Diamonds Are for Apples

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Epilogue
BONUS CHAPTER – APPLEJACK’S PERPECTIVE
Chapter 2

Chapter 1

It was a nice cool evening at the countryside of Sweet Apple Acres. The sun was setting over the row of trees, signaling that it was close to suppertime. The acres were peaceful and quiet, not a single living being present except for the three young teenage girls as they were walking on a dirtied path. The three girls in question are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Together, they are known as The Crusaders from Canterlot High. They are the trios who were always together to try to figure out what their talents are before they graduate from their High School. However, every time they search for their talents, those three would unintentionally get themselves into trouble. Last week, they tried to invent a different kind a cake by baking with some strange ingredients they borrowed from Twilight’s lab from the school’s kitchen.

Let’s just say…they were banned from the school’s kitchen for the rest of the school year.

As the three girls were heading to the main farm of Sweet Apple Acres, the girls were talking excitedly about their upcoming events.

“Aw yeah, just two more days until the weekend!” Scootaloo whooped loudly. “No homework, no studying for upcoming tests, just two days of fun!”

Sweetie Belle nodded eagerly. “Yeah, I can’t wait for that, especially that I get to spend time with you guys!”

“Exactly!”

Scootaloo turned to her farmer friend. “Hey Apple Bloom, did Applejack gave you permission to have our sleepover at your house this weekend?”

Apple Bloom wasn’t paying attention to her friend’s words, as she appeared to be deep in thought. She frowned as she was thinking about the strange behaviors she seen from a member of her family. That’s been bothering her for quite some time and she wasn’t sure what to do in this situation.

Especially that it involves her sister.

“Hey Apple Bloom, Equestria to Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo called out to her.

Apple Bloom snapped out of her deep thought and turned to see two of her best friends who gave her with their concern looks; but mostly annoyed from Scootaloo.

“Oh Ah’m sorry Scoots, were you sayin’ somethin’?” Apple Bloom asked sheepishly.

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes with suspicion. “What’s going on Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom shifted her eyes towards the road, avoiding Scootaloo’s gaze.

“Sorry about that, Ah was in deep thought.”

“You were like that all day Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “Was there something bothering you?”

Still not meeting their friends’ eyes, she sighed softly. “It was nothin’ Sweetie Belle. Ah just need to talk to Applejack about somethin’, that’s all.”

Scootaloo frowned at that. “Was it about our sleepover? I thought you talked to her about that yesterday!”

“No it’s not that,” Apple Bloom reassured. “She said yes yesterday. It’s about…something else.”

Sweetie Belle titled her head. “Then what is-”

“Oh look we’re almost at my house!” Apple Bloom exclaimed suddenly. “Last one there’s a rotten Apple!”

Apple Bloom ran towards her home as if her life depends on it. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at each other with concern. Something was bothering their farmer friend and they were determined to get to the bottom of it. As if they read each others thoughts, they both nodded to each other and ran after Apple Bloom to her house.

The two Crusaders entered the house and into the living room the moment when Apple Bloom called out throughout the house.

“Ah’m home!”

As she and her other two friends placed their backpacks by the front door, Apple Bloom’s sister, Applejack entered the living room with a warm smile on her face.

“Well howdy girls! How was yer club meeting?”

“It was fun,” Apple Bloom replied. “Do you mind if my friends stayed over for supper?”

Applejack nodded. “That’s fine Apple Bloom, but only until seven. Rarity and Scootaloo’s folks want them home before dark.”

“Fine,” Apple Bloom agreed reluctantly. “So are you gonna to stay for supper this time?”

“Sorry sugarcube, Ah have to be out again tonight,” said Applejack as she walked towards the coat rack.

“What? Again!?" Apple Bloom exclaimed, upset with her sister's answer. "Applejack, Ah thought you are done with going out late!”

Applejack gave Apple Bloom her apologetic look as she was putting on her coat.

“I’m sorry Apple Bloom, there’s…something Ah have to take care of.”

Apple Bloom crossed her arms with a stern look on her face. “Can’t you at least tell me where ya goin’?”

“Somewhere I need to be,” Applejack answered vaguely. “Ah’ll make it up to you another time, Ah promise. Ah’ll see ya tomorrow Apple Bloom.”

As Applejack was opening the front door, Apple Bloom called out to her.

“Applejack?”

Applejack turned to Apple Bloom, giving her full attention. Apple Bloom opened her mouth to speak; wanting to say the things that Applejack was doing was bothering her.

But she couldn’t bring herself to.

She sighed and lowered her eyes to stare at the floor.

“Never mind.”

Applejack gave her sister her silent apology before she turned and stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

Apple Bloom sighed sadly as she slowly approached the couch and slowly sat down.

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned and stared at each other again in concern before they decided to comfort their friend. They slowly walked up to the coach again and then they sat down next to Apple Bloom, with Sweetie Belle on Apple Bloom’s right side and Scootaloo on Apple Bloom’s left side. Neither one of them weren’t sure who to start until Scootaloo finally decided to speak up.

“What’s wrong Apple Bloom?” asked Scootaloo.

“Yeah, you looked like you’re in the dark.” Sweetie Belle added.

Apple Bloom sighed loudly. “That’s just it! Ah am in the dark! Applejack’s been very secretive lately!

Scootaloo blinked. “What do you mean?”

Apple Bloom was silent for a moment, mentally debating if she should worry her friends with her silly problems or not. She took a glace at both of them to see her friends, giving her their concern and supporting looks on their faces, waiting for her to speak. Realizing that they mean well and she could no longer held it in, she finally decided to speak to her friends about her recent troubles.

“Well, fer the past couple a weeks, Applejack been going out a lot before supper time and I didn’t see her again ‘til the next day! And every mornin,’ she looked more tired then usual. Then a few days ago, she appeared to be nervous and jumpy when Ah entered her room to ask her about our sleepover. Ah asked her several times where she’s been, but she either won’t tell me anythin’ or dodged my questions!”

“Maybe she went out with her friends to hang out or to do a band practice,” Sweetie Belle suggested.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “That’s what Ah thought at first too! But when Ah asked them, they all said that she wasn’t with them at all on any of these nights she went out! ‘Sides, she always tells me where she’s goin’ and when she gets back…‘til now. This wasn’t like her at all!”

Scootaloo scratched her chin in thought. “Hmm…that does seem odd, but maybe she has her reasons?”

Sweetie Belle suddenly perked up.

“Ooh! Maybe she’s planning a surprise birthday gift for you! One time, Rarity was secretive for a while too, until she surprised me with some new clothes she designed for my birthday.”

Apple Bloom shook her head again. “Ah don’t think so. My birthday is six months away and we celebrated Christmas a couple months ago. Ah can’t think of anythin’ else she would surprise me for.”

Scootaloo patted her friend’s back reassuringly. “Well like I said, whatever it is, I’m sure your sister has her reasons. I wouldn’t worry about it until she tells you herself.”

“Ah hope yer right Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom sighed.

Scootaloo frowned, not sure exactly how to cheer up her friend. She wasn’t very good when it comes to comforting a friend, but she felt she need to do something. When she took a glace at the T.V. in front of her, she suddenly had an idea.

“Hey cheer up!” Scootaloo perked up. “What do ya say we grab some snacks and watch a show!”

“Yeah, we’re here to have fun!” Sweetie Belle agreed, catching on to her friend’s idea.

For the first time in days, Apple Bloom smiled. “Yeah yer both right! Thanks girls!”

Her face then turned mischievous. “Ah called the remote!”

Apple Bloom dived towards the remote on the coffee table, but her two friends intercepted her.

“No I called it!”

“No me!”

The three of them fell to the ground and was wrestling over the remote. They were struggling to yank the remote out of each others grips in a three-way tug-of-war. After a minute of struggling, Apple Bloom used the last of her strength to pull extra hard on the remote, and it slipped out of her friends grasps. Apple Bloom quickly stood up and made a victorious pose.

“Ha, looks like Ah win!”

Recovered from their ‘battle’, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood up and gave Apple Bloom their annoyed looks.

“How’d you snatched that remote from us so easily?” Scootaloo grumbled.

Apple Bloom smirked. “The ol’ Apple strength!”

With that said, the Crusaders sat down on the couch with Apple Bloom holding the remote.

“Now let’s see what’s on,” Apple Bloom muttered.

Apple Bloom pressed the power button on the remote and the image from the T.V. came to life.

My Little Gerbil, My Little Gerbil Ahhh~

“OOH I love this show!” Sweetie Belle said cheerfully.

Scootaloo sticked out her tongue in disgust. “Blah! Too girlish to me! I can’t believe that this show got so popular!”

“Ah can’t believe that this show was viewed by older men…despite that it’s a show for little girls,” said Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo blinked. “That’s…kinda weird.”

“It looks like a re-run anyway. Want me to check the other channels?” Apple Bloom asked.

After she received nods from her friends, Apple pressed the button on her remote to change the channel to another show.

The screen changed to an opening of a cartoon with each of furry creatures were heading towards the screen with different backgrounds before they all posed together in a group. Then the screen changed to a bald headed man on his floating egg dome with two robot lackeys on each of his side and various robot armies in the front and behind him. The bald man used his arm to signal his armies to attack the fury creatures in front of them. The robot advanced on their enemies…

…only to be crushed by a giant title of the show.

The bald man floated towards the show's title, growled angrily at it and then slammed his fist on a button of his floating dome, destroying the title with a laser beam.

Scootaloo facepalmed. “UGH! This show? Really?”

“What? It’s a pretty good show!” Apple Bloom insisted.

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “It would’ve been great show, except that they focus on more comedy and less action with little to no plot for fifteen minutes each! They even made one of my favorite character’s muscles too big and acted very dumb! This is the worse TV adaption of a hit video game series ever!”

Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow. “Worse than that other show which was dubbed by 4kiddies?”

“…good point, but still!”

Apple Bloom huffed. “Fine, I’ll change the channel.”

Apple Bloom reluctantly pushed the button on her remote to switch over to the next program.

