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Literature Text
Pony POV Series
Dark World Drabbles
Burying the Hatchet
Part 3 of 3
By Kendell2
Alright, before I get into the details, I guess I need to talk about how things were a thousand years ago a little bit. Diamond Tiara…she actually only spent her first couple weeks as Discord’s enforcers tormenting me and Sweetie Belle…then it got a bit more…creepy…
I won’t say she got bored with it, that’s not what happened. If she’d gotten bored that would have made sense because her ‘Uncle’ got bored of doing the same old tricks too (even by then we’d seen that). What happened was scary because…we just couldn’t understand it.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Uh, Diamond…who’s this?)
They’re Wood Poppy, Plum Blossom, and Snow Willow. They’re Breezies.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Yeah, I can tell they’re Breezies. Where did they come from?)
You said they were my cousins, so I went to Neighpon and met some.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): How?)
Toon powers.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Oh…They’re kinda cute I guess…do you want them to stick around for the interview or not?)
If it’s alright. They already knows how I used to be. Forgiveness has apparently always been a virtue in Neighpon. Though some Breezies didn’t…
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Uh, how did you talk with them?)
The Changelings helped…once I found some that didn’t think I was the boogiemare or hated me. Thankfully, me and mom helping defeat Grogar changed some of their minds.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Believe me I can relate.)
But the Breezies are really nice, I’m glad they’re my cousins. They came because they and some of their sisters can speak High Equestrian and wanted to see Equestria.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): I see…Wait, why can they speak High Equestrian but the other Breezies can‘t? I thought Discord made them from the same pony.)
(Snow Willow: It would appear that we each received a mixture of the basic components of her self as the foundations for our own individual personas.)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): First off, please don’t write in the notes without my permission.)
(Plum Blossom: Oh! We’re sorry! We‘re really really really sorry!…Um…may we?)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): …Only when it’s important. And second…uh, what did she just mean?)
(Wood Poppy: I think what my sister said is that we came from the parts of momma that could speak High Equestrian, Rainbow Dash-sama! She just comes from the brainy part!)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Oh…Uh, nice to meet you….Diamond, can we please get back to your story now?)
You mean why I decided to stop bullying Scootaloo and Sweetie? I’d more or less decided it was totally pointless to pick on them anymore. I decided that about a lot of things. And part of it was…I kinda bullied them to make myself feel better, so now that I was happy and with mom…I didn’t feel like I needed to. So I decided to play and be ‘super friendly‘ with them. And…well, my mom’s idea of being nice was making somepony into a pony pretzel trying to give them a massage and I was just as insane as she was, so you can guess how that worked out.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Yikes!)
I know. But at least I didn’t MEAN to break Scootaloo’s foreleg and two of Sweetie’s ribs!
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): …)
I didn’t say I wasn’t sorry, I said I was honestly trying to play with them and be friendly for once in my life…I really was just trying to be nice…
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): It’s alright, Diamond. I’m done chewing you out over the past…that’s a story for another day though.)
Yeah, so basically, she started ‘playing’ with us and…well, she didn’t exactly play easy. I think that made things even more scary. When she was a bully, we could say ‘she hate us’ and that was that. When she hurt us because she thought she was being nice to us? It just made no sense. And that was scarier than when she hated us. Though…I guess I owed her for us reuniting with Applebloom. Long story short, we hadn’t found her after I came back to Ponyville looking for the others and we ended up hiding in Everfree to get away from Diamond when she and Discord came to play in town and that’s how we met Applebloom again.
But the point was, she still made our lives a living Tartarus. And then I joined Queen Cadence’s army later in life. I was a soldier training for her to be my enemy most of my life, and unlike the Chaos Six, I didn’t know a ‘good pony’ buried under Discord’s gunk. I just knew mean old Diamond Tiara, not to mention her and Discord had outright admitted she‘d JOINED him willingly…Even going to Heaven, I still remembered her as the enemy. That was how I remembered her. And I didn’t see a reason to change how I saw her like I did Rainbow Dash and the others.
I know I know: why was I the one who went to Scootaloo?
After all, I was always the bad guy. I was the schoolyard bully who’s sole purpose in life was to make the Crusaders miserable. The former madmare that’d followed Discord’s orders through to the letter and joined him without an ounce of brainwashing or receiving one of his lectures. I was a complete one trick pony who EXISTED to be the bad guy. So why was I the one who went to bury the hatchet?
It’s…complicated…You see…back when Sweetie Belle was alive, I was still Discord’s enforcer when she came to be Rarity’s caretaker. She lived in the castle and…Well there weren’t many ponies to play with besides Applejack and Fluttercruel, and Fluttercruel wasn’t interested in friends at the time, that wasn’t until later, after I retired. I spent a lot of time around Sweetie Belle and got to know her a lot better. She was scared of me at first, but…I think she liked my company…even when I became sane again, I remembered her as someone I liked…I was sad she didn’t come back.
So…when I realized that Scootaloo had, I guess…I wondered if we could be friends too. After Silver Spoon and I were friends again, I decided to give it a shot. That’s why I picked SCOOTALOO…there’s another reason I wanted friends…
The problem was getting somewhere were I could actually talk to her. I kept trying to, but she flew away before I could even say a word to her. And I couldn’t blame her, I mean after what I’d done…But I kept trying. I can be quite stubborn when I get something lodged in my head.
