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Chapter 63,137 words
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Chapter 83,200 words
Chapter 93,400 words
Chapter 103,353 words
Chapter 113,730 words
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Chapter 153,273 words
Chapter 162,444 words
Chapter 173,633 words
Chapter 183,137 words
Chapter 192,770 words
Epilogue1,551 words

Chapter 3

Author's Note:

This chapter has been re-edited and the nameless police ponies are finally properly presented as Tango and Mulberry. Seriously, you can tell this was my first pony story.

(This note was originally in chapter 12. )
Full credit and thanks go to RainbowSonicx399 for naming of the two police ponies, Officer Mulberry and Tango. Thanks again.

Chapter 3

“Good mornin’.”

Sweetie Belle blinked awake only to see Apple Bloom staring down at her. The little unicorn yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

“Ya goin’ to sleep all day? Come on, Rarity’s gotten late breakfast goin’.” The yellow earth pony grinned and jumped on the bed before jumping down to the floor.

“Apple Bloom, it’s Saturday and…” Sweetie Belle groaned and glanced at the alarm clock. Her eyes opened wide. “It’s ELEVEN?”

“Yeah, that’s why Ah said late breakfast - better to call it lunch by now,” Apple Bloom giggled and walked back over. She rose up to her hind legs and put her front hooves on edge of the bed.

“Ah have actually been awake for a while, never gotten used to sleepin’ in. Ya know how it is with farm life, even for a little filly,” she chuckled. “At first Ah just stayed here and read some books until Rarity was up. She made breakfast for me but, told me to let ya sleep in.”

“So did Rarity tell you to wake me up or was that just you?” Sweetie wondered and finally jumped down from her bed. She looked at her friend who dropped down to a sitting position.

“Welll… that was me. Ah was gettin’ a little bored,” Apple Bloom grinned sheepishly and glanced further into the room. The unicorn followed the gaze and was surprised to see all her books stacked up on the floor. They were books she liked to keep at Rarity’s when she stayed with her big sister.

“You read all of them already?” she gasped, looking at the earth pony. “How long were you up?”

“Uh, since just before sunrise,” her friend admitted.

“Wow, I really must have been… uh…” Sweetie Belle stopped and tried to think of the right word.

“Conked out?” Apple Bloom offered, but immediately regretted it when seeing the grimace come over her friend’s face. Yesterday’s events were still fresh on her mind. “Um sorry.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t think this would bother me so much,” the unicorn scratched her head.

“Well I feel a little bad leavin’ you and Scoot yesterday.” Apple Bloom rose to stand. The two fillies began walking for the door.

“Well you didn’t know we would be finding Silver Spoon in a dumpster. Scootaloo and I even saw her and Diamond Tiara come out of Sugarcube Corner only an hour or so earlier. At least I think it was an hour,” Sweetie told her as they walked out of the bedroom.

“So they must still have been on their way… wait what about Diamond Tiara?” Apple Bloom frowned realizing that so far the snobbish pink pony had not been brought up at all.

“I don’t know I…” Sweetie Belle stopped short as the two fillies came down the stairs to the ground floor. Rarity was escorting two dark gray earth Ponies in police uniforms into the house. One was smaller than the other one, who was fairly tall but lanky.

“I’m going to see if she is awake… oh she is,” Rarity turned to look at the stairs and smiled warmly at her little sister. “Sweetie, Mulberry and Tango would like to speak with you about yesterday, if you feel up to it.”

“Um, alright,” Sweetie Belle said and hesitantly came down the rest of the stairs. “I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“What? No, no darling not at all,” Rarity assured her sibling.

“We just want to know what you saw and heard yesterday, Sweetie Belle. It might help us solve what happened,” the taller officer, Tango, explained with a gentle smile.

“Why don’t we speak in the kitchen? I was preparing a late breakfast for her,” Rarity suggested.

There were no objections and the five ponies headed for Rarity’s kitchen. Sweetie Belle was served food while the officers accepted cups of coffee. Apple Bloom, having already eaten, watched at first, sitting beside her friend. But when the officers began talking with the little unicorn and the smaller one, Mulberry, brought up a notebook to write in, the yellow filly’s curiosity compelled her to try and take a look.

“What’cha doin’, Mulberry?” Apple Bloom asked and tried to peek at the notebook.

“I’m taking notes of what your friend saw yesterday,” the officer explained, glancing briefly at the yellow filly. He moved the notebook out of her view.

