And we're back!
Enjoy!
The rest of the weekend, to Diamond Tiara, was a blast. With Spoiled out of the picture, she was free to hang out with her friends, new and old, as much as she wanted. They played several games Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had played when it was just them crusading, and they turned out to be MUCH more fun with seven players. Not only that, they could now play games like hoofball, which was normally impossible with three to four players since Sweetie always insisted on being the referee. Diamond also managed to sneak in her father's playing cards, which resulted in Go Fish being a new favorite amongst the crusaders.
And since Diamond was now a Cutie Mark Crusader, she could help her friends, old and new, in their efforts to help other ponies figure out their special talents. Their first was Dinky Doo. While both she and Diamond were hesitant about helping each other, the other crusaders assured Dinky that the rich filly and her glasses-wearing accomplice had changed for the better. Within a few minutes, the fillies figured out Dinky's special talent was sticking by her friends' sides, as she got her cutie mark when she caught Sunny Daze when she flew off of the swing. After that, they also helped a red mare named Lovely, whose special talent was foalsitting.
However, Sunday was coming to a close, signalling that the crusaders would need to get some shut-eye soon. With two ponies now learning their special talents, plus tons of games played, it was safe to say it had been a weekend well spent. All that was left was to review activities of past few days, and it was this the crusaders were doing in their clubhouse.
"Alright," Apple Bloom said, with a checklist in hoof. "So mah hoofball team won over Babs's team by three points."
"No no no," Babs corrected. "Youze said we'd CONTINUE the game next time!"
"That's true," Sweetie said, backing Babs up. Being referee had its advantages.
"Fine," the farm filly said, erasing what she just wrote. "SO FAR, mah team is beatin' Babs's team."
"Don't forget we helped Dinky," Silver Spoon said.
"And Lovely," Twist added.
"Ah'm gettin' to that," Apple Bloom told them as she wrote them down.
"Can we also put 'We added Go Fish as one of our favorite games'?" Scootaloo asked.
"Ah guess," Apple Bloom said as she scribbled that in.
"Looks like you're running out of room on that list," Diamond said.
"Yup," Apple Bloom agreed. "We're gonna need some more paper."
"Where'd youze get that in the first place, anyway?" Babs asked.
"Twilight gave us some of her scroll paper," Sweete answered. "We've been using it ever since we started crusading."
"It's held all of our achievements for all this time," Scootaloo added. "Though I think it might be time to ask for some more."
"Well, we'll think about it when we finally run out," Apple Bloom said. "Ah think we can stuff a few more milestones in here."
"It'th getting late," Twist said, looking out the window and seeing it was sundown. "My parentth are gonna get worried if I don't get home thoon."
"I'd better get going, too," Sweetie said. "It's a school night, and when I'm sleeping over, my sister always wants me in bed by 9:00 PM on those."
"Ah have some chores ah need to finish, too," Apple Bloom said. "We'll see each other tomorrow."
Apple Bloom put up her list and trotted out of the clubhouse, with Twist close behind. Sweetie Belle was about to leave, but turned back to Babs Seed.
"Aren't you going with her?" the unicorn asked.
"I'll catch up," Babs said. "I just need to talk with Diamond and Silva."
"I think I'll stay a bit, too," Scootaloo said.
"Alright," Sweetie said as she made her way to the Carousel Boutique. Now it was just Babs, Scootaloo, Diamond, and Silver.
"So why did you want to talk to us?" Diamond asked.
"I'm still kinda sorry about the, y'know, what happened at the train station, making youze drop in mud and all," Babs said, looking down. "I know youze was there to say bye, and then…"
"It's alright," Silver said. "Diamond already forgave you, so I forgive you too."
"Thanks," Babs said.
"So can I ask you something?" Diamond said. "Of both of you?"
"Shoot," Babs and Scootaloo said in unison.
"So Babs, why are you living here all of a sudden?" the pink filly asked. Then she turned to the pegasus. "And why are you in an orphanage? You two don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just—"
"Nah," Scootaloo said, interrupting her. "You're a crusader now, no reason you can't know."
"Really?" Diamond said, a little surprised.
