The Crusaders of Unity

by Green-Venom

Chapter 1: First meeting

-6 months earlier-

Apple Bloom walked along the sidewalk, her eyes scanning her surroundings, looking in awe at the tall buildings around her. Despite having moved to the city for a good month now, the sight of the urban complex still managed to impress her all over again.

As she continued her journey, she noticed a white unicorn filly, wearing an expensive-looking saddlebag. The way she walked had a certain elegance to it, suggesting she was most likely a noble, or at the very least from a rich family.

This surprised her, as nobles mostly remained in their own part of the city, rarely leaving. Nevertheless, she ended up ignoring it since it wasn’t her problem.

A rumbling of rapidly approaching wheels regained her attention, however, causing her to look up once more. An orange pegasus filly was speeding down the road on her scooter, aiming straight for the unicorn filly.

By the time Apple Bloom realized what was going on it was already too late for a warning. The scooter dashed past the unicorn filly, the pegasus ripping the saddlebag from the filly’s back, causing her to stumble in surprise.

“Thief!“ she screamed once she realized what was going on.

Thinking quickly, Apple Bloom dashed forward, kicking the scooter as it drove past, sending it out of control, the pegasus being sent flying with a multitude of angry curses.

Getting back onto her hooves, the orange filly quickly grabbed the saddlebag she’d stolen and went to retrieve her scooter, but reconsidered upon noticing the approach of the other two fillies.

The result was a chase down the road, and while the pegasus managed to quickly lose the unicorn filly, Apple Bloom remained hot on her tail, the fitness acquired from working on a farm playing in her favor.

In the end, the orange filly still managed to push through, using her natural pegasus speed to leave the apple filly behind, rounding a corner to disappear from sigh.

As Apple Bloom caught her breath, trying to think of a plan, the unicorn filly finally caught up.

“D-did you get her?“

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Sorry, she was too fast…“

“Well I still appreciate the attempt.“ the other filly finally said after a moment to catch her breath, before offering a hoof shake. “I’m Sweetie Belle, it’s an honor to meet you.“

“Apple Bloom.“ the earth filly replied, with a smile. “Also, it’s not over yet. I think there’s one more chance to catch your mugger.“

---

Scootaloo carefully peaked around the corner, looking around. Her scooter was still lying on the ground where it had crashed, but nopony else was present.

Sneaking over to it, she inspected her most prized possession, when she made a horrifying discovery. One of the wheels was missing, and by the looks of it, it was intended sabotage, and not damage from the crash earlier.

Something clattered behind her, and while her brain was still putting two and two together somepony crashed into her, pinning her down, as one of her hoves was forcefully twisted behind her back.

“We got you now!“

A second later the saddlebag she had stolen earlier was taken from her, presumably returned to its rightful owner. Scootaloo rested her head on the pavement in misery. “I knew this would happen eventually…“

“What getting caught?“ her captor retorted, while the unicorn filly checked through her saddlebag. “Crime doesn’t pay you know…“

Scootaloo chuckled. “It pays enough to keep your belly filled…“

“She took my sandwich!“

“Anything else?“

The unicorn filly shook her head, looking at Scootaloo. “No, the rest is here… I’m honestly not sure how to proceed from here Apple Bloom, should we call the police?“

“WHAT!?“ Scootaloo suddenly started struggling, and Apple Bloom had to double down on keeping the pegasus filly pinned. “You can’t do that, they’ll send me back! You got your stuff, just leave!“ After a while her struggling calmed down. “I don’t want to go back…“

“Go back? Go back where?“

Scootaloo bit her lip, but choose to remain silent.

“Alright then, we’re calling the police!“

“Wait!“

Apple Bloom froze, before looking at the white filly questioningly, waiting for her to continue. “Let me talk to her first.“

Scootaloo lifted her head at that, unsure about the sudden twist in development. The unicorn filly noticed and approached her.

“Why did you steal from me?“

Scootaloo continued to remain quiet, looking away.

“Okay, this might be the wrong approach. Hey there, I’m Sweetie Belle, may I know your name?“

Scootaloo studied Sweetie Belle‘s face, trying to figure out where she was going with this, but remained quiet.

After a while, Sweetie Belle sighed and went to stand up, when Scootaloo finally came to a decision.

“Scootaloo… I’m Scootaloo.“

Sweetie Belle smiled. “There we go. It’s nice to meet you Scootaloo.“

Scootaloo merely raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at the earth pony sitting on her back.

“Ok, I admit that nice might be pushing it but…“

All of a sudden a carriage came to a slithering halt next to them, and multiple ponies wearing sky-masks to hide their faces jumped out.

“That’s her!“ one of them said, pointing at Scootaloo. “Grab her and her friends and load them up!“

Before any of the fillies could react, they were seized by multiple strong hooves and tossed into the back of the carriage.

---

“W-what’s going on? What do they want from us?“ Sweetie Belle was a nervous wreck, huddled up in a ball, silently rocking back and forth.

“The Red Viper gang.“ Scootaloo replied with an expressionless face. “They probably want money, I’m late in my pay…“

“You own a gang money?“ Apple Bloom asked, taking a nervous step away from Scootaloo. “For what?“

Scootaloo merely chuckled upon noticing her wariness. “Don‘t worry, I’m not involved in some kind of black market or anything. It’s purely protection money…“

“Protection money?“

“I’m a homeless kid living in the streets without parents or guardians. That usually ends badly, so I made a deal with the local gangster boss. I pay him every month and he ensures that his henchmen leave me alone. That way I can sleep at night without needing to worry about getting mugged or worse.“

“So I’m going to assume that you failed to pay this month?“

Scootaloo nodded. “Pretty much. I usually job for my money, but it wasn’t enough this time. That’s kinda the reason why I tried to mug Sweetie Belle… No offense… That reminds me, you do have cash in there don’t you? I still need to pay off those debts…“

Sweetie Belle frowned. “Why should we help you?

“Are you a virgin?“

Sweetie Belle carefully nodded.

“Do you wish to remain one?“

Sweetie Belle paled upon understanding the implications and handed her the money.

Author's Note:

Ok, that last part was a tick darker than planed, but it works. No rape of any form will occur during this story.

Feel free to leave some feedback. I need the help to improve, so it’s always welcome.

PS: Grammar mistakes are to be reported, should you feel like it.

Comments

[Haver]

More good

[Khanathara]

Damn, that last bit was dark but it got the point across. Makes me feel bad for Scoots though. Even if nothing has happened having that hanging over your head is terrifying.

[AvoidingFever17]

Oh...
So these Criminals are...VERY BAD