Minutes later, Scootaloo stood dead-still on her scooter, slumped over the handles as she glared into a thin patch of trees. Behind her, the wagon rested with Dinky and Apple Bloom inside, waiting patiently. After the umpteenth sigh, Scootaloo groaned loudly, then grumbled towards the trees: "Are you done yet, Sweetie Belle?!"

    A squeaky voice wafted back. "Don't rush me! Just a little bit longer..."

    "You should have taken care of that before we left Ponyville!" Scootaloo barked.

    "I was too busy trying to find Dinky a cape and helmet!"

    "Unnnnnngh..." Scootaloo buried her face in her forelimbs. She mumbled into her fetlocks. "Maybe if we're lucky, the foal-nappers stopped for Chineighs take-out a few times between here and Manehattan."

    Apple Bloom chuckled a bit, then kicked back on her side of the wagon, resting her helmeted head against the edge as she squinted up at the white clouds rolling above.

    Dinky, in the meantime, stood on the very end of the wagon, staring past the thin throng of trees sprouting up to their right. As the seconds wore on into minutes, she closed her eyes, instinctively raising a pair of hooves up before her face. Her lips pursed, and she blew into an imaginary flute, moving the edges of her little limbs over the appropriate spots where the various holes of the instrument would be.

    She could always relax when she was playing the flute, allowing her mind to wander comfortably, sometimes to places that both surprised and enchanted her. That's why the music always came naturally, Dinky imagined. It was not a talent so much as it was a means of throwing her worries to the wind. Perhaps that's why she hadn't gotten a cutie mark for it yet. What was the use in earning something that she was already good at?

    Soon enough, her mind wandered to half-an-hour ago.  The Crusaders were absolutely flabbergasted that she had second-guessed their quest for cutie marks. All three fillies had looked at her as if she had contracted the pony pox. Dinky couldn't help but ask the question that she did; she simply didn't expect to be gawked at for voicing it. Surely, Sweetie and Scootaloo and Apple Bloom knew that there was more to life than just earning cutie marks...

    As if reading Dinky's mind, Apple Bloom suddenly spoke up. "I'm sorry for the attitude we all gave you earlier, Dinky."

    "Hmmm?" Dinky lowered the invisible flute in her hooves and looked over with a soft smile. "What attitude?" Even she winced at her own veil of "innocence."

    Apple Bloom blinked at her. With a slight giggle, she smiled. "Yer too sweet, Dinky." She cleared her throat. "But, for real, we didn't mean to make ya feel bad."

    "You mean about our earning cutie marks?"

    Apple Bloom nodded. "Scoots and Sweetie Belle and I have been doin' the Crusader thang for years now. It's easy to forget that not all fillies our age are quite so dedicated." She smiled. "I'm sorry if we made ya feel bad. After all, yer just concerned for the foals. We all are."

    Dinky nodded. "I just think they deserve to be back with their parents."

    "Right. And so do I!" Apple Bloom sat up straight, staring at her. "Ain't nopony in Ponyville who knows how important it is for a family to be together than me! I mean, if it weren't for the strength of Applejack and Granny Smith and Big Macintosh, we'd never have a good apple harvest prepared ever!" She smiled, leaning her head to the side. "The best part of a family is bein' together. As much as you can manage to be. Ya feel me?"

    "Uh huh." Dinky smiled. "I'm sure your family will be proud of you for bringing the Cakes back together."

    "Heh... yeah, well..." Apple Bloom straightened her cape, staring out across the hilly landscape to the east. "Reckon bringin' a cutie mark on my flank to boot would just seal the deal all sweet-like."

    "Don't you think everypony will be just as happy to have the foals back?" Dinky asked.

    "Well, sure!" Apple Bloom blinked her way. "But if doin' this dun bring me a cutie mark, then what's the point in pretendin' to be strong enough to take care of my own family in the future?" She shrugged. "I mean, wouldn't you like to bring something back to make yer Momma proud too?"

