way!" Apple Bloom said. Diamond Tiara was sick of listening to those words. "I don't have the luxury to still choose my path! I already have one and I will take care of everything and everyone that dares to walk on it!" She said, her voice starting to sound a little bit frustrated now. It was as if she had to say those words and didn't have any other option. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were not giving up though. "You're wrong!" Apple Bloom replied. "You can still choose another way!" Scootaloo added. "It's not too late!" Sweetie Belle said. The three fillies were now right next to Diamond Tiara, who started to feel really weird by now because of how the three ponies tried so hard to help her. She was in a conflict, she wanted to change but she also didn't want to disappoint her mother. Star Twinkle was too far away from the girls to help. And it didn't look as if he could catch up to them too. This one was up to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He had to trust them to talk some sense into Diamond Tiara. And trying to talk some sense into her is what they did. "We know you can be somepony else," Apple Bloom said. "You can stop right now and try another start!" Sweetie Belle said. "You'll finally free yourself from the dark!" Scootaloo added. "And see the light of your cutie mark!" The three said in unison. Diamond Tiara was struggling for a moment but still, she kept on running towards the school. The words of the Cutie Mark Crusaders did not seem to reach her completely and she was still bent on kicking out Pipsqueak from being school president. The students, as well as Miss Cheerilee, were standing in front of the school, which was perfect for Diamond Tiara to make her announcement. "Diamond Tiara!" Apple Bloom said, trying to get to the filly one last time. "Think hard about the choice you're makin' right now!" "You can be a better pony!" Scootaloo added Star Twinkle just arrived at the scene as well, he was about to talk to Diamond Tiara, trying to make her choice go into the right direction but her attention quickly shifted towards the door of the school where Diamond Tiara's mother walked out, Spoiled Rich. "Diamond Tiara!" The mare said in an unhappy tone. "I just happened to be here for the school board meeting, and this is what I see when we adjourn? My daughter associating with confused, insignificant lowlifes?" She said, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders quite offended. "Socializing with their kind is not how you move up in Equestria! Come, Diamond Tiara!" She then said before she walked off. Diamond Tiara turned around, her face looking obedient to the voice of her mother. Her eyes wandered over to Star Twinkle. It was as if she wanted him to answer to her mother but that is not what was going to happen. Instead, Star Twinkle threw back a determined expression as if he wanted to tell her "You can do it". The filly was struggling, whatever she would say now would most likely determine how her life would go from this point on, and she was well aware of this, making it even more difficult for her. But eventually, Diamond Tiara pulled together all of her courage and spoke up to Spoiled Rich. "No, mother!" She said. Spoiled Rich couldn't believe what she was hearing and turned around. "Excuse me?!" She said indignantly, her eyes widened in anger. But Diamond Tiara was not done yet, she didn't even think about it. She was about to speak her mind and her mother needed to hear it. "You've spent your life acting like a high horse and raised me to follow in your hoofprints! At first, I thought this was fine, but then I finally realized I wanted something you don't have – friends!" Everyone gasped in shock. Maybe it was the realization that Spoiled Rich had no friends or it was because Diamond Tiara admitted that she longed for friendship. Even Diamond Tiara's mother was in shock but unlike everyone else, she quickly composed herself or at least pretended she did. "That's enough, Diamond Tiara! There is no way that you want those ponies to be your friends!" She said as she pointed towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Step away from those blank flanks!" She added arrogantly. Star Twinkle joined in now as well. "I think as her mother, you should be a little bit more supportive of Diamond Tiara," he said as he started to slowly walk up towards the mare. "I am not telling you how to raise your daughter or anything but Diamond Tiara was not really the nicest pony, something that is probably because of how you wanted her to act in front of everyone. But despite all this, those three ponies still wanted to help and even offered their friendship to Diamond Tiara so that she could be happy," the stallion explained. Spoiled Rich was left speechless, she was thinking about what the stallion said carefully and even doubted her methods of how she raised her child, putting too much pressure on Diamond Tiara up until this point. "Their name is also not "Blank Flanks"" Diamond Tiara further pointed out, pointing at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. "These are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and they are my friends!" She said with a smile on her face, causing the three ponies to react quite surprised. "You need to stop calling them such mean and hurtful names! They are working harder to get their cutie marks than anypony I've ever seen! And they will get them exactly when they discover their true talent, which I guarantee will be amazing!" She said confidently. She then pulled out a paper and gave it to her mother. "Now, will you please deliver this to father?" She asked. Being still in a rather surprising state, Spoiled Rich was practically left with no option. "Yes, of course, dear..." she replied before she took the paper and walked away in defeat. As Diamond Tiara proudly walked back to everyone, Star Twinkle smiled at her, causing her to smile back. "Good job," Star Twinkle said happily. Diamond Tiara returned that happy smile. "It was nothing," she said casually. "I have to thank you, and you too, Crusaders," she