I did notice Diamond coming up on me a few times, but I normally just flew off since I didn’t really want to talk to her at all and she hadn’t talked to me yet. I wasn’t trying to be rude, I just didn’t WANT to talk to her and didn’t see any reason to.
Then one day I decided to stop by Sky Ocean. I’d never really got the chance to be there before when I was alive and I did want to talk to them about the rewrites to Discord’s play. They were actually really cool! Yeah, I knew what they were and that Discord made them, but…seeing them in equus? They all looked so beautiful. Each one was different and unique. And…well, they’re just nice. While I don’t like Discord or the Tartarus he turned the world into (even if by the end Eclipse was the puppeteer, Discord wasn‘t always on her strings), I can’t argue with Apple Pie when she says they’re beautiful.
However, as I found out, it was also somepony’s favorite hang out…
“Scootaloo! I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“Ahh!”
Like I’ve said, I tend to stick around with the sea ponies most of the time. They see Uncle Discord exactly how I do. They love him…they’re the only ones I feel like will truly understand me.
And now…well, they’re my cousins. Just like you, Breezies. Thanks for the hugs.
So I stayed there a lot of the time…so when I saw Scootaloo there, I figured it was finally my chance to speak with her. After all, how can you avoid somepony when you’re in a giant ocean floating in the sky? The exit wasn’t very close and Scootaloo couldn’t breath underwater…I think…I don’t know how being a crystal pony works.
“Ahh! Where’d you come from?!” Scootaloo yelled, tumbling backwards.
“I’m a living cartoon character.”
She gave a grumble. “Right, weird toon powers.”
“Look…I want to talk to you.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I figured.”
We ended up sitting in a corner of the Sky Ocean visitors area (yes, that was now a thing) so the Sea Ponies wouldn’t hear any ‘Discord really was evil’ stuff (not that they’d believe it).
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Um, excuse me?”
We jumped as a Sea Pony poked her head in. “Oh! I‘m very sorry! You were so quiet I’d forgotten anypony was here!”
We both blinked in confusion.
“Uh…sorry…”
After the Sea Pony left, we sat for a few more awkward moments.
“…So…um…” I finally started. “How are you doing?”
“…Good…”
“Oh…How are things going with Rainbow?”
“Fine.”
“Oh…Me and mom are doing fine…Silver came back…”
“Yeah…I know. We talked in Heaven.”
“Oh! So you’re friends?!”
“No…not so much friends as…not enemies.”
Silver was in Heaven, I was in Heaven. We had a thousand years. And…she died before me. It’s one thing for you to be bullied by someone. It’s another to see that pony was murdered after you wished so many times that they’d just disappear.
“Oh…Well…that’s…nice…”
“Diamond, what are you doing here?” I finally asked.
I jumped a little. Yes I was nervous! Can you blame me?
I took a deep breath. “Scootaloo…I want to be your friend…”
Scootaloo looked at me like I was crazy. Well, a different kind of crazy than I think she already thought I was. “You want to be my what?”
“I want to be your friend, Scootaloo. I want to start over…”
She looked completely shocked for a moment, then angry. Really angry.
“After everything, how can you POSSIBLY think we can be friends?!”
I expected something like this.
“Scootaloo, we might look like kids, but Miss Cheerilee’s school yard was a long time ago…I‘m different…I‘m sorry about back then…”
She actually laughed. “Really?! That’s what you think this is?! A little foalhood grudge?!”
Yes, I got mad! I got REALLY MAD! Yes, I’ve been to Heaven, but the thing about Heaven? You might not NEED to feel negative emotions in paradise, but if they don’t stop you from getting into it, you don’t lose them. You just don’t NEED to feel them. That’s the best I can describe it, what with being Heaven and all…But now I was in my mortal coil again.
“I haven’t been mad at you for that in YEARS! I let GO of that when Discord took you! Just like I let go of my anger at Silver Spoon when I found out her dad lopped her head off! I was GUILTY I’d been angry at you two and said ‘I wish she was gone’ when that happened!”
She didn’t seem scared or upset. But she seemed shocked. “You…you felt guilty?”
“Yeah! How do you think I felt when the two bullies I’d always wished were gone got beheaded and abducted by the evil overlord that tore the world apart?! Adults always say ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it,’ I know EXACTLY what they mean!”
“…Then…why are you mad at me?”
I snarled. Part of me wanted to hit her. “Why?! You want to know why?!” I laughed, I really laughed. It was almost FUNNY how little she knew. “Because you and your ‘uncle’ wrecked the world! I spent my entire foalhood hearing about the atrocities you two had caused! Do you have ANY idea how many ponies came to Avalon running AWAY from YOU and your mom?! How many of those ponies had relatives YOU killed?! How many ponies I met in Heaven that YOU killed?!”
Diamond gasped in surprise. I think her eyes were actually starting to tear up. Part of me ENJOYED it!
“I spent my foalhood wanting to BUCKING STOP YOU! THEN, when I got older, I began training to KILL you!”
