I didn’t hesitate. Rock Climber had bared his soul to me and spoken from his heart. I had no reason to doubt his apology was genuine or that he was trying to deceive me. The pain in his words was so deep I couldn’t stop crying myself. I went over and gave him a big hug. I held him through his tears until he ran out of them and he just let out shuddering breaths. “I believe you,” I finally said. “And I forgive you.”

“You shouldn’t!” he said loudly. “I’m a terrible person and a horrible friend. I don’t deserve to be loved after everything I’ve done.”

Before I could respond Scootieloo swooped down from the tree she was sitting in. “You’re wrong!” she said strongly. Rock Climber wasn’t expecting her, and he tried to stifle his crying. “You don’t understand just how wrong you are. You are very brave.”

“S-Scootaloo…” he said, giving a sniff. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Rose had me listening in. We just wanted to make sure your brother wasn’t trying for round two.”

“Oh…”

**********

“Hey, Rose. Come here for a sec.”

“Yes?” she responded, walking towards me.

“Would you mind if I played the role of big sister to your friend here for a little while?”

“N-no!” she responded strongly. “Why do you want to do that?”

“Because I think he needs some good advice and building up after all the put downs and eroding of his self-esteem from his brother.”

“I don’t want you to do that!”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re my big sister.”

I had to suppress a laugh. Rose was actually jealous and being possessive of me. “Don’t you care for your friend? He needs some help from someone who understands. Don’t be stingy.”

She looked behind her at Rock Climber, then back at me. “Just for tonight?”

“Just for tonight,” I responded back.

She sighed, and said, “Okay.”

I went over to Rock Climber and pulled him back on his hooves. “Come with me. Let’s have a little talk, you and I.”

I saw him look uncertainly at me. “You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

“Not at all.”

So we went for a walk around the yard. “I don’t approve at all of the way your brother has been behaving. I can’t find it in me to forgive him yet, but I understand why the both of you acted the way you did. I’ve been there myself when I was about your age.”

“You have?” he asked.

“I was part of the school newspaper, along with my two best friends. Since we couldn’t fit all our names on the articles we made up a pseudonym of Gabby Gums. A few days after we started two of our classmates got gum stuck on themselves. They made a big mess of it and actually got themselves stuck to each other. It was really funny, and we posted the picture in the paper along with an article about it. The article was a hit in class, and the two of them found it funny too, and liked that they got in the paper.

“One of my friends sisters saw the article, and she found it hilarious and said she wanted more stories like it. So we left the schoolyard behind and began finding more juicy, gossipy stories. As we began printing more stories the school newspaper grew beyond the school to the regular newsstand.

"We grew more and more popular, but to keep printing stories ponies would want to read we began going into our family and friends private lives. We used embarrassing photographs our photographer took, and sometimes plain made up lies to go with it. Anything to get others attention. The three of us tried once to do a plainer story with just an interview, but the editor-in-chief rejected it as boring.

“Back then we were set on doing whatever it took to get our cutie marks, so we figured if gossip was our special talent then we had to do what was necessary to get our marks. Just like you, what we were doing was bothering us deep down, but we ignored the guilty feelings because we wanted to remain popular. Even though we only used a pseudonym and nobody knew personally who Gabby Gums was, the popularity of the columns and how many ponies wanted to read them stroked our egos enough that we suppressed our feelings of thinking that our columns were probably hurting other ponies feelings."

"I... I didn't think that you were ever like that," said Rock Climber. "After everything Rose said about you you seemed almost perfect."

I chuckled. "Well, that's the way Rosie sees me, but everyone has flaws. After we got home from the warehouse we got into a fight with each other."

"You did?"

"Yeah. I was mad at her for going alone, and she got mad at me for keeping a secret from her."

"I see. I guess everyone has their problems with siblings sometimes."

"Too right. I would never claim to be perfect."

"So what happened with the column?"

“Well, we went too far one time, and it led to us getting exposed. We printed a page of a diary that belonged to my friends sister. Since Sweetie Belle worked on the paper Rarity guessed that her sister was responsible. When word got out who the mystery writers were we suddenly went from popular to the most hated ponies in town. Even though everyone loved reading about everyone else’s secrets, none of them liked it when the horseshoe was on the other hoof. Even our own families were furious with us. Apple Bloom’s siblings were furious, Rainbow Dash was furious with me, and everyone around town wouldn’t look at us.