said as she turned around to face the three ponies as well. "Obviously I've known since I got my cutie mark that my talent is getting other ponies to do what I want. I just asked my father if he could donate the money for the new playground equipment!" She explained. Hearing all those good news, caused every foal in front of the school to cheer happily. The only thing left to do for Diamond Tiara was to get on good terms with Pipsqueak. "I knew you were worried for a second there, weren't you?" She said, causing the little pony to flinch for a second before he realized that there was no longer a reason for that. "Ha! Well, I think it's all gonna work out just fine, Mister President!" She said before she winked at him with a smile on her face. But now the work was just starting, and a whole playground needed to be repaired. For now, they all just had to wait for some equipment to arrive at the playground to start the repairs. The Iron Hammer was most like going to help with the repairs but since Star Twinkle's hoof still hurt, he was unable to work, at least for now. This gave him time to sit back and just watching, not that he would be bothered by that, of course. There was still something to do, however. The stallion saw how Silver Spoon was standing there on her own, waiting for the work to start, her face still looking a little bit upset because of her little fight with Diamond Tiara. This needed to be resolved too. Star Twinkle slowly made his way to Diamond Tiara, asking her to take care of things. As he looked back and forth between her and Silver Spoon, the little pony quickly knew what needed to be done. "You can do it," Star Twinkle said confidently towards the little filly. Diamond Tiara took a deep breath and shortly after, she went towards her friend. Star Twinkle decided to stay back and just watched. As soon as Silver Spoon saw Diamond Tiara approaching her, she turned around. She was clearly a little bit mad by how she was treated before. Still, Diamond Tiara apologized to her, and from what Star Twinkle could tell, Silver Spoon accepted. It didn't take long until he saw the two laughing happily again, putting a smile on the stallion's face. Star Twinkle sighed in relief. "I guess now everything is taken care of," he figured. A little later... The equipment, to repair the playground, shortly arrived and everyone did their best to fix everything that was broken and built some new things. Of course, Steel Hammer, who was tasked to do some work here as well, did the more difficult repairs that little ponies could not take care of. Star Twinkle, who was still hurt could just sit there and watch how the playground slowly took form and looked more presentable than ever. He had to admit that he didn't remember all too well how the playground looked when it was still new but he could definitely tell that the money, that Diamond Tiara's father provided was still well spent. The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood right next to a resting Star Twinkle, and the stallion couldn't help but feel glad of how the playground looked now. "I guess everything done now," Star Twinkle figured as he looked around with his carpenter eyes, seeing how the slides were bigger and more colorful than ever. "And Diamond Tiara is no longer mean as well. I say that everything turned out quite well," he summed up. "Looks like it!" Scootaloo agreed. "And it's all thanks to Diamond Tiara changing for the better," Sweetie Belle figured. Star Twinkle chuckled. "And it's all thanks to you three," the stallion said happily, completely ignoring the fact that he was helping out as well. It was then that something came to mind to Apple Bloom, something that she needed to tell her friends. "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!" She said. Star Twinkle was thinking about those words carefully. The same thing was the case with Trouble Shoes not too long ago, where they figured out that his special talent of being unlucky could be used as a talent for a rodeo clown. And of course, the same thing applied to Diamond Tiara today. "That doesn't sound too bad if you ask me," Star Twinkle figured. "Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed. "In fact, I think that's way more important than worrying about our cutie marks, don't you?" She added. "Absolutely!" Scootaloo agreed. "I don't care if I ever get my cutie mark as long as I get to hang out with my best friends," she said happily as she grabbed the two fillies next to her into a group hug. Star Twinkle never imagined hearing those words coming out of the mouth of those three ponies. He expected them to change their mind immediately, after all, every time when someone gave them some good advice when it came to Cutie Marks, like waiting for them, they quickly brushed it off and went back to their usual Cutie Mark hunting behavior. This time though, their mind was set. They believed in their words and came to the conclusion that it was more important to help others. The stallion couldn't help but be proud of them. And to make it official, the three started a vow. "So what do you say, Crusaders? Want to just focus on helpin' others find their Cutie Marks?" Apple Bloom suggested. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were quick to agree on that. "Yeah!" They both replied before they all three sealed it with a high five. ZAP! Light started to travel through the bodies of the three fillies until it reached the ground and formed a circle around them. Star Twinkle took a few steps back in awe as soon as he saw this happening in front of him. "Could it be?" Was the only thing that he managed to get out as he continued watching this happening in front of him. The three closed their eyes and the light that surrounded them started to lift them up into the air. It became brighter and brighter until it was too strong for Star Twinkle to look at anymore, forcing him to close his eyes until it went away. The light was not unnoticed by the rest of the school ponies and they all turned their sight towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders watching in awe of what was happening to them. Eventually, the light started to vanish and the three fillies landed on the ground again. They quickly got back on their hooves again and were just confused about what happened to them. All they could see was how everyone was looking at them gasping in awe and with smiles on their faces, much to the confusion of the three. "What happened?