I made it through the wilderness,~
somehow I made it through-ooh~

“Oh…dear…Faust!” Scootaloo uttered, disturbed for witnessing a young man with a green sweater and jeans singing off-key on screen.

“Is he for real?” Apple Bloom commented, trying hard not to laugh.

Sweetie Belle blinked. “Wow...and I thought Scootaloo’s the worst singer.”

“HEY!”

“Now Sweetie Belle, it’s not nice to tease Scootaloo...even though she really is a worse singer in our group.”

“Thank you Apple Bloo- HEY!”

“Please change it Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle pleaded as she was desperately covering her ears to block out the man’s singing voice. “This guy is hurting my ears!”

Apple Bloom quickly changed the channel.

“Previously, on the Big Boom Theory…”

“HECK NO!” The girls shouted out in union as Apple Bloom pressed the remote as hard as she could.

“We now return to The Moving Dead…”

Scootaloo’s face lit up. “Finally, a good show!”

“THE MUSICAL!~”

The girls just stared at the T.V. with their emotionless expressions before Apple Bloom change the channel.

“And now, you can help us catch the most dangerous fugitives on Equestria’s Most Wanted!”

“Oooh, Equestria’s Most Wanted!” Scootaloo said eagerly. “Let’s watch that!”

“Yeah, this is an awesome show!” said Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle frowned. “I don’t know girls, I don’t think I’m allowed to watch this kind of show, especially if it has violence.”

Apple Bloom touched Sweetie’s shoulder reassuringly. “Relax Sweetie Belle, ya won’t see anythin’ bad. It only talks about what criminals are currently on the loose with some funny chase videos and pictures. No violence whatsoever.”

Scootaloo scoffed. “They would’ve if the show haven’t cut out all the good parts!”

“You sure?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom smiled. “Absolutely, just give it a try!”

Sweetie Belle was hesitant about it, but she eventfully agreed to watch the show with them. As they were waiting through the commercials, Scootaloo turned to Apple Bloom with a smirk.

“Hey Apple Bloom, do you remember when that female cop arrested that obnoxious girl with the griffin leather jacket in Manehattan?”

Apple Bloom smile widened. “Oh yeah! Check this out!”

As Apple Bloom stood up from the couch, Scootaloo was pretending to hold a wheel with one hand and then making loud sounds as if it comes from the audio system. Apple Bloom then leans over to her friend and started to ‘knock’ on the ‘window’ of Scootaloo’s ‘car.’

“Open up! This is the police!” Apple Bloom said in her authoritative voice.

Scootaloo gave Apple Bloom her bored look before she turned down the ‘music’ with the ‘dial’ and then she pushed the ‘button’ to open the ‘window.’ Once the ‘window’ was down, Apple Bloom spoke up.

“’Cuse me young lady, did ya know you were parkin’ yer vehicle in the middle of a playground?”

Scootaloo scowled. “How about you take you’re shinny badge and shove it dweeb!”

“Alright that’s it, you’re under arrest miss!”

“Oh I’m going to kick your butt!”

“Oh, you’re gonna kick my butt huh? Step out the vehicle!”

“Okay fine. Let me just roll up my window!” Scootaloo said slyly as she was closing the ‘window.’

“What do ya think ya do- hey!” Apple Bloom shouted as she was desperately held on to the door handle of the getaway ‘vehicle.’ Scootaloo laughed manically as she was steering the ‘wheel’ like a mad girl.

Sweetie Belle only shook her head with a smirk in amusement before she noticed the show's logo appeared on screen from the corner of her eye.

“Girls, the show’s back on!” Sweetie Belle announced.

The two crusaders stopped pretending their ‘chase’ and Apple Bloom returned to her seat. The girls listened in as the female show’s host with yellow hair, light brown skin, light brown eyes, grey suit, light blue shirt and a navy blue tie, began to speak.

“Our first criminal tonight is wanted by both the police and the FBI. They called her the Diamond Bandit!”

Scootaloo scoffed. “Diamond Bandit? Really? They couldn’t come up with anything original?”

“Shhh! Quiet Scoots!” Apple Bloom scolded quietly as she was trying to focus on the T.V.

“About two weeks ago, the Diamond Bandit broke into Canterlot’s Jewelry store and slowly stole some diamonds and replaced them with fakes without getting detected until a few nights ago. It’s been confirmed by the jewelry store’s owner and the police that the diamond bandit stole over five million dollars worth of diamonds, making this the biggest jewelry heist in the history of Canterlot City!”

“Did you girls hear that? The Diamond Bandit had been stealing diamonds in our town!” said Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo blinked. “Huh…I don’t know if that’s awesome or awful?”

…

“It’s awes-ful!”

Sweetie Belle frowned deeply. “Well I don’t think it’s awesome at all! Whoever this person is deserves to be behind bars!”

“The thief would’ve continued to steal under the owner’s nose but luckily, she was caught in a jewelry store’s surveillance camera. Unfortunately, the quality of the footage is low due to age, but we’re still going to show it for anyone to help us identify this thief. See if you can recognize this bad gal!”

The screen then cuts to a black and white footage of what it appeared to be a bird’s eye view of the inside of the store with cases of jewelry around the room. There’s even a large safe door on the left hand corner of the screen. The most noticeable thing on the footage is a dark figure that wore dark clothing that covered up the body except for the head. The footage was a bit pixelated as the host stated, but there was something about the facial part of the figure, including that signature long lock of hair that looked…familiar.

The girls were silent with confused looks on their faces until Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“Apple Bloom…that Diamond Bandit looks a little like your sister.”

“Yeah…a little bit Ah guess.” Apple Bloom answered unsurely.

“Now watch it again. We enhanced this video to help someone recognized this slippery thief!”

As the host was talking, the footage zoomed up to the thief’s face. The screen looked a lot more pixelated than before, however they can still make out some parts of the face quite clearly, including those familiar looking freckles on each of the girl’s cheeks.

The girls eyes widened a little, too stunned from what they saw. This time, it was Scootaloo who broke the silence.

“That Diamond Bandit looks a lot like your sister.”

Apple Bloom was starting to feel uneasy. “Um…well…maybe…”

The screen then cuts back to the TV show’s host.

“Based on what we could make out from the video and the guard's descriptions, our police artist had drawn this sketch of the Diamond Bandit.”

The footage then switched over to a very detailed facial drawing of a girl that may be the face of the diamond bandit. What shocked the crusaders was that the drawing itself is highly actuate of a face of a certain farmer gal they knew, only without her stetson hat and she had a scowl of her face instead of her usual warm smile.

“THE DIAMOND BANDIT IS YOUR SISTER!” Scootaloo screamed with widened eyes.

“NO WAY!” Sweetie Belle squeaked loudly with her eyes just as wide.

“But…but…it can’t be!”

Apple Bloom was shocked to the core. Her mouth hung open and her eyes widened more than her two best friends.

She did not believe it.

She refused to believe it.

There’s no way that her honest sister, who she always looked up to, turned out to be a thief!

But because of the footage and that drawing, she wasn’t able to deny it.

She wasn’t paying attention to Sweetie Belle who kept sating phrases like, “Why you do it Applejack?” or “How could you Applejack?” She wasn’t paying attention to Scootaloo who sang that familiar song but replaced all the boys to sis for the lyrics. Apple Bloom’s attention was at a small picture frame on the table on her left. It’s a photograph of her family, standing in front of the barn with happy smiles on their faces. What she focused the most what the center of the photo of her in a loving embraced by her sister.

She nearly let out a tear as she starred at the image.

Applejack, please tell me this ain’t true!

Author's Note

Welp, we're off to an interesting start! :twilightoops:

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the start of my new story so far! There will be more chapters to come! :twilightsmile:

If you could figure out the TV show references, you'll get a cookie! :raritywink:

Is Applejack really the Diamond Bandit? :pinkiegasp:

Tune in tomorrow to find out! :trollestia:

Chapter 3

Canterlot's police station.

A place where all the officers of law served their duty to protect their citizens from threat and keep the town safe. It is also a place where crooks get locked up for breaking the law or harming other civilizations. Crime rarely happens in the city of Canterlot. As a resort, it is considered the friendliest town in the country. But if anyone breaks the law or commit a crime in this town, then it would considered to be big news! The crimes that the Diamond Bandit pulled off is no exception. The staff of the building were hectic than usual, as they raced back and forth, taking multiple phone calls and working on their computers like there's no tomorrow.

During all that chaos, two girls walked into the building at a quick pace. They stopped when they realized that their third member didn’t come into the building with them. Scootaloo quickly turned and head outside to retrieve their friend. When she got back, she was dragging her purple and pink haired friend who was resisting to be dragged into the building. Scootaloo kept dragging Sweetie Belle until they stood right in front of Apple Bloom.

“Sweetie Belle, what the hey is wrong with you?” Apple Bloom demanded.

“I don’t want to be in a police station!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow. “Why?”

“What if they found out I once accidentally ripped a tag off of my bed?”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Okay first of all, it is only illegal to remove the label before you bought the mattress not after. And second, you removed it from home when you were eight.”

Sweetie Belle shushed them loudly and frantically looked around her to see if anyone was listening.

“Don’t say that out loud!”

“Girls, focus!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "We’re here to ask questions about dealin’ with App-the Diamond Bandit.”

Scootaloo looked unsure. “And how are we going to do that without mentioning App-”

“Let me do the talkin’!” Apple Bloom answered, cutting Scootaloo off.

They made their way to the front desk, hoping to find somebody who was not busy. What they weren't expecting was that they found a familiar looking white skin man with blue hair, black eyebrows, and light blue eyes while wearing a police uniform with more metals on his chest then the other officers around them. The young officer met their eyes and blinked in surprise.

“Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?”

Apple Bloom and her friends minds clicked and their eyes widened when they realized who this person is.

“Shinning Armor?” Apple Bloom breathed in shock.

Shinning Armor is one of the staff members from Crystal Prep. He is also the brother of this world's Twilight Sparkle. They met him once at Pinkie's welcome party for Twilight after her transfer to CHS became official. She never spoke to him because she was still weary of him. Not because he's from Crystal Prep, since Twilight was from there too (and she's the nicest person from that place too), but it is because he looked very intimidating to her for some reason. Twilight assured her that he's very nice and is willing to help others.