"I'd imagine it'd be a serious topic," Silver said. "One that you two probably wouldn't be comfortable talking about."
"Well, I kinda have to get used to telling ponies this kind of thing when I get as famous as Rainbow Dash," Scootaloo said.
"Me too," Babs said. "I suppose I should go first." She cleared her throat and began to speak her tale.
"As youze know, I'm from Manehattan, which is a LOT different from Ponyville. Here, everypony's helping each otha, and everypony is friends with everypony. It's nice and calm here. But in the streets, howeva, it's everypony for themselves. Youze gotta fend for yourself, 'cause ponies are not as willing to help youze when youze is in a pickle. That's just how Manehattan works. Youze is either on top or on bottom. Unfortunately, my dad got the short end of the stick. He had a job as an electrician, helping everypony with their broken TVs and cameras and such. It paid pretty well, but he spent most of his savings to pay to keep his appearance in shape, and then he got fired. Howeva, he got fired, and we've been in a tight pinch eva since. It was so bad, in fact, we sometimes had to decide WHO would eat. My parents wanted to send me and my little sista to Aunt Orange, but her landlord would only keep one of us, so they decided to send us here to be with Granny Smith until things got betta. But they could only afford one train ticket, so they sent me here and my sista with Aunt Orange. I've been here eva since."
When she was finished, Scootaloo frowned a bit, feeling sorry for her Manehattan friend. She already heard the story when Babs first came, and it was just as sad as when she first heard it.
Diamond's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, though with pupils as small as ants, said "That's… that's horrible."
"Y-you're family had to separated from each other?" Silver asked, a tear running down her eye. "That has to be the s-saddest thing I've ever heard."
"Yeah," Babs said, her head held low. "My parents though it'd be best if me and my sista were somewhere safe while they were trying to get more money. I could be here for who knows how long."
"AND your sister had to go somewhere else?" Diamond asked. "That's just sad."
"W-who is your sister?" Silver asked. Despite being the saddest of the three to know Babs's situation, she was the most curious as well.
"Her name is Sour Seed," Babs answered. "I think I have a picture of us around here somewhere—"
"You mean this?" Scootaloo interrupted, pulling a picture out of the nearby toy chest.
"Yup, that's the one," Babs answered.
She took the picture from Scootaloo's hoof and showed it to Diamond and Silver. A family of four was shown, with Babs Seed, her two parents, and a smaller filly who was her sister. The mare, presumably the mother, had red, straight mane like Babs, a yellow coat like the smaller filly, and a feather duster cutie mark. The father had opposite colors - black mane like Sour and a brown coat like Babs, and a cutie mark that was a plug and outlet. Sour Seed, who was the smallest filly, had black mane and a yellow coat. She didn't have a cutie mark yet.
"We're sorry you had to be separated," Diamond consoled her new friend.
"It's alright," Babs said. "My cousins and Grandma Smith are great family to be around. Definitely eases the pain."
"But still," Silver commented. "To have to be separated from your family? That HAS to be awful."
"Well, then you probably don't want my question answered," Scootaloo said. "Trust me, it's sad."
"Well, they already heard my story," Babs pointed out. "They might as well hear yours."
"Are you sure?" Scootaloo said, a little unsure of herself despite being quick to say she'd answer them. "Even I cry when I tell it sometimes."
"What do you think, Silver?" Diamond asked, taking notice of her friend's watery eyes. "Should we?"
A fews seconds of silence passed, then Silver wiped tear from her eye. "OK, I'm ready."
"Well, sit tight," Scootaloo said, "You're in for a ride.
"So I'm an orphan, and I live at the Ponyville Orphanage with around twenty other orphans, but you already know that. I was born to two pegasus ponies. She died giving birth to me. My dad... My dad I knew all too well. For as long as I can recall, he... he beat me. He hit me in the head, in the chest, my legs, pretty much everywhere. He threw things at me, he… he sometimes made me sleep outside in the winter. The worst part about was—" she sniffed a bit, but continued. "Was his yelling. He kept yelling 'It's your fault she's dead, you miserable foal!' and 'If you flightless idiot wasn't born, she'd still be alive!' I think the worst thing he—" she sniffed again, with a tear visible in her eyes "—He ever said was 'You'll never be able to fly, runt!' After awhile, my preschool teacher found out he was beating me, and reported it immediately. He was arrested, and I was put in Ponyville Orphanage, under a nice mare named Candy Cane. However, he said one last thing before he was taken to prison," she stopped a bit, wiping a tear off. "'NOPONY WILL EVER ADOPT YOU, YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A PEGASUS!' For a while, I thought his words were true, even a-after I became friends with Apple Bloom and Sweetie. But then I figured that it WASN'T true, a-and that I was a g-good filly. I w-was a pegasus, who would ONE DAY f-fly. One day."