I panted, she shuddered. I think I scared her. “…I wanted to stop you and your mother and your uncle so bad. But especially you. And you know why? You know why I was so dedicated to stopping you in particular? Why I’m so angry at you? Because you WEREN’T Discord’s brainwashed slave! You JOINED HIM! You told me straight to my face and Discord BRAGGED that he didn’t even have to trick you! That you WANTED to do it! Dash and the others were brainwashed, your mom was already crazy when Discord found her, the League of Auxiliary Minions were made from a soulless monster, the Valeyard was the Doctor‘s inner evil personified that Discord made surface by killing him who knows how many times. What‘s your excuse?”
“I…I just wanted to be with my mom…”
“I lost my parents too, BOTH of them, you didn’t see me accepting favors from Nightmare Moon to get them back, did you?”
I admit…that one hurt. If Scootaloo had had my Element, I’d have been in the hospital, I know it. I may not hate Uncle Discord for making me insane so I could be with my mom, but she was right. Selling my soul to become the evil overlord’s enforcer isn’t justified just because I was a scared little filly who wanted to see her mother again.
“That’s why I’m angry at you,” I spat. “Because out of every last one of Discord’s minions, you’re the only one who signed up knowing full well you were selling your soul to the devil. You’d seen everything that monster had done before that. All the ponies he’d hurt in Ponyville. You make me sick.”
I got in her face. “And you know what stinks the most about all that, Diamond? After training all my life for that fight? By the time I was of age to fight, you’d retired. You got away with it. I spent all that time planning to make you face justice for what you’d done, and then poof! You’re retired! You got off clean! I’m not angry because of what happened when we were foals in the schoolyard, I’m angry because you bucking got away with WILLINGLY joining up with the evil overlord that turned the world into a living Tartarus!”
“…So you’re angry you never got your chance to bring me to justice?” she asked, realization on her face. “You’re angry because you spent all that time preparing to bring me down for what I’d done…and in the end you never got the chance?”
“Yes.”
“…Fine,” she said, taking a step back and pulling her toon hammer out of her mouth. “Let’s do it.”
My eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “What?”
“You heard me! You want that fight you trained all your life to get? You want to give me my licks so I’ve paid for what I did? Fine! I agree with you! I deserve it! And if giving you a chance to kick my flank is what it takes to put this whole thing behind us, then I’m standing right here! Fight me! Beat the Tartarus out of me if that‘s what you need to do!”
I think my heart skipped a beat. “You…you WANT me to fight you?”
“YES! It’s what you want, isn’t it?”
She pulled a contract out of her ear and signed it before handing it to me.
“What is this?”
“A contract saying I absolve you of any wrongdoing for the beating I’m probably going to get out of this. Everything is official. My daddy WAS a business pony after all.”
I just stared at her in shock. I got that ‘be careful what you wish for’ feeling again. “…Why? Why are you doing this?”
I sat my hammer down. “…Because…” I started, looking down. “Because all of that? Everything I did? I…I thought I was making Uncle Discord happy. I thought he liked watching me ‘play‘…I thought I was making my family happy…then…then I found out…”
I looked at my hooves. “…Eclipse…Uncle Discord…he didn’t WANT to be a monster anymore. He didn’t WANT to hurt anyone or kill anyone! He wanted to be good! And…And…And I was still bad…”
I looked up at her. “I may have THOUGHT I was being nice and kind, but I hurt ponies. I killed ponies. I crushed skulls. And I thought my games were making my uncle happy. But they weren‘t. If anything, they were torturing him just like Eclipse wanted them to! Instead of being the good little niece I thought I was being, I was helping a psychopathic witch make the guy I thought I was helping miserable! The guy I LOVED as part my family!”
I broke down crying. I admit it. “…I wanted to help him so much, but all I ever did was hurt him…I was worthless to him…Just like I was before…”
Scootaloo blinked. “What?”
“…You want to know how I got my Cutie Mark? Stealing my mom’s tiara and wearing it! You know what that caused?”
You know, it’s strange…if I’d remembered it without my mom being there, I don’t want to know what it would have done to me. I think that’s why Queen Libra made sure we were together when we became sane again, so we could help each other through it. If we’d been alone…I don’t want to know.
“…It’s why my mom went insane and it broke my family apart! Everything you just said about me?! I agree with you! I can‘t even get my bucking Cutie Mark without making somepony‘s life miserable! That’s all I’ve ever been good for! Causing misery! I‘m no good to ANYPONY! I‘m…I‘m worthless…and now…for once in my life, I just want to start being WORTH something to SOMEONE! I‘m tired of ONLY existing to cause misery! I‘m tired of having only one note to who I am! I want to be a PONY instead of some bucking one dimensional bully antagonist you‘d see on a kids show! I want to MEAN SOMETHING to somepony other than me!”
She started sobbing. She’d just fallen apart as she spoke. I…I didn’t know what to do. I’d wanted to see her pay for what she’d done. I wanted to make her sorry for it…I’d got it.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
What she said…it hit home. I hated to admit it, but I actually sympathized with her because I’d been there. That feeling like you’re worthless…
“Diamond…I…”
Diamond stood up, wiped her tears with a tissue she pulled out of nowhere, and picked up her hammer. “C-Come on. Let’s do this.” She was still trembling. She choked back a couple sobs. “Come on! Give me the plot kicking we both know I deserve!”
“…You’re really sorry for what you did?”
“Yes! I just said that! You‘re right!”