Apple Bloom shook out of her shock. "What ya'll doin’ here?”

Shinning Armor chuckled. “You didn’t know? I’m the captain of the police department.”

“But Ah thought you’re the Alumni of Crystal Prep?” said Apple Bloom.

“Used to be," Shinning Armor answered. "This police business is my second job…well my only job now."

Shinning Armor looked away with a growl. "I quitted Crystal Prep when I found out what that…woman did to my sister!”

Apple Bloom looked down. “Oh…Ah'm sorry to hear that.”

Shinning Armor smiled reassuring. “It’s no big deal, I never liked that place anyway. Although I may reconsider going back to that school after Cadence takes over as the new principle. The original did nothing but made students lives cold and miserable…more so than usual!”

Apple Bloom frowned in worry. “You mean things were bad after the Friendship Games?”

“I shouldn’t have said that!" Shinning Armor muttered before he gave them his convincing smile. "Listen girls, don’t worry about that, it was taken care of as we speak. Now, what can I do for you three? You girls didn’t break the law while finding your talent didn’t you?”

Shinning Armor was half kidding and half serious when he asked that question. He was told by his sister's friends that their younger sisters have the knacks when it comes to getting themselves in trouble just to find their talents. And he heard many stories about their misadventures.

“Well…” Apple Bloom began hesitantly until she was cut off by Sweetie Belle.

“What’s the penalty for tearing the tag off of the mattress from home?”

Shinning Armor blinked. “What?”

“Forget her!" Apple Bloom quickly interjected as Scootaloo roughly nudged Sweetie Belle's side with her elbow. "What AH want to know…if…you ever heard of a gal called…"

She then looked around her for a moment before she leaned over to speak in her whisper voice.

"The Diamond Bandit?”

As soon as Apple Bloom asked about the Diamond Bandit, everyone in the whole station suddenly stopped what they were doing. All the officers and staff turned and stared at the Crusaders, analyzing every action they made. The whole station was now in an uncomfortable silence except from the sound of the phones that were suddenly off the hooks and the dial tone sounds from their computers. The girls felt very uncomfortable as they felt everyone eyes dig through the back of their heads. Despite the sudden tense atmosphere, Shinning Armor answered Apple Bloom's question.

“Uh…yeah, we heard of her. How can we not? This “gal” has stolen over five million dollars worth of diamonds.”

Apple Bloom swallowed. “A-Ah see…”

Apple Bloom figured they'll get more suspicious by the second, she decided to gather the info as quickly as possible.

“Ah had another question! What would happen if…"

"Hypothetically speaking,” Scootaloo helped out.

Apple Bloom continued. “What would happen if the Diamond Bandit...decided to turn herself in?”

“Hypothetically speaking,” Sweetie Belle added.

“Well ‘hypothetically speaking,’" Shinning Armor began, while air quoting that phrase. "This lowlife will spend time rotting in her jail cell for the rest of her life that’s what.”

Apple Bloom eyes widened in fear while her friends gave her their concerned expressions. While it hurt her to hear the things that Shinning Armor said about her sister, the thought of Applejack spending her life behind bars was the worst thing she could possibly imagined. This would be a heartache not only to her, but to the rest of her family as well.

Apple Bloom quickly shook out of her thoughts.

“Ah see!” Apple Bloom answered loudly.

There's no way she'll let that happen! Apple Bloom needed to find a way to get her sister out of trouble without getting a one-way ticket to jail. She needs more information that could help her get around it like some kind of loophole.

Apple Bloom cleared her throat.

“One more question! What would happen...if this lowlife were to put the diamonds back?”

She received bewildered expressions from her friends, but she choose to ignored them.

“You mean…returning them to the jewelry store?” Shinning Armor clarified.

“Y-yeah, somethin’ like that,” Apple Bloom answered.

Shinning Armor furrowed his brows. He wasn't sure why Apple Bloom asked him this strange question, but he decided to answer it anyway.

“Well…I suppose, if she were to decide to put the diamonds back where they belong, maybe things could go a little easier for her."

Shinning Armor eyes then narrowed. "Why you ask?”

Caught off guard like a deer in headlights, Apple Bloom slowly backed away towards the entrance. “Oh uh…no reason. Just…curious,”

“Yeah…just us curious kids…stopping by…" Scootaloo added as she was also slowly stepping back to the entrance door.

“Because we’re curious…and it’s our job to be…curious…yeah, that’s it!” said Sweetie Belle as she was also backing away with her friends.

Unfortunately, Sweetie Belle felt she bumped into something solid. She turned to see one of the officers giving her his suspicious look. With a startled yelp, Sweetie Belle turned and ran out the door, followed by Scootaloo and then Apple Bloom.

After the girls disappeared out the door, Shinning Armor called out to one of the officers while his eyes still set at the door.

“Officer Law?”

A tall red skin man with black hair and green eyes walked up to Shinning. “Yes Captain Armor?”

“Could you please dig up any info including the tapes about this Diamond Bandit? There’s something I need to…double check.”

“Right away sir!” The officer saluted before he turned and disappeared down the hallway.

Shinning Armor still starred at the door where the girls had retreated.

Something's strange is going on with those girls, but I'm going to find out!

The Crusaders sat down on the bench of Canterlot's Central Park after five minutes of running from the police department. They were now trying to catch their breath from their running as they thought back to what's possibly the most tense five minutes they ever spent in their lives.

All because they've asked questions about the Diamond Bandit.

“Well that was awkward,” Apple Bloom commented.

“Super awkward,” Scootaloo added.

Sweetie Belle let out her worried frown. “I bet Mr. Armor is really suspicious of us!”

“Forget Mr. Armor, everyone in the building was suspicious of us!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Apple Bloom sighed heavily. “Ah guess the news about the Diamond Bandit was more serious at that station than Ah thought. We really need to do somethin’ before they caught my sister!”

Scootaloo turned her head at Apple Bloom. “By the way Apple Bloom, what was that thing when you asked Mr. Armor about putting the diamonds back?”

Apple Bloom was silent at the moment, not meeting any of her friends eyes. She was debating if she should share her idea with her friends or not. Finally, after about a minute, she let out a long sigh.

“Listen girls…Ah had a plan…but yer not gonna like it,”

Sweetie Belle began to feel worry. “Uh oh, I get the feeling that I’m already not liking this!”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “Alright Apple Bloom, what is your plan?”

Apple Bloom was silent for a moment, still looking at the ground until she lifted her head up and gave her friends her determined look.

“We’re goin’…to sneak into that jewelry store!”

Author's Note

See ya tomorrow!

Chapter 4

“Are you out of your mind?!” Scootaloo screamed after hearing her friend's crazy idea.

“I agree with Scoots! This is insane!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed with a squeak.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Listen girls, Ah know this sounds crazy and ya’ll have every right to feel this way, but it’s the only way!”

Scootaloo shook her head rapidly. “No way! Forget it! I may be daring and I do stupid things sometimes, but even I wouldn’t go that far to go out and break into that jewelry store!”

Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement. “Yeah, plus it’s illegal to break into a building we’re not supposed to be in.”

“We’re not breakin’ into a building, we’re sneakin’ in,” Apple Bloom argued.

“It’s the same thing!” Scootaloo exclaimed.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “No it ain't! We just get ourselves inside without breakin’ anythin’. ‘Sides, we’re sneakin’ in to return all the diamonds. That’s the honest thing to do! Now will you two help me?”

“NO!” Both Scootaloo and Sweetie yelled in union.

“Oh come on guys!" Apple Bloom cried. "Ah need you two! Ah can’t do this by myself!”

“We’re gonna get caught!” Sweetie Belle argued.

“We won’t get caught!” Apple Bloom reassured.

Sweetie Belle eyes narrowed. “That’s what you said the last time before we got caught after we borrowed Sunset's Harley, just to see if we have a talent for motorcycle racing!"

Apple Bloom cringed. “T-that was different!" Apple Bloom then cleared her throat and got back to topic. "We’re just gonna sneak in and put the diamonds back we’re they belong so my sister won't go to jail.”

“Maybe your sister won’t go to jail if she haven't stolen those diamonds in the first place!” Scootaloo yelled harshly.

Apple Bloom flinched. “Girls please Ah…”

Apple Bloom slumped over with her hair covering her eyes.

“Ah can’t lose Applejack, Ah just can’t!" Apple Bloom whispered. "She’s not just my sister…she’s like a mother to me too. I’ll be devastated if I ever see her behind bars. How would you feel if you found out Rarity or even Rainbow Dash turned out to be a Diamond Bandit? Would you want to see them in prison?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cringed when Apple Bloom brought up about their respectable sisters. Apple Bloom lifted her head at her friends, reveling her teary eyes.

“Please girls," Apple Bloom choked. "Ah’m beggin’ you. Please...help me.”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with concerned frowns, feeling conflicted. As much as Apple Bloom's words pained them, they knew that she was right. They wouldn't deal with seeing their sisters in jail either and would do everything to save them from that horrible fate. But would they go that far to the point of breaking the law? Their minds tell them it wasn't a good idea and stay out of trouble. But from their hearts, especially after seeing their friend broke down into tears, told them that they should help their friend.

Sweetie Belle turned to Apple Bloom.

“Okay Apple Bloom…I’ll help you," she said quietly. "A Crusader should always watch each other’s back!”

Apple Bloom sniffed. “Thanks Sweetie Belle…”

Apple Bloom turned to Scootaloo.

“Scoots?”

Scootaloo was still conflicted as she was staring at the ground. She really thought this was a bad idea. And that was coming from herself! However, she didn't want to leave Apple Bloom hanging, especially for the fact that she begged her for help. At situations like this, she closed her eyes to think about her surrogate sister then asked herself, what would Rainbow Dash do?

Finally, she let out a loud gruff and turned to face Apple Bloom.

“Alright fine, I’ll help you! But only to keep you out of trouble!”

