//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: All Or Nothing // Story: Remorse // by TheCoverBrony //------------------------------// "Scootaloo?" A voice ringed in the small filly's ears. She couldn't recognize it right off the bat tho. "Scootaloo?" The voice had said her name again, she still couldn't figure out who it was. The figure started shaking her slightly. Scootaloo opened her eyes, and was greeted by a soaking wet Cheerlee who was looking noticeable worried. Scootaloo sat up in her seat, and looked back over to her teacher. "Hi Ms.Cheerilee, I suppose you want to yell at me for what happened on Thursday right?" Scootaloo was expecting a harsh scolding, and a suspension, or even to be expelled. "Not yell at you, I just want to talk to you, but first let me ask. Why are you in the schoolhouse asleep?" Cheerilee said as she took a seat next to her student. Scootaloo was shocked, but she didn't dare question it. She thought back to what she had done prior to falling asleep at the school, but nothing came to her mind. It's like that part of her memory was erased. "I....I don't know." Scootaloo admitted. Cheerilee gave the young filly a look like that's what she expected to hear. "Scootaloo, I don't know how many times in the past that I had to have this talk with you. It's been awhile since you gotten into any fights here, what happened?" "Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have been bugging me, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle for a long time now. They always helped restrain me, but I finally snapped when Diamond said that my parents are ashamed to have me as there daughter. It's like the whole world stopped when she said that. I didn't even realize what I was doing before Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pulled me off of her. I started to panic, and whined up running away." Scootaloo looked away from her teacher, and gazed out the window. The storm was still going strong, the rain beat against the glass making a loud noise as it did so. "Yeah, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have always been a problem at this school. I know there is good in there hearts, we just need to find it. To tell you the truth I saw something like this coming from a mile away. I was concerned not only for the victims of her bullying, but for her safety as well as her friends. I tried to go talk to her father, but he said that it wasn't bad at all, and that it was completely normal. I have talked to Diamond numerous times about this problem, but she didn't seem to care. I talked with Silver Spoon and only got the same bratty attitude." "Why didn't you suspend her?" "Because at the time Filthy Rich convinced me that it wasn't a big problem. I really wished I hadn't of listened to him now. If you had of come and told me I-" "What? Give her a pat on the shoulder and tell her not to do it again?" Scootaloo knew all to well that there wasn't much Cheerilee could do about this if Diamond's father wouldn't agree to take action against his daughters behavior. Cheerilee let out a deep sigh, and looked at Scootaloo. "Let me tell you a story back from when I was in school. I wasn't to different then you back in my days." Scootaloo whipped back around to look at her teacher. "Really?" Scootaloo said in shock. On the list of things Scootaloo expected to hear from her teacher, that was not one of them. Cheerilee gave a nod, and continued. "I use to get into fights more offend then I could count. It was mainly because of all the bullies that I had to put up with. I forgot there names but they would go pushing me and my friends into mud, and make us look like idiots at any given chance. One day I snapped and I beat the snot out of the unfortunate kid that messed with me that day. I did the same thing to any other bully that I would come across. This was a big mistake however. Every time that I got into a fight, it went on something called a school record. When I got out of school it was incredibly hard for me to get a job. The only reason I got a job at this school is because a old friend of mine was able to convince the principal that I wasn't a bad mare." "How did they know you got into a lot of fights?" "Because they can look up your school records." Scootaloo remained silent, and just stared at her teacher. Never in her days would she have thought that her teacher Cheerlee, the same teacher who was known for being kind, and sweet, would have gotten into fights back when she was in school. "I suppose my record isn't too pretty then." Cheerilee let out a sigh, and then turned to Scootaloo. "Right now it's not, but if you straighten yourself out, you might be able to fix it. Your still young, you got your whole life ahead of you. Don't mess up like I did. I know you can do it Scootaloo, you just got to get better control of your anger." Cheerilee gave a reassuring smile to her student. Scootaloo returned the smile, and looked back out the window. It seems over the course of Cheerilee's story that the storm finally cleared up. There was a rainbow stretching across the sky, and Pegasus where moving storm clouds out of the way. "I guess I should be going now." Scootaloo said getting out of her seat. "Before you go Scootaloo, I want to tell you one last thing. If you can, try to befriend Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Scootaloo turned around, shock clearly showing on her face. "You want me to do what?!" "Trust me on this, It will make your life easier if you become there friends. That doesn't mean be a bully with them, rather get them to stop being a bully. I think all they need is a good friend to show them what they do is only hurting them." Scootaloo didn't know how to