    Dinky exhaled, gazing past Apple Bloom. She thought of Ditzy, of how tired and exasperated she looked the previous day. All it took to bring her mother down was a single visit from Daring Do. She couldn't imagine what would cause her mom and her aunt to clash so miserably, even though Ditzy had tried her tentative best to explain it to her and the Crusaders over muffin-baking. Dinky sensed that there was still something missing.

    There was always something missing. For all the wonderful and loving things that Ditzy openly said to Dinky, there was still a part of her that the little unicorn could never figure out. It was a sensitive, melancholic thing, hidden behind sighs and soft-spoken assertions. When she was younger, Dinky used to think that there was some heartfelt reason behind her mother’s wandering vision. Dinky had long assumed that it was mommy’s way of keeping a literal eye out for danger, always watching and searching. Ditzy was constantly looking to protect the two of them, and it explained how guarded she could be.

But there was still that part of Ditzy—a very quiet and somber part—that secretly called upon Dinky to intervene on her emotional behalf, as if it was her turn to return the favor and console her mother through the simple act of being there, nuzzling her close, proving that she was still within hoof’s reach and not being swept away by some errant wind. The dichotomy between Ditzy’s strength and her neediness had always been a curious, cryptic thing to Dinky. She often felt as though the adult pegasus’ soul was being tugged in two directions, and that her wandering eye was—in fact—flittering off in search of something else, something that was forever lost, and Dinky wasn’t sure that she’d ever be able to help Ditzy find it.

    Someone or something had taken away something dear to Ditzy. Although the mare had Dinky—her little “muffin”—Dinky had the sneaking suspicion that nothing would ever be complete. Despite her best intentions, Ditzy would always have that mysterious part of her hidden, hollow, and wanting. It was the same abyss from which an angry mare had snapped at her and the Crusaders the previous day at the mere mention of Daring, an aunt that Dinky didn’t even know she had until the truth awkwardly presented itself. The more Dinky dwelled on it, she found herself uncovering cold, unsettling memories, such as one evening when—on the flight home from a stage play—Ditzy broke down crying and there was nothing Dinky could do to ease her tears. It was a rare thing when Dinky felt helpless around her mother, and she wasn’t willing to stand for it. She may not have had the ability to patch up all of Ditzy’s hidden wounds, but she could at least do something to make her proud of her… by restoring that which was broken before the two of them.

    "If finding the foals would make Mommy's life easier, then that's a good thing," Dinky said at last to Apple Bloom. "But it's more than that." She looked up with a smile. "I believe Mommy thinks—like I do—that all lost things should be found. And bringing the foals back would do just that. Whether she or Aunt Daring or Rainbow Dash or we find the foals, it doesn't matter. Just so long as they're found."

    "Well, there's a good reason for us to stick to the plan!" Apple Bloom winked. "The more the merrier, ya think?"

    Dinky giggled. "Yeah. Sure thing," she said to Apple Bloom. At the same time, however, she sighed, her mind once again wandering back to Ditzy's angry outburst the day before. Perhaps some lost things were far too elusive to ever track down.

    "Okay, guys!" Sweetie Belle trotted back, pausing to shake a rear leg before hopping into the wagon, tightening her helmet. "Good to go!"

    "Whew!" Scootaloo stood up straight, flexing her wings. "Finally!"

    "Did I miss anything while I was gone?" Sweetie Belle asked.

    "Eenope!" Apple Bloom smiled as Scootaloo began kicking the wagon into a swift, eastward glide. The landscape around them sloped into a wide-stretching valley, flowing gracefully eastward and flanked by farmlands. "But you did miss Dinky practicin' on an invisible flute."

    "Huh?" Dinky jolted, blinking. "What?"

    "Oh come on, Dinky." Apple Bloom chuckled, mimicking the little unicorn's gestures from earlier. "Why else wouldja be fiddlin' yer hooves right in front of yer face all funny-like?"

    Dinky blushed slightly, wrapping herself halfway inside her towel-cape. "Playing the flute relaxes me." She gulped. "Even if it's a pretend one."

    "It's a shame you left the real thang back in Ponyville," Apple Bloom said. "Reckon hearin' some of that sweet music of yers would have made this journey all the better!"

    Dinky shook her head. "If Mommy knew I brought that expensive flute on a quest like this, she'd be mad."