Apple Bloom blinked. “Scoots is comin’ along just to keep me out of trouble? Pinch me I’m dreamin’!”

“Very funny!” Scootaloo deadpanned but barred a smile.

Apple Bloom chuckled as she wiped her tears away.

“Seriously, thank you girls! This means a lot me!”

“You can thank us after the deed is done," said Scootaloo. "We still have a problem though.”

“What’s that?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Security," Scootaloo answered simply. "They probably make that more effort now that they know about the thefts.”

“Yeah, if any of their system’s went off, we’ll be caught before we even stepped foot inside the building!” added Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom had a thoughtful look. “Hmm, that would be problematic...”

Apple Bloom pondered for a bit as to how they should pull this off. After a minute of silence, she then formed a grin on her face.

“Alright girls, gather around!" said Apple Bloom as they formed into a huddle. "Ah think Ah have a plan…”

Apple Bloom was pacing the floor in their Secret Crusaders Clubhouse on the tree of Sweet Apple Acres. She already formed a plan with the others on how they'll prepare to sneak into the jewelry store tonight.

With Scootaloo, she'll pretend to shop around the store, but really she's checking around the store to pin point any security to avoid, locate the safe they saw on T.V. and picked up any information about the store that will help them when they sneak in tonight.

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle went to her sister's boutique to ask her for some dark clothing for their 'camping sleepover' tonight. Hopefully, Rarity will make their outfits dark enough to hide their profiles as they made their way into the building without asking a lot of questions.

As for herself, she already gathered the necessary items she needs for their heist. These items are, a flashlight, rope, screwdrivers, gloves and some jelly donuts.

Hey, a gal's gotta eat, right?

Anyway, she's been waiting for the other Crusaders to show up in their clubhouse for about a half hour now and she gets more anxious by the minute.

Every once in a while, she took a peak in the sack (that she secretly swiped from Applejack's hiding spot from earlier) to see if those offending rocks are still there. She cringed and quickly looked away when she saw that they were still there.

Apple Bloom groaned loudly as she continued to pace around the clubhouse.

“Where are they?” she asked herself out loud.

“Hey Apple Bloom!”

Apple Bloom yelped from a voice that suddenly came out from nowhere. Apple Bloom turned behind her to see a snickering Scootaloo who was slipping in from a window with her backpack over her shoulder.

Apple Bloom huffed in annoyance. “Don’t scare me like that Scoots! Why can’t ya use the door like everyone else?”

“Because going through the window is cooler!" Scootaloo answered as if it was obvious. "As Rainbow Dash once said, ‘an awesome gal always makes an awesome entrance!’”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Whatever, what did ya find out about the jewelry store?”

Scootaloo approached to their small table as she was speaking. “Well, I was pretending to look through all the jewelry and then I overheard Mr. Rich talking to the maintenance guy about the cameras. They removed all the cameras in the store and they’re going to install new ones tomorrow. So if we’re really going to do this, tonight is our chance.”

“Are there any kind of security we should look out for?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Mr. Rich said that only one guy is patrolling the store tonight but we can sneak by easily without him knowing.” Scootaloo answered.

“But we still need to get in to the room where the safe is," Apple Bloom pointed out. "It’s not like we go right up to the front door and say, ‘hey there mister guard, my sis may have stolen your diamonds fer two weeks and now we’re returnin’ them so she won't get arrested. Can ya point us to the safe?’ Yeah…that’ll go well!”

Scootaloo waved off Apple Bloom's concern. “Chill out Apple Bloom, I have just the thing that will help us!"

Scootaloo opened up her bag and then digged into it. A few seconds later, she found what she was looking for and pulled out a long, bent, rolled up paper.

"Tada!” Scootaloo cried with a smile as she unrolled the paper, reveling a blue paper with details of the bird's eye view of every room in the jewelry store in every detail.

Apple Bloom eyes were as wide as saucers. “Scoots, that’s the floor plans of the store! Where and how did you get it?”

Scootaloo let out her sly smile. “Well…I may have cause a diversion to make that maintenance guy leave the area for a moment so I can…help myself for one of the copies.”

“You stole their floor plans!?” Apple Bloom shrieked in shock.

“I didn’t steal it, I’m just borrowing it…without their knowing.”

“What difference does that make?” Apple Bloom argued.

Scootaloo huffed. “Look it’s only temporary and they got lot of copies. I doubt they’ll make a fuss over one missing copy. Now do you want to prevent your sister from going to jail or not?”

Apple opened her mouth to argue but then she relented with a long sigh. “Fine, so what can you make out with that floor plan?”

Scootaloo examined the floor plains. “We’ll according to this, the only sure way we can get in is to go on the roof—”

“The roof!? Why the roof!?” Apple Bloom interrupted.

Scootaloo gave Apple Bloom her annoyed look. “I’m getting to that!"

After Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo her sheepish smile, Scootallo turn her gaze back to the floor plan and explained as she pointed certain areas of the map.

"Anyway, we’ll go on the roof with the fire escape ladders and then we’ll crawl silently into the vents, that way, we’ll avoid the guard from the entrance. After we make a few turns, we’ll be above the room where the safe is. We’ll use a rope to get down, then we’ll open the safe, put the diamonds back to where they belong, go back the way we came, and then we’ll be back to our headquarters before breakfast. Most importantly, your sister will be off the hook.”

Apple nodded, impressed with Scootaloo's detailed plan.

“That sounds pretty solid, but are ya sure that’s gonna work? Can we fit into the vents? And how are we going to open that safe? It’s as tight as a fort knox!”

“It'll work!" Scootaloo reassured. "I already measured the vents; we should fit in easily with our size. As for the safe, I picked up this neat trick from a spy movie once and I think this will work.”

Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo her deadpanned stare.

“Scoots, not everything you seen in movies are real or possible, especially if it was a spy movie staring Tom Hooves.”

Scootaloo looked offended. “Hey, those are really good movie series…except for the second one.”

Apple Bloom still looked doubtful. “Well let’s say they don’t work, then what?”

“Then I’ll do what Rainbow Dash does…I’ll improvise!” said Scootaloo in her cocky attitude.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. Not noticing Apple Bloom's reaction, Scootaloo continued.

“Anyway, I also got the tools for the operation. We still need a dark outfit to hide our identities just in case.”

Apple Bloom nodded and turned to make her way towards the clubhouse's door.

“Ah know, Sweetie Belle was supposed to get them fer us. But she hasn’t return with them ye—”

Suddenly, the door burst open and knocked an unsuspecting Apple Bloom to the floor. Sweetie Belle rushed in with a large clothes bag in her hands.

“I got the goods!" Sweetie Belle announced.

Sweetie Belle blinked, then looked down to see Apple Bloom lying down on the floor, moaning in pain.

"Why is Apple Bloom on the floor?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Never mind that," said Scootaloo. "You got our outfits from Rarity?”

“I did but—”

“Then let us see it!”

Scootaloo took the bag from Sweetie Belle as Apple Bloom stood up from the floor and approached to the other Crusaders. Sweetie Belle looked very nervous.

“Hold on girls, there’s something you need to know—”

“What Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo grunted as she was unzipping the bag. "What is it you were going to—”

Scootaloo stopped talking when she fully opened the bag and saw the clothes they got from Sweetie Belle. Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were stunned for a minute, making Sweetie Belle more nervous than before. Finally, Scootaloo looked up and gave Sweetie Belle her unamused stare.

"What…the heck…are…these?” Scootaloo said slowly through her gritted teeth.

Sweetie Belle gulped. “T-they’re outfits for our heist.”

“I get that...but why the heck are they PINK?

Scootallo dumped the contents from the bag on the table, reveling that all the clothes were indeed, pink.

"You’re supposed to get these outfits in black!" Scootaloo bellowed as she went up to a terrified looking Sweetie Belle. "In case you forget, we’re trying to sneak into a jewelry store, not Barbie’s dream house!”

Sweetie Belle raised her hands defensively. “Hey, it’s not my fault! I did tell Rarity we wanted black, but Rarity said to me and I quote,"

Sweetie Belle cleared her throat before spoke almost the exact impersonation of her sister.

"‘Black is such a dark and dreadful color for girls like you! Pink is a much better fashion sense than black. Besides darling, black would make you girls look like a bunch of cat burglars!’"

Sweetie Belle then reverted back to her own voice with a deadpanned look.

"…end quote.”

Scootaloo facepalmed. “UGH! And she wonders why I never buy clothes from her store!”

Apple Bloom sighed as she gathered her own set of pink clothes. “Well, Ah guess those will have to do.”

Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom as if she's gone crazy.

“You can’t be serious! You don’t expect me to wear these girly clothes do you? I wouldn’t be caught dead while wearing these outfits!”

Apple Bloom sighed and gave Scootaloo her side-glance. “We don’t have enough money to buy a different set of clothes to replace ‘em, so we don’t have a choice."

Once Apple Bloom gathered her outfit, she was heading out to the door.

"Scoots, fill Sweetie Belle in about our plans, I’ll get everythin’ ready.”

As Apple Bloom stepped outside and used the stairs, she felt nervous, yet determined. Tonight, she and her friends are going to return the stolen diamonds to set things right and so her sister won't be thrown in the slammer.

Even if they looked ridiculous in their pink thieving outfits.

Author's Note

Hope you all looking forward to the next chapter! Because in the next one, things are about to get real! :rainbowdetermined2:

Chapter 5

It's been several hours after closing time at Canterlot's Jewelry Store. The room was dark and empty except for some jewelry display cases, a counter with a cash register in the middle of the room and a large walk-in safe on a far left side of the wall across where the register is. Not a single soul in site, until a covering of the vent from the ceiling was silently removed from the inside of the vent. Once the covering was gone, a long rope was dropped from the ceiling until it barely touched the floor. Then a dark figure descended slowly from the ceiling as she made way down to the ground.

Well, she would've been dark, if it weren't for her bright pink clothes she was wearing, including the mask right now.

