Within moments, the determined and still very much angry group of ponies and investigators found Featherweight's house, which wasn't very hard to find since it was the only house in Ponyville that night with a dimly lit window and the glare of a flashing television set projected from inside.
With little to no hesitation at all, Rainbow Dash roughly knocked on the front door, she was still fuming about finding out who took that picture of her at the spa, and who took that humiliating picture of Scootaloo stuck in the mud. She was ready and raring to give the young photographer a piece of her mind.
The door slowly opened, revealing a young pegasus mare. If one were to compare, she looked much like Featherweight, with a similarly colored coated, very skinny legs, and two buck teeth. The only differences were that her mane and tail were a much brighter color of brown with green bows tied in them, and a cutie mark with a pink feather with sparkles around it.
It was in fact, Featherweight's older sister, Namby Pamby, who had graduated from Miss Cheerliee's class the year before.
"Oh my, visitors!" she exclaimed, taken by surprise which then turned into uncertainty upon noticing the serious looks on their faces. "Uh, what can I do for you?"
"Where's Featherweight?!" Rainbow Dash growled demandingly.
Namby jumped back, unnerved by the pegasus' tone. "He's upstairs with his friends... playing games.." she answered. "Uh, why are you all looking like that?"
"Well in that case," Rainbow answered, ignoring Namby's question and marching upstairs with Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Ink Press, and Click Typer in tow. "I'm gonna show him a game he'll never forget!"
A few moments after the group had gone up the stairs, Twilight and Big Scoop came to the door, exhausted from all the running.
"Excuse me, miss..." Twilight asked, "You didn't happen to see a group of disgruntled ponies come here, did you?"
"Yes, I did." Namby replied. "They just went upstairs. Now would somebody tell me what's going on here and why everypony's mad at my little brother?"
"Twilight, head upstairs and calm your friends down." Big Scoop told the lavender unicorn before turning to the young pegasus mare. "In the meantime, Miss uh, Namby Pamby is it? I'm Big Scoop, investigative reporter for the Canterlot Chronicle, and I'll be more than happy to explain once we've got everypony settled."
Meanwhile, upstairs in his room, Featherweight was busy with a few of his friends, Snips, Snails, Rumble, and Button Mash playing a video game that Button had brought over.
"Alright, I've got the Final Clash ball," Button announced. "Activating... now!"
Button pressed a button on his controller and on screen, his character released a powerful stream of fire, blasting the other players off the playing field.
"And... Game!" the in game announcer cried. "We have a winner, Player Button Mash!"
"And that, my friends... is how you win a match in Super Equestrian Clash Brawl!" the brown earth pony colt said proudly.
"Wow, Button..." Snails said. "When you said you were the master of this game, you weren't kidding!"
"I know, I know..." Button grinned, proudly soaking in the victory. He then turned to Featherweight.
"You know, you weren't too bad out there yourself." he said. "You stick with me and give it time, and you'll be second to me as a master of Brawl!"
"Uh, thanks, Button..." Featherweight said, nervously. He was trying to keep his mind off of Diamond's threats and enjoy the sleepover wither his friends, but the rich filly's warning lingered on in his head. Worst of all, he kept thinking back to the Crusaders and the brunt of flak they received when ponies found out what they did when he was also to blame.
The Crusaders are in enough trouble already, but what's going to happen when ponies find out I was the one who took those pictures? he thought to himself.
That very moment, Rainbow Dash and the others were standing outside the door of Featherweight's room, ready to confront the young colt.
"Now, Rainbow..." Twilight warned. "Let's just calm down before we do something we'll regret..."
"To Tartarus with that!" huffed the sky blue pegasus. "This little punk's responsible for my humiliation in Gabby Gums gossip column, and he caused me to take it out on Scootaloo when she didn't really deserve it! One way or another, I'm gonna make him talk."
And with that, Rainbow Dash banged on the door roughly. "Open up, Featherweight!" she barked. "We know you're in there!"
There was nothing but silence. Behind the door, Featherweight recognized the voice and was now shaking in fear.
Trying to hide, the colt disguised his voice and said, "Uh, Featherweight's not here... I'm just a lady!"
Rainbow didn't buy it and knocked again.
"Uh, nopony's home!" called Snips from inside.
Rainbow knocked once more.
"Please leave a message after the beep! Beep!" said Snails.
Applejack tried giving it a shot and bucking on the door.
"Uh, the check's in the mail!" Rumble yelled.
Then it was Rarity's turn to knock, this time much calmer than the others.
"I'm in the tub!" called Featherweight, trying again.
"It's no use..." sighed Ink Press. "He's not coming out."
"Let's not rush him," Fluttershy said. "He must be so scared right now."
"Oh, I'll give him something to be really scared about if he doesn't open that door." said Rainbow Dash. "And if he's not coming out, I'm coming in after him!"