“To make matters worse our editor refused to let us resign. She blackmailed us with some embarrassing photos of us our photographer had taken, telling us that if we quit she’d run those pictures to humiliate us because “if Gabby Gums really does go into retirement, then I’m going to need something to fill that empty column space.”

“So now we were faced with a tough decision. Did we save what little reputation we had and ignore our conscience again by writing another column, or did we do nothing and insist on quitting and let ourselves be humiliated for a change?”

I could see Rock Climber was looking at me with rapt attention. He seemed to have forgotten about his own situation for the moment. “So what did you do?”

“As we sat in our clubhouse we debated over the matter for the next couple of hours, unable to see a way out. Finally, though, we made a decision. We didn’t do either of the options. We took a third option. We made the right choice and wrote another column.”

Rock Climber stopped walking, looking strangely at me. “Hold on! That was the right decision… to go embarrass somepony else?”

“Come on. Keep walking with me and let me finish.”

He hesitated for a few seconds, and then he kept walking, catching up to me. “So who did you write about? And why was that the right thing to do?”

“Because the ones we wrote about… was us.”

“You?”

“That’s right. Just like you we had reached a point where we could no longer appease our consciences with lies and excuses. So we came clean, openly and completely. We posted our picture and confessed to our deeds, promising to respect other’s privacy and not to engage in hurtful gossip anymore. We asked for forgiveness for shaming and mortifying everyone, and we put our quills to rest. After it was printed we took a copy and showed it to our loved ones around town, and they did forgive us for finally doing the right thing. And boy was it a load off of us.

“To summarize, I can understand the feeling of having quick popularity go right to your head, just like it did to your brother. And I can also understand the feeling of ignoring guilt and pushing ahead with something that you know is wrong because you want to be liked. What we did was wrong, pure and simple. But we learned from it, and became better ponies for it.

“Rock Climber… you also did something wrong. You got swept up in wanting to spend time with your brother because he began ignoring you in favor of spending time with ponies his own age. You wanted it so badly you were willing to do whatever it took, even if it meant stealing or vandalizing other pony’s property. You fed your aching conscience with lies to make yourself feel better.”

As we returned back to his own actions his shame became prominent again. “However… while what you did will never be the right thing to have done, it stopped being wrong too when you finally made a new choice: the right choice. You finally confronted the feelings inside you, and found them unbearable. You had to get the truth out or it would have broken you.

"You should be proud of yourself for coming to that decision. You have done some bad things, but they are no worse than some things I did as a filly. You are not your actions. Just because you did something bad does not mean that you are irrevocably evil and don’t deserve love and affection. It just means that the choices you made at the time were not the correct ones. You're a good kid. You understand that? You did the right thing today.”

He had stopped walking again. Tears welled up in his eyes as his body clenched, holding back his emotions as he turned away. “N-no,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

“Look at me!” I said sternly, grabbing his snout with my hoof and pushing his head until our eyes met. With a tender smile I said as kindly as I could, “You… did… the right …thing! And you need to accept that. We all make mistakes. When you’re willing to admit it and try to fix things that’s when you become worthy of forgiveness, and those who love you grow proud to see you maturing. Just like I see it now. You don’t have to beat yourself up anymore. You are a wonderful boy, and you need to see that.”

He couldn’t hold them back anymore. Tears came down his eyes before he began sobbing again, hugging me like his life depended on it. “T-t-thank you, Scoo-scootalo,” he sputtered out through his sobs.

I put a hoof around him lovingly. “You’re welcome.”

I felt a strange sensation. When I looked up I could see Rose glaring at Rock Climber with a look like hatred. Her mouth was just a thin line and she was shaking a little.

I had to suppress another laugh. Rosie was feeling so jealous right now of sharing me with someone else. Maybe I shouldn’t have actually said I was going to act as a big sister. That probably would have prevented Rosie’s feelings now.