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What's goin' on?" Apple Bloom asked. The answer they received was not what they expected. "It's your cutie marks! They're amazing!" Diamond Tiara said. The three fillies thought they didn't hear right and this light from just now was still messing with their heads. Still, the three decided to turn towards their flanks, and what they saw was making them happier than anything else in this world. They got their Cutie Marks... All of them had a Cutie Mark that consisted of a shield with the colors red, pink, and purple, starting from the left. The only difference between the Cutie Marks was a unique symbol inside of them for each of the fillies. Apple Bloom's shield had a purple apple with a pink heart inside of it, Sweetie Belle's had a purple star with a pink musical note inside of it, and Scootaloo had a purple wing with a pink lightning bolt inside of it. "We all got the same Cutie Mark!" The three said happily as they bounced up and down on the spot before they put their flanks together to celebrate. "Cutie Mark Crusaders forever!" They shouted happily into the sky. Seeing the three ponies celebrating like this was making Star Twinkle happy as well. He felt a nice warmth inside of his body. He was happy for them, they certainly deserved their Cutie Marks after all that they went through. "We have our Cutie Marks! We have our Cutie Marks! We have our Cutie Marks!" The three fillies repeated over and over again. It was silly to look at but given the occasion, it was definitely understandable. "You go girls!" Steel Hammer exclaimed out of nowhere from behind the school ponies. "Such a beautiful moment!" He said before he started tearing up a little. Steel Hammer acting up like this was a little weird, but seeing his reaction, quickly made Star Twinkle remember something. "Steel Hammer, can you get the others?" He said, referring to the sisters of the girls and the rest of their friends. They definitely wanted to hear about this as well. The brown coated stallion did as he was said and quickly went to get the girls to bring them the good news. Star Twinkle almost wanted to tell them personally but with his hoof still hurting, that was a little bit difficult. Thankfully, Steel Hammer was already on his way, and knowing how touching he found this moment, there was no doubt that he would not run in top speed to get the girls. "Star Twinkle!" The Crusaders then shouted towards the stallion in excitement. "Look! We got out Cutie Marks!" Sweetie Belle said. Star Twinkle chuckled. "I noticed," he replied amused. "Now all Cutie Mark Crusaders have their Cutie Marks!" Scootaloo added. That was true, Star Twinkle didn't even think about it but now he no longer had to worry about being left out as a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He no longer had to worry about things being awkward for him to be the only one of them to have their Cutie Marks. But thinking about himself at this moment was not right, this was a big moment for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and it needed to be celebrated properly. Later... Of course, as soon as Star Twinkle's friends heard about the great news, they quickly rushed to the Crusaders and Pinkie Pie already has set up everything for a cute-ceañera at Sugarcube Corner with the whole school attending it. And of course, the family of the three fillies had their little moments as well, congratulating and feeling happy for them. Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big McIntosh all had tears in their eyes as they embraced their youngest family member in a big hug. "Oh, sugarcube, if Mom and Dad were here, they'd be so proud of ya," Applejack said to her little sister with a happy smile on her face. "Oh... Thanks, Applejack," Apple Bloom replied. Applejack then gave her sister a little push. "Now go on and party with your pals," she said, wanting the little filly to have as much fun as possible now. Rainbow Dash, who was like a big sister for Scootaloo, was also congratulating her on her new Cutie Mark, making the little pony really happy. "I'm so proud of you, little buddy," she said in a caring voice, petting Scootaloo's head. Rarity was embracing her little sister in a hug as well. "I'm so happy for you, darling," she said, with her being really close to crying. What followed was a really big party at Sugarcube Corner with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo being in the main focus. Star Twinkle was attending it as well, of course, he enjoyed the party despite it being a little bit crowded. He didn't want to ruin the mood of this party but there was still one question that he needed an answer for. "So...now that you have your Cutie Marks...what are you gonna do?" But instead of getting a confused response from them, instead, they replied with confidence and a positive outlook for the future. "Things are just starting for us now!" Scootaloo said. "Yeah!" Apple Bloom added. "There are still ponies who we need to help finding their special talent!" "And now that we got our Cutie Marks, we should be better than ever to help other ponies out!" Sweetie Belle pointed out. Star Twinkle smiled happily. "I guess so," he figured. The whole time, their main drive was to get their Cutie Marks but as it turns out, it was not necessary for them to give it their all trying to archive what they wanted. Being together is what was most important, not getting their Cutie Marks. Star Twinkle was happy that nothing seemed to have changed for them and he smiled knowing that their future would still be filled with adventures, some of them he would probably be part of. For some reason, that is what made him the happiest.