    "She'd be mad that you went on this quest, period," Scootaloo said, chuckling.

    "Don't say things like that, Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said. She leaned over and rested a hoof on Dinky's shoulder. "Don't you worry. We're going to get you back home before Miss Doo will have to worry."

    "Oh, I believe you!" Dinky said with a nod.

    "And besides!" Scootaloo smirked over her shoulder. "Once we bring the foals back, who could possibly be mad at us?"

    "Heheh! Yeah!" Apple Bloom nodded. "What she said!"

    "They'll invent a new word in the Haissanic dictionary!" Sweetie Belle said. "From now on, 'Crusader' will mean 'adorable little filly who eats foal-nappers for breakfast!'"

    "Just where in tarnation is 'Haissan' anyway?" Apple Bloom remarked. "Don't sound like no place around here."

    "Because it's not a place from around here!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "It's a country located across the Big Blue!"

    "Like in Stirrope or something?" Scootaloo asked.

    "Yeah!" Sweetie Belle nodded. "Rarity imports special silks and fabrics from that place all the time!" She smiled. "Apparently they make really good carpets there! Even magic ones!"

    "H-hey! Like in Daring Do’s latest book!" Scootaloo twitched slightly in mid glide. "Not… n-not that I've taken a peek at Rainbow’s copy of it when she wasn't looking or anything. Ahem."

    Apple Bloom chuckled. “Whatever the case, so long as we take the twins back from them before they take off for Stirrope, then the day is saved.”

    “Sounds good to me!” Dinky chirped.

    "So the bad guys are Haissanic pegasi..." Sweetie Belle tapped her chin, then grinned at Dinky. "Pegaissanic?"

    Dinky giggled.

    “They’re toast, if you ask me,” Scootaloo said with a smug grin. “Adult ponies who think it’s a cool thing to rob babies from their crib? Heh... not in our Equestria. Makes you wonder if all ponies from Stirrope are whack.”

    “So, uh, how far is it to Manehattan anyway?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Cuz all I’m seeing are hills and forests and other petty non-city stuff.”

    “Oh, I dunno.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Five miles? Fifty?”

    Sweetie winced. “That’s kind of a huge difference.”

    “Whatever.” Scootaloo shrugged. “I’ll get us there in no time.”

    “Are you sure?” Sweetie remarked.

    “How hard can it be? We just head east and don’t stop for nothing!”

    Dinky cocked her head to the side worriedly. “But Mommy, Rainbow Dash, and Aunt Daring all took trains. And that was yesterday!”

    “Well, here’s hoping that ponies dumb enough to steal babies are dumb enough to stick around in Manehattan for a while!” Scootaloo tossed her mane back in the wind. “It’s a big city. We’re small ponies. We can easily snoop them out of whatever hole they've crawled into!”

    “Well, so long as your wings can handle the distance, Scoots.”

    "Hey! Just relax, everypony!" Scootaloo smirked devilishly as she hopped the group over a log and sped ever eastward. "There's no way I'd ever get tired of this!"

    Two hours later, Scootaloo was a wheezing, sputtering mess.

    "Okay..." Her face drooped under a slick sheen of sweatdrops. "Getting just a little bit tired of this."

    Apple Bloom was slumped over, her yellow face squished against the edge of the wagon. “I was afraid of this,” she grumbled.

    “Oh Scootaloo…” Sweetie Belle peered at her friend with a sad expression. “Want to switch places?”

    “What’s the point?” The little pegasus wheezed. “Without wings, you can’t possibly go as fast as me! No offense, but then we'd definitely never reach Manehattan by sundown!”

    “I know!” Apple Bloom perked up, rubbing the hard wagon lines off her fuzzy muzzle. “How about Sweetie and I both stand on the scooter and kick our way there for a while!”

    Sweetie Belle nodded emphatically.  “Yeah!  That would get us there just as fast if not faster, right?”

    “I’m learnin’ how to buck apples back on the farm!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Kicking trees… kicking the ground… what’s the difference?”

    “Only one of them gets you to Manehattan in time to save twins.” Scootaloo stopped the wagon altogether, leaning over her handles in a sweating, heaving heap. “And the gas for that has just run out.”