Scootaloo finished her tale, a few tears rolling down her eyes. She looked at her friends, and wasn't surprised to see that they were visibly heartbroken. Diamond had tears in her eyes, rolling down and hitting the clubhouse floor with a splash. Even the stoic Babs Seed had a tear in her eye. The story never got better.
Silver Spoon, on the other hoof, had her mouth agape. The impact of the pegusus's tale was about as awful and horrifying as the Scretch movie she had convinced her parents to let her watch. She looked at her hoof, and saw it was shaking, then noticed a few tears rolling down. Now with tears flying every which way from her eyes, she ran up to Scootaloo and threw her hooves around her, half-because she wanted to provide Scootaloo comfort, and half-because she wanted some comfort of her own.
"I-I-I'm so s-s-s-sorry," the gray filly said between sobs. "I-I had no idea!" She continued crying into Scootaloo's coat, oblivious to the fact her glasses had fallen off.
"So-so all those insults I made about you being orphaned…" Diamond said, another tear falling out of her watery eyes. "I-I'm SO sorry. I didn't mean ANY of it! I swear—"
"It's alright," Babs interrupted, putting a hoof around her shoulder. "Youze didn't know."
Pretty soon, Silver's sobbing drained down to simple sniffles and the occasional cough. "H-how can anypony do that to their foal?" she asked, putting her glasses on.
"Well, like I said," Scootaloo answered, "for a long time, I thought it was MY fault he was beating me. I thought that if I hadn't been born, he and my mother would be happy together and everypony would be better off without me. However, when I told Apple Bloom and Sweetie the story, they comforted me and said that they wouldn't be the crusaders without me. After all, it was Sweetie AND me who helped Apple Bloom in the first place. Personally… I wouldn't have it any other way."
"So… nopony has adopted you yet?" Silver asked, her eyes still watery.
"No," Scootaloo answered glumly. "But I'm still waiting for that moment to prove him wrong there too. So far… he's been right about nopony adopting me."
"Gee, and I though MY mother was bad," Diamond said to herself as her face slowly turned into a scowl. All of her former anger melted and accumulated into a puddle of rage. Despite that, the tears didn't seem to disappear. "Well, I think he DESERVES to be put in prison! Nopony should EVER do that to their foal! PLEASE tell me he was put on death row!"
"No, he wasn't," Scootaloo answered. "But he was sentenced for life. Foal abuse is not taken kindly in Ponyville."
"I'd betta get going," Babs said. "Applejack is probably waiting for me at the farmhouse."
"I should be going, too," Scootaloo said. "It's getting pretty late, and I don't wanna miss the dinner bar."
The fillies went their separate ways. Diamond and Silver decided to go together, as they usually did. For the rest of the night, Diamond was just plain angry at Scootaloo's ex-father. How could he EVER do that to Scootaloo? Especially for something that clearly wasn't her fault. When she got back home, she told Randolph and Filthy Rich that she lost her appetite and went straight to bed, even though it was only 7:30 PM. While she was white-hot with anger, it was her eventual tears of sadness that put her to sleep.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
As she did every morning, Diamond groggily got up from bed, took care of her bathroom needs, and turned off the clock. She noticed that it read "MONDAY", which meant it was a school day. She grabbed her tiara, and put her saddlebag on. She checked one last time in the mirror, now fully awake, and noticed tear stains on her face. She quickly washed them off, not wanting to possibly draw anypony's attention, and made her way to the school. Along the way, she encountered Silver Spoon.