Apple Bloom felt silly as she made her way down to the ground. She looked like a ninja but pink instead of black. Heck, she looked like a pink panther then a cat burglar. Even though the store had temporarily taken the cameras down for replacements, the guard of this store will easily spot them in this bright color. But as long as their identities were covered, then at least they won't get recognized in case if someone spots them.

After a minute of descending, Apple Bloom finally made her way to the ground with a soft thump. She looked around as she was crouching, making sure that no one was in the room. Once she noticed that she's the only one in the room, she stood up, pulled the mouth covering of the mask down and looked up at the ceiling.

“Okay girls, the coast is clear!” Apple Bloom called out in her hushed tone.

“What?” Scootaloo called out quietly.

“I said, the coast is clear!”

“What?”

“Coast is clear!”

“What?"

"It's clear!"

"What?"

“Just get down here!” Apple Bloom yelled somewhat loudly.

“Ooh okay, why didn’t you say so?” Scootaloo replied.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

A few seconds later, a second pink figure slowly descending from the ceiling vent as she was humming a familiar tune from her favorite movie series. She kept on humming even after her feet touched the ground while making a dramatic pose.

“Scoots!" Apple Bloom snapped. "Will ya quit humming that tune? Now’s not the time!”

Scootaloo huffed and crossed her arms. “Spoiled sport!”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes again and then looked up at the ceiling.

"Alright Sweetie Belle, your turn! Just come down slowly and quietly.”

“Oh um…okay,” Sweetie Belle squeaked quietly from the vent.

Sweetie Belle looked down through the opened vent to the floor where her friends at, only to feel nauseous when she noticed how high up she was.

“Hey, what's taking ya Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom called out.

Sweetie Belle shrank back with a whimper.

“Girls...I’m afraid of heights!”

Scootaloo facepalmed. “Oh for crying out- Sweetie Belle we're in a middle of a mission!”

"I can't help it!"

“Then just close your eyes so you won't be so scared of heights!”

"I can't close my eyes as I climb down! I'll fall!"

"Not with that attitude!"

"Scoots, that's not helping!" Apple Bloom scolded. "We'll figure something out!"

Unfortunately, while all of this was happening, the ceiling that's holding the vent was slowly breaking due to the weight of a person inside. The cracks grew larger and larger by the second until finally the ceiling couldn't hold the vent anymore and the large portion of the ceiling collapsed with a part of the vent that Sweetie Belle was in.

Caught off guard from the vent's sudden movement, Sweetie Belle tumbled out from the vent, screaming on her way down. Before the two Crusaders from the bottom could react, Sweetie Belle landed on top of them and they all crashed down on the floor. While this was happening, large parts of the ceiling and the vents landed on the ground. Luckily, the large chucks only landed around the girls except the dust particles from the ceiling. There were even some ceiling parts on the counter and display cases too, with some ceiling dust covering them.

The three girls lifted themselves up from the floor with a painful groan.

“Is everyone okay?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Sweetie Belle grunted.

“I think you crushed my back,” Scootaloo moaned.

“Sorry…” Sweetie Belle said quietly.

Apple Bloom looked up and cringed at the damage.

“Oh no look what you did to the ceiling!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked up and they also cringed at the sight.

The ceiling where they were moments ago now had a huge hole, with a night sky with a bright full moon at the background. The part of the vent where they desend hang loosely at a forty-five degree angle while the rest was still attach to the ceiling.

Sweetie Belle looked down, feeling guilty. “...Oops.”

“Soooo is this technically breaking in now?” Scootaloo asked, only to received a glare from Apple Bloom.

“I'm sorry girls,” Sweetie Belle said miserably. "Because of me, our only way out is destroyed."

“Don’t worry Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo reassured. "Luckily, I know another way we can sneak out of this store in case of situations like this!”

“Whatever, let’s just put the diamonds back where they belong and get out of here!" said Apple Bloom. "Now where’s the safe?”

“It should be at the other side of this room," said Scootaloo, pointing towards a partly dark wall in front of them.

The girls in pink made their way towards the safe.

"Alright girls, it takes a lot of skills to crack the safe," Scootaloo said in her matter-of-fact tone. "One wrong move and we’ll set the alarms throughout this building. Luckily, I watch- I mean, studied a lot of spy movies lately and I think I got the gest of it. With the right tools and patience, I can get this safe door open in the-”

“Hey girls, the safe’s already opened!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, pointing at the safe in question.

“WHAT!?" Scootaloo nearly shouted.

She turned to where Sweetie Belle was pointing at and sure enough, the safe door was open but only halfway.

"Aw man! I was looking forward to try to crack the safe,” Scootaloo complained.

“Never mind that, why is the safe’s door opened?" said Apple Bloom, giving a huge safe her suspicious look. "Don’t they usually keep it locked after store closes?”

“Maybe they’re resetting the security system for the safe too?” Sweetie Belle guessed.

“If that’s the case, then should there be someone guarding this safe?” Apple Bloom questioned.

Come to think of it, how come no one showed up when we crashed down? Apple Bloom thought. Ah thought fer sure that we'll get caught with all the noise we've been making...

“Who cares?" Scootaloo spoke up, snapping out of Apple Bloom's thought. "The safe is practically opened for us! This will make things easier for us without wasting any time!"

Apple Bloom hesitated for a moment and then she sighed.

“Ah guess yer right Scoots. C’mon girls, let’s make this quick!”

So the girls opened the safe door further and they went inside with Apple Bloom in the lead. The inside of the safe is full of endless rows of shelves with different kinds of jewelry. The whole room was very bright due to the reflection of the lights bounced from every gem in sight.

Apple Bloom surveyed the room in awe.

“Wow...this safe sure is bright and huge from the inside!”

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty cool!" said Scootaloo, walking up right next to Apple Bloom. "I wonder how they-”

SLAM!

As soon as both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo heard the safe's door slammed shut, all the lights were suddenly turned off, leaving them into darkness. Even if they can't see through the darkness, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out who done it. They turned around to where Sweetie Belle was standing.

“Sweetie Belle, what did you do!?” Apple Bloom demanded.

“Um…I closed the door,” Sweetie Belle answered nervously.

Apple Bloom shook her fists around in frustration.

“WHHHHHHHYYYYY!?”

“Hang on girls, I’ll get this door to open again!” Sweetie Belle said quickly as she turned around towards the door.

She tried to turn the handle but it wouldn't budge. She then tryed to pull, kick, knock, bang and slam against the door. But no matter what she does, the door remained locked tight.

“It won’t open!" Sweetie Belle panicked with a squeak. "Why won’t it open!?”

“Because it’s a safe, that’s what safe’s do ya doofus!” Scootaloo screamed in anger.

“What were ya thinkin’ closin’ that door Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom yelled in frustration.

Sweetie Belle looked down in shame. “I’m sorry, it’s out of habit! Rarity made me close the doors every time I entered or leave the room.”

Scootaloo huffed. “Well that’s just great! We’re trapped in here with no way out, our families don’t know where we are and we’ll probably end up starving to death! It’s like getting trapped in the freezer all over again!”

“Well...at least it’s not cold in this room,” said Sweetie Belle with a nervous chuckle.

Scootaloo glared at Sweetie Belle's direction despite the darkness.

“It may not be so cold in here, but at least we were able to see from the inside of that freezer!”

“Hang on girls," Apple Bloom called out as she was opening up her backpack. "Ah think Ah got a flashlight somewhere in my backpack we can use.”

“Good idea Apple Bloom!" said Scootaloo. "Hopefully it’ll help us find our way out!”

It took Apple Bloom a minute to feel around in her backpack until she finally found her flashlight. She took it out of her bag and turned on a switch. She had to tap it a few times until a light came on, illuminating parts of the room around them.

“Alright, now Ah can see what Ah’m doing!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“See anything around here that can help us escape?” Scootaloo asked hopefully.

With squinted eyes, Apple surveyed the room with her flashlight, pointing at each object she sees.

“Well let’s see...there’s some jewelries, boxes, more jewelries, an angry Diamond Bandit, and Ah think that may be a-”

Apple Bloom froze up in her mid sentence as she and her friends faces went pale. Apple Bloom slowly turned the light towards the previous source until the light hits directly at an older girl, glaring furiously at them.

The girls screamed. They continued to scream as they backed away from the glaring girl until their backs were against the wall. They kept on screaming as Apple Bloom shifted the light around at each of their faces including the glaring girl. They let out a final scream as Apple Bloom shined her light at the intruder's face who still kept glaring at them.

While the Crusaders were whimpering and shaking against the wall, Apple Bloom took a good look at the glaring stranger. Her eyes widen when she noticed that the girl standing in front of her look exactly like Applejack, however she looked slightly different than her sister. From what she could make out from her flashlight, the color of this person's skin was dark red and her hair was different shades of green.

That's when it hits her.

Applejack is not the thief after all. Relief and happiness filled up Apple Bloom's heart, knowing that her sister is innocent.

Well...she would've felt relief, except for the fact that she and her friends are now facing the real Diamond Bandit.

And she did not look happy.

“A-a-a-a--Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo called out fearfully. "I think that may be the Diamond Bandit!”

“Ya think!?” Apple Bloom yelled just as fearfully.

“Apple Bloooooom!” Sweetie Belle yelled out in fright.

“Yeah?” Apple Bloom answered.

“I sure wish that Diamond Bandit was your sister!” Sweetie Belle screamed in terror.

“I sure wish you hadn’t closed the door!” Apple Bloom moaned in dismay.

“GIVE ME THAT FLASHLIGHT!” the Diamond Bandit snarled.

“SURE!” Apple Bloom said quickly, handing over her flashlight with haste.

“In fact, you can keep it!” Scootaloo added quickly.

Sweetie Belle nodded rapidly. “Yeah, we'll just use our flashlight apps from our ph-”

Sweetie Belle was cut off when the Diamond Bandit used the flashlight to shine a harsh light at the three terrified girls. Caught like a group of deer from the headlights, the girls were too scared to move, let alone to speak. With some ounce of courage, Apple Bloom spoke up.

“Um…Miss Diamond- Miss Bandit- Lady Diamond? Um…Ah guess you’re kinda mad at us for closin’ that door huh?”