“Will it help?” she questioned, suddenly peeking over from the other side of him at the notebook.

“It usually does assist in solving cases, yes,” Mulberry said and moved the notebook away again. There was a hint of resignation in his eyes, having dealt with the crusaders numerous times in their hunt for cutie-marks. He was aware this one seldom gave up. Apple Bloom tried for the third time to peek at it when the sharp voice of Rarity addressed her.

“Apple Bloom, don’t bother them and sit down properly if you want to be here too.”

Apple Bloom jumped back to her original seat, grinning wide and innocent. Sweetie Belle giggled at her friend’s antics. The officers just shook their heads. Mulberry rolled his eyes, but Tango was smiling, also used to the antics of the crusaders.

“Tango,” Sweetie Belle addressed the officer once she finished her giggling fit courtesy of Apple Bloom. She did have one burning question. “Um, was Diamond Tiara in that bag we saw?”

Neither officer answered right away. They looked at each other before glancing at Rarity who could only shrug. Tango finally looked at her again.

“I didn’t think she was your friend. Was she?” he asked.

“No, not really.” Sweetie shook her head. “But she and Silver Spoon are always together, at least as far as I know.”

“Well don’t worry about it, we are going to solve this,” Tango declared and rose up, as did Mulberry. “You have already been very helpful. You just now enjoy the rest of the weekend with your friends.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Sweetie Belle said and continued to munch on her breakfast.

“I’ll show you out,” Rarity declared and followed the two stallions out of the kitchen. Her sister and Apple Bloom waited for a second before jumping down from their chairs and hurried to the door. They peeked out and could see Rarity standing by the front door talking in a low voice with the officers.

“Yes, Mr. Rich has in fact received a ransom note from the foalnappers. The envelope did contain a lock that matched his daughter’s mane and tail color.”

“Oh this is so dreadful! I do hope the poor child is alright and that you find her soon.”

“We’re working on it. Thank you for allowing us to talk with your sister, Rarity.”

Sweetie Belle pulled herself back into the kitchen and returned to the table. Apple Bloom soon followed, sitting down beside her. The unicorn filly absently picked at the remainder of her breakfast, deep in thought.

“You know, I sometimes wished Diamond Tiara would disappear or move away or something, but I’m not sure I wanted her foalnapped,” she spoke after a bit.

“Ah know what ya mean. This is weird. Ah so wanted her gone two days ago when she was teasin’ me for the bazillionth time, but this is a bit too much,” Apple Bloom concurred.

The two fillies glanced at the door when Rarity returned to the kitchen. The older unicorn smiled warmly at them, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes. Sweetie wondered if her sister was picturing these current events happening to their own family.

“Rarity, where are mom and dad?” she asked.

“Oh you know, they have to work during the weekends sometimes,” Rarity responded while she began cleaning off the table, her horn glowing blue as she levitated cups and plates off. “So you are staying with me this weekend. They felt… it was safer.”

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow and looked at Apple Bloom, who seemed as confused by that last statement. The young unicorn had to admit that her parents and Rarity had turned overly attentive yesterday, never really leaving the young filly out of their sight while she was awake.

“Are you all right, Rarity?” she asked.

“I’m fine, really,” Rarity laughed and tried to smile reassuringly. It still didn’t hide the worries in her eyes. “Why don’t you two go out and play?”

“I can do that.” Sweetie Belle nodded and jumped out of her seat. Apple Bloom concurred, bouncing down from her own chair.

“Just don’t go too far!” Rarity called after them. “And don’t stay out too late.”

Rarity watched the two fillies leave through the door with a dual “we won’t” assurance. The fashion designer nervously clicked both her front hooves on the ground. She had to will herself to continue with the cleaning and keep herself from running after her sister and Apple Bloom to keep an eye on them.

Outside, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom automatically took the route that would lead them to the clubhouse. It was pretty normal for them to do and it was after all the meeting place of the three Crusaders. The two fillies had no intention of letting yesterday ruin today.

When they arrived near town hall, they heard a distant whirring sound. The two fillies stopped and looked around, but the source of the mysterious noise was soon revealed. Scootaloo came speeding on her scooter, donning her purple helmet.

“Scootaloo,” both her friends cheered. They recalled how glum and down she had looked yesterday, but with her speeding around now it seemed she had recovered from her funk.

