//------------------------------//
// Epilogue 
// Story: I Prefer Show Tunes 
// by Harmony Charmer 
//------------------------------//

	The clubhouse was quiet that afternoon, unlike it usually was. It had been weeks since the Crusaders had encountered Diamond Tiara in her home and none of them had made the attempt to speak to her or Silver Spoon. Not even when Diamond finally returned to school just a few days after their conversation.

The Crusaders didn't crusade for weeks. It didn't make sense to after what Diamond had said about their ridiculous strive to get their marks, and even Scootaloo didn't seem as enthusiastic about getting her mark like before.

The Crusaders were no longer Crusaders. They were waiting, watching, hoping, hoping that something would come to them to tell them what to do.

And nothing did.

"What are we gonna do today?" Button finally asked amongst the silence.

Scootaloo shrugged in response, resuming the silence.

There wasn't another word spoken by the Crusaders for a long moment.

"...When did Babs say she was going to visit again?" Sweetie Belle questioned, looking to Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom paused in her looking at the ceiling and turned to Sweetie. "Sometime in the next couple of weeks."

"Maybe she'll show us how she got her mark," Sweetie piped up. 

She flinched at her own words. Diamond had been the one to tell her about her talent. 

The silence resumed once more.

Sweetie used to hate how loud and clamoring the Crusaders could get. It used to bug her to no end and she absolutely despised how much her ears rang after one of their crusades.

Now all she longed for was a word, a whisper, a single syllable, even.

If things had been the way they were, loud and happy and chaotic, none of them would have heard the knock on the clubhouse door. Sweetie looked up from her spot on the floor and she looked to Button, who merely shrugged in response. Scootaloo held up a hoof to her lips and she fluttered over to the door, then turned her attention back to her friends. Then, she put her hoof on the doorknob and quickly swung the door open.

Somehow, unsurprisingly, it was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"Hi," Diamond greeted, looking around awkwardly.

Scootaloo looked unimpressed. "Really? Hi? That's all you have to say?"

Silver rubbed one of her forelegs sheepishly. "Were you... busy?"

"Eenope," Apple Bloom answered, gazing back at the ceiling.

"Oh." Silver didn't say anything else.

"Why are you here?" Sweetie questioned, standing up. "Last time you guys were here, you took the clubhouse from us."

Diamond flinched a bit. "Yeah... Sorry about that." She sighed. "I'm gonna have to say that a lot, aren't I?"

"Yeah," Button commented. "You are."

"Can... Can we come in?" Diamond requested, looking around.

Scootaloo looked back at Apple Bloom, who merely shrugged in response. "You can."

Diamond and Silver entered the clubhouse as Scootaloo stepped back and closed the door behind them. Silence once again consumed the clubhouse.

Diamond, after standing around for a moment, finally sighed. "I'm sorry."

"We know," Sweetie stated.

Diamond frowned. "I'm not finished." She glanced at Silver. "Did you bring it with you?"

"Bring what with you?" Apple Bloom interrogated, glaring at them suspiciously.

"This," Silver replied, pulling out a scroll. "It's... It's kind of a list, of sorts." She put it in front of Diamond. "Should I go first or should you?"

Diamond nodded at her and took the list from her. She turned to Apple Bloom. "Apple Bloom."

Apple Bloom blinked. "Huh. That's a first."

Diamond wasn't deterred. "I'm sorry for making fun of you for being a blank flank." She moved the scroll up a bit. "I'm sorry for making fun of you at my cuteceanera. I'm sorry for making you feel embarrassed about your family."

"Hold on a sec," Apple Bloom interjected. "Are ya tryin' to apologize for all the stuff ya did to me?"

"'Trying' being the key word, yes," Diamond replied. She looked at all the Crusaders. "Is... Is this a bad thing? I can't tell."

Sweetie came up to her. "Did you really think that writing down all the bad things you did and apologizing for all of it was going to fix what you did?"

Diamond shook her head. "No, of course not! It's just... It's a start."

Scootaloo's brows furrowed. "A start for what?" 

"Earning your forgiveness," Silver told her.

"Seriously?"

Silver mirrored Scootaloo's confused expression. "Is... Is that a bad thing?"

"Wow, you're bad at this," Button observed. "How many times have you actually had to apologize for something?"

Diamond frowned at him. "At least I'm trying."

"Yeah, but..." Sweetie giggled a bit. "I'm sorry, I just think it's kinda funny is all."

"What?" Diamond snapped, unappreciative of Sweetie's laughter.

Sweetie smothered her giggles for a moment. "It's just... Well, a couple years ago, if somepony had told me that Diamond Tiara was apologizing for every mean thing she had done to me and my friends—"

"Not just you," Silver interrupted. She flinched. "Sorry... I mean, we're apologizing to everypony."

"Everypony?" Button repeated.

Silver nodded. "Yeah... We've been a bit busy these past couple weeks, trying to make amends." She sighed. "We helped Twist with her bake sale, printed out newspapers for Featherweight, helped Rumble with his entrance exam into the Junior Wonderbolt Camp—"

"Did he get in?" Scootaloo asked. She looked on in annoyance as everyone stared at her. "What? It's a legit question!"

"Yeah, he got in," Diamond clarified. "And he got top marks, too." She shook her head. "Never thought I'd know so much about Wonderbolt history..."

"So... You've been trying to make amends for the past couple weeks?" Sweetie reiterated.

"Yeah, and it's been hard," Silver told them. "Like, some kids wouldn't even let us help them at first. We had to prove that we were being nice for real."