“…I…”
I looked down at my hooves. I didn’t know what to think or say…My nemesis had just broke down crying right in front of me and they WEREN‘T crocodile tears. And I actually knew a bit of what she was going through. I guess this is how it must have been when the ponies who have spent the last thousand years thinking Rainbow and the others were monsters felt to see them vulnerable and guilty.
“…Look…I…I have a lot to think about…” I replied with a sigh. “…Can I have time to think about it?”
Diamond nodded. “S-Sure…I guess…”
“Thanks…And Diamond?”
“Yes?”
“…You’re not worthless…Nothing is…that’s something I learned in Heaven. And something I learned spending so long as an orphan blank flank with weak wings who took forever to learn to fly…Even if you messed up…a lot…and were messed up…in a lot of ways…Even if I was angry at you…even if I wanted to see you pay…you’re not worthless, okay? You‘ll keep feeling that way until you decide to give it worth, but even then you‘re never worthless…I‘ve been there, and I stayed there until I did something about it.”
I didn’t know what to think really. Here was the pony who’s life I’d made a living Tartarus…telling me I actually meant something. Suddenly my uncle’s chaos seemed NORMAL. But…in a way it was that good kind of crazy…the kind I like.
I knew we weren’t friends yet. I didn’t even think that we were ‘not enemies’ yet…But I guess I finally saw how I looked from her side and…I guess she understood me a bit better…at least better enough to give me a second chance.
We didn’t really become friends until later. Sometimes one ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t enough to make it up to somepony…And now I understand that…I still don’t know how much I’m worth…but I think I’m worth more than I started out as…I’m not just a one dimensional bully anymore at least.
Me and Scootaloo did talk more. We did spend more time together. We BECAME friends…I guess not all friendships happen in one big impactful moment, but that’s the way the world works. Even now she still doesn’t like it when I talk about how I feel about my Uncle or how understand why I’m THANKFUL he drove me crazy. We weren’t suddenly BFFs. But we’re still friends. Though it helped when I eventually got around to talking with her about Sweetie.
“Wait, you knew Sweetie?” she asked.
“Yes…that’s part of why I wanted to be your friend. The only real…companions I had when I was Discord’s enforcer was Applejack and her. The sea ponies didn’t really exist yet, Uncle was still making them and Sky Ocean (even with his powers he needed ponies), Pinkie Pie hadn’t started taking in her ‘children’ yet, and Fluttercruel hadn’t wanted a companion yet…Sweetie was the only one my age, and even then, I stayed young while she grew older…I never got to see her on the same level after that…I was disappointed when she didn’t come back so I could have a chance to really be her friend, but…I thought if I could learn to get along with one Crusader, maybe I could get along with the others…Ever since Silver Spoon came back for me, I wanted to be worth something to more ponies than just her…and I thought becoming your friend would be a good start since…maybe I could make up for the misery I caused you too. That‘s why I wanted you to be my friend, what I said before was why I wanted to be friends with someone.”
Scootaloo looked at her hooves for a moment. “…Thanks…”
“You’re welcome Scootaloo…”
“…Did you say Silver came back for you?”
“Yeah…it…it gave me a lot to think about…that someone would leave everything in Heaven behind for my sake…It was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me…”
“…I know how she feels.”
Scootaloo told me how she’d come back for Rainbow Dash, just like Silver had for me. It was unbelievable to see two former enemies actually have something in common. Scootaloo saw it too. That’s why she stopped being ‘not enemies’ with Silver and began to become friends…And I think we’d started to become ‘not enemies’ too by then. Becoming friends came not long after.
I think her finding that out about Silver was why she nominated Silver to be the new Element of Kindness…Silver Spoon nominated me as Cruelty because we were already friends and I was becoming Scootaloo‘s friend, so if I became Cruelty it wouldn’t require much effort for us to be able to use them together.
(Wood Poppy: Can we be Scootaloo’s friends too, Diamond?! Can we can we?!)
…You’ll have to ask her that, but I’d like it very much.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Why not do that right now, Diamond? You can never have enough friends.)
Good idea…I think I will. Hehe, I guess I have a lot of friends now…That feels good.
Diamond…I’m glad I was able to forgive her. Righteous anger isn’t a sin, but…when it turns to wrath, that’s when it becomes a problem.
If I hadn’t, I would never have been her friend. And I guess I might have never been Silver’s friend either.
There are times for Anger and Hate, when they motivate you to fight injustice, but there’s also a time to let go of those things…
Hehe. If you’d told me a thousand years ago I’d been Diamond’s friend, I’d tell you you’re crazy. If you’d told me 990 years ago I’d be her friend? I’d probably punch you in the face. But I’m glad now she and Silver are my friends.
Now if you excuse me, me, Bomb Pie, Apple Pie, Inquisition, Minty, Silver, and yes, Diamond have a show in Sky Ocean to catch.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Hope you don’t mind, but Diamond’s brining some friends along.)
Hehe, the more the merrier.
Dark World Drabbles
Burying the Hatchet
Part 3 of 3
By Kendell2
Alright, before I get into the details, I guess I need to talk about how things were a thousand years ago a little bit. Diamond Tiara…she actually only spent her first couple weeks as Discord’s enforcers tormenting me and Sweetie Belle…then it got a bit more…creepy…
I won’t say she got bored with it, that’s not what happened. If she’d gotten bored that would have made sense because her ‘Uncle’ got bored of doing the same old tricks too (even by then we’d seen that). What happened was scary because…we just couldn’t understand it.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Uh, Diamond…who’s this?)