Rock Climber settled down after a few minutes. He let me go, and wiped his face. “Scootaloo?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you again. Ever since I told the truth I wasn’t really sure if I had done the right thing. My brother looked so mad at me. I don’t think he really is going to talk to me anymore. That makes me so sad.

"Scootaloo, do you think my real brother is ever going to come back to me? The one he was before he met Heavy Downpour and Midnight Dream?”

I closed my eyes for a moment as I let out a heavy breath. “To be perfectly honest-”

“That’s a no, isn’t it?” he said accusingly as he began crying again, looking heartbroken.

“Let me finish, kid. I can’t give you an answer, but you shouldn’t feel guilty for exposing your brother’s behavior to your parents. Keep in mind what you said to Rose. You didn’t tell on him because you wanted to be mean, or in revenge, or just to see him get in trouble.

"You said when you saw him tie up Rose and threaten to leave her overnight and then spit in her mane without any sort of remorse or guilt that that scared you most of all. You knew that your brother had changed due to the influence of his friends, but this was iron proof that he had gone past the limit of what you could allow. Here he was actually willing to bring harm, even if mainly emotional, on a pony half his age. You were scared of losing your brother entirely to his new behaviors.

"You can be sure that your brother is going to be extremely mad at you. He’s in big trouble, and your parents aren’t going to let them interact anymore and keep closer tabs on his activities. How he reacts to this is what is going to determine whether he continues down the wrong path, or whether he wakes up to how much he had to change to fit in.

"He could decide to go on full rebellion mode and become worse than he is now, or he might decide that he had been doing the wrong thing just like you did and shape up. I don’t know him well enough to know what he will do. What I do know, however, is that he has been a bad influence on you by pushing you to do the same unlawful activities he and those other two were into.”

Rock Climber looked at the ground again. He gently kicked one of his hooves, and I could feel he had a question on his tongue. “What is it?”

He looked back up at me. “I… I know that this is something I shouldn’t ask, but… I… I mean…” He began blushing.

“Yes? The worst I can do is say no.”

“Do you think I could spend some more time with you? Right now my brother isn’t going to want anything to do with me, and I don’t think I can stand being home for the next couple of days because he’s so mad. You… you sound a lot like how my brother used to be, and I need someone like you right now. You already said before that I can join in on your scooter lessons. Do you think you could be my big sis for now until my brother makes up his mind?”

His question took me by surprise because it was so unexpected. Someone I had just met today was asking me to be their big sister. I truly felt honored and touched. I felt bad turning him down. “I’m sorry, Rock Climber, but I don’t think I can do that.” The disappointment on his face was intense.

“Scootieloo!” Rosie said scoldingly, rushing up to Rock Climber and giving him a hug as she sat on her back legs. Putting one hoof on her side she said, “How could you be so cold and heartless? I thought you were better than that!”

I blinked. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! When did I suddenly become the bad guy here? You were the one who got all upset over sharing me. I just didn’t want to upset you again right after we made up.”

“Well, that was then, and this is now. Rock Climber needs a cool older sibling right now to talk to, and he couldn’t have picked a better one.” I smiled at her compliment. “Yeah, I did get a little upset and jealous, but then I started thinking about what you were talking about. You understood his feelings because you went through something similar in your past. So I understand Rock Climber’s desire too, because I had been missing you. You seemed so different all week you didn’t feel like Scootieloo anymore.”

“Rosie, are you absolutely sure this isn’t going to bother you?”

“Not at all.” Her certain response of being uncertain made me laugh. “I think I am going to get jealous and upset more, but I still want to share you with him. After all, it broke your heart at first to share your scooter with me, but then you felt glad you did it. And if I want to grow up and be cool like you then I have to do what you do. It may hurt a bit not having you all to myself, but I want to have Rock Climber hang out with us.”

I smiled warmly down at her. “Rosie… you’ve grown up a little. I’m proud of you.” She blushed brightly at my compliment, beaming back at me. “Well, that settles that, then.”

Rock Climber looked up hopefully. “Does… does that mean…”

“That’s right, kid. For the time being you now have an older sister.”

“Woohoo!” he cheered, running over to me and hugging me again. “I promise I’ll do better than before.”

“Good. So are you still feeling guilty?”