"The struggle is real," Apple Bloom said with a roll of her eyes.

Sweetie spared her a harsh glance, but she turned her gaze back to Silver and Diamond. "So, what comes after apologizing? Grovelling?" She smiled at their faces. "Just kidding. I'm not gonna make you do that."

Diamond and Silver exchanged worried glances. "Then what are you gonna make us do?"

Sweetie smiled. "I want you to listen to the new Wicked Talent CD with me sometime this week."

Diamond blinked. "Wait... what?"

"I've got an audition coming up at the local theatre," Sweetie told her. "And I wanted to try out one of her new songs for it. Expand my vocal range, you know?"

"I... OK."

Apple Bloom grinned. "Well, if we're talking about doin' favors... How about you help me with apple bucking this weekend? Ah wanna go see a movie with the girls, but Ah can't if Ah don't finish my chores by then."

"Wait, you want me to spend my Saturday apple bucking trees like some—" Diamond stopped herself. "Right... Continue."

"And I want you to play Legend of Zelda with me until we recover all the work I lost," Button requested.

"What progress— Oh. Right. That." She sighed. "Sure... I guess I can play your... game."

"What about you?" Silver questioned, turning to Scootaloo. "What do you want us to do?"

Scootaloo tapped her chin in thought. "Depends... Do you think you guys have enough money for shakes at Sugarcube Corner?"

"That's it?" Silver replied. "I mean... You don't want us to do anything embarrassing?"

Sweetie shook her head, a smile still on her face. "Nope."

"But... Why not?" Diamond blurted out, completely flabbergasted.

Sweetie stepped towards her. "Because, we already forgive you, you morons."

Silver and Diamond blinked in shock simultaneously. "What?"

Scootaloo laughed. "We've been wondering when you two were gonna come around here to say something!"

Apple Bloom joined in on the laughs. "Do you really think you two could do anything around town without anypony noticin'?"

"We've known about what you've been up to for weeks," Button added. "Also, I gotta say, I never thought I'd see the day when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, two of the richest fillies in Ponyville, were covered in cake batter and sugar!"

Diamond was gaping like a fish on dry land. "But... But... But why? Why did you forgive us after everything we had done?"

Sweetie smiled earnestly. "After we saw you all those weeks ago, we talked about it and... Well, after some arguing and fights, we figured that it would be best to put things behind us."

"Even if those things were kinda screwed up," Scootaloo admitted.

"And, we knew how hard you guys were working to make amends." Sweetie's grin extended across her face. "So, even though you think you don't deserve our forgiveness or our friendship, we're still offering it to you."

"And it's OK if ya don't," Apple Bloom commented. "We can't force ya to be friends with us."

Diamond and Silver just stared at the Crusaders in silence for a moment, then turned to each other. Finally, they turned back and Diamond took the initiative. "Would we be considered Crusaders?"

Apple Bloom blinked in surprise. "Huh... You know, we haven't thought about that... Ah mean, Rumble, Pip, and everypony else are our friends, but they aren't considered Crusaders... So what would you be called?"

"Cutie Mark Advisers!" Sweetie exclaimed, making everypony jump. "You guys could be the group's official advisers!"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Button concurred. "That way ponies who get their cutie marks are still a part of the club!"

"For real?" Silver questioned.

"For real!" Sweetie replied.

Apple Bloom grinned. "Ya know, Ah think Babs will be happy to hear that she's still a member of the club even after getting her mark... Ah mean, she already knew that, but now she has an official role again!"

Sweetie turned back towards the two fillies. "So... What do you say?"

Once again, Diamond and Silver looked at each other, their eyes locking in a secret conversation. After a moment passed, Diamond and Silver turned back with apprehension on their faces.

"...Where do we sign up?" Silver asked, smiling nervously.

"Well, we have a whole initiation thing we have to go through first, but after that, you'll be members!" Scootaloo told them.

"Wait, initiation?" Diamond questioned, furrowing her brows in worry. "Is it something bad?"

Sweetie laughed. "Nope." Then, she paused. "Well, we haven't really edited the swearing in, so it's kinda rough, but it'll be fine."

Diamond smiled. "Good to know..." She frowned. "Is... Is there anything else we can do? To make it up to you, I mean?"

Sweetie smiled once more and she held out her foreleg in an offering of a hug. "Only that you two be as kind, generous, loyal, honest, and fun as the Crusaders hold themselves to be." She nodded her head towards the door. "Now, come on!"

"Come on to where?" Diamond asked, looking after Sweetie as she rushed to the door with the Crusaders behind her.

"We gotta make your uniforms!" Scootaloo told them. "I mean, how else are you gonna show that you're in the club?"

Diamond looked over at Sweetie Belle. "Uh... Are you gonna be sewing the costumes?"

Sweetie paused for a moment to think about it. "I was thinking about it. Why do you ask?"

Diamond cringed a bit. "Uh... How about Apple Bloom does the sewing?"

Sweetie frowned a bit in confusion, but she just shrugged. "Whatever you say, Diamond."

Diamond sighed a bit in relief as the Crusaders walked on ahead of them. "Well, that's one bullet dodged."

Silver looked at her in annoyance. "When are we gonna tell them what their talents are? I don't think I can handle all these crazy escapades they go on."

Diamond shoved her playfully. "In due time, Silver." 

She walked out of the clubhouse and onto the balcony that led to the stairs, where she saw the Crusaders giggling and laughing with each other. She looked at each of their blank flanks and saw their potential, knowing the future they could possible hold.

"In due time."