They’re Wood Poppy, Plum Blossom, and Snow Willow. They’re Breezies.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Yeah, I can tell they’re Breezies. Where did they come from?)
You said they were my cousins, so I went to Neighpon and met some.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): How?)
Toon powers.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Oh…They’re kinda cute I guess…do you want them to stick around for the interview or not?)
If it’s alright. They already knows how I used to be. Forgiveness has apparently always been a virtue in Neighpon. Though some Breezies didn’t…
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Uh, how did you talk with them?)
The Changelings helped…once I found some that didn’t think I was the boogiemare or hated me. Thankfully, me and mom helping defeat Grogar changed some of their minds.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Believe me I can relate.)
But the Breezies are really nice, I’m glad they’re my cousins. They came because they and some of their sisters can speak High Equestrian and wanted to see Equestria.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): I see…Wait, why can they speak High Equestrian but the other Breezies can‘t? I thought Discord made them from the same pony.)
(Snow Willow: It would appear that we each received a mixture of the basic components of her self as the foundations for our own individual personas.)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): First off, please don’t write in the notes without my permission.)
(Plum Blossom: Oh! We’re sorry! We‘re really really really sorry!…Um…may we?)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): …Only when it’s important. And second…uh, what did she just mean?)
(Wood Poppy: I think what my sister said is that we came from the parts of momma that could speak High Equestrian, Rainbow Dash-sama! She just comes from the brainy part!)
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Oh…Uh, nice to meet you….Diamond, can we please get back to your story now?)
You mean why I decided to stop bullying Scootaloo and Sweetie? I’d more or less decided it was totally pointless to pick on them anymore. I decided that about a lot of things. And part of it was…I kinda bullied them to make myself feel better, so now that I was happy and with mom…I didn’t feel like I needed to. So I decided to play and be ‘super friendly‘ with them. And…well, my mom’s idea of being nice was making somepony into a pony pretzel trying to give them a massage and I was just as insane as she was, so you can guess how that worked out.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Yikes!)
I know. But at least I didn’t MEAN to break Scootaloo’s foreleg and two of Sweetie’s ribs!
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): …)
I didn’t say I wasn’t sorry, I said I was honestly trying to play with them and be friendly for once in my life…I really was just trying to be nice…
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): It’s alright, Diamond. I’m done chewing you out over the past…that’s a story for another day though.)
Yeah, so basically, she started ‘playing’ with us and…well, she didn’t exactly play easy. I think that made things even more scary. When she was a bully, we could say ‘she hate us’ and that was that. When she hurt us because she thought she was being nice to us? It just made no sense. And that was scarier than when she hated us. Though…I guess I owed her for us reuniting with Applebloom. Long story short, we hadn’t found her after I came back to Ponyville looking for the others and we ended up hiding in Everfree to get away from Diamond when she and Discord came to play in town and that’s how we met Applebloom again.
But the point was, she still made our lives a living Tartarus. And then I joined Queen Cadence’s army later in life. I was a soldier training for her to be my enemy most of my life, and unlike the Chaos Six, I didn’t know a ‘good pony’ buried under Discord’s gunk. I just knew mean old Diamond Tiara, not to mention her and Discord had outright admitted she‘d JOINED him willingly…Even going to Heaven, I still remembered her as the enemy. That was how I remembered her. And I didn’t see a reason to change how I saw her like I did Rainbow Dash and the others.
I know I know: why was I the one who went to Scootaloo?
After all, I was always the bad guy. I was the schoolyard bully who’s sole purpose in life was to make the Crusaders miserable. The former madmare that’d followed Discord’s orders through to the letter and joined him without an ounce of brainwashing or receiving one of his lectures. I was a complete one trick pony who EXISTED to be the bad guy. So why was I the one who went to bury the hatchet?
It’s…complicated…You see…back when Sweetie Belle was alive, I was still Discord’s enforcer when she came to be Rarity’s caretaker. She lived in the castle and…Well there weren’t many ponies to play with besides Applejack and Fluttercruel, and Fluttercruel wasn’t interested in friends at the time, that wasn’t until later, after I retired. I spent a lot of time around Sweetie Belle and got to know her a lot better. She was scared of me at first, but…I think she liked my company…even when I became sane again, I remembered her as someone I liked…I was sad she didn’t come back.
So…when I realized that Scootaloo had, I guess…I wondered if we could be friends too. After Silver Spoon and I were friends again, I decided to give it a shot. That’s why I picked SCOOTALOO…there’s another reason I wanted friends…
The problem was getting somewhere were I could actually talk to her. I kept trying to, but she flew away before I could even say a word to her. And I couldn’t blame her, I mean after what I’d done…But I kept trying. I can be quite stubborn when I get something lodged in my head.
I did notice Diamond coming up on me a few times, but I normally just flew off since I didn’t really want to talk to her at all and she hadn’t talked to me yet. I wasn’t trying to be rude, I just didn’t WANT to talk to her and didn’t see any reason to.
