Three, two, one...
"What were you thinking?" Rainbow Dash half shouted. "You snuck into somepony's house? You could have been hurt, or arrested. Really Scootaloo, what were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I wouldn't have to tell you," Scootaloo mumbled, glancing toward the door.
Dash's face settled into a look of neutral disappointment. "That's not funny."
Scootaloo shuffled her front hooves, looking everywhere but at Dash. Rainbow may not have been doing the older sister thing as long as Rarity or Applejack, but she'd gotten the look down quickly enough. "I know, it was dumb, but I thought Twilight was in danger."
"So rather than tell somepony, you decide to fix it by putting yourself in danger?"
Scootaloo's gaze settled at the floor in front of her as she mumbled, "I'm sorry."
Dash reached toward her, lifting her chin with a gentle touch. "Just, don't worry me like that. Nopony wants to see you get hurt." Scootaloo nodded and Dash turned toward Twilight and Rarity. "I think we should probably tell the princess. If Scootaloo's right, we need to get this taken care of as quickly as possible."
Twilight nodded, a worried crease between her eyes. "You're right. He said they should just get rid of me?"
Scootaloo nodded.
"Can you remember anything else about them?" Twilight asked.
"The ones we heard talking were two unicorns and a pegasus. The pegasus was named Silver... uh, Silver something. And the other two," Scootaloo paused, closing her eyes to think. "I think one of them was named Rose. That's all. It was dark and I didn't see much." And we were running for our lives, she added mentally.
Twilight nodded. "I'll tell the princess when I see her in the morning."
"What about tonight?" Rarity asked. "Far be it from me to stand between two ponies, but if there's somepony who may wish to harm you, maybe you should skip your date and stay home."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Twilight said, crestfallen.
"Well, maybe not," Dash said. "Twilight was one of the most powerful unicorns in Equestria even before becoming a princess. As long as she's on her guard, she should be fine."
"That's true," Twilight agreed, looking hopefully at Rarity.
"I suppose," Rarity said. "I'd still feel safer if you were with one of us."
"Go on a double date," Scootaloo chimed in. The three older ponies looked at her as one. "What? It's win-win. Twilight goes on her date and one of you keeps an eye on her."
"That's actually not a bad idea," Rarity admitted.
"But where are we going to find somepony on such short notice?" Dash asked.
"Why not ask Soarin'?" Scootaloo suggested, smiling innocently as Dash turned to glare at her. "He owes you a favor or two, doesn't he?"
"And you both work together," Rarity added. "Nopony would wonder why the two of you are together."
Rainbow turned her glare toward Rarity before sighing. "Fine. As long as you don't mind, Twilight."
"Actually, I think I'd feel better if one of you were around. I've never been on a double date before."
"I'll go ask then," Dash said, starting for the door.
"Not looking like that." Rarity put a hoof out, stopping Dash's retreat. "If you're going on a date tonight, we simply must get you looking your best."
"But somepony needs to ask Soarin'," Dash objected.
"I can do it," Scootaloo said. "His place is on the way home."
"This is for yelling earlier, isn't it?"
*****
Soarin' agreed to meet Dash and Twilight at the restaurant at eight. With nothing else to do, Scootaloo made her way back to Dash's house. Her plans of curling up with one of the Daring Do books faded as she arrived to find Thistleroot standing outside her front door.
"If I knew you'd wait around like a lost puppy," she said, walking behind him. He flinched and turned toward her. "I wouldn't have let you walk me home last night."
He stuck his tongue out at her. "Nice to see you too."
"So what's up?"
"My curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to look deeper into the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Thought you'd want to know what I found out."
"Oh?" Scootaloo said, eye's brightening.
"Yeah, I asked some of the ponies around school who go to the meetings, just for some background information. Actually, it's pretty funny."
"What is?"
"What they're all about. Actually, didn't you say your friend was asked to look into them? By the princess?"
"Yeah."
"That really seems like a waste, given what the Cutie Mark Crusaders are all about. Zombie Cultists aside, of course."
"Thistleroot."
"Really, the princess has better things to do, doesn't she?"
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you," Scootaloo sighed.
"Well, you never said please." Thistleroot's goofy smile wilted under Scootaloo's glare. "Uh, right. They're against cutie marks."
"Huh?"
"They're against cutie marks. Like, they actually wish cutie marks didn't exist."
A cold pit formed at the pit of Scootaloo's stomach. Thistleroot went on, oblivious to her discomfort. "Weird, huh? Apparently they're all about change and freedom. One of the kids I talked to even said cutie marks hold you down, keep you limited to one defining trait." He chuckled for a moment before trailing off. "Uh, Scootaloo, you okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"I was kind of expecting more laughter, like 'Oh, those rebellious teenagers'."
"Oh, yeah," Scootaloo said, trying to feign a smile. "I guess it's kinda funny."
"Right," Thistleroot said, "changing topic. Uh, I also found out the name of the pony who owns the house. He works at the school."
Scootaloo blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah. One of the administrators. A unicorn named Star Shine."
"Huh. Wait, wasn't that the unicorn we heard? They called him Mr. Shine."
"Yeah."
"So, one of the head people in the Crusaders is a school administrator named Star..." Scootaloo trailed off, stomach writhing uncomfortably.
"Scootaloo?"
"Thistleroot, do you have any plans for tonight?"
"Oh, ponyfeathers."