//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Good Crusader Hunting 
// by Flutter-Spark 
//------------------------------//

"To the citizens of Ponyville,
"For some time now, you've been reading this column to get the latest dirt and the hottest buzz, but this will be my final piece. We want to apologize for the pain and embarrassment we've caused. You see, I'm actually three little fillies:
"Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. 
"As the popularity of our column grew, we got swept up in the hype. We knew that what we were doing didn't feel quite right, but we ignored the guilt because everypony seemed to want to read what we were writing. From now on, we promise to respect everypony else's privacy, and we won't engage in hurtful gossip anymore. 	"All we can do is ask for your forgiveness, Ponyville. Although, by the time you read this, we'll probably be long gone, seeing as how we've hurt so many of you. Once again, we're sorry.
"Signing off for the very last time,
"Gabby Gums"



As she set down the morning edition of the Foal Free Press, Cheerilee's hooves seemed to be going numb from shock.
"Th-they couldn't have...!"
Slipping easily from her chair behind her desk where she'd sat down, Cheerilee picked up the paper in her mouth and ran out the schoolhouse front door, heading straight for the first place she could think to go, to be sure if she was right or not. Those little fillies couldn't have actually left... could they?
It wouldn't be the first time those three have done something like this, she thought. But they can't have any idea what they're doing if they actually went through with it! Oh, sweet Celestia, please let it be a joke!
Normally, Cheerilee wouldn't have been caught dead running so recklessly as she was, her head bowed low as she sidestepped past other ponies trotting along their way. Thus, she wasn't surprised at how many were turning their heads to watch her in shock, although she didn't dare stop. This was far too important.
Sliding to a stop at the door to the Carousel Boutique, Cheerilee immediately brought her right hoof to the door, dropping the paper into her left so she could freely call out, "Miss Rarity? Are you at home?"
"One second, please," was the reply, accompanied by the whirring of a sewing machine. "I'm just a tad busy at the moment!"
"Rarity," Cheerilee called, "please, this is important! It's about Sweetie Belle!"
There was a loud huff from inside, followed by the sewing machine winding down, before the door slowly opened to reveal the as usual very proper yet at the moment slightly annoyed face of the Element of Generosity and owner of Carousel Boutique, Rarity.
"Miss Cheerilee?" Rarity blinked, startled, as she looked the teacher over for a moment. "What on earth are you doing here, darling? You look rather a bit winded, too, and–is that dust all over your coat? Goodness, you didn't run here, did you?"
Sparing her coat a passing glance, Cheerilee rolled her eyes–another thing she wouldn't normally do–and sighed. "Now is not the time, Rarity. Please, you must tell me: is Sweetie Belle at home?"
Now Rarity's eyebrows quirked upward as she stared at the teacher's face. "What do you mean? She should be at the school by now; she's been making it a point to get there early as of late, especially since she got involved with that–" The white unicorn mare scoffed and tossed her mane, right fore hoof resting against her chest. "–despicable example of a newspaper column! I mean, really, that she would print so many horrible things about myself and my friends is simply–"
"Rarity, I don't have time for this!" The cerise teacher's eyes were wide now, though they still didn't compare to the saucers Rarity's had become. "Do you mean you don't know where she is? Or her friends?"
Rarity blinked and stepped back, her expression shifting to one of concern. "Miss Cheerilee, what's wrong? Has something happened?"
Slumping back so her rump landed in the dust before the doorstep of the Boutique, Cheerilee bowed her head and felt a shudder roll through her body. "No, please... Celestia, please don't let it be true..." Swallowing, she tapped the paper she'd dropped with her hoof and said simply, "This will explain, Rarity..."
Confused, Rarity lit her horn and the paper rose up in her bright blue magical aura, only for her face to grow progressively more overcome with a look of mixed horror and despair. "N-no," she finally stuttered out, "this h-has to be a trick Or something of the sort! Sweetie Belle would never do this to me! We're sisters!"
Cheerilee looked up with a sigh. "And I don't doubt that. But that's this morning's edition, Rarity. There's no way around it; if they're not at home, those three fillies have truly run away." She looked away, hoping to find something she could look at besides the fashionista seamstress... and blinked.
There, walking on the path through town, was Diamond Tiara, accompanied by her friend Silver Spoon. And Diamond looked rather smug.
"Oh my gosh," the teacher gasped.



