A chorus of groans filled the air as the group of fillies and colts slogged behind their teacher, who was surveying their surroundings with glee, oblivious to the cacophony of noise entering her ears. Stopping at a clearing, she turned to her students with a bright smile on her lips.
"Come along now, everypony." she said. "This looks like a good place for us to set up camp. We'll get our tents set up, and then I'll make s'mores."
If smiles were sunlight, Cheerilee thought for sure that she would have ended up going blind. The class eagerly threw down their saddlebags and placed down their pop-up tents, chattering about the marshmallow and chocolate treat they were about to indulge in.
Amongst it all, three young fillies sat by their tents. They each wore a red cape, which was adorned with a patch depicting a pony rearing on its hind legs against a blue background. They paid no heed to the joyous discussion of their classmates — preferring instead to talk amongst them selves.
"Okay, Crusaders!" one of them said. "We may be on a school trip, but that don't mean we can't find a way ta get our cutie marks! So, any of y'all got any ideas about how we can get some crusadin' done on this here thing?"
Her two companions looked at her blankly.
"You want us to come up with ideas, Apple Bloom?" one of them replied. "When you started that little speech, I thought for sure you at least had a brilliant idea to go with it."
"Ya know Ah ain't one fer ideas, Scootaloo." Apple Bloom replied, shaking her head dismissively. "But come on! Ah don't rightly like the idea of not gettin' any crusadin' done!"
Scootaloo sighed and pointed at the third filly in their group. Upon seeing the hoof aimed at her, she gasped in shock before raising one of her eyebrows.
"Maybe you've got some ideas, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo said. "You're the one getting good grades, so that makes you an egghead. And eggheads always come up with good ideas."
Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to make a retort, before her eyes snapped wide open and she grabbed her saddlebag. She opened it and took out a book. Ignoring Scootaloo's snickering, she leafed through it before jabbing a hoof on one of the pages.
"We haven't tried this yet." she said, showing her friends the page. They looked at it, and then to her with sceptical expressions. "I know it looks dangerous, but we should still try. You never know! This might be just the thing we could get our cutie marks in!"
"That's what Scootaloo said about zip-linin'." Apple Bloom snorted, clamping a hoof over her friend's muzzle before she could retaliate. "And Ah'm sure we all know how that turned out. But, Ah suppose if we tried that, we can try this."
Scootaloo nodded as Apple Bloom withdrew her hoof. She took the book from Sweetie Belle and cast her eyes over it.
"This looks dangerous." she said. "But it also looks so cool. So yeah, I'm definitely up for trying this."
Sweetie Belle smiled, and the three of them brought a hoof out in front of them. Bumping them together, they took a deep breath.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER —"
"Girls!"
The Crusaders looked towards the source of the interruption and saw Cheerilee standing with a stern expression on her face, while the rest of their classmates watched on in silence, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both clearly suppressing laughter.
"Sorry, Miss Cheerilee." Apple Bloom said, scuffing a hoof along the ground. "We'll keep the noise down."
"It's not the noise I'm worried about." Cheerilee replied. "I don't want you three getting into trouble, so needless to say — you won't be doing any crusading this weekend. Okay?"
"But-" Scootaloo said, but was silenced by Cheerilee raising a hoof.
"No buts." Cheerilee said, her tone and expression softening. "No crusading. Surely you can take a couple of days off to enjoy nature in all it's beauty?"
The Crusaders sighed.
"Yes, Miss Cheerilee." they said in unison.
Cheerilee let out a small sigh of relief.
"Good. Now come and get your s'mores. Then I will tell you all about the many different types of trees that can be found here in Whitetail Woods."
The three fillies dutifully obliged and sat down with their classmates, one of whom passed them each their gooey treat. As they ate, Scootaloo motioned for them to huddle together.
"We're still gonna do this, right?" she whispered. "Even after Miss Cheerilee told us not to?"
The others nodded.
"Tonight." Apple Bloom replied. "When everypony is asleep. That way we don't get caught. We'll give it a try, and if it don't work, that's fine. Nopony will ever know."
The three of them began giggling gleefully, eagerly anticipating the night to come so they could begin their latest endeavour.
***
Celestia's sun crept its way over the horizon, bathing all in its path in a soothing glow. The light touched upon Whitetail Woods, causing the birds to stir and begin singing. Their song carried through the air to a camp site, rousing the occupants from their slumber.
Cheerilee cracked one eye open as the sound of awake children reached her ears. She sat up in her sleeping bag and yawned, stretching out her joints with a satisfying pop.
She emerged from her tent to various greetings from her students, which she returned with a smile and a wave. Trotting to the stream, she used the crisp waters to wash her face, refreshing herself for the day ahead.
Making her way back to camp, she looked around at her students as they ate breakfast and played in the sunshine. Her gaze fell on a tent which had the same patch as that on the Crusader's cloaks on one side. Noticing that the zip was down, Cheerilee sighed and trotted over.
"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo?" she said. "It's time to get up. We may be camping, but this is still during school time, so you don't get to sleep in!"
Not a single sound came from the tent.
Either they're heavy sleepers, Cheerilee thought, or they're choosing not to hear me.
Gripping the zip in her teeth, Cheerilee opened the tent and stuck her head inside.
"Girls!" she said forcefully. "It's time to-"
The colour drained from her face as she realised with horror that the tent was empty. Cheerilee withdrew from the tent and began looking around frantically, hoping that the Crusaders were still nearby. It soon dawned on her that they weren't.
"Oh, no." she gasped. "What have they done now?"
"What's wrong Miss Cheerilee?" asked a young colt. He and his companion were looking at their teacher with concern.
"Snips, Snails." Cheerilee replied. "Have you seen Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo anywhere?"
Both colts furrowed their brows as they thought of an answer.
"I haven't seen them since yesterday." Snips replied.
"Uh yeah, same here." Snails added.
"Oh dear." Cheerilee began to panic. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. So they have gone missing then. Oh, girls..."
The rest of the class, with the exception of two, upon seeing the look on Cheerilee's face, joined Snips and Snails in looking at her. The two who remained behind had sneers on their faces.
"What have those blank flanks done now?" Diamond Tiara asked. "Are they trying to get cutie marks in causing mental breakdowns? Because Cheerilee looks about ready to have one."
Silver Spoon snickered.
Okay, Cheerilee. Don't panic. You have to think of the other students as well. Just go to your bag, and use that flare Twilight gave you. Don't go looking for the Crusaders yourself.
Taking a few deep breaths, Cheerilee did as she instructed herself. Taking the flare from the bag, she held it above her head and pulled the string attached to the bottom. A bright purple light shot out of the end and whistled into the air, exploding in a shower of sparks.
Her task complete, Cheerilee finally gave way to tears.
***
"We got here as quickly as we could, Cheerilee! What's up?"
Cheerilee turned around as another trio of mares emerged from the forest. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes were puffy and red.
"Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack." she said. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm so sorry, but... I lost them."
"Lost who, darling?" Rarity replied.
"The Crusaders." Cheerilee sniffed. "They were here last night, but when I woke up this morning... they were gone. And I couldn't go out to look for them since that would have meant leaving the others, and-"
Applejack silenced her by giving her a hug.
"It's not your fault, sugarcube." she soothed. "Ya know what those three