“Hey girls,” the orange pegasus greeted them just as she sped past. Before she got too far, she jumped with the scooter, turned 180° in the air and returned once landing, coming to a dead halt right in front of her friends.

“Sorry how I zoned out on you yesterday,” she apologized with a weak smile.

“Don’t worry about it. I was bit bothered by what happened too,” Sweetie Belle said nodding and so did Apple Bloom. “We were headed for the clubhouse. Let’s go.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Scootaloo grinned and the three fillies continued onward.

As they approached the road that would both lead them to Sweet Apple Acres and once taking the correct turn, to their clubhouse, two of the fillies noticed that their friend didn’t look so happy. Scootaloo was once again looking glum and there was also a hint of discomfort in her face.

“Hey Scoot are ya a’right?” Apple Bloom inquired. Scootaloo zigzagged a bit on her scooter before looking up.

“I…” she started but her eyes quickly diverted back down.

The three fillies stopped, two of them staring at their orange-coated friend who kicked up a bit of dirt from the road. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle eyed each other before returning their attention to the pegasus. Scootaloo’s face hardened and with a scowl she raised her head towards them.

“Girls… am I awful for not feeling sorry for them?” she whispered.

“What? You mean Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara?” the yellow earth filly asked.

“Yes,” Scootaloo snapped and threw her scooter down. “I… I don’t care what happened to them. I don’t care that Silver Spoon is in the hospital with a head wound or that Diamond Tiara was foalnapped.”

The orange girl gave a frustrated snort and stamped her hooves on the ground. Her friends could only watch as she continued her tirade, letting go of everything she had bottled up since yesterday.

“Would they care if something like that happened to us? Would they? They make our lives miserable every chance they get; belittling us, making fun of us, laughing at us for being blank flanks. Why should I care that Silver Spoon was attacked and thrown into a dumpster? Why should I care Diamond Tiara was stuffed into a bag and taken away? I… I…” Scootaloo closed her eyes tight for a second before screaming. “I HATE THEM!”

A silence settled around the three fillies. Scootaloo was breathing heavily after her rant and her friends stared at her, unsure what to do. A few adult ponies were around and had also witnessed the event unfold, staring shocked and confused at the three girls.

“Scoot…” Apple Bloom started, but the young pegasus turned away.

“All I hear is ‘poor Silver Spoon’ this and ‘poor Diamond Tiara’ that. I just don’t care,” Scootaloo cried, her voice broken. “Even mom and dad are saying it. Why should I extend sympathy to some pony who would never do the same for me?”

“Look, Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle stepped over to her distressed friend and sat down beside her. “We won’t judge you for this. If you don’t feel sorry for what happened to them, then that’s that. We won’t force you or anything.”

“Yeah, Ah mean it’s not like we’re plannin’ to go and rescue her or sumthin’,” Apple Bloom said, reaching to pat Scootaloo on the back.

“Thanks girls.” The orange filly looked up, smiling sadly. “Guess I got worried you would be talking about them too like my parents and the others have.”

“Well you know us, we are no fans of them either,” the unicorn giggled.

“Yeah,” the earth filly agreed. “I mean okay, I wouldn’t wish something like foalnapping on her. My idea of revenge against Diamond Tiara involves her getting covered in tree sap instead of us.”

The mental image of Diamond Tiara covered in sticky sap was too much and the three girls began giggling. Scootaloo’s smile looked much more natural now; the filly was feeling much better at the reassurance of her friends.

“So anyway, who cares what the adults are saying? We won’t. Besides not much we can do even if we had something to say,” Sweetie Belle said and stood back up.

“Exactly. Now let’s go to the clubhouse, gals. We have some crusadin’ to catch up on,” Apple Bloom declared, pointing into the air with a hoof. Her friends did not argue with that and for the second time the girls resumed their trek.

Somewhere deep in some Equestrian woods was an old cottage. The windows were barred with planks and the once thatched roof was mostly replaced with hurriedly put in place tree branches. The paint was wearing off and if there had once been a garden around it, it had long disappeared under weeds and other wild plants.

In front of this rundown place landed a large, dark brown pegasus - Silver Axe. Due to his weight there was a heavy thud on the moss-covered front steps. The stallion folded his wings, looking around before he kicked open the old door with a front hoof.

“Careful! You don’t want to bring this place down anymore than it already is,” a voice hissed. The one-eyed gryphon was lying down further inside, glaring at the pony.

