"Blank flank! Hehehehe!"
Scootaloo was used to this. She heard it every recess. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would always mock her for something. One week, it's her cutie mark (or lack there of), the next it's her mane style. What annoyed Scootaloo more than being mocked for being a "blank flank," was Diamond Tiara's hypocrisy. She had, after all, only gotten hers fairly recently. Scootaloo tried to tune it out, but she never could. She was, though, able to not let it affect her. That was usually when she had her friends around to help her, but today, she was alone. Her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were home sick with the flu.
"It must be so sad," Diamond Tiara said, "to know that you're not special in any way. You haven't any special talent. No, you don't have any talents at all! You can't do anything right."
"Good one, Diamond Tiara," Silver Spoon added. They shared a high hoof. Scootaloo always saw Silver Spoon as more of a henchman or a lackey. She never came up with anything on her own. The only times she ever spoke were to praise Diamond Tiara with her two-bits-worth or to do their stupid secret hoofshake thing. How did that go again? "Bump, bump, sugar lump, rump!" Yeah, that was it.
"Well, it's true," Diamond Tiara continued. "Just look at her. Heh, pitiful. A pegasus that can't even fly. I know baby pegasi who can fly better than you."
That stung a little. This was the first time they brought that up. Scootaloo felt tears coming up, so she forced them back. She couldn't, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction. It was no use, though. For even though there were no tears, the look on her face was enough to show how she felt. Diamond Tiara saw an opportunity, a window of it, and she took it.
"I mean, look at these wings," she said. "So flimsy. And so disproportionate to her body. Not aerodynamic in the slightest. Such a useless waste of matter."
Scootaloo tried as hard as she could to force back the depression, because she knew it only meant more was to come. If she could hold them back, maybe they'd stop. It was a false hope though, as the mean words just got worse and worse. At this point, Scootaloo made no more attempts to hide her tears. There was no point anymore. They won. Scootaloo lost. But Diamond Tiara wasn't finished. She looked down at Scootaloo and laughed. It was a cold, icy laugh. "That's it. Cry. Why don't you run home and cry to your mommy? Oh, you can't, can you? Where is your mom, Scootaloo? Is she dead? Why don't you go run and cry over her cold, shallow grave?"
Nopony could have expected what happened next. What Diamond Tiara just said struck a nerve with Scootaloo. If there was a line, she just crossed it. She not only crossed it, she obliterated the thing. Scootaloo raised her hoof and punched Diamond Tiara right in the muzzle, as hard as she could. It happened so fast and with so much force, even Scootaloo was surprised. Now, Diamond Tiara was on the ground, bleeding profusely. Scootaloo had broken her nose. Within a moment, everyone had gathered to see what had happened. They were mumbling, trying to figure out what happened. It didn't take long for them to realize that it was Scootaloo who had struck her down. After a moment of silence that seemed like forever to Scootaloo, they made a noise that she never expected. Applause. They were cheering her name. She watched Silver Spoon lead Diamond Tiara out of the crowd of students.
The next day at school was a pivotal one. Scootaloo watched Diamond Tiara walk into the classroom with a cast over her nose. She walked up to Scootaloo and said in a congested voice, "Hey, Scootaloo, can I talk to you?"
They walked over to the corner. When they were sure they were out of earshot, Scootaloo asked, "How's you're nose?"
"It's still a bit sore, but I'm fine."
It occurred to Scootaloo that she hadn't gotten in trouble yesterday. "What did you tell the school nurse and your parents?"
"I told them it was a playground accident," she said flatly.
"You were that vague and they believed you?" Scootaloo asked.
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow to make an expression that said, "You really need to ask that question? Of course they did."
It was true. She did have a knack for persuasion. After a long pause, Diamond Tiara was the next to speak. "I'm sorry."
Scootaloo was surprised. "You're sorry? I broke your nose."
"And who could blame you?" Diamond Tiara snapped. "After the way I've treated you over the years, I'm surprised you haven't tried to murder me."
Scootaloo never expected this from Diamond Tiara. She wasn't really one to right her wrongs or apologize to ponies. Nevertheless, she accepted the apology. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I broke your nose."
Cheerrilee's voice broke the conversation. "All right my little ponies, time for class. Everyone get to your seat."
Scootaloo obeyed. That day was the first one in years that Diamond Tiara didn't make fun of her. In fact, she didn't bully anyone else, either. From that day on, Scootaloo had a new found respect for Diamond Tiara. She had proven she was capable of being nice to others. To Scootaloo's knowledge, she never bullied anyone again. Perhaps it was her. Perhaps it was that smack to the nose that was her wake up call. Scootaloo pondered these questions as she played with her friends at recess.
Or, rather, the lack of one. First off, I'd like to thank all of you for your positive feedback. It really means a lot to me. A lot of you have expressed interest in a sequel. Well, I'm not going to write one, for several reasons. The first reason is that when I wrote this story over a year ago, I conceptualized the story on Friday, wrote the whole thing on Saturday, and posted it to DeviantART on Sunday. This was way before I used fimfiction, you understand. The whole point of the story was to see if I could still write a compelling, well written story in only a thousand words. And, for all intents and purposes, it succeeded. To date, it remains one of my most praised and highest rated stories. Granted, it's one of the few I've actually completed, but that's no the point. People love it, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a success. But that's just it. I wrote this with the intention that it be a stand alone, quick, short story that can still be very good without being longer. I had no intentions on a sequel, and I still don't.
A second reason is that sequels that only exist because of popular demand and NOT because the author really wanted to write a sequel always fail. They don't have the same charm as the first one and they just plain aren't as good. Let me use another fimfiction user as an example. He goes by the name of Rust. One of his most popular stories ever is The Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog. And rightfully so, because it is just amazing. I won't go into too much detail, or else this would go on WAY too long, but I will say it is my favorite fanfiction I've ever read. So when he made a sequel, The Legend of Echo the Diamond Dog, you bet your ass I was pumped! But what I got was very forced, overly complex, tedious, and if I had to pick another word, boring, just plain boring. Rust has even said that he had no intentions on a sequel in the first place, and he only wrote it because it was in such high demand. He wasn't even very interested in the story himself, and he said it was keeping him from writing other works. I don't want that to happen to me.
A third reason is simply that if I don't think I can come up with a story that's worth writing, then I'm not going to force myself to write something uninspired. It's just going to come out bad. That's not what writing is about to me. That's never what it's been about. It's about creating art in the form of the written word when I'm inspired to do so. It's not about creating shovelware because the readers demand it.
If I can come up with a story idea that not only works with this story, but also conveys a good central theme that I think goes hand in hand with the one in this story, then MAYBE I'll consider writing a sequel. But for now, no. No sequel. Sorry to disappoint.
