"He thinks we're just using him," Apple Bloom moped as they sat at their desk at the school house.

Spike wasn't even sitting with them. He was on the other side of the classroom, fitting in the back looking bored out of his mind as he waited for class to start.

Sweetie Belle shook her head, "I really did think of Spike as our friend," she insisted.

"We just have to prove to him that we are real friends," Scootaloo puffed up her chest.

Apple Bloon blinked, "How do we do that? Even if we invited him to our clubhouse I don't think he'll come at this point. We spent too much time ignoring him,"

"Or treating him like a Butler," Sweetie Belle moped, "He always busted his butt making us treats each time we went to spend time with Twilight and we still never invited him to do anything with us."

Apple Bloom nodded ,"We might have been trying to find our cutie marks but we still could have invited him to play with us. We did lots of stuff I'm sure he would have enjoyed,"

"We could take him snorkeling!" Scootaloo suggested, "That was pretty fun,"

"I don't know," Apple Bloom thought, "Maybe Spike would prefer to do something less active. He runs around helping Twilight most of the day. I'm sure he'll just want to lay down and relax on his off time,"

Sweetie Belle thought about it, "We could take him to the arcade."

"He's got his own private one," Scootaloo rolled her eyes.

"We have to think of something!" Apple Bloom insisted

Just then Diamond Tiara arrived. She blinked spotting Spike on the other side of the room and quietly asked the Crusaders, "What's Twilight's pet dragon doing here?"

Apple started foaming, "You promised you were going to try to be less of a jerk!"

Diamond gaped at the accusation and demanded, "What I do!?"

Scootaloo glared, "He's not a pet. He's Twilight's ward which pretty much makes him the prince of Ponyville."

Diamond was stunned speechless for several moments before finding her words, "Really? I-I always assumed he was a pet."

Apple Bloom insisted, "Dragons are fully sapient creatures just like Ponies. They CAN'T be pets!"

Diamond blushed scuffing her hoof on the floor, "S-sorry," she was still trying to learn to watch what she said but sometimes she still came off as insensitive without realizing it, "... you know my mom is probably going to have a heart attack when she hears Ponyville has a Dragon for a Prince. She already has a problem with that cow colony in our boarders,"

Apple Bloom blinked, "What's she got against cows? Practically all the farms and stores trade with them for milk,"

Diamond shrugged taking a seat next to the Crusaders. Ironically, although they were the ones she bullied the most they were also some of the few kids in class that was giving her a second chance. Paying for the new playground equipment was a nice step in repairing some of the damage she inflicted to her own reputation but it was just a start. Most of the school was convinced that was just her trying to buy forgiveness instead of actually working towards it.

"Mother thinks cows and other species are... 'lesser' then ponies," Diamond was trying to find a nicer word for 'inferior' but none of the synonyms sounded very flattering.

Apple Bloom gaped, "B-but your dad is the one buying up most of the milk!"

Diamond couldn't help but shrug with a defeated expression on her face. Her dad had contracts with most of the farms. He bought up most of their goods, commercialized them into various tasty treats, and sold them around Equestria. Her family's livelihood depended on the various farms in Ponyville including not only the Cows but Apple Bloom's family as well... and Diamond's mother thought so little of all of them.

"Mom doesn't really care about insulting Dad's business partners, even the ones we rely on the most." Diamond sighed, "You know I never really realized how... messed up she was until you guys forced me to take a good look at her. I can't believe I actually wanted to be like her."

Sweetie Belle spoke up, "Family can be infuriating sometimes but they're still your family. There is nothing wrong with loving them. Even when you wish they could be nicer,"

Diamond just looked at Sweetie Belle, a bit shocked at how the foal sounded like she was speaking from experience.

Sweetie Belle groaned realizing she had to explain where that little bit of wisdom came from, "Rarity has her moment's where she's a great sister but she also has ones that make me want to crawl into my bed and cry at how selfish she can be. She might be the Element of Generocity but she is one of the most self absorbed Fillies you will ever meet, not to mention a complete Drama Queen... I think everyone is like that in some way. They aren't defined by one thing. We all have good things about us and bad things that seem to contradict it. That's just how Ponies are,"

Diamond gave a light smile, the 3 were trying so hard to make her feel accepted. They were even trying to get her not to condemn her mom as Diamond tried to better herself, "Thanks..." and she meant it. "Want to come over to my mansion after school."

The Crusaders gave a collective groan.

"Sorry we can't, " Scootaloo informed, "We're trying to figure out what we can do with Spike."

"The Dragon?" Diamond blinked and when the Crusaders started glaring at her she said, "Why don't you just bring him with you?"

Scoot snorted, "And have your mom tell him to his face that he's a 'lesser' being?"

Diamond crumpled well Sweetie Belle glared at Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom piped up, "We weren't very good friends to Spike, to the point he doesn't think we're friends at all, so we have to figure out a way to convince him we are... and he thinks the only reason we're trying to now is because our sisters yelled at us for excluding him,"

Diamond thought on it a moment, "Well all you really have to do is wait until recess. All the foals will crowd around him and no doubt ask him embarrassing questions about dragons. All you three have to do is swoop in and save him and-"

"DIAMOND!" All three Crusaders snapped.

Apple Bloom informed, "We ain't about to manipulate Spike like that."

"What's a little manipulation if it helps in the long run," Diamond gave a evil smirk, "Besides, this is going to happen no matter what. The foals are going to be curious about a dragon attending school for the first time since ever and some of them aren't going to be too happy with the idea. The fact of the matter is our dear PRINCE Spike will need someone to look out for him at recess and if it's you three it will help repair whatever damage you did. Or at least be the first step in doing so,"

The Crusaders looked too uncomfortable so Diamond continued, "My cutie mark revolves around getting ponies to do what I want. My special talent is manipulating ponies and in order to do that I need to understand them. Your the ones who taught me I could use this talent for the betterment of others. What's wrong with helping Spike and taking that first step on the road to forgiveness? You're not manipulating him for malicious reasons and in fact you WILL be helping him and all you want to get in return is forgiveness. It's a win / win for everypony involved."

Sweetie Belle shifted in her seat, "Well maybe next time you could make it sound a little less like an evil plot well explaining it."

Diamond blushed and gave a slight smile, "I'll work on that."

Spike didn't know why, he really didn't, but he felt his face heat up as a young colt sat next to him. The colt was brown with an orange mane cut in an adorable style and a cute little propeller hat. He hid a 'JoyBoy' device under his desk and was playing videogames on it. Spike tried to peek at just what game he was playing and sneakily got out his own JoyBoy from his backpack. He stealthily got the pony's attention by tapping the desk then held up his copy of 'Fable'.

Spike smiled as the pony looked at him. The young Dragon whispered, "Need a player 2?" and it wasn't long before they were killing virtual hobgoblins together... and continued to play after the teacher came into the room.