Then one day I decided to stop by Sky Ocean. I’d never really got the chance to be there before when I was alive and I did want to talk to them about the rewrites to Discord’s play. They were actually really cool! Yeah, I knew what they were and that Discord made them, but…seeing them in equus? They all looked so beautiful. Each one was different and unique. And…well, they’re just nice. While I don’t like Discord or the Tartarus he turned the world into (even if by the end Eclipse was the puppeteer, Discord wasn‘t always on her strings), I can’t argue with Apple Pie when she says they’re beautiful.
However, as I found out, it was also somepony’s favorite hang out…
“Scootaloo! I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“Ahh!”
Like I’ve said, I tend to stick around with the sea ponies most of the time. They see Uncle Discord exactly how I do. They love him…they’re the only ones I feel like will truly understand me.
And now…well, they’re my cousins. Just like you, Breezies. Thanks for the hugs.
So I stayed there a lot of the time…so when I saw Scootaloo there, I figured it was finally my chance to speak with her. After all, how can you avoid somepony when you’re in a giant ocean floating in the sky? The exit wasn’t very close and Scootaloo couldn’t breath underwater…I think…I don’t know how being a crystal pony works.
“Ahh! Where’d you come from?!” Scootaloo yelled, tumbling backwards.
“I’m a living cartoon character.”
She gave a grumble. “Right, weird toon powers.”
“Look…I want to talk to you.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I figured.”
We ended up sitting in a corner of the Sky Ocean visitors area (yes, that was now a thing) so the Sea Ponies wouldn’t hear any ‘Discord really was evil’ stuff (not that they’d believe it).
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Um, excuse me?”
We jumped as a Sea Pony poked her head in. “Oh! I‘m very sorry! You were so quiet I’d forgotten anypony was here!”
We both blinked in confusion.
“Uh…sorry…”
After the Sea Pony left, we sat for a few more awkward moments.
“…So…um…” I finally started. “How are you doing?”
“…Good…”
“Oh…How are things going with Rainbow?”
“Fine.”
“Oh…Me and mom are doing fine…Silver came back…”
“Yeah…I know. We talked in Heaven.”
“Oh! So you’re friends?!”
“No…not so much friends as…not enemies.”
Silver was in Heaven, I was in Heaven. We had a thousand years. And…she died before me. It’s one thing for you to be bullied by someone. It’s another to see that pony was murdered after you wished so many times that they’d just disappear.
“Oh…Well…that’s…nice…”
“Diamond, what are you doing here?” I finally asked.
I jumped a little. Yes I was nervous! Can you blame me?
I took a deep breath. “Scootaloo…I want to be your friend…”
Scootaloo looked at me like I was crazy. Well, a different kind of crazy than I think she already thought I was. “You want to be my what?”
“I want to be your friend, Scootaloo. I want to start over…”
She looked completely shocked for a moment, then angry. Really angry.
“After everything, how can you POSSIBLY think we can be friends?!”
I expected something like this.
“Scootaloo, we might look like kids, but Miss Cheerilee’s school yard was a long time ago…I‘m different…I‘m sorry about back then…”
She actually laughed. “Really?! That’s what you think this is?! A little foalhood grudge?!”
Yes, I got mad! I got REALLY MAD! Yes, I’ve been to Heaven, but the thing about Heaven? You might not NEED to feel negative emotions in paradise, but if they don’t stop you from getting into it, you don’t lose them. You just don’t NEED to feel them. That’s the best I can describe it, what with being Heaven and all…But now I was in my mortal coil again.
“I haven’t been mad at you for that in YEARS! I let GO of that when Discord took you! Just like I let go of my anger at Silver Spoon when I found out her dad lopped her head off! I was GUILTY I’d been angry at you two and said ‘I wish she was gone’ when that happened!”
She didn’t seem scared or upset. But she seemed shocked. “You…you felt guilty?”
“Yeah! How do you think I felt when the two bullies I’d always wished were gone got beheaded and abducted by the evil overlord that tore the world apart?! Adults always say ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it,’ I know EXACTLY what they mean!”
“…Then…why are you mad at me?”
I snarled. Part of me wanted to hit her. “Why?! You want to know why?!” I laughed, I really laughed. It was almost FUNNY how little she knew. “Because you and your ‘uncle’ wrecked the world! I spent my entire foalhood hearing about the atrocities you two had caused! Do you have ANY idea how many ponies came to Avalon running AWAY from YOU and your mom?! How many of those ponies had relatives YOU killed?! How many ponies I met in Heaven that YOU killed?!”
Diamond gasped in surprise. I think her eyes were actually starting to tear up. Part of me ENJOYED it!
“I spent my foalhood wanting to BUCKING STOP YOU! THEN, when I got older, I began training to KILL you!”
I panted, she shuddered. I think I scared her. “…I wanted to stop you and your mother and your uncle so bad. But especially you. And you know why? You know why I was so dedicated to stopping you in particular? Why I’m so angry at you? Because you WEREN’T Discord’s brainwashed slave! You JOINED HIM! You told me straight to my face and Discord BRAGGED that he didn’t even have to trick you! That you WANTED to do it! Dash and the others were brainwashed, your mom was already crazy when Discord found her, the League of Auxiliary Minions were made from a soulless monster, the Valeyard was the Doctor‘s inner evil personified that Discord made surface by killing him who knows how many times. What‘s your excuse?”
“I…I just wanted to be with my mom…”
“I lost my parents too, BOTH of them, you didn’t see me accepting favors from Nightmare Moon to get them back, did you?”