"Girls, are you sure about this?"
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo both glanced at Sweetie Belle as they stood before Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara and Truffle. Sweetie's ears were drooping, her expression full of nervousness as she met her friends' eyes.
Apple Bloom sighed as the three grouped together in a huddle, unaware that, as Diamond Tiara snickered slightly beside Truffle and the printing press, Cheerilee was watching with concern, barely catching small bits of their conversation.
"If'n we don't," Apple Bloom was saying, "then Diamond prints..."
"...on't care what she...us anymore," Sweetie replied, head bowed. "It's what we're... Do we really have too?"
Scootaloo's head lowered as well, her already shaggy mane seeming a bit more unruly and dimmer in color than usual. "What else can we...? No one...talk to them."
Sighing, all three fillies nodded and turned to Diamond Tiara as Apple Bloom marched forward, handing over the papers that she'd been keeping held against her barrel with one foreleg to the tiara-wearing filly.
"Here ya are, Diamond. Another Gabby Gums article, an' prob'ly gonna be the best one yet."
Diamond grinned snidely as she took the papers in her hooves and passed them to Truffle without even looking at the contents. "Pleasure doing business with you, girls."
Cheerilee blinked as she watched Diamond Tiara, sparing a quick glance towards the three fillies as they moved back into their huddle. None of them–not Diamond as she returned to the Foal Free Press editor's desk, Truffle as he got to work running the press to print the latest edition, or even Cheerilee herself as she stood waiting with a slowly growing smile for the next issue–noticed as the Crusaders left the room.



"She was blackmailing them," Cheerilee gasped, staring after Diamond Tiara as the filly and her friend paused in their walk, laughed, then parted as the pink pony began heading back towards the schoolhouse.
Rarity stared at her with a raised brow, confused, as she stepped slowly forward. "What? Miss Cheerilee, darling, whatever are you talking about?"
Cheerilee stood up and shook her head, scooping up the paper with one hoof as she said, "Sorry, Rarity, but I have something I simply have to do, and quickly. I need to go to Mayor Mare at once. Maybe she's already seen by now–Truffle does print quickly with how familiar he's gotten with the press, all complaints aside."
As the fashion-mare blinked, the cerise mare shook her head again. "Never mind. Listen to me, Rarity–you need to go to Sweet Apple Acres. See if Apple Bloom is home and, if she's not, see if Applejack can help you find her, Sweetie and Scootaloo. We have to find those little fillies before they get themselves into trouble!"
Rarity blinked and leaned forward, slowly getting caught up in the schoolteacher's urgency. "But do you really think they ran away?"
"Considering the antics I've seen and heard them getting into to earn their Cutie Marks, I wouldn't put it past them." Cheerilee sighed as she turned and set off, going at a more reasonable pace–but still galloping–towards Town Hall. "I just hope we find them in time."



Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all three looked back with sad eyes as they stood at the edge of the woods. Each one carried a set of saddlebags on their backs, stuffed with things they assumed might be of use in the midst of the trees. Once, such an expedition might have made them grin in spite of shivers of fear. But now, not even fear stirred them into any emotion beyond sorrow.
"Ya'll ready t'go?"
Sweetie Belle sighed and sniffed, wiping away a tear with her foreleg. "Y-yeah, I'm ready."
Scootaloo gazed at the distant shape of Rainbow Dash's cloud house, blinking back the dewy drops in her own eyes. "As I'll ever be."
Silently, somberly, the three turned as one and fell into line together, marching slowly but steadily into the Everfree Forest.