    Sweetie Belle moaned into her hooves. “That’s it. We’re doomed.” She tossed her head like a melodramatic damsel. “Doomed!”

    “The twins are doomed, ya mean,” Scootaloo wheezed.

    Dinky gazed at everypony, her heartbeat quickening. She wasn't sure how, but everything felt like it was melting, and the sullen expressions on her friends' muzzles were the first to droop. "What's wrong? Girls, why are we stopping?"

    "Not stopping, Dinky," Scootaloo wheezed. "Just pausing before I die of lameness."

    "But... we're still going to Manehattan, r-right?" Dinky stood up straight, pressing her hooves against the edge of the wagon. "We've not given up, have we?"

    "Heck no!" Scootaloo frowned.

    "Scootaloo, face it," Sweetie Belle moaned. "You're pooped. And Manehattan is—like—a gazillion miles away!"

    "So what?!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "I'll pull us there by my teeth if I have to!"

    "Yeah, and just when would we arrive?" Apple Bloom sighed. "It's way further than any of us thought. If we had taken the train like Daring, Rainbow, and Dinky's mom did—"

    "Apple Bloom, they'd kick us off!" Scootaloo said. "I mean, we're just foals! They totally would have told on our parents! It's not like we have the bits to afford tickets anyhow!"

    "Don't you get it?" Sweetie Belle pouted. "We're behind in this journey no matter which way we shake it! We can't take a train. Scootaloo, you're wearing your feathers down to the quill. Odds are, the foalnappers would have found a way to make it across the Big Blue hours ago! If not a day before!"

    "Assumin' Rainbow, Daring, and Ditzy haven't already tackled them," Apple Bloom said. "Which probably would have been hours ago as well."

    "Unnnngh..." Scootaloo sighed, her miserable eyes plastered to the east horizon. "Then that means the day could already be saved. Ah well." She rolled her eyes. "Chalk another one up for Rainbow Dash being the hero." The filly gulped hard. "Again."

    “Hey! Come on!” Dinky chirped, metal "helmet" rattling. “Who says we have to quit?”

    “It’s not quittin’,” Apple Bloom muttered. “More like tree sap makin’ its mark again.”

    “Huh?”

    “You wouldn’t understand, Dinky,” Sweetie droned. “You’re cute and all, but you’re still new.”

    Dinky frowned. It wasn't that she was angry at them, but rather she was frustrated at how swiftly they had suddenly and inexplicably given into hopelessness. True, it was a rather daunting task to find the foal-nappers to begin with, but that didn't matter. Dinky knew that the Crusaders were better than this; it was the reason she grew attached to them in the first place.

    Dinky recalled their initial meeting. It was just an average day at recess, and she had quietly endured yet another bullying round of taunts from the likes of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. That in and of itself hadn't bothered Dinky so much. Those two fillies picked on every foal in the schoolyard, so it was hard for the little unicorn to take their words personally.

    What stuck out, however, was the fact that three friendly foals had shown up to console her, whether she needed it or not. The gesture was simply so rich, so wholesome, and so kind, that Dinky was instantly enamored. After a short, pleasant conversation, she parted ways with them, feeling a strange warmth inside her chest that Dinky had only ever previously experienced from spending time with her mother.

    The very next day, to Dinky's surprise, the Crusaders had come to talk to her at recess again, as if checking up on her to see if she was still being bullied or not. It was then that Dinky realized that they all had something in common. The fillies liked bringing out the best in other ponies and patching up the holes in the world around them. True, they sought their cutie marks from every endeavor, but there was no denying that the Crusaders valued progress and improving themselves, both of which were values that Ditzy inspired in Dinky on a regular basis.

    Dinky and her three darling friends had a common ground, a foundation that connected them, and she wasn’t about to see the Crusaders collapse in on themselves so easily. They may not have been Ditzy, and a muffin meal likely wouldn't solve their problems in a wall-eyed blink. But Dinky learned from her mother just as much as her mother learned from her, and wisdom meant nothing if it wasn't shared.