Silver Axe just walked in, ignoring the stare. Using a hind hoof, he kicked the door to close it. It was quite amazing it survived this abuse, though there were a few new cracks in it now. The gryphon shook his head, muttering something before laying his head back down.

The pegasus walked further into the old cottage where a dresser missing the drawers was placed. On top of it was his paper bag of muffins he had bought in Ponyville yesterday. He still had five left.

“You sent the note?” the gryphon looked up again. His only eye peered at the stallion.

Silver Axe nodded and proceeded to get a muffin out of the bag.

“Good, at least you’re doing something right,” the creature snorted. The pegasus glared at him while munching his treat. His comrade ignored it and lay down again.

“Well someone would do better to let me go!” a girl’s voice snapped from one of the corners of the cottage. The gryphon grimaced and grabbed his head with his talons.

“Oh no, there she starts again,” he groaned.

Silver Axe raised an eyebrow and looked over to the corner in question. In a small steel cage, blue eyes glared right back at him, Diamond Tiara’s was - her coat was all ruffled, her mane had a lock cut out of it and her tail was a mess. She sneered at her captors, focusing mostly on the pegasus for now since he was the one looking.

“You are in so much trouble when my father finds me. You hear me. So much trouble!” she yelled, banging her hooves on the bars.

“You’ll be banished to the Everfree Forest. No, put in a dungeon and then banished!” the girl snapped.

“Yes! Yes! We know already,” the gryphon growled. This was not the first time the filly had begun a tirade of threats, in fact she had spent a good portion of the night doing it. “Shut up!”

“No, you shut up!” Tiara sneered and turned her attention to him. “I’m not afraid of you, you… hippogriff.”

“I am not a hippogriff!” the gryphon snarled and rose up to his full height.

Silver Axe watched the exchange with an amused smile, munching on his muffins. For a brief moment he wondered which one was the child the way the filly glared at them and how his gryphon friend kept reacting to what she said.

“Arrrg, I wish the boss would show up soon so she can deal with this,” the gryphon groaned and sunk back down.

“And another thing. When am I getting something to eat? I’m starving!” the filly complained.

“Good,” the gryphon snorted, wrapping his front legs around his head in a vain attempt to block out the noise from the girl.

“Now, Paul. You shouldn’t talk to a fine little lady like that,” a female voice addressed him, dripping with mockery. It came from the front entrance, so the gryphon, Silver Axe and Diamond Tiara looked over.

Standing there, covered for the most part in a black and white cloak, was a mare. She was a bit smaller than the pegasus, but was much, much thinner. The hood of her garment covered her head for the most part, but the white muzzle was still visible. It had a sinister grin plastered on it.

The mysterious mare entered the cottage, closing the door behind her by whipping her dark gray and white tail at it. As she approached, Paul rose up to stand and Silver Axe stopped eating. Diamond Tiara tilted her head slightly - there had been something eerily familiar about that voice.

“Hmmm, good work boys, good work indeed,” the mare purred when she had a full view of the filly’s cage. “I take it that the first note has been sent?”

“Yes, Axe saw to it,” Paul answered.

“Aw, always so reliable, Silver Axe,” the mare turned towards the stallion and patted him gently on the cheek with her hoof.

“I don’t think he’s always so reliable,” the gryphon muttered under his breath. A pony’s tail whipped him in the beak.

“What was that Paul?” the mare switched her attention to him.

“Nothing Ma’am.” Paul rubbed his beak gingerly.

“Good.” The pony nodded, satisfied. They were quickly reminded of their prisoner who began complaining again.

“I want something to eat. And I want to be… no I demand to be set free!” Tiara shouted, glaring now at the mysterious mare. Paul cringed and grabbed his head again with his talons.

“Oh Diamond Tiara, you haven’t changed one bit have you?” the mare laughed and began approaching the cage.

She finally threw off her hood, revealing her head. The mane was short and in the same two colors as the tail. The pony had piercing golden eyes and her grayish, white coated face showed some signs of age. She removed the cloak fully, revealing a large snowflake cutie mark on her flank. But what was most noticeable about her was the broken stub on her forehead that used to be a full unicorn horn.

Diamond Tiara gasped as she recognized the face and the cutie mark. The mare had resumed her sinister grin as she stared down at imprisoned filly. The girl felt a chill go down her spine.

“S-Snow Heart?” she whispered.

End Chapter 3.

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