"Hey," Diamond greeted her friend. "Are you alright? Y'know, after what Babs and Scootaloo told us last night?"
"I'm fine now," Silver answered. "It was just so sad. Now I feel more guilty than ever."
"Well, we already apologized," Diamond consoled, "And we're crusaders now, so I don't think we have to worry about that anymore."
A moment of silence passed between the two friends. The winds were surprisingly calmer than usual, especially for March. However, a realization that Silver Spoon had broke the silence.
"Hey," she said. "I just remembered — today is the day Zipporwhill is coming to our school!"
"The new student?" Diamond thought aloud. "Oh right, I forgot."
"Well, HOPEFULLY we can start on a good note," Silver said. "Then we could probably be friends."
"I just hope old instincts don't get the best of me," Diamond said.
"Twist already told us she was bullied a lot," Silver replied. "I don't think she needs ANY more of that here."
"Well, I guess," Diamond said. "Oh look, we're here." The conversation had distracted them so much that they hadn't realized that they were already at the school. About an hour early as usual.
"So what should we do?" Silver asked.
"You wanna take a trip to Sugarcube Corner?" Diamond suggested. "I always have some bits on my saddlebag."
"Sure," Silver answered. "We've got time, anyway."
The next hour was spent at Sugarcube Corner. The two friends ordered what they usually did — Diamond got a small strawberry ice cream and Silver got a chocolate milkshake. As they ate their treats, they began talking about how they would introduce themselves to Zipporwhill, until deciding that they should probably let the other crusaders introduce themselves first. They then talked about how great their weekend was away from the crusaders. Silver Spoon had another bracelet to add to her collection, which was big enough to rival that of the Diamond Dogs' findings, and Diamond had purchased her own copy of the latest installment of Diary of a Wimpy Foal. Then, they discussed about how great it was to be crusaders, what with all the games and the great feeling of helping other ponies find their special talents.
When the clock said it was time to go to school, Diamond and Silver left a tip and headed to Ponyville Elementary. When they arrived, they met up with the other crusaders, and went into the schoolhouse, where Cheerilee was awaiting her students. One could tell that she had a happy announcement to make, and the crusaders already knew what it was.
"Alright, everypony, take your seats," Cheerilee said, signalling her students to settle down. "I have an important announcement."
"Is it more extra credit?" Pipsqueak asked, raising his hoof. He was always deemed the teacher's pet.
"No, Pipsqueak," the teacher corrected. "But, we ARE having a new student join us today!"
The fillies began talking amongst themselves in excitement. Some questions them began flying around.
"Who is he or she?" Sunny Daze asked.
"Does she have a special talent yet?" Dinky Doo asked.
"Is he an earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn?" Rumble asked.
"Where's the pudding?" Snails asked to nopony in particular. He was always credited as the class clown, though it was questionable if it was intentional or not.
"She's in the principal's office right now," Cheerilee said, trying to calm the class down. "I'll go ahead and get her."
When she left the classroom to get the new student, the class was buzzing with conversation. First Babs Seed, then Tender Taps who moved up a grade a few weeks ago, and now ANOTHER student? Granted, Babs was just here temporarily, but still. This was certainly unexpected. All the tension led up to Cheerilee opening the door, with a small, white pegasus buzzing beside her, with black glasses and a cutie mark with three paw prints. She was pretty much everything Twist had described, from the glasses to the oversized tiara on her head.
"So THAT'S Zipporwhill," Diamond thought to herself. "Twist wasn't lying when she said she was small..." She quickly stopped her train of thought. "What am I THINKING!? I don't wanna bully another pony for being different! Not again!"
Diamond looked around the room to see what the other foals thought. On her left, she saw Sweetie Belle, gazing at the new student with a smile on her face. Diamond could tell the unicorn couldn't wait to get to know her. On her right, Silver Spoon also had a smile that was just as big, if not bigger than Sweetie's. On the other side of the room, she saw Snails… drooling? Weather he was thinking about lunch or was was attracted to Zipporwhill's apparent good looks was a mystery she wasn't willing to solve.
"Alright, students," Cheerilee called. "This is Zipporwhill. Do you mind introducing yourself to the class?"