    “Girls, am I a Crusader or aren’t I?” the little unicorn suddenly chirped.

    “Well, of course you are!” Scootaloo glanced at her. “It’s just that—”

    “Why would you make me an honorary member just for us to quit my first adventure?

    “Adventrip,” Sweetie blurted.

    “Exactly!” Dinky smiled at the group. “And it’s not even about me! What about Pumpkin and Pound Cake? The twins? If we don’t do this, then they may never grow old enough to become Crusaders themselves! They'll never learn what their super special talents are!”

    “Well…” Scootaloo winced. “When you put it that way…”

    “Dinky, we wanna save ‘em n’all, but we’re so far away from Manehattan!” Apple Bloom gestured towards the hills. “And besides, yer Mom and Daring and Rainbow—”

    “Are just three ponies!” Dinky exclaimed. “But we’re three more!”

    “Four more.” Sweetie managed a tiny smile. “Don’t count yourself out.”

    “I don’t mean to! I’m in! Don’t you see? We’re all in!” Dinky leaned against the edge of the wagon, propping herself higher so that her eyes met the other fillies’. “My Mommy has a saying that she tells me often. It's one that Grandpa use to say to her all the time.” She cleared her throat and spoke in as deep a voice as she could muster: “Everything you do matters.” She smiled. “And we’ve got the chance to do something here that really, really matters!”

    “That’s just the thing, Dinky,” Sweetie sighed. “Every time we try to do something special…”

    “...like earnin’ our cutie marks…” Apple Bloom added.

    “...we always end up falling flat on our faces… literally.” Scootaloo finished with a sigh.

    “And giving up now is somehow going to fix things?” Dinky shook her head. “Come on, Crusaders! Those twins are depending on us! Doing something is better than doing nothing!”

    Silence hung over the grassy hillside. The three foals exchanged blinking faces. One by one, they smiled with renewed vigor.

    “Y’know what, Dinkster?” Scootaloo grinned. “I understand now why we didn’t pack a map with us.” She pressed the scooter east. “We just brought you instead.”

    “You got a second wind, now, Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked.

    “And how!”

    “Yeeeha!” Apple Bloom shook her hoof. “Then what are we waitin’ for?! We’ve got some twins to un-foalnap!”

    “Heeee!” Sweetie leaned in, hugging Dinky tight. “I knew we inducted you for reasons other than your cuteness! Thanks for re-crusading us!”

    “I’m just following what my Mommy taught me,” Dinky remarked, blushing slightly. “After all, like she always says—”

    A loud, staccato barking noise lit the air. It tickled every filly's ear, making them look around with dazed, blinking expressions.

    "Uhhhhh..." Scootaloo's ears twitched from beneath her helmet. "Ditzy Doo liked to make dog sounds a lot?"

    Dinky shook her head, eyes wide. “It wasn’t me! I swear!”

    "Sounds like Winona." Apple Bloom's face stretched. "If she swallowed a bunch of sawdust."

    Meanwhile, as the barking continued, Dinky squirmed in her part of the wagon. She felt a gust of wind blowing down from the low-hanging clouds. It whisked past the other fillies, brushing against the unicorn's coat and giving her goosebumps. Shivering, the Honorary Crusader clenched her teeth. Gradually, the barking became louder, as if it was somehow being carried aloft in the breeze.

    Dinky turned around in the wagon, scanning the side of the road. It didn't take long for her to see a mangy gray figure scurrying out of the nearby forest's treeline with rapid speed. It was an ugly thing, with a bulldog's scrunched-up face and a stubby tail. Nevertheless, Dinky couldn't help but notice a frighteningly bright glint in the canine's eyes. It slobbered and panted as it pitter-pattered closer on scurrying paws, its hairy ears perked up in an expression of distress and alarm.

    "Apple Bloom's right," Scootaloo's voice muttered. "That's one sick sounding dog."

    "Sounds worse than sick. It sounds frightened."

    "What would a dog be doing this far out in the country?"

    "Maybe it belongs to somepony. A farmer?"

    "The heck kind of a crop would they be growin' out here? Acorns?"

    "Oooh! Oooh! Walnuts!"

    "I dun think so..."