“YES I AM!” the Diamond Bandit answered angrily.

“I bet you’re really mad at us for ruining your heist, right?" Scootaloo asked nervously.

“YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!” the Diamond Bandit stated loudly.

All of the sudden, they heard loud police sirens coming from the outside. This would've been a bad thing to get the attention from the police, but they were actually relieved that they will get rescued from an angry thief.

Assuming they'll get out right away.

“Oooh, now you’re really, really mad!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

The Diamond Bandit growled in fury as she made her way towards the Crusaders.

The girls screamed again.

At the same time, Shinning Armor and two other officers were waiting near the safe's door. The fourth officer with a stethoscope was concentrating with the safe's door by turning the dial back and forth.

“How much longer Code Cracker?” asked Shinning Armor.

“Almost!" said Code Cracker as he was turning the dial. "Just a couple more turns.”

Code Cracker turned the dial a couple more times until he heard a 'click' sound from within the safe.

“Got it!” Code Cracker announced.

The two officers turned the latch and opened the safe's door, revealing three quivering girls in pink outfits. They quickly stepped out the safe before the Bandit got a hold of them. The Crusaders pointed at the Bandit behind them.

“SHE DID IIIIIIIT!” The three screamed in union.

Before the Diamond Bandit could act, she was immediately seized by the police. Shinning Armor approached her as she was handcuffed by one of the officer.

“Diamond Bandit, you are under arrest for multiple thefts in Canterlot City!"

The Diamond Bandit let out a loud grunt. "Those diamonds would've been mine if it weren't for these meddling kids!"

She gave the younger girls her hateful glare while the Crusaders coward behind Shinning Armor.

"Get her out of here!” Shinning Armor commanded.

The two officers led the Bandit out of the room leaving the Crusaders, Shinning Armor and Code Cracker remained in the room. The girls sighed in relief, until they see Shinning Armor stood in front of them with his arms crossed and narrowed eyes.

“Hello Crusaders, you three mind telling me what’s going on and how you all roped into this?”

“M-m-Mr. Armor, we can explain!” Apple Bloom stuttered.

“I-it’s kinda funny really!” Scootaloo chuckled nervously.

“Y-yeah, it was pretty hilarious!” Sweetie Belle said with a fake laugh.

Shinning Armor face remained stern. “Start talking!”

Scootaloo spoke up. “See, it all started when Applejack started stealing some diamonds and-”

“NO SHE DIDN’T YOU DODO!” Apple Bloom yelled angrily at Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom then turned to face Shinning Armor.

“Um…you see, yesterday my friends and Ah watched Equestria’s Most Wanted and…we thought that was my sister…who had the same looks as that bandit. We found the diamonds and…we only came here to put the diamonds back so my sister doesn’t go to jail!”

Shinning Armor tapped his chin in thought. “Ah yes, the Diamond Bandit episode, the one that they showed that footage in black and white?”

Stunned, Apple Bloom merely nodded.

“Can’t say I blame ya," Shinning Armor trailed off. "I would’ve freaked out too if I seen someone who looked like Twily as the Diamond Bandit. If the camera they used in color on the other hand, then I would know that the person I'm seeing is not the real deal.”

“You mean the footage we saw are from a camera that records in black and white?” Scootaloo asked incredibly.

Shinning Armor nodded. “Yes, the quality and speed aren’t the only reason why Rich requested for a better camera.”

The three girls looked down in embarrassment.

“Well I felt silly,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“We all do Sweetie Belle,” said Apple Bloom.

Shinning Armor went back on topic. “Is that your only reason to break-”

“Sneak,” Sweetie Belle corrected.

Shinning Armor rolled his eyes. “To sneak into the jewelry store?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Yes, that’s all we did! Honest! We were in the safe to put the diamonds back, but the Diamond Bandit was messin’ around and-“

"She was?" Shinning pressed.

Apple Bloom nodded.

“Okay, show me!" said Shinning Armor as he and Code Cracker led the girls inside the safe. "Just don’t touch anything!”

“Okay, so we walked in up to that spot,” Apple Bloom began as she made her way in.

“And the bandit was probably standing over there by one of the shelves,” Scootaloo added as she was following the group.

“And then I closed the door like this,” Sweetie Belle squeaked as she was closing the door behind her.

Before anyone tried to stop her, the door slammed shut behind her, leaving them all in the dark once more.

“…Oopsies," Sweetie Belle said awkwardly.

There were only silence within the dark room, until Sweetie Belle spoke up again.

"By the way Scoots, I want my five bucks back!”

Author's Note

One more chapter to go! :pinkiehappy:

Epilogue

It was Saturday morning and the sun was blazing in the sky. The first day of the weekend is usually the day when kids and teenagers get to relax and have fun after a long week of school. Most of them would rather stay indoors with their ACs then to go outside on a hot day like this.

Except for the Crusaders who were currently working out on the field of Sweet Apple Acres.

After they spent about a half hour from the inside of the jewelry store's safe (again), they were taken to the detention hall by Shinning Armor. It was there when they found out that the guard from the front entrance regained conscious from the closet and called for help after he was knocked out by the Diamond Bandit.

Meaning that their efforts to avoid security through the vents, was entirely pointless.

They waited for another fifteen minutes with Shinning Armor until all of their families finally came in to pick them up.

And they were not happy.

To make a long story short, their families decided as a group to punish the Crusaders by having them work with Applejack for the weekend and possibly more days to follow.

Scootaloo grunted as she was pulling the weeds out from the ground.

“I can’t believe we are out here working on the farm. We could’ve do some rock climbing, playing video games, swimming in the lake, or whatever we can do for fun over the weekend. But noooooo, we got ourselves grounded and forced to help Applejack at the farm for a week…all because someone suggested we break into the jewelry store!”

“Sneak,” Apple Bloom corrected as she was picking the Apples off from a tree.

“Whatever!" Scootaloo shouted. "And then not only did we get caught, but it turns out that there was someone else who looks just like Applejack…but different skin and hair color!”

"Not to mention, that stupid show we watched, released the updated footage in color on the night we sneaked into the jewelry store!" Sweetie Belle added bitterly as she was digging the field with her shovel.

Apple Bloom scoffed. “Well, unlike my best friends with wild imaginations, Ah knew it wasn’t my sister the whole time!”

“But you went along with it anyway!” Scootaloo pointed out angerly.

“It was yer fault that made me doubt my sister in the first place!” Apple Bloom countered hotly.

“How was I supposed to know that she had different skin and hair color?” Scootaloo argued.

“How can you jumped to conclusions about my sister despite everything she’s done?” Apple Bloom challenged.

“You tell me you hypocrite!”

“Loud Mouth!”

“Control freak!”

“Jerk face!”

“Cow breath!”

“…Chicken!”

“THAT”S IT!”

Before the two girls attack one another, Sweetie Belle stepped in between them to prevent them from fighting.

“Girls stop! We’re all to blame! It was a big misunderstanding on our part and we made a mistake just because we watched that stupid show and we don’t know how we can handle it."

Sweetie Belle then sighed. "Yes, we got punished, but at least we know that Applejack’s not the bandit, right?”

The girls were just standing around in silence, looking at each other awkwardly. After about a minute of silence, Apple Bloom sighed softly and look down in shame.

“Yeah...yer right Sweetie Belle."

Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo her apologetic look. "I’m sorry Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo sighed as she looked down and touched her arm.

“I’m sorry too Apple Bloom, I really am glad that girl isn’t your sister, but she looked so alike!”

“Yeah like, what are the odds of that?" said Sweetie Belle. "And I thought knowing that there our pony versions of us from another world were weird!”

Apple Bloom let out her genuine smile. “Despite all that, Ah am glad that girl we saw on that show was not my sister. Ah’m just ashamed at myself for thinkin’ that my sister is the Diamond Bandit.”

“Ah suppose Ah should’ve ease yer worries from the beginnin.’”

The Crusaders all turned towards the source of the voice to see Applejack approaching them.

“Applejack!" Apple Bloom said loudly with a bit of panic in her voice. "We weren't slacking off, we were just takin’ a short breather, Ah sware!”

“Don’t worry sugarcube," Applejack reassured. "Ah’m just here to talk to you about why Ah disappeared a lot lately.”

As the Crusaders gave Applejack their full attention with curious looks, Applejack sighed calmly.

“The truth is...Ah took a second job for two weeks.”

The Crusaders eyes widen in shock.

“You took a second job?" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Why?"

Then her eyes shrank in horror. "Oh no, are we losing our finances for are farm?”

“No, of course not!" Applejack answered quickly to calm her sister. "Our farm’s doing well. We are not going anywhere!”

Apple Bloom sighed in relief, but she was still curious.

“Then, why the second job?” Apple Bloom asked.

“So we can make enough money to buy a gift for Granny’s eightieth birthday.” Applejack answered.

The Crusaders eyes bugged out.

“GRANNY’S BIRTHDAY!? Apple Bloom shrieked. "How the hey did Ah forget that!”

Applejack raised her eyebrow. “Her birthday is on a leap year, remember?"

Apple Bloom blinked a few times and then she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

“Oh yeah...Ah forgot about that."

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle facepalmed.

Apple Bloom then frowned. "Still, why didn’t ya tell me?”

“Because you’re not very good at keeping secrets,” Applejack answered bluntly.

Apple Bloom looked offended. “What? I can keep a secret!”

Applejack gave Apple Bloom her flat look.

“Remember our surprise birthday gift we got for Big Mac and then ya’ll accidentally blabbed that to him?”

Apple Bloom winced. “Oh yeah…Ah still felt bad about that.”

The other two Crusaders were wondering what kind of gift they got for Big Mac but decided not to comment about that.

Applejack sighed and then gave Apple Bloom her soft look.

“Listen sugarcube, despite what happened, that was my fault. Ah should’ve explained it better without worrying ya. Ah promise Ah’ll let you in on this next time without going behind your back…without tellin’ ya what gift we’re getting of course.”

Apple Bloom smiled softly. “Ah would like that Applejack.”