"Rainbow Dash, no!" cried Twilight.
But it was too late, Rainbow Dash pawed her hoof against the floor and charged towards the door, breaking it off its hinges and knocking it down to the ground.
"Aha! There you are, you little weasel!" she yelled.
"Leave me alone, Rainbow Dash!" the colt cried trying to back away as the sky blue pegasus advanced towards him.
The colts backed out of the way as Featherweight came running out of his room, yelling in fear, with Rainbow Dash in pursuit.
"Namby, help me!" the colt yelled as he got ready to head down the stairs to his sister. He descended so fast that he tripped midway down, and came tumbling until he reached the bottom.
Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Ink Press and Click Typer tried to stop Rainbow Dash by blocking the stairs, but it was no use. In fact, Rainbow Dash collided with the group, causing them to all come rolling down the entire flight, ending up in a huge crash!
At the bottom of the stairs, stood a huge pile up of ponies, dazed and surprised.
Twilight, Big Scoop, Spike, Namby Pamby, and the other colts cringed at the painful sight.
As Big Scoop and Spike hurried over and started helping the ponies get up off the floor, Twilight turned to Namby Pamby, who was checking Featherweight all over to make sure the colt had no bumps, bruises, or broken bones.
"That was assault!" the colt groaned.
"I am so sorry," Twilight said, regretfully. "We tried to stop everypony and get them to calm down, but we were too late."
"It's alright," Namby sighed. "It looks like he doesn't have that many bumps. Now, that that's out of the way, WOULD SOMEPONY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON HERE AND WHY YOUR PSYCHOTIC FRIEND ALMOST KILLED MY LITTLE BROTHER?!"
"With pleasure, Miss Namby. If you don't mind, we've come here to talk with your little brother." Big Scoop explained, motioning towards the young pegasus colt shivering behind his sister's leg. "My team is investigating the recent disappearance of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and your brother is our first suspect.”
"W-wh-what do you want from me?" Featherweight asked, timidly.
"Easy kiddo, easy..." said Ink Press, her voice sounding sweet yet serious at the same time. "We're going to preface all of this with you're in trouble, and this is going to be a group talk so we can get your side of the story."
"Basically, we know all about your work for the Foal Free Press." explained Big Scoop, "You've been taking photographs of ponies in embarrassing and sometimes out of context situations, so that embarrassing gossip in the form of Gabby Gums can be complete. You've... done a lot of bad things, son."
Namby looked down at her brother. "Featherweight, is that true?" she asked suspiciously.
Featherweight's heart pounded inside his chest. All he wanted to do was hide.
"I.. I don't know what you're talking about!" he protested.
The other ponies could tell the colt was lying. Fluttershy stepped forward, petting Featherweight's mane with her hoof.
"Featherweight, listen..." the yellow pegasus said gently, "You're not a bad colt, everypony makes bad decisions. If you just tell the truth, we won't be mad. Though, I can't say the same for a few of my friends."
"Sneaky little dirtbags like you make me sick!" snapped Rainbow Dash, causing Featherweight to shrink even more. "There's no tree, nook, or corner you can hide where I won't catch you!"
"Now hold on a sec," Spike asked. "If me, Twilight, Scoop, Ink, Fluttershy, and Click are supposed to be the good cops, and Rainbow, Rarity, AJ and Big Mac are supposed to be the bad cops, then who's Pinkie supposed to be?"
"I'm the funny cop!" Pinkie chirped. "Pull my hoof!"
"Does it even matter?" yelled Namby before turning back to her brother. "Featherweight, don't you dare lie to me!"
Well, the pressure from being interrogated combined with the guilt of his involvement in the school newspaper scandals consumed poor Featherweight, and he just couldn't take it anymore.
"YES! YES! I ADMIT IT!" Featherweight finally said, bursting into tears. "I took the pictures! Every single one!"
"And so the truth finally comes out..." smiled Ink Press.
"Featherweight... How could you?" asked the colt's sister, a tone of shock and disappointment in her voice. "When you first joined the paper, I thought I taught you the most important rule of being a photographer, 'Never take embarrassing or candid photographs of anypony'!"
"I'm sorry, Namby!" the pegasus colt sniffed. "But it's not all my fault! I swear, the Crusaders and I wanted to stop but then Diamond Tiara..."
Featherweight suddenly froze, covering his mouth.
"Diamond Tiara? What about her?" asked Applejack.
"I've already said too much!" Featherweight squeaked.
"Excuse me, but who is this 'Diamond Tiara' character?" asked Ink Press to the ponies.
"Diamond Tiara is a filly 'bout Apple Bloom and th' others' age." explained Big Mac. "Her father, Filthy Rich owns th' family business 'Rich's Barnyard Bargains' an' is th' most richest pony in Ponyville. Our family is his biggest supplier."