    All this time, Dinky found herself staring at the mangy mutt as it approached the wagon. With a nervous gulp, she reached back and tapped Sweetie Belle's shoulder. "Uhm... girls?"

    "What is it, Dinky?"

    "I... I dunno..." The periwinkle pony pointed at the canine. "But I think something's got it all scared."

    "Got what all scared?" Scootaloo turned around, instantly flinching atop her scooter. "Gaah! Mad dog! Mad dog! Rabies!"

    "T'ain't a mad dog, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said. "I'd know an angry dog if I saw one."

    "But... h-how can you be for sure?"

    "Why don't we ask it?"

    "Ask a dog?"

    "Why, sure!" Apple Bloom smiled as she stood up. "Dogs got feelin's too! They just dun speak it like us ponies do!"

    "Yeah, Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle beamed. "They woof instead of whinny."

    "Ugh..." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Gimme a break."

    Apple Bloom stood at the edge of the wagon, leaning over to smile at the panting creature. "How ya doin' there, girl? What's the matter?!"

    "Ew..." Sweetie Belle grimaced. "That’s a girl?"

    "Heheh..." Scootaloo couldn’t help but chuckle. "Talk about havin' a face that only a mother could love!"

    The dog barked loudly, darting backwards and turning with every other loud exclamation that escaped its slobbering lips.

    "What is it, girl?" Apple Bloom blinked. "Are ya tryin' to tell us something?"

    "Lemme guess." Scootaloo's eyes were like dull razors. "Somepony's stuck down a well somewhere."

    "Scootaloo, this ain't funny!" Apple Bloom frowned. "Winona does this kind of stuff all the time! I think something might be really really wrong."

    "Like what?"

    "Will ya quit groanin' and lemme try n’find out?!" She leaned further over the edge of the wagon. "Is it your owner, girl? Is it somepony in trouble?"

    The dog barked louder, its head and tail wagging in unison. It made a mad dash for the trees, stopped dead in its tracks, and spun around, barking some more. It repeated this motion, gradually making its way towards the tree line and the thick forest beyond.

    "See? See?" Apple Bloom pointed. "It's wantin' to lead us someplace!"

    "Oh no!" Sweetie Belle gasped, pulling at her worried facial features. "Somepony is in trouble somewhere!"

    "Yeah... heh..." Scootaloo shook her head. "I don't buy that for a second.”

    "But what if yer wrong, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom gazed at her nervously. "What if there's somepony that needs savin'?"

    "Apple Bloom, the foals need saving!" Scootaloo gestured wildly towards the east horizon. "Or did you forget Dinky’s motivational thingy just now?! We've got a date in Manehattan and we can't afford to be late!"

    "But what if there's somepony who needs us here and we just let them be ‘cuz we're in such a big hurry?!"

    "Yeah, Apple Bloom's right! Besides..." Sweetie Belle stood up. "What kind of Crusaders would we be if we just ignored the pleas of our fellow ponies?"

    "Unnnnnghhhhhh..." Scootaloo drooped against the handles of her scooter. After a prolonged sigh, she muttered, "Where do you think it wants to take us, Apple Bloom?"

    "Hold up..." Apple Bloom squinted at the tree line just north of them. As the dog kept dashing and barking, she caught sight of a dirt path winding through the first dense thicket of trees. "There! Over yonder! Ya see?"

    Scootaloo squinted. "Yeah, I think so."

    "Head on through there! I bet there's a cottage in the woods where the dog's owner lives!"

    "It must be an old pony!" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked. She smiled at Dinky. "Old ponies just love woodland cottages."

    Dinky didn't register Sweetie's statement. She was too busy watching the dog. From afar, something glinted around the animal’s neck. It took much concentration, but the trained eyes of a filly used to riding with her winged mother could spot a collar. It was studded all over with bright, sparkling diamonds.

    Dinky's blood went cold. She trembled, murmuring, "Uhm... girls...?"

    "What are ya waitin' for, Scoots?" Apple Bloom pointed wildly. "Get a move on! We gotta catch up to her!"