respond to that. On one hoof she wants to trust what her teacher is saying, but on another hoof she wants to forget what she just heard. Was becoming there friend really going to stop them from bullying others? Would Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon even listen do her if she tries? Visions of all the possible senerios started racing through the filly's head. Finally after awhile Scootaloo finally spoke. "I will try." Scootaloo couldn't believe what she had just said, but if Cheerilee was wright then it was worth a shot. "Thanks Scootaloo, I hope you can show her and her friend how good it is to have everypony as a friend." Scootaloo gave a weak nod, and walked out the door. Scootaloo started down the road to Rarity's boutique. She needed to tell Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom about her talk her there teacher. On the way there she spotted Apple Bloom in the park looking up at the sky. She seemed to be in deep thought about something. Scootaloo decided it wouldn't hurt to go say hi to her. Apple Bloom saw Scootaloo walking up, and she gave a weak smile as her orange friend approached. "Hey Scootaloo" Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo took a seat next to her. "Hey Apple Bloom, what's up?" "Not much, just thinking is all." "What are you thinking about?" "Just Diamond Tiara and how she use to be like. Sweetie Belle let me read the notes her sister took. I feel really sorry for her." "Yeah, I know how you feel." Scootaloo thought back to her talk with Cheerilee. Then what she said right before she left started playing back in her head. "I mean when you really think about it what she has done is not even comparable to what she has gone through." Apple Bloom said as she looked over at her friend. She noticed that Scootaloo seemed to be thinking about something. "What's on your mind" Apple Bloom questioned. "I had a talk with Cheerilee before I saw you by this tree." "I see, she must have chewed you out real good for what you did." "Actually no, instead of that she gave me a talk about how she use to be. She said that she use to get into fights at school all the time." "Wait what?!" Apple Bloom quickly covered her mouth. That came out a little bit louder then she thought it would. "Yeah, she also said that the only reason why she could get the job at the school was because of a friend that convinced the principal that she wasn't a bad mare." Apple Bloom sat in shock at what she had just heard. She couldn't imagine her teacher being violent at one point. "And then right before I left she said that she wanted me to try and befriend Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. I didn't know what else to say, so I said I'll try." Scootaloo looked up at the sky, and wondered if she could actually do that. From the looks of it it seemed like this would end up being a big waste of effort. "Well if your willing to try then I am." Apple Bloom said as she stood up. "Really?!" Scootaloo turned to face her earth pony friend. "Yeah, I am not just going to leave a friend hanging like that." "Thanks...really. It means a lot to me. Maybe we can make her see the good side of life instead of the bad." "Let's go get Sweetie Belle, and try to come up with something." "I was on my way there actually before I saw you." "Really now? how about that." The two fillies laughed, and started down the road to the boutique. When they arrived they where greeted by Rarity who looked to be designing a new dress. "Good evening girls." Rarity said turning to face the two fillies with a smile. "Hey Rarity." Scootaloo said returning the smile. "If your looking for Sweetie Belle she is up stairs in her room." "Alright, thank you!" Apple Bloom said starting up the stairs. As Scootaloo turned to follow her friend, Rarity put her hoof on her shoulder and spoke. "Can I talk to you for a minute Scootaloo?" Rarity said as soon as Apple Bloom went up stairs. "S-Sure." The two ponies took a seat at the table. Rarity looked at Scootaloo with a mix of concern and sadness on her face. "Can you tell me exactly what happened between you and Diamond Tiara?" Scootaloo let out a deep sigh. Somehow she knew that this is what Rarity wanted to talk about. "Me, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle where talking as normal when Diamond Tiara came up and started messing with us. I got sick of her so I beat her up." "Was that really the best way to deal with the problem?" "Probably not, I realize that after this happened." "I assume Sweetie Belle showed you my notes?" "Yes, she let me read the whole thing." "Then you must know about her brother and mom. She has lost a lot in her life, and from all that Mr.Rich has told me she wasn't always mean. She only became that way after those two had passed away." "I know, I read it. Before me and Apple Bloom came here I had a talk with my teacher. She said that the best thing I can do is try and befriend them. Ever since she said that I was wondering if I could actually do that. There are so many possible out comes, and if it doesn't work then it would have been a waste of effort." "I agree with you, there are a lot of possible outcomes, but you have to try, even if the odds are stacked against you." "Yeah....Anyways they are probably waiting for my up stairs." Scootaloo said as she got up from the table. "Okay darling, just think about what I said okay?" Scootaloo gave a nod, and started up the stairs. She opened Sweetie Belle's door and was greeted by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle who where sitting on her bed. "It's about time, what took you so long?" Apple Bloom said in an annoyed tone. "I just had to think is all." Scootaloo said as she climbed next to her friends. "Well think faster next time." Scootaloo only rolled her eyes. "Anyways, did you tell Sweetie Belle about our plan?" "Yeah, she did, and I agree. We got to at least give it a try." Sweetie Belle said with a hopeful smile. "Do any of you have an idea on how we can get this done?" Apple Bloom looked back and forth at her two friends. "I got nothing" Sweetie Belle admitted. "Yeah, I am lost too." Scootaloo let out a deep sigh. This was going to be more painful then she first thought. The three fillies sat in thought, there wasn't much they could think of. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon where going to be hard nuts to crack. No matter how hard they thought, there was nothing that came to there minds. "Wait...." Scootaloo suddenly found something that was off about all this. "What is it Scoots?" Apple Bloom questioned. "Yeah, what is it?" Sweetie Belle repeated. "There is something off about Silver Spoon" "Well yeah, she is a bully. I would say something is off with Diamond Tiara too" Apple Bloom said with a sigh. "No, that's not what I mean. Think real hard about Silver Spoon. Don't you see something off about how she acts when she is with Diamond?" "All I see is two bullies." Sweetie Belle said getting more confused about what Scootaloo was talking about the more she tried to think about it. "Fine, let me explain what I mean then." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both looked at there friend in mocked confusion as she continued. "I noticed something about Silver Spoon that caught my attention. Every time that Diamond Tiara would mess with us, the most Silver Spoon did was repeat after her. That's what I am wrapping my mind around right now. Something isn't wright about this. Wouldn't you think that if Silver Spoon was as intent on making us miserable as Diamond Tiara was, don't you think she would come up with something of her own?" "Now that you mention it, she dose seem to only repeat after Diamond" Apple Bloom Said putting a hoof to her chin. "If you put it like that, then it seems she doesn't enjoy making fun of us." Sweetie Belle said looking over at her friends. "Exactly, I think our first action should be getting Silver Spoon on our side. If we can get her, then maybe, just maybe we could get Diamond on our side as well." Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Rarity poked her head in through the door. "Hey girls, where you two planing on spending the night over here?" "I would like too, I mean if that is okay with you of course." Scootaloo said. "All I would have to do is get the okay from my sister and I could." Apple Bloom said with a cheerful smile. "I am fine with it as long as your parents and sister are." Rarity said looking at the two fillies. "Awesome, I will run home and tell my sister that you said it was okay." Apple Bloom said rushing out the door. "What about you Scootaloo? Shouldn't you go back home and tell your parents?" Rarity said looking over at the orange Pegasus. "My family is out of town for the week, so I guess it would be okay that I stay over here." Scootaloo lied. There was no way she was going to spill the truth to Rarity. Celestia only knows what would happen. Scootaloo has heard terrible things about orphanages, and when push comes to shove that's most likely what would happen. "I see, well I will be down stairs if anypony needs me." Rarity said as she took her leave. "I wish Rarity would trust me home alone for a week. You have awesome parents Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle said with a smile. "Y-Yeah, my parents are awesome." "Is everything alright Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said tilting her head in confusion. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?" Scootaloo wanted to get off this subject as soon as possible, she could feel her heart ache with just the thought of her parents alone. "I don't know, maybe it's just my imagination." Apple Bloom came back, and the three fillies played around for the entire day. It's been far too long since they have just hanged out without any sort of drama. Before they knew it the sun had gone down, and the moon was shining in the the sky. The fillies laid in bed ready to get some sleep after a long day. "Hey, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said turning over to face her friend. "What is it Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo said with a yawn. "Do you really think we can get Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to stop being mean?" "I really don't know. The only thing we can do is hope that everything works out in our favor." "But what if it doesn't? What if this is jus-" Scootaloo put her hoof over her friends muzzle. "Everything is going to be alright Sweetie Belle, you will see." Scootaloo gave a reassuring smile. She really didn't know if everything was going to be alright or not. But they had to keep there act together. The worst thing they could do right now is start doubting themselves. Sweetie Belle smiled, and closed her eyes. Tomorrow will be the day that they go and confront Silver Spoon. The only thing that they could hope is that everything would work out in there favor. Scootaloo couldn't get Silver Spoon out of her head. There had to be a reason behind her being Diamond Tiara's friend. She doesn't act the same as her, and her personality is even different. Maybe Silver Spoon wasn't as one sided as she first thought. The orange filly shook the thoughts away. She needed to rest up for tomorrow. Getting Silver Spoon on there side could be what decides if Diamond Tiara will follow or not. In the end it is all or nothing, she has to play her cards wright or it could very well end in disaster.