I admit…that one hurt. If Scootaloo had had my Element, I’d have been in the hospital, I know it. I may not hate Uncle Discord for making me insane so I could be with my mom, but she was right. Selling my soul to become the evil overlord’s enforcer isn’t justified just because I was a scared little filly who wanted to see her mother again.
“That’s why I’m angry at you,” I spat. “Because out of every last one of Discord’s minions, you’re the only one who signed up knowing full well you were selling your soul to the devil. You’d seen everything that monster had done before that. All the ponies he’d hurt in Ponyville. You make me sick.”
I got in her face. “And you know what stinks the most about all that, Diamond? After training all my life for that fight? By the time I was of age to fight, you’d retired. You got away with it. I spent all that time planning to make you face justice for what you’d done, and then poof! You’re retired! You got off clean! I’m not angry because of what happened when we were foals in the schoolyard, I’m angry because you bucking got away with WILLINGLY joining up with the evil overlord that turned the world into a living Tartarus!”
“…So you’re angry you never got your chance to bring me to justice?” she asked, realization on her face. “You’re angry because you spent all that time preparing to bring me down for what I’d done…and in the end you never got the chance?”
“Yes.”
“…Fine,” she said, taking a step back and pulling her toon hammer out of her mouth. “Let’s do it.”
My eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “What?”
“You heard me! You want that fight you trained all your life to get? You want to give me my licks so I’ve paid for what I did? Fine! I agree with you! I deserve it! And if giving you a chance to kick my flank is what it takes to put this whole thing behind us, then I’m standing right here! Fight me! Beat the Tartarus out of me if that‘s what you need to do!”
I think my heart skipped a beat. “You…you WANT me to fight you?”
“YES! It’s what you want, isn’t it?”
She pulled a contract out of her ear and signed it before handing it to me.
“What is this?”
“A contract saying I absolve you of any wrongdoing for the beating I’m probably going to get out of this. Everything is official. My daddy WAS a business pony after all.”
I just stared at her in shock. I got that ‘be careful what you wish for’ feeling again. “…Why? Why are you doing this?”
I sat my hammer down. “…Because…” I started, looking down. “Because all of that? Everything I did? I…I thought I was making Uncle Discord happy. I thought he liked watching me ‘play‘…I thought I was making my family happy…then…then I found out…”
I looked at my hooves. “…Eclipse…Uncle Discord…he didn’t WANT to be a monster anymore. He didn’t WANT to hurt anyone or kill anyone! He wanted to be good! And…And…And I was still bad…”
I looked up at her. “I may have THOUGHT I was being nice and kind, but I hurt ponies. I killed ponies. I crushed skulls. And I thought my games were making my uncle happy. But they weren‘t. If anything, they were torturing him just like Eclipse wanted them to! Instead of being the good little niece I thought I was being, I was helping a psychopathic witch make the guy I thought I was helping miserable! The guy I LOVED as part my family!”
I broke down crying. I admit it. “…I wanted to help him so much, but all I ever did was hurt him…I was worthless to him…Just like I was before…”
Scootaloo blinked. “What?”
“…You want to know how I got my Cutie Mark? Stealing my mom’s tiara and wearing it! You know what that caused?”
You know, it’s strange…if I’d remembered it without my mom being there, I don’t want to know what it would have done to me. I think that’s why Queen Libra made sure we were together when we became sane again, so we could help each other through it. If we’d been alone…I don’t want to know.
“…It’s why my mom went insane and it broke my family apart! Everything you just said about me?! I agree with you! I can‘t even get my bucking Cutie Mark without making somepony‘s life miserable! That’s all I’ve ever been good for! Causing misery! I‘m no good to ANYPONY! I‘m…I‘m worthless…and now…for once in my life, I just want to start being WORTH something to SOMEONE! I‘m tired of ONLY existing to cause misery! I‘m tired of having only one note to who I am! I want to be a PONY instead of some bucking one dimensional bully antagonist you‘d see on a kids show! I want to MEAN SOMETHING to somepony other than me!”
She started sobbing. She’d just fallen apart as she spoke. I…I didn’t know what to do. I’d wanted to see her pay for what she’d done. I wanted to make her sorry for it…I’d got it.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.
What she said…it hit home. I hated to admit it, but I actually sympathized with her because I’d been there. That feeling like you’re worthless…
“Diamond…I…”
Diamond stood up, wiped her tears with a tissue she pulled out of nowhere, and picked up her hammer. “C-Come on. Let’s do this.” She was still trembling. She choked back a couple sobs. “Come on! Give me the plot kicking we both know I deserve!”
“…You’re really sorry for what you did?”
“Yes! I just said that! You‘re right!”
“…I…”
I looked down at my hooves. I didn’t know what to think or say…My nemesis had just broke down crying right in front of me and they WEREN‘T crocodile tears. And I actually knew a bit of what she was going through. I guess this is how it must have been when the ponies who have spent the last thousand years thinking Rainbow and the others were monsters felt to see them vulnerable and guilty.
“…Look…I…I have a lot to think about…” I replied with a sigh. “…Can I have time to think about it?”
Diamond nodded. “S-Sure…I guess…”
“Thanks…And Diamond?”
“Yes?”