"Son..." Big Scoop asked, looking Featherweight in the eye. "Is there something we need to know?"
"I-it's a long story..." Featherweight hesitated.
"I like stories. I like 'em just fine."
Featherweight still wouldn't budge. Keep your mouth shut or you'll be dead meat! he thought to himself.
"Featherweight, please tell us what's going on..." pleaded Twilight.
"I can't!" Featherweight protested. "Then I'll be a tattletale!"
"Darling," Rarity, said stepping forward, "There is a difference between snitching and telling somepony what's wrong..."
"Really?"
"Yes," confirmed Namby. "Featherweight, if you tell us what's bothering you, we will help you."
Featherweight realized that he had no other choice and took a big breath.
"Alright," he began, "Yes, once ponies started getting hurt by Gabby Gums' gossip in the paper, the Crusaders wanted to stop, but Diamond Tiara wouldn't let them! She said she doesn't care if feelings get hurt! She told them if they didn't get another story on her desk soon, she'd print those embarrassing pictures of them! When they didn't show up this morning, she went right on ahead and did just that! I tried reasoning with her myself, but then I found out she took pictures of me! And if I don't get her pictures for the Foal Free Press by tomorrow, she's gonna print them instead!"
After that, all the stress, anxiety and fear became too much for Featherweight. He started to cry once more, burying his face in his sister's chest.
"Shh... shh... it's okay, Featherweight." Namby cooed, stroking his mane and back, gently. "Just let it all out..."
The group of ponies were beyond mortified after hearing Featherweight's testimony.
"Why that's just as awful as when she made Apple Bloom feel embarrassed about Granny Smith!" said Applejack.
"Eeyup!" agreed Big Mac, with anger in his eyes.
"What she's doing to us all is just disgraceful!" said Fluttershy.
"Disgusting!" added Spike.
"Despicable!" finished Rarity. "Who in their right mind would make her in charge of the school newspaper?"
"Miss Cheerliee put her in charge," sobbed Featherweight, "I don't know how or why, but she did."
"When I was running the Foal Free Press last year, I treated my co-workers with respect and carefully chose what we depicted in the papers." said Namby Pamby, "But now Diamond's gone and turned it into a nightmare! Something has to be done."
"Namby Pamby is right," agreed Big Scoop. "Now that we have our next clue, we've got this mystery almost all wrapped up. All we need now is to make a plan."
"Yer darn tootin', Big Scoop!" said Applejack. "So what do we do?"
"Well, I've got an idea," said Twilight. "What we need to do now is inform everypony of...."
"No!" cried Featherweight, clinging onto Twilight's back leg, "Please don't tell anypony! If Diamond find out I tattled on her..."
"She'll do nothing of the sort," Twilight assured the colt, "We're going to make sure of that."
"Yeah! We'll give that rotten little brat what for!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Are you sure?" Featherweight asked.
"Sho' nuff!" confirmed Applejack. "Nopony messes with my lil' sis an' her friends an' gets away with it!"
"As I was saying," Twilight continued, "We'll need to inform everypony of our discovery, and Featherweight's going to help us. Big Mac, I need you and Namby Pamby to head to Miss Cheerliee's house and explain everything. Big Scoop, Ink Press, Click, Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity, gather up every single pony in Ponyville, tell them what's going on and tell them to meet me, Spike and Fluttershy at Rich Manor."
"We're coming too!" chimed in Rumble, descending the stairs alongside the other colts.
"I'm afraid this is adult ponies' work," said Twilight, blocking the young ponies with her hooves.
"No way!" argued Button Mash, "If Diamond's going to mess with our pal Featherweight, and especially Sweetie Belle and her friends, then she's gonna mess with all of us!"
Twilight sighed, "Alright then, but just as long as you follow directions and stay out of trouble."
"Yes, Miss Twilight..." the colts said in unison.
"Then there's no time ta lose." said Applejack, tipping her hat until it nearly covered her eyes, "Let's go lasso up that bad seed, shut her down for good, and get our little sisters back!"
And with that, the ponies headed out the door and split up, setting their new plan in formation.
No sooner had they had left Featherweight's house, had Big Macintosh and Namby Pamby arrived at the front door of Cheerliee's house.
With no hesitation at all, Big Mac knocked on the door.
The door opened, revealing the moderate cerise earth pony mare in question.
"Well, hello there, Big Macintosh!" Cheerliee warmly greeted, before recognizing the scrawny looking young mare next to him "Namby Pamby, one of my best pupils! What a pleasant surprise."
She then noticed that the two ponies both had very serious looks on their faces.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, concerningly.
"Miss Cheerliee," Namby began, "We need to talk... about your new editor and chief..."
"Eeyup…" said Big Mac in agreement.