He closed his eyes, making little thoughtful grunts, then said, “A little bit. I’m not all better yet. I still need some time. But your words helped a lot. Now I see why Rose is so cool and tough if she has a sister like you.”

Rose had had a mixed expression on her face, like she wanted to pull Rock Climber off of me, while at the same time just feeling happy for his happiness. However, when she heard him say that she shined with pride.

“So, how was that for the first day of the school year?” I asked, shaking my head. “Certainly full of a lot more excitement than I had back then.”

“Tell me about it!” Rose said wearily.

“But tomorrow will be better!” Rock Climber said excitedly. “I can’t wait to start my lessons with a real pro. You even have a cutie mark in scootering so I know I’m learning from the best.”

“Thanks, kid.” I patted his head a few times. “It’s starting to get late, so I think I better take you home.”

“Okay.” I got down on the floor and he climbed onto my back. After we took off I said a quick goodbye to Rosie and got directions from him.

This was going to be a crazy week, I could tell already. However, I welcomed the excitement. I had been feeling so down in the dumps all week I was ready for things to pick up again.

When he pointed out his house to me I flew a few hundred feet away from it before I landed. He got off my back before asking, “Why did you land so far away?”

“It’s for the best. I don’t think I should be too close to your house today. I’m sure your brother is still fuming, so I don’t want him to see me. That could cause some problems.”

“Oh…yeah.”

"I have something I need to say to you.”

“What’s that?”

“I just want to repeat what I said before, because this night and probably the next few days are going to be the toughest. You should expect a lot of opposition. Thunder Storm will most likely call you a traitor and a promise breaker. He may attack you physically or break your stuff. He may yell and scream at you and do all he can to make you feel as terrible as he can.

"When that happens I don’t want you to doubt yourself. Don’t give in to his taunts or words and become consumed with guilt and misery. As I told you before, you did the right thing. True love isn’t just doing whatever the other person wants. True love is stopping someone you love from doing something risky or dangerous, because you can’t stand to see them harming themselves.

"It can take courage to go against people you don’t like, but it takes a whole lot more to go against someone you truly care for. Unfortunately, as I also said before, we don’t yet know whether this punishment will make him worse or make him better, but you may well have saved your brother’s life tonight.”

“Why do you say that?” I could see the doubt in his face.

“If he found enjoyment in what he did today when someone just happened to intrude in their private spot, then maybe they’d take it a step further and abduct other ponies to toy with them. And then maybe he’d go a step further and beat them up. Each time he pushed past and ignored his feelings he could go one step further down a path of no return. Because of your great love for your brother you finally put a wall in his path to stop him from getting any worse. You’re a hero! You may not be a flashy hero who the whole town loves, but…” My mind turned to me saving Rose Blossom as a baby. “If you can save even just one life, then that makes you a hero.”

“Thank you, Scootaloo.” He seemed reassured.

“No problem. Just hang in there and I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He ran off, and I headed for home.

When I got there I spent some time with Rose Blossom. I couldn’t suppress my many laughs. She was being very clingy. She followed me around the house, and kept trying to get in my lap every time I sat down. It was so adorable.

When it was time to sleep she surprised me by backing off. When I got under the covers she came in to say her goodnight. “Thanks for saving me today. I hope one day I can help save someone too.”

“You saved me today.”

“How? What did I do?”

“You saved me from myself. Rainbow Dash partially snapped me out of it, but you finished my return back to myself. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re always calling me your hero. However, Rosie, I mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say that you’re my hero too.”

Grateful tears came down her eyes. “Thanks, Scootieloo.” She gave me a big hug. Getting serious she said, “Are you going to keep your word this time? If you have any nightmares tonight I want to know. I won’t spend the whole night awake like last time. I just want to know that you’re going to ask for help when you need it.”

“Yes, Rosie. I give you my word.”

“Okay, then. I’ll hold you to it.” She put on a huge grin as she walked away. “Goodnight!”

“Goodnight, Rosie.” I just lay in my bed under the covers, and began thinking of how wild the day had been. After a while though, my sleepiness began drowning out thought. And soon enough I was asleep.

And what do you know. This time I made it through the night nightmare free.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12: Aftermath Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 11 Minutes