"Sure!" Zipporwhill said. She was apparently of Native Equestrian descent, given her interesting accent. Definitely a rare in Ponyville.
She began buzzing around the room, spewing out facts about herself. "My name is Zipporwhill! I'm a pegasus, and my special talent is taking care of pets! I just love love love LOVE pets! Dogs, cats, birds, turtles, snakes, you name it, I love it! I also LOVE the Pony Tones! I'm their biggest fan! I even have an autograph from one of them! See?" She held out a picture of the Pony Tones, with "To Zipporwhill" being upon it. Apple Bloom noticed that it was Big Mac's distinctive hoofwriting.
"Well, you sure are an ENERGETIC filly," Cheerilee commented,
"Thank you!" Zipporwhill said happily. "It's because my mom and dad run a coffee shop, and I have three cups of coffee every morning! No more, no less."
"Very… interesting…" Cheerilee said. "Well, take a seat, please."
"Sure thing, Mrs. Cheerilee!" Zipporwhill saluted as she buzzed over to the only available seat, which just to her luck was next to Twist. Once the class settled, Cheerilee began writing on the board.
"Wait, Twist?" Zipporwhill whispered. "You're in this class?"
"Yup," she answered quietly. "Thith ith gonna be a fun clath. Everypony ith nith to each other, Cheerilee ith the beth teacher ever, and—"
"Twist," Cheerilee called. "Please be quiet. You're disrupting class."
"Thorry," the filly in question said. Cheerilee turned back to the blackboard.
"But don't worry," Twist whispered a little quieter. "Nopony will bully you here."
Zipporwhill smiled and rapidly nodded.
A few hours passed until it was finally time for recess. In a matter of seconds, all the foals rushed outside to play outside and get their minds off of the existential learning. Zipporwhill was the last to exit, and looked around. She could see a playground built specifically for the school, complete with a slide and swings, and on the other side of it was a hoofball field. Being the energetic filly she was, she buzzed over there first, hardly being able to wait to finally let all that caffeine-powered energy out. When she arrived, she quickly took notice that only colts were playing, but that didn't stop her. She went ahead and buzzed over to Pipsqueak, who was waiting in his position as defender.
"Hey," Zipporwhill greeted the abnormally small colt. "Can I join? I don't really care whose team I'm on, I just wanna have fun! Maybe I can be a defender with you, or maybe—"
"Uhh, sorry, Zipporwhill," Pipsqueak interrupted. "But both teams are full. Maybe next ti—"
"PIP!" Rumble called out. "QUIT TALKING TO YOUR MAREFRIEND AND STOP SNIPS!"
Pipsqueak looked around, and noticed that Snips had the ball and was carrying it directly to the goal. "Sorry," he said while running off to help his team. "Gotta go!"
As he ran off, Zipporwhill looked around, a little upset about the rejection, but her spirits flared back up when she noticed three fillies playing on the swings by the playground, looking like they were having a good old time. The pegasus buzzed over to them, making sure not to accidentally get hit.
"Hi Zipporwhill!" Dinky Doo greeted.
"Hi girls!" the pet-loving filly greeted back. "Can I play with you?"
"Uhh, sorry," Sunny Daze answered. "But there are only three swings."
"I could get off if you want," Peachy Pie offered.
"No, that's alright," Zipporwhill said. "I'll… just go somewhere else."
"Well, alright," Peachy said. "See you later."
With a sigh, Zipporwhill began buzzing around. She thought about going down the slide, but other than climbing up and sliding down, what more could she possibly do? On top of that, she almost never walked — she was almost always in the air (thanks to all the coffee). Surely there was more to recess than this. At her old school, everypony was doing something different, but here, the foals seemed to just hang out in their own groups. And since she was new, despite all the energy she had, she hadn't had any time to form any relationships with anypony. The only pony she knew was Twist.
"Wait," she thought to herself. "Twist! Maybe she'll play with me! We're great friends, after all!"
She then began buzzing around, searching for her messy-maned friend. After some time, she found her… playing four-square with other fillies.
"Oh no," Zipporwhill thought. "Even she has friends of her own! And look at how many there are!"