    "Okay... okay." Scootaloo kicked hard at the earth, turning the scooter and wagon completely around. "I got it." She blurred her wings, and the group rocketed north, heading straight down a trench made out of thick tree trunks. "There'd better be more than dog biscuits for us at the end of this..."

    "Just keep pushin' us along, Scoots!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Dun stop for nothin'!"

    Ahead, the dog's sprinting body merged with the shadows. Dinky shuddered as she felt the dark forest close up around them.

    "Erm..." The unicorn fiddled with her "cape" as her metal helmet rattled atop her head. "I really don't think we should be going this deep into—"

    "Shhhh!" Sweetie squeezed her shoulders. "Not so loud, Dinky!" She craned her neck to see past Scootaloo's wings as the trees whizzed by. "We gotta listen for the thing's barks or else we'll lose it!" As if on cue, several woofing coughs echoed through the woods. Sweetie waved a forelimb wildly over her head. "Don't worry! We're right behind you! Keep barking!"

    Dinky bit her lip and crouched low in the wagon.

    Five minutes passed, all the while the yipping canine in front of the group kept bounding deeper and deeper into the woods, darting through underbrush and low hanging foliage. The sky was impossible to see at this point; a thick canopy blocked all but a serpentine sliver of light that wormed over the fillies' heads.

    "Yeesh," Scootaloo grimaced, squinting her eyes to spot loose branches and twigs along the uneven path. "Whoever these ponies are, they must live super deep in the forest."

    "Well, it's a good thing we were nearby to help out in the nick of time!" Apple Bloom said. "Scootaloo, you seein' anythang yet?"

    Scootaloo shook her head. "Not yet. What are the chances this dog is just lost?"

    "It came out of the forest to grab our attention, didn’t it?!" Sweetie Belle said. “Why would it return to a place where it got lost?”

    “I’m sure we’ll find its owners at any moment now!” Apple Bloom said.

    "What if it's got nothing to do with that?" Scootaloo said, her muzzle twisting. "What if—like—it just found a royal squirrel burial ground or something and it wants to share the discovery?"

    "Squirrels don't have royal burial grounds!"

    "How would you know, Sweetie Belle?"

    "Because crowns don't fit on their heads!"

    "Ungh..." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "That's it. This is stupid. I'm turning this scooter around before—"

    "No, wait!" Apple Bloom stood up and pointed over Dinky's metal headpiece. "Look! We're here!"

    Scootaloo skidded to a stop, blinking.

    "Uhhhh..." Sweetie Belle chewed on the end of her lip. "Where's 'here?'"

    Dinky's eyes twitched. Before her and the other ponies, a solid wall of compacted earth loomed, covered all over with vines and thorns. The dirt path that brought them all the way into the forest had come to an abrupt stop right against the mess of rocky soil. There, in the shadow of the thick branches overhead, the mangy bulldog squatted, panting at them before barking with an even dumber grin.

    "It's... it's a dead end," Apple Bloom murmured.

    "Yeah, I see that, Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "I knew this was a bad idea!"

    "Wait, hold up." Sweetie Belle looked all around, fidgeting. "Maybe we just took a wrong turn."

    "Sweetie Belle, we came through here in a straight line!" Scootaloo frowned over her shoulder. "There were no turns!"

    "No, for real, though!" Sweetie Belle pivoted to face the path from which they came. Apple Bloom looker over her shoulder as the unicorn pointed at a sparsely dense pocket of bushes to the right. "Maybe that’s a branching path over there that we missed!"

    "Yeah, I reckon for a bear, maybe. But for ponies?" Apple Bloom blinked in the direction Sweetie Belle was pointing. “Or a dog?”

    "What difference does it make, guys?" Scootaloo squawked. "We're totally off track! We gotta get back onto the main road and continue heading towards Manehattan like I said!"

    "But the dog—"

    "Forget the dog! The drooling thing brought us all the way here for no friggin' reason!"

    All three of the crusaders' heads were turned, leaving just Dinky and her blinking eyes to witness the bulldog as it suddenly stopped panting. With an eerily vicious grin, the creature then stood up on its hindquarters, flexing its arm muscles in a threatening manner. Only once it was standing completely straight did Dinky see the glittering red jewel hanging from the center of its diamond encrusted collar.