Applejack placed her hands on Apple Bloom's shoulders. “In turn, Ah want you to promise me that if there is somethin’ bothering you, even if it’s somethin' to do with me, Ah want you to come and talk to me, okay?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “I promise!"

Apple Bloom then stepped closer to Applejack and hugged her tightly.

"Ah’m so sorry Applejack!”

Applejack smiled softly and then gently hugged her sister back.

“Ah know, I'm sorry too sugarcube.”

As the two sisters were hugging, Sweetie Belle squeed at the sight of it.

“Awww they made up!” Sweetie Belle gushed.

While Scootaloo wasn't a big fan of sappiness, she did feel happy for Apple Bloom.

“That’s good."

Her eyes then lit up. "Hey, maybe we’ll get out of our punishment early after this!”

Applejack let go of Apple Bloom and gave them all her stern look.

“Actually…you girls will continue to work on the farm until all of yer allowances get paid off to that jewelry store.”

“WHAT!?" Apple Bloom cried out in disbelief. "What’d ya mean paid off? What for?”

Without saying a word, Applejack lifted her Stetson off of her head and picked out a piece of yellow paper before handing it over to Apple Bloom. Confused by this, Apple Bloom took the paper from Applejack and unfolded it. Her face went pale when she saw what's on the paper.

“What’s the matter Apple Bloom?" said Sweetie Belle with concern.

“What did it say?” Scootaloo asked.

“Girls…this is the bill for that ceiling we broke at the jewelry store!” Apple Bloom groaned as if she had a stomach ache.

The two Crusaders eyes widened in realization.

“Oh man! We forgot all about that!” said Scootaloo.

“Um…how much?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously.

Apple Bloom muttered but to low for anyone to hear.

Scootaloo leaned towards Apple Bloom. “What?”

“SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!” Apple Bloom bellowed.

Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle winced violently as if they each been punched in the gut.

“Oooooh it hurts!” Scootaloo moaned loudly.

“This would take forever to pay all of this back!” Sweetie Belle complained.

Applejack placed her Stetson back on her head.

“Whelp, if ya’ll want to end your punishment quicker, Ah suggest you keep on working. Ah’ll see ya girls in an hour!”

Applejack turned and walked away, heading back to her house.

The Crusaders stood there like statutes, processing the situation they're in right now.

“Well…so much for having plans for the weekend,” Sweetie Belle sighed miserably.

“And the next week," Apple Bloom added just as miserably. "And many more weeks to follow. By the time we’re done, it'll be the beginning of a new school year!"

“Or…maybe not,” Scootaloo said mischievously.

Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo their worried looks.

“Um...Scoots, why are ya smiling like that?” Apple Bloom said nervously.

“Girls, I have an idea that will help us make money and pay for this bill in short amount of time!” Scootaloo said with confidence.

“Oh Ah don’t know Scoots," Apple Bloom said in worry. "We're in enough trouble already! Ah don’t want to make things worse!”

Scootaloo let out her sly grin. “It will involve getting ourselves some free strawberry milkshakes at the same time!~”

“Strawberry milkshakes?" Apple Bloom cried in delight. "In that case, count me in!”

Scootaloo grin widened. “Great! Come on girls, let’s head into town!”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom dropped their tools and then rushed out of the field, leaving a very worried and hesitant Sweetie Belle behind.

“Girls?" Sweetie Belle called out. "I don’t think this is a good idea to leave the farm! What if Applejack gets back! Girls? I don’t like strawberries, strawberries gives me a rash! GIRLS!?”

When none of her friends answered her, she let out a loud groan.

“Ugh! Here we go again!” she muttered as she threw down her shovel and ran after her friends.

Author's Note

Well, that's the end of this story. Thank you everyone for following this fic. I hope you all enjoyed it and made a few laughs. :twilightsmile:

What's that? You were wondering why this story is still marked incomplete? Well, while the story is technically complete, there is one more bonus chapter for you guys! The last one is from the perspective of our human version of the element of honesty herself. :ajsmug:

That will be posted tomorrow.

BONUS CHAPTER – APPLEJACK’S PERPECTIVE

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 2

The next day at Canterlot High, many students were out in the hallways, doing their own thing. Some were talking to each other, some were trying to rush to another class, or some were just hanging out and listen to their tunes without a care in the world. But there were only three young teenage girls in the hallway with one arguing with the other two as they made their way to the next class.

“I don’t believe it!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Ah know my own sister! She is not a thief!”

“But Apple Bloom, we all saw that footage and that drawing from that show!” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “You can’t deny the fact that it looks exactly like Applejack!”

“Looks can be deceivin’!” Apple Bloom said in her matter-of-fact tone. “‘Sides, the footage is too blurry and the host said that the police artist sketched what they could make out from that video and the guard's description! It was just a coincidence!”

Scootaloo shook her head in disagreement. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence Apple Bloom. If you think about it, all of Applejack’s behaviors you told us about makes perfect sense!”

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow with a frown. “What do ya mean?”

“Well let’s go over the facts,” Scootaloo began. “The jewelry heists started about a couple of weeks ago, which was the same time when your sister started disappearing early before every supper. You said that she looked tired every day since then, probably spending her nights breaking into that jewelry store and stole only a few diamonds at a time. She was nervous and jumpy a few days ago because she got careless from the security camera, so she decided to stay low. And the reason she wouldn’t tell you is because she’s been busy stealing all those diamonds and doesn’t want to break your heart. Just face it Apple Bloom, your sister is the thief, case closed!”

Apple Bloom turned her head towards Scootaloo and glared at her. “How can ya say those things like that?! If Applejack really stole those diamonds, then where are they now? I don’t remember seeing them anywhere in my house!”

Scootaloo blinked. “Well… maybe she hid them somewhere or she already sold them to the black market. Thieves never leave their trails behind.”

Apple Bloom fumed. “You’re unbelievable?!”

Apple Bloom then turned her head to her other friend. “Sweetie Belle, you don’t agree with her, do ya?”

“I wonder if Applejack was the one who stole my bike a year ago?” Sweetie Belle thought out loud.

Apple Bloom growled. “Sweetie Belle, not you too! My sister is not a criminal, she’s an honest person!”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom bumped into another person. She almost fell backwards but luckily, her friends caught her on time. The person that Apple Bloom accidentally bumped into on the other hand, weren’t so lucky.

“Ow! What hit me?”

The girls looked down and they realized that the person they ran right into was none other than Sonata, a former siren and member of the Dazzlings. They were very weary of her and her friends at first, even though they are not a threat anymore without their powers. Overtime, they slowly accepted them, most from Sonata since she was trying to change her ways. Even though she has a habit of messing things up.

Sonata looked up from the ground and then smiled. “Oh, hi girls!”

“Oh hey Sonata,” said Apple Bloom. “We’re sorry ‘bout that. Let us help!”

Apple Bloom then reached out her arm towards Sonata for her to grab on. As Sonata pulled herself back up, the other two Crusaders picked up all of Sonata’s things from the floor. Sonata gave each of them her grateful smile as they returned her belongings to her.

“Thanks girls and it’s no problem, I’m always a bit of a clutz!” said Sonata with her goofy grin.

Apple Bloom frowned guilty. “Say Sonata, are we still cool…about what happened at that restaurant?”

Sonata thought for a moment, trying to recall that memory. Then her eyes widened in realization.

“Oh, you mean from weeks ago?”

Sonata gave them her friendly smile. “What happened was my fault. I already forgive you three. It’s all water under the bridge, for realizes!”

Apple Bloom smiled in relief. “Good, we’re glad.”

Sonata nodded. “Now if you excuse me girls, I got to get to the cafeteria. They’re serving pizza tacos today and I must be first in line this time!”

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow. “Um Sonata…lunch won’t start until after three more periods.”

Sonata shrugged. “Hey, got to make sacrifices for the sake of tacos!”

Sonata walked past the Crusaders and then went around the corner, disappearing into the next hall.

The girls just stared at where Sonata was in silence. Scootaloo turned her head at Sweetie Belle.

“She may not be evil anymore, but she is the strangest person I know!”

“More strange than Pinkie?”

“…okay, second strangest person I know!”

Sonata suddenly reappeared from around the corner, catching the Crusaders off guard.

“Oh that reminds me! Apple Bloom, do you have a secret family member who looks exactly like your sister?”

“Um…no. Why?” Apple Bloom said hesitantly, not liking where this goes.

“Well Adagio, Aria and I watched Equestria’s Most Wanted last night. That Diamond Bandit looks just like Applejack. Now isn’t that a coincidence?”

With a giggle, Sonata went back around the corner and disappeared again.

Once again, the girls stood in silence, but this time it was more tensely. Scootaloo slowly turned towards Apple Bloom.

“So…should we plan our visits on weekends?”

“SCOOTS!”

Later, when it was time for lunch, the Crusaders walked through the cafeteria doors as they made their way to the lunch line. Apple Bloom was still annoyed by all the nonsense she’s been hearing from her friends about her sister all day. Unfortunately for her, Scootaloo brought the topic back up again.

“I can’t believe my best friend is the sister of a bandit!”

“Ah can’t believe my best friends are a bunch of doodle-heads!”

“I can’t believe this cafeteria is not selling vanilla pudding today!”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stopped walking and turned towards Sweetie Belle with unreadable expressions.

“What? I like vanilla pudding!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and shook her head. “This is gettin’ ridiculous! The person we saw on T.V. was not Applejack!”

“But Sonata said that she-”

“She ain’t count!” Apple Bloom snapped, cutting Sweetie Belle off. “No offense to her, but she’s a bit of an airhead. Her word doesn’t really held water for me!”

Just then, Snips and Snails came right up to them.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” said Snips. “Snails and I watched Equestria’s Most Wanted last night and saw your sister. Was she really the Diamond Bandit?”

Apple Bloom growled at them and then walked away towards the line with two of her friends on tow.

With a confused frown, Snips turned to Snails. “Was that a no?”

Snails only shrugged in response.

The Crusaders reached at the end of the line, waiting for their turn to get their food. Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak but Apple Bloom beat her to it.