She, at first, thought about ditching the idea altogether. But after some thought, she didn't know if it was her or the coffee thinking at this point, she figured she might as well try. Given the previous outcomes of the same situation, she doubted it. But she did have some hope though. Twist was her neighbor — her friend, no less. Certainly SHE of all foals would be willing to play with her.
"Hey Twist!" Zipporwhill called, hiding her doubt behind an energetic smile. Unfortunately, she had decided to come out of a bush, completely hidden from the crusaders, so everypony in the game was caught off-guard. Scootaloo, in particular, was so shocked she accidentally bumped the ball into Silver Spoon's head, knocking off her glasses.
"Ah don't think this is yer game," Apple Bloom commented.
"Yeah," Babs said. "Isn't that, like, the third time that's happened?"
"Well I get startled easily, alright?" Scootaloo said.
"Here you go," Zipporwhill said, handing the knocked-off glasses to the knocked-down Silver Spoon.
"Thanks," Silver said, putting them back on.
"Anyway, hey Twist!" Zipporwhill said.
"Hi Thipporwhill!" Twist said happily. "Can I introduth you to my friendth?"
"Sure!" the white pegasus said.
"OK," Twist said, clearing her throat. "That'th Apple Bloom," she called, pointing to the farm filly.
"Howdy," she greeted.
"And that'th her couthin, Babth Theed," Twist continued.
"Hey," the Manehattan filly said.
"Thith ith Thweetie Belle, and that'th Thcootaloo," she said, pointing to the two respective fillies.
"Hi Zipporwhill!" Sweetie said.
"'Sup." Scootaloo said, her tomboyish nature kicking in.
"And theeth two are Diamond Tiara and Thilver Thpoon!" the candy cane filly finished.
"Hi," Diamond greeted. "Twist has told us so much about you."
"She… she has?" Zipporwhill asked.
"Yeah, like how you liked pets, how you always wear a tiara, and how you were made fun of for being small, and—" Diamond said before being interrupted by Twist.
"Thee dothen't need to know that," Twist whispered.
"Oh, I see how it is," Zipporwhill said. "So you're just gonna be my friends because you feel sorry huh? Is that it? HUH?"
"I… I'm thorry, Thipporwhill," Twist said. "I didn't know you'd—"
"Well I have news for you!" Zipporwhill said, a little angry. "I'm not buying your pity! I don't need anypony's pity! I don't need yours, or yours, or ANYPONY'S. No pity! NONE!" With that, she buzzed away.
"Thipporwhill!" Twist called. "Wait!" She looked at her friends, giving a face that said "What were you thinking!?" before running off to catch her freind.
"Well that's JUST great," Scootaloo said. "Now we probably lost our chance at having a new friend!"
"Not to mention we probably soiled our friendship with Twist," Babs pointed out.
"OH NO!" Diamond thought. "It happened again! If I had just kept my fat mouth shut everything would have gone fine! I can't believe I just did it again…"
"I-I'm sorry, everypony!" Diamond said. "I was just… I didn't know that—"
"It's alright," Sweetie said, putting a hoof around her shoulder. "We forgive you."
"NONE of us could have known," Apple Bloom said. "Not even Twist."
"Speaking of which, we better go find her," Silver said.
So the fillies left their place at the four-square game and searched the entire school grounds for the two fillies. They eventually found them near the dumpster behind the school. They could hear Zipporwhill crying, with Twist behind her. The crusaders decided to approach them, albeit calmly.
"I-I told you," Zipporwhill said through tears. "I don't n-need anypony's pity."
"Well, you look like you could use a friend," Sweetie said in her warm voice.
"W-well what if T-Twist didn't tell you I was bullied!" Zipporwhill asked. "Huh? HUH? Ever think of that? You all would probably think I was just another regular filly that you'd pay no mind to! I don't see you hanging out with any of the OTHER foals!"
Zipporwhill was right about that point. Outside of their own members, the crusaders didn't really hang out with the other foals in the class. While Sweetie and Apple Bloom did have a solid relationship with Button Mash and Tender Taps respectively, they hardly spent time together. It was probably due to the fillies not having cutie marks at the time, but now that they did, there was no reason to NOT be with the other foals. They didn't realize until now, but they really DID pay no mind to most of their other classmates.
