//------------------------------//
// The First Step 
// Story: A Tangled Web We Weave 
// by BellChime 
//------------------------------//

One Hour Later...
“Ah have the potion ah brewed,” Apple Bloom stated, gesturing towards her bulging saddle bags.
“I have books on being a lawyer that I checked out from the library!” Scootaloo announced.
“I have some clothes and hair products that I stole from Rarity,” Sweetie Belle declared.
Diamond Tiara beamed. “And I have a whole suitcase full of forms and stuff to use as evidance exonerating Daddy! As well as enough bits for four train tickets."
The four fillies were gathered in Ponyville Square, just infront of the town hall. No one paid much attention to them; as four fillies huddled together in the middle of town were hardly an unusual sight. A few ponies paid a bit of attention to Apple Bloom's drooping ears, but that was just about the only unusual thing anybody took notice of.
At this point, the clock had just struck eleven.
That fine, fair, sunny  Saturday morning would soon become a sunny Saturday afternoon. 
“I told Rarity I was staying at Apple Bloom’s!”
“I told my aunts I was staying at Apple Bloom’s too!”
Apple Bloom hung her head. “And ah...ah told Applejack we all was goin’ to Appeloosa,” She mumbled, pawing at the ground in shame.
“Great!” Said Diamond Tiara, oblivious to her companion’s depression. "So...how long does the potion last?"
"'Bout three hours, so we'll have to figure out real careful when we use it." Apple Bloom explained, looking a bit more perky as the talk turned to potioneering. "There are better potions t'use, but this ones the quickest t'make, and ah figured you would want it fast."
"Sure," Said Diamond Tiara. Privately, she wouln't have been bothered with a more complex potion, but she decided that, with the stakes as high as they were, she couldn't afford to be picky. Not with Daddy at stake! 
"So what's the plan?" Asked Sweetie Belle. 
"We get on the train." Diamond Tiara responded. The three fillies continued to stare at her expectantly. They wanted more, she realized. Like the where. Oopsie. She quickly flipped through her memory banks to the moment that her father had been arrested. Silver Cuffs, basment and gruel, more Silver Cuffs, something about a pony named Golden Sands...Canterlot! 
"Canterlot!" Diamond Tiara announced triumphantly. "That's where we're headed. While we're on the way, I'll read the books Sweetie Belle got, and then we'll find the trial, I'll defend my Daddy, and go home." 
“Well..." Apple Bloom sounded uncertain.
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow at her. 
"That just all sounds...fast." Apple Bloom explained. 
"Maybe lawyers are made that fast," shrugged Scootaloo. The little pegasus thought for a moment. "They sure talk fast..." Maybe I would like being a lawyer!
"But how long does it take to teach them how to do that?" Sweetie Belle wondered. 
“Guys! Guys!" Diamond Tiara exclaimed. The crusaders turned to her. 
"Of course it’s going to be fast! How else do you think we’re gonna pull this off? Do you want my Daddy to be petrified?” Just the thought of her father as a stone statue next to the legion of doom and the like made her heart beat faster. 
“Of course not!” Apple Bloom assured her hastily, deciding not to risk agitating her new friend more, by asking how she planned on reading such big books in so little time. “Mr. Rich don’t deserve that!”
“Only a super bad pony would wish that on anyone who’s not super bad,” Scootaloo declared.
“And Apple Bloom’s not bad!” Sweetie exclaimed, patting her friend on the shoulder. 
“R-Right,” Said Apple Bloom. “Well, ah ‘spose it’s now or never…”
“Good!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “Let’s move!”
And with that, the four fillies set out for the train station. 
Little did they know they were being watched...