Scootaloo's eyes open slowly, and was immediately blinded by a piercing white light. She tried to sit up, but she just fell back down.
"Did I die? Is this Heaven?" she said out loud.
"She's awake! Zecora, she woke up!"
Scootaloo still couldn't see with the light in her eyes. "Where am I?"
"You're in Zecora's shack, dear. Try to open your eyes."
Shielding the light from her face with her hoof, Scootaloo forced her eyes open. She was laying on a table and wrapped in a blanket, in Zecora's shack. The zebra was mixing potions of some sort and mumbling odd words. Standing next to the table was the pony who was speaking before, Cheerilee.
"Cheerilee? Where am I? What happened?" Scootaloo tried to sit up again, but when she did, her head exploded in sudden sharp pain.
"Oww," she groaned. "What's with my head?"
"You hit your head on a rock when you passed out," Cheerilee explained. "I was going to Zecora's to get some tea when I found you, covered in blood and tears." The teacher looked like she would burst into tears herself.
"The monsters...and Diamond Tiara! What-where-why?"
"You explained everything to me in your sleep. I swear, if I see Filthy Rich again, I'm going to-" Cheerilee mumbled words Scootaloo had never heard before under her breath.
Zecora raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I'm just glad we found you in time," the teacher said, hugging Scootaloo.
The fully hugged her back, as hard as she could. "Me too."
Suddenly, Scootaloo inexplicably burst into tears.
"What's wrong?" Cheerilee held her student tighter.
Zecora rolled her eyes. "Perhaps it is the pain in her head, or the fact that she was almost dead."
Scootaloo shook her head, which hurt. "No. I'm just...how could I have been so stupid? All my life ponies have been trying to help me when they knew they would get nothing in return. And I, like a fat jerk, just refused them!"
Cheerilee ran her hoof through Scoot's mane. "There's no time like the present to start fixing your mistakes."
The filly sniffed. "What do you mean?"
"Scootaloo, ever since I found out that you were homeless, I decided that I couldn't just stand there and watch you suffer. I wanted to help you. I wanted to help you accept help from other ponies and learn that they don't offer you charity because they look down on you. It's because they love you and care about you. What I'm trying to say is-"
"You want to be my mother?" Scootaloo interrupted. Happiness, relief, and joy flowed through her.
"No, I don't want to be your mother."
Her heart sank.
"I want to be your sister."
Scootaloo didn't say anything. She just hugged Cheerilee harder than she thought she was able to.
"Will you accept my help, Scoot? Will you let me take care of you?"
With tears in her eyes, Scootaloo managed to croak out a sincere "Yes".
Zecora smiled. "An old African proverb says, 'the one who learns humility will help shape the world into a better place'."
"Darn it," Scootaloo stopped hugging for a moment. "Now you got me acting all sappy!"
###
Diamond Tiara was happy. Which was saying something, because she hadn't been truly happy since...well, since she was born. She was happy because Scootaloo was gone, and she had gotten revenge for all those times the stupid Cutie Mark Crusaders made her look foalish.
She wasn't the type to celebrate a filly's death, but this really was too good to be true. Scootaloo was gone! And it was her idea to fake the parents. Who else would come up with such a brilliant plan?
Sure, she felt the tiniest bit guilty, but she had succeeded, hadn't she?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door of her family's mansion.
"I'll get it," she called. See, this success was even bringing her to do nice things for her family! Mother of Celestia, she was the perfect filly.
She opened the door and got a terrible shock. Standing on their porch was the fabulous, the terrible, Princess Celestia.
"Good afternoon, your highness. Can I help you?" Diamond Tiara stuttered nervously. It wasn't every day the princess showed up at your doorstep.
"Diamond Tiara. I have heard a lot about you. May I come in?"
"Yes, of course."
The princess walked in and sat down on the couch. "I trust that you are familiar with the filly, Scootaloo?"
Diamond Tiara gulped and nodded.
"And you've heard that she supposedly found her parents?"
Another nod.
"Then you must know that the parents were Changelings, paid to pose as her parents?"
The pink filly froze in terror.
"I'm not happy, Diamond Tiara." The princess plucked the silver crown from the filly's mane and dropped it on the floor. "Not happy."
Celestia stood up and crushed the crown under her feet.
And that's when Diamond Tiara fainted.