    "Uhhh... girls?" Dinky whimpered. There was no response—the three fillies kept arguing, bickering. "G-girls?"

    The bipedal canine made eye contact with Dinky. It snickered breathily, then made a slow "throat-slitting" gesture with its prominent paw.

    "Cr-Cr-Crusadersss!" Dinky finally wailed, tugging on Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle's capes.

    "Dinky, for pony's sake!" Apple Bloom turned with a frown. "What is it?"

    "An ambush!" the dog rasped in a nasally masculine voice. "That's what!"

    "Uhhhhh..." Scootaloo spun about, eyes blinking. "Did that dog just talk?"

    "That depends..." The bulldog licked his blackened lips. "Can the ponies screeeeam?" He then cupped two paws around his flat muzzle. "Now, Jake! They're all yours!"

    Th-Thud! The whole wagon shook. All four fillies spun, only to see an enormous shadow pouring over them from an even more enormous creature. A hulking canine with a pale-white coat loomed with his muscular arms held out wide, his leafy ears twitching in the dim daylight.

    "Stupid... ssssstupid poniesss!" And the diamond dog reached in with a strangling hug.

    The fillies were reduced to kicks and screams. Within seconds, the mutt's beefy arms surrounded the three ponies in the wagon. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom squirmed and struggled in his grasp, but Dinky was so tiny that she slipped through its clutches.

    "Ooof!" She dropped hard onto the forest floor. Half a second later, her helmet plopped down onto her head and over her eyes. She lifted it up in time to see the monster lifting the two fillies up from the wagon, cackling victoriously.

    "Good catch, Tonks!" The beast named bellowed. "These will fetch the gang plenty of jewels for sure!"

    "So long as I get my share, Jake!"

    "Yeah yeah..."

    "Hey!" Scootaloo snarled. She kicked clear off the scooter and squatted low, dragging a hoof and snorting as she struck her heroic pose. "Leave my friends alone, ya fleabag—"

    "Aaaaaaaaand..." The bulldog ran up and punted the filly right in the tail. "Goal!"

    "Gaaaaaaah—" Scootaloo flew until she landed chin-first against the bigger dog's belly. "Ooof!" She slumped down, looking up dizzily. "Hooboy." A massive paw grabbed the pegasus by the tail and lifted her besides her shrieking companions. "Hey! Lemme go! I mean it! I'll bite your ears off!"

    "Hmmmmf." Jake smiled, his yellowed fangs showing. "Now there's a nibble and a half!" He barked across the clearing as he reached behind a bush for something. "I'm gonna bag 'em! Grab the last one, Tonks!"

    "Ruff! Sure thing!"

    "Run, Dinky!" Scootaloo shouted, flailing as Jake grabbed a large black bag and began stuffing the crusaders inside, one by one. "Hurry! Go and get help—!" Her voice became a muffled squeak as she joined her friends inside the thick burlap sack.

    Dinky didn't realize she was galloping until she heard the crunch of leaves and branches behind her. "Oh please... oh please oh please oh please—!" She nearly made it past the underbrush when suddenly her stubby hooves tripped on Sweetie Belle's terry cloth "cape." "Gaaah—Ooof!" She fell flat on her chest, wincing. Within seconds, a pitter-patter of hooves came up from behind, and she felt herself being lifted by the smaller dog's paws.

    "Here ya go, Jake! This one will at least score you some topaz! Ha!"

    "Meh, if not..." Dinky's face shrank away from the looming grin of the towering canine. His paw devoured the whole of her vision. "...she'd make for a nimble dirt digger."

    "No... no, d-don't!" Dinky yelped into his smelly grip as she felt herself hanging up in the air. "I-I gotta save my friends! Mmmmrmmmfff... please!" She whimpered as she was yanked upside down and dangled before the bag full of screams. "Let us go! Mommy!"

    Jake released her. She plopped inside the bag, collided skulls with the other Crusaders' helmets, and fell unconscious as the dim world outside was swallowed up in blackness.

Next Chapter: 3 - We've Been Dogpiled Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 60 Minutes