A bright orange pegasus came in, being pushed along by Sweetie Belle. It was made quite clear from Scootaloo's face that she did not want to talk to Diamond Tiara. Fair enough, Diamond Tiara didn't really want to talk to her either. It would be a bloodbath either way, since Scootaloo always heavily opposed Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. Frankly, she couldn't find anything wrong with that. There wasn't exactly anything to like, after all.

"I told you, I don't want to talk to her!" Scootaloo growled at Sweetie Belle, finally getting on all four hooves. "She isn't worth my time and she wasn't worth yours! I bet she brainwashed you, huh? Made you like her? I would expect nothing less from a witch like Diamond Tiara-"

"Enough!" Apple Bloom stormed in and marched right up to Scootaloo. "If y'all even dare to hurt Diamond Tiara, then you can be sure that you ain't a friend of ours!" Scootaloo whimpered right where she stood, ears drooping. Apple Bloom's tone held such authority that Diamond Tiara couldn't help but be shocked at her maturity. Apple Bloom turned around and walked out, head held high. Sweetie Belle followed, casting a glance at Scootaloo. She was still in a whimpering pose, but the color had returned to her face. The door shut behind Sweetie Belle, and it was just the two of them. Scootaloo pulled herself up and looked Diamond Tiara in the eye, expression never wavering.

"Look. I don't care if you say that you've changed or whatever. I'll still never forgive you or forget what you've done to us. You've hurt us more than you know." Scootaloo stated with a hard face. Her expression was stone cold and Diamond Tiara knew it would never change. Scootaloo's attitude wouldn't change.

Inside the mind of the scooter driving pegasus, thoughts were going a thousand miles an hour and yet, she didn't care. This evil pony had tormented Scootaloo and her friends. She would never change, ever. There was nothing inside her. Nothing. She was probably figuring out the best way to pin Scootaloo down and brainwash her into some kind of worship of her family. Scootaloo thought she was crazy.

Yet, Diamond Tiara was thinking the same thing. She thought Scootaloo was a crazy and rebellious spirit who would never accept for her mistakes. Unfortunately, she didn't forgive and forget. No, Scootaloo's first impression of a pony is the one that stays and never changes, even when the pony does a complete 180 and changes. Diamond Tiara hadn't even realized her own mistakes until recently, but Scootaloo would take those mistakes and shove them down her throat forever.

"Celestia sang a lullaby to Luna when she was on the moon." Diamond Tiara said blankly. She didn't know why - the words just appeared out of nowhere. Scootaloo looked at her with blank shock. What did that have to do with anything? Diamond Tiara didn't know why, but she knew it was important. She didn't know how she knew that Celestia sang to Luna, but.. it was knowledge that crept out from the deepest parts of Diamond Tiara's heart. "One of the things she sang was that Luna was loved so much more than she knew, and that her rage blinded her from seeing it. Celestia herself had been blind to the fact that she was so caught up with the limelight and her kingdom that she didn't love Luna as much as she deserved."

Diamond Tiara contemplated what she had just spouted. Celestia sang the lullaby that described her own struggles and Luna's.. just like Scootaloo and herself. Diamond Tiara was not noble by any means, but she was too blind with rage to see her mistakes.. like Nightmare Moon. She also got so caught up in something else that she treated everyone like trash to get to her own goals, just like how Celestia was caught up in her own image. "Oh my gosh.."

Scootaloo stepped back, clearly scared at what Diamond Tiara was going to do. "I'm just like them.. I'm too blind to see my own mistakes.. but so are you." Diamond Tiara looked at her longtime enemy, the one that she hated with all her might, and saw anger and despair forming in those eyes. "You look at me like I'm a witch, like a puppetmaster. I had intentions to do what was right but I never saw what I did as wrong. You're no better than I am. You hate me for who I was then, not who I am now."

"Well, ponies don't change like that! Oh sure, they try, but they always go back to their old ways! Always! You may be acting nice now, but within a month you'll be like you were before. I guarantee it." Scootaloo snarled angrily. She'd had experience with this so called "change" with other ponies. She trusted them, but they turned on her as soon as they could. Diamond Tiara would do the same to her, like everypony else did.

"Can you? Can you even say you've experienced-"

"YES! I have experienced your little change before!"

Diamond Tiara shook her head irritably. "That wasn't was I was going to ask. If you would let me finish, you'd know that isn't what I was going to say. I was going to ask if you've ever experienced having a mental breakdown." Scootaloo was taken aback. A mental breakdown? Things like that were rare in Equestria, Diamond Tiara was surely just pulling her leg. Putting on an ignorant face, she carefully responded, "No. I haven't. Frankly, those kinds of things don't even happen anymore."

"They do happen because it happened to me. I was confused. Angry at the world. I didn't want to see my own mistakes, so I took it out on myself. I thought there was some unknown force speaking to me, making me go crazy. But I was at war with my own past. It was all in my head. Princess Luna said the only way to solve the problem is to right my wrongs. That's what I'm doing today. Yet, you don't even believe me when I say I'm sorry. You think ponies can never change." Diamond Tiara's words slowly turned into venom with anger. Scootaloo couldn't understand her at all, because she refused to forgive. What a downfall that was. "But you're wrong. We CAN change and become better! It's ponies like you who refuse to believe that ponies can be different from who they were! The past is not today, Scootaloo! I am not who I was!" Scootaloo literally backed up into the wall in fear. This was exactly what she was afraid of.

Scootaloo, trying to regain her composure as Diamond Tiara tried to prevent herself from yelling any more, attempted to talk to her. "I-I didn't know you had a, uh, breakdown. But that doesn't excuse what you've done to us. How can I be sure you won't do what you did to us again?" The pegasus eyed Diamond Tiara, clearly trying to dissolve her feelings of anger.

"You can't be sure and neither can I. Promises are only worth their value if you can keep them. But I can try harder than I ever have. What I've felt is no excuse and I don't intend it to be an excuse. But I can help you guys by truly trying to help. No more of the torment I thought could help. I can actually try to help you guys in what you do. But only if you'll accept me for who I am now."

Scootaloo's thoughts were consisting of just a few simple words. Forget them and move on. She quickly shook her head to get rid of the thoughts and sat down for a few minutes, thinking. Diamond Tiara had expressed so much and revealed much more than Scootaloo thought she'd be capable of. But could she really help them?

"I.. I guess you can help us. I'll never truly forgive you. I mean, I could, but I hurt too much for what you've done to us. Perhaps in the future, I could forgive you. But now, it's an alliance between us." A small smile broke out on Scootaloo's face. She was making friends with the pony she despised most. It was a strange feeling. "I'll go get Apple Bloom." Scootaloo opened the door and walked out.

Two down, two to go. This would be the most challenging. Apple Bloom may not have Scootaloo's hate, but she was the primary victim of Diamond Tiara. No doubt her feelings would be mixed.

Diamond Tiara knew she could keep moving forward if all went well.

Author's Note

Ahh, references. There are several strewn in this entire story, and of course Lullaby for a Princess was an obvious one with other small ones. I hope you all have been enjoying the story so far. How I found the motivation to write pony stories and share them is something I don't understand, but I'm grateful for the responses from you guys.

There are only a few chapters left to go - Apple Bloom, Silver Spoon and possibly a closing chapter for everything.

If you have any story ideas that you're too lazy to write, feel free to share them with me. I'm always looking for inspiration! I have a few ideas but I always enjoy adding more ideas and components!