"I'd still be your friend," Diamond said from behind.
The other crusaders and Zipporwhill looked at her. There was obvious guilt in her eyes, but they could tell she wanted to redeem herself.
"Wh-what?" Zipporwhill asked in shock.
"It really wouldn't matter if I knew you were bullied or not," Diamond said comfortingly. "All that matters is that you're, y'know, you."
"Ah agree," Apple Bloom said, backing her pink friend up. "While Twist did tell us you were bullied a lot, we would have been yer friends regardless."
"A friend of a friend is always a friend to me," Sweetie added.
"But… but you just have pity for me," Zipporwhill said, still having watery eyes. "A-and you—"
"Look," Scootaloo interrupted. "I don't really like these kinds of moments, so I'll make it snappy. Even IF Twist didn't tell us you were bullied, she would have told us you were her friend at SOME point. That's all we would need to know to be your friend."
"Not only that," SIlver chimed in. "Twist didn't just say you were bullied. She also told us about how great you were with pets, how unique of a flier you were, and how nice of a filly you were."
"What we're saying is youze is wrong," Babs said. "We'd still be friends even if youze was neva bullied in the first place."
"Do… do you mean it?" the white pegasus asked.
"I KNOW they do," Twist consoled.
Zipporwhill wiped a tear from her eyes, then realized all that she had just done. "I'm sorry," she said. "I probably shouldn't have flown off like that."
"It'th alright," Twist said. "Tho you wanna play with uth now?"
"WOULD I!" Zipporwhill said as she buzzed happily as if nothing ever happened. The water in her eyes seemed to disappear.
"Great!" Sweetie called. "You are now solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow friends and sisters as a Cutie Mark Crusader! And here's your cape!"
Once school had ended, Zipporwhill and the crusaders became fast friends, so much so that they decided to let her join the crusaders. It was actually Twist who suggested it, and the other crusaders quickly agreed, considering the white pegasus was the candy cane enthusiast's friend and all.
"Tho how doth it feel to be a Cutie Mark Cruthader?" Twist asked.
"It feels GREAT!" Zipporwhill said. "Now I'll get to help OTHER ponies get their cutie marks, and helping ponies is always fun! Especially cute little baby foals! Those are fun to help!" Just then, the normally energetic white pegasus yawned, and donned a drowsy look.
"I think all that coffee has taken its toll," Silver pointed out with a giggle.
"Don't worry," Zipporwhill said, yawning again. "This happens every day."
"Well, now that we're all crusaders," Sweetie Belle said. "What game should we play first?"
"How 'bout you play homework first?" Applejack asked from the clubhouse's entrance.
"AJ?" Apple Bloom asked. "What're ya doin' here?"
"Ah'm just here to tell ya that today's a school day, so ya may wanna finish yer homework first," the farm pony answered.
"Hey, wait a minute," Zipporwhill said, buzzing up to the orange mare. "Is your brother named Big McIntosh by any chance?"
"Yeah, why?" Applejack answered.
"OMC! OMC OMC!" Zipporwhill chanted as if she wasn't sleepy at all. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT TO MEET A RELATIVE OF THE PONY TONES!"
"Y'know," Apple Bloom said. "AJ IS mah older sister."
"And my cuz," Babs added.
"Wait, WHAT!?" Zipporwhill said, shocked. "So that means… I'M FRIENDS WITH TWO RELATIVES OF THE PONY TONES!"
Sweetie Belle got a devious smile on her face, as if she wanted to add more gas to the fire. "I'm also Rarity's little sister."
"WHAAAAT!?" the white pegasus said, even more surprised. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FRIENDS WITH THREE RELATIVES OF THE PONY TONES! I'M SO HAPPY I COULD JUST—" And with that, she immediately fell asleep.
"That wasn't the reaction I was expecting," Sweetie Belle said.
"Now what in tarnation was THAT all about?" Applejack asked.
"Ah don't know," Apple Bloom said. "But ah can guarantee ya ah'm not gonna drink coffee fer breakfast!"
Well, that does it for this chapter. Not too much to say, other than BOY was it a long one!
'Till next time, see ya!