“…You’re not worthless…Nothing is…that’s something I learned in Heaven. And something I learned spending so long as an orphan blank flank with weak wings who took forever to learn to fly…Even if you messed up…a lot…and were messed up…in a lot of ways…Even if I was angry at you…even if I wanted to see you pay…you’re not worthless, okay? You‘ll keep feeling that way until you decide to give it worth, but even then you‘re never worthless…I‘ve been there, and I stayed there until I did something about it.”
I didn’t know what to think really. Here was the pony who’s life I’d made a living Tartarus…telling me I actually meant something. Suddenly my uncle’s chaos seemed NORMAL. But…in a way it was that good kind of crazy…the kind I like.
I knew we weren’t friends yet. I didn’t even think that we were ‘not enemies’ yet…But I guess I finally saw how I looked from her side and…I guess she understood me a bit better…at least better enough to give me a second chance.
We didn’t really become friends until later. Sometimes one ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t enough to make it up to somepony…And now I understand that…I still don’t know how much I’m worth…but I think I’m worth more than I started out as…I’m not just a one dimensional bully anymore at least.
Me and Scootaloo did talk more. We did spend more time together. We BECAME friends…I guess not all friendships happen in one big impactful moment, but that’s the way the world works. Even now she still doesn’t like it when I talk about how I feel about my Uncle or how understand why I’m THANKFUL he drove me crazy. We weren’t suddenly BFFs. But we’re still friends. Though it helped when I eventually got around to talking with her about Sweetie.
“Wait, you knew Sweetie?” she asked.
“Yes…that’s part of why I wanted to be your friend. The only real…companions I had when I was Discord’s enforcer was Applejack and her. The sea ponies didn’t really exist yet, Uncle was still making them and Sky Ocean (even with his powers he needed ponies), Pinkie Pie hadn’t started taking in her ‘children’ yet, and Fluttercruel hadn’t wanted a companion yet…Sweetie was the only one my age, and even then, I stayed young while she grew older…I never got to see her on the same level after that…I was disappointed when she didn’t come back so I could have a chance to really be her friend, but…I thought if I could learn to get along with one Crusader, maybe I could get along with the others…Ever since Silver Spoon came back for me, I wanted to be worth something to more ponies than just her…and I thought becoming your friend would be a good start since…maybe I could make up for the misery I caused you too. That‘s why I wanted you to be my friend, what I said before was why I wanted to be friends with someone.”
Scootaloo looked at her hooves for a moment. “…Thanks…”
“You’re welcome Scootaloo…”
“…Did you say Silver came back for you?”
“Yeah…it…it gave me a lot to think about…that someone would leave everything in Heaven behind for my sake…It was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me…”
“…I know how she feels.”
Scootaloo told me how she’d come back for Rainbow Dash, just like Silver had for me. It was unbelievable to see two former enemies actually have something in common. Scootaloo saw it too. That’s why she stopped being ‘not enemies’ with Silver and began to become friends…And I think we’d started to become ‘not enemies’ too by then. Becoming friends came not long after.
I think her finding that out about Silver was why she nominated Silver to be the new Element of Kindness…Silver Spoon nominated me as Cruelty because we were already friends and I was becoming Scootaloo‘s friend, so if I became Cruelty it wouldn’t require much effort for us to be able to use them together.
(Wood Poppy: Can we be Scootaloo’s friends too, Diamond?! Can we can we?!)
…You’ll have to ask her that, but I’d like it very much.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Why not do that right now, Diamond? You can never have enough friends.)
Good idea…I think I will. Hehe, I guess I have a lot of friends now…That feels good.
Diamond…I’m glad I was able to forgive her. Righteous anger isn’t a sin, but…when it turns to wrath, that’s when it becomes a problem.
If I hadn’t, I would never have been her friend. And I guess I might have never been Silver’s friend either.
There are times for Anger and Hate, when they motivate you to fight injustice, but there’s also a time to let go of those things…
Hehe. If you’d told me a thousand years ago I’d been Diamond’s friend, I’d tell you you’re crazy. If you’d told me 990 years ago I’d be her friend? I’d probably punch you in the face. But I’m glad now she and Silver are my friends.
Now if you excuse me, me, Bomb Pie, Apple Pie, Inquisition, Minty, Silver, and yes, Diamond have a show in Sky Ocean to catch.
(Interviewer’s Notes (Rainbow Dash): Hope you don’t mind, but Diamond’s brining some friends along.)
Hehe, the more the merrier.
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Dark World may be a bad future were Discord won. It may have been saved. But that doesn't mean the heroes' stories are the only ones who deserve to be told.
How did Scootaloo, the new Element of Loyalty, and Diamond Tiara, her former bully and reformed minion of the evil overlord she rebelled against turned good Element of Cruelty, form a bond strong enough to use the Elements? And how did things happen that built up to them receiving those Elements in the first place? This is the story of exactly that.
This was meant to be one Chapter but this NEEDED a lot of backstory revealed to it, it was actually a lot longer but the back story kept taking over, so I'm aiming for three parts. This is the main event 
This story is kinda special as it's my birthday present to 
. Happy birthday bud! Tried to include some things you liked.
. Happy birthday bud! Tried to include some things you liked.My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.
Pony POV Series belongs to
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I keep forgetting this isn't Dark world prime (the Equestria were the arc began).