“Ah know what yer goin’ to say Scoots! They don’t count either!”

Scootaloo snapped her mouth shut from the tone in Apple Bloom’s voice.

It wasn’t long until it was their turn to approach the counter to pick out their food. Behind the counter was a sweet old lady with white hair, orange eyes, orange scarf with apples on them, yellow shirt, long red skirt and white apron. She is Granny Smith, a lunch lady and Apple Bloom’s grandmother. She smiled warmly when her eyes set on her granddaughter and her two friends.

“Well howdy, Apple Bloom! How’s my sweet little granddaughter?”

“Just fine Granny,” said Apple Bloom. “I had a bit of a long day!”

“Aw you poor thing,” Granny said in her comforting tone. “You’re probably hungry. Don’t ya worry, this here chili will get ya back on yer feet in a jiffy!”

Granny Smith turned to the stove behind her and proceed to finish up her newly made chili.

While this was going on, Apple Bloom felt a nudge from her side. She turned to see Scootaloo silently telling her about Applejack with Sweetie Belle nodding in agreement. Apple Bloom gave them both her annoyed glare but she turned to her grandmother to ask her about her sister anyway.

“Say um…Granny, have you noticed anything…particular about Applejack lately?”

Granny Smith turned back, facing her granddaughter.

“Particular? Well, she massaged my feet this mornin’. She even shaved my legs too!”

The Crusaders nearly gagged at the image of Applejack shaving Granny’s old legs. Apple Bloom quickly composed herself.

“…thank you fer sharing Granny. Anythin’ else?”

Granny Smith placed her finger on her chin with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Well…I supposed I noticed that Applejack’s been as busy then usual fer the past couple of weeks by finishin’ her chores early and then went out before supper. Ah was a little worried she’ll push herself too hard but she reassured me that she’ll be fine. But Ah had a feeling she’s not tellin’ me the whole story.”

So Granny’s been noticing about Applejack too! Apple Bloom thought with a frown.

“Did ya ask where she’s gone?” Apple Bloom asked.

Granny shook her head. “Ah thought of askin,’ but I didn’t want to pry.”

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“Simple, Ah trust her and Ah figured she’ll tell me when the time is right.” Granny answered as if it was obvious. Noticing her granddaughter’s dejected look, she gave her a caring look.

“Ah know yer worried about her little one, but try not to fret. Ah’m sure she’ll tell you when the time is right. But if this really bothered you, then go talk to your sister and Ah’m sure she’ll tell you.”

She thought about what her grandmother just said and she realized that she was right. This had been going on for too long and she needs an answer from Applejack whether she’s willing to or not. She then flashed her granny her small smile.

“Yeah, yer probably right. Thanks Granny!”

Granny Smith smiled back. “Anytime my little apple!”

Sweetie Belle suddenly spoke up.

“I have a question Granny! Did Applejack got herself a new bike that looked like it had been stolen from me?”

“Eh?”

“SWEETIE BELLE!”

After the bell rung, all the students rushed outside for their weekend freedom. While everyone left the school in excitement, Apple Bloom walked through the front entrance with a determined look on her face while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked behind her with curious expressions.

“So what are you going to do Apple Bloom?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“What Ah should’ve done weeks ago!” Apple Bloom replied. “Ah’m goin’ home and confront my sister about her late night outs and get answers once and for all and put this whole Diamond Bandit nonsense to rest!”

Scootaloo raised her eyebrow. “But how do you know she’ll tell you the truth?”

“Ah’ll know!” Apple Bloom answered sharply. “We Apples can tell if someone was lyin’ or not. ‘Sides, even if she tried, she’s a terrible liar.”

“Good point,” said Scootaloo. “She’ll be a terrible bandit if she can never lie.”

Apple Bloom stopped walking and then she turned and glared at Scootaloo.

“Just saying…” Scootaloo said nervously with both her palms raised up defensively.

Apple Bloom huffed and then continued to walk with her two friends following her.

Normally, they would continue to walk down the school path and then make a right on the sidewalk towards the neighborhood, which would lead them to Sweet Apple Acres in less than fifteen minutes. But today, Apple Bloom took a right turn towards the city, which is the opposite direction from Sweet Apple Acres. Confused from their friend’s actions, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo quickly caught up to Apple Bloom.

“Um Apple Bloom? Why are you taking a different path?” Sweetie Belle asked. “The path that leads you to home is the other way.”

“Ah’m takin’ the long path to pass the time.” Apple Bloom replied. “My sis told me she and Big Mac are out on an errand today after school. Ah want to confront her when she gets home.”

“Big Mac’s with her huh?” Scootaloo said with suspicion. “Maybe your brother was in all this and is splitting the loot with Applejack. I bet Applejack needs him as a getaway dri-”

Apple Bloom stopped walking and then went up to Scootaloo’s face with her look of fury.

“Scootaloo, Ah swear to Fraust, if you say anthin’ about my sister or any of my family members as the Diamond Bandit one more time, Ah’ll drag you to the playground’s sand box by the ear, buried yer head in the sand like an ostrich, take a photo of you while yer head is buried and then send it to Rainbow Dash!”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in horror. “Y-you wouldn’t dare!”

“AH WOULD!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“Apple Bloom stop! You’re scaring us!” Sweetie Belle begged in fright.

Apple Bloom snapped out of her rage mode and looked directly at her friends. She saw fear and concerned looks from both of her friends faces. She felt guilty for the way she behaved towards them, especially to Scootaloo. Apple Bloom sighed and looked down in shame.

“Ah’m…ah’m sorry Scootaloo, Ah…Ah shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. The way you kept sayin’ about my sister bein’ a thief really made me very upset.”

Scootaloo sighed quietly as she rubbed her right arm. “No Apple Bloom, I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have made you feel so terrible. That was uncool of me.”

“Yeah, we’re supposed to help you solve your problems, not make it worse.” added Sweetie Belle. “That’s why we’re coming with you as support. Us Crusaders always stick together!”

Apple Bloom let out her small smile. “Thanks girls, Ah appreciate this. Now come on, we got to head to Sweet Apple Acres, the long way.”

So the Crusaders resumed their walk towards the city. As they were walking, Apple Bloom cleared her throat awkwardly and the turned her head towards Scootaloo.

“Listen Scoots…about my threat-”

“Don’t worry, we’re cool!”

“Oh…okay cool,”

…

“By the way, how did you get Rainbow Dash’s number?”

“Okay, we’re here!” Apple Bloom announced after about an hour of walking around the city and then to the back of her home.

“Any reason why we’re going through the back door?” asked Sweetie Belle as they made their way up the stairs of Apple Bloom’s back porch.

“Well, since the long path leads us here, Ah figured it’s a lot faster to go through the back instead of the front,” Apple Bloom answered as she took out her key from her pocket.

Apple Bloom then placed the key to her back door to unlock it and then opened it. The girls entered the back door and into the kitchen. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo placed their backpacks by the back door while Apple Bloom made her way to the kitchen door that leads to her living room.

“Hey Apple Bloom, can we have some of your family’s Apple Cider?” Scootaloo called out as she was looking through Apple Bloom’s fridge.

“Ah could ask after Ah talk to Applejack,” said Apple Bloom as we was opening the door. “But don’t get yer hopes up, she’ll most likely gave us the non-alcoholic ci-”

Apple Bloom stopped speaking when she caught her sister, Applejack, who was frantically moving around the room and moving the furnitures as if she was looking for something. Apple Bloom quickly closed the door a bit so that Applejack won’t notice her, but leave the door open enough for her to see what her sister was doing. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle walked up behind Apple Bloom with confused expressions.

“Hey Ap-”

Apple Bloom quickly placed her hand over Scootaloo’s mouth and shushed her, signaling her friends to stay quiet. Apple Bloom then pointed the door behind her with her thumb. Curious, the two Crusaders took a peak through the crack of the door and their eyes widened when they saw Applejack going through the room like a mad woman. They continued to spy Applejack for a moment until they all heard a loud call from Apple Bloom’s grandmother from upstairs.

“Applejack?”

In that moment, Applejack lifted a cushion from the couch, placed a medium size black velvet bag in its place and then placed the cushion back where it belongs. Satisfied that her item was well hidden, Applejack then casually went up the stairs.

“Comin’ Granny!” Applejack hollered as she was ascending up the stairs.

Once they were sure that Applejack was out of the room, the Crusaders quietly went into the living room and approached the couch. Apple Bloom then lifted up the cushion and retrieved the bag that Applejack was desperately was trying to hide. The girls looked at each other, silently dared each other to whoever be the one to look into Applejack’s bag. Finally, with a bad feeling in her stomach, Apple Bloom carefully pulled the string to unloosen the bag. With a gulp, Apple Bloom then opened the bag further to see the inside of it. What she saw almost made her let out a loud gasp as well as the other Crusaders.

“Diamonds!” Apple Bloom breathed in horror.

Her heart nearly breaks in two for seeing those offensive rocks that was now sitting on her hands. She felt hurt and betrayed as memories played from the show she and her friends watched yesterday was in fact true. She couldn’t deny it anymore.

Her sister…really is a thief.

There was painful silence in the room after the reveal and no one knew what to say to a situation like this. Finally, Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle with an opened palm in front of her.

“Alright Sweetie Belle, you owe me five bucks!”

Scootaloo blinked when she received expressionless looks from her friends.

“What?”

Author's Note

Well that escalated quickly! Poor Apple Bloom! :applecry:

Fun fact: Originally, I planned to have Apple Bloom ran off from her friends after upsetting her about her sister and then bumps into Sonata by herself. Sonata was the one to give Apple Bloom her advice to always have fate in her sister. But I felt it doesn't fit right for me, especially having her comment about Applejack looking like the bandit afterwords. So I decided to have Granny Smith be the one to give Apple Bloom the advice and made Sonata her cameo appearance instead.

And yes, this story does take place after my other story Freezer Burned. It not required to read that before this one, but it does help a bit to understand what they were talking about.

Anyway, be on the lookout for the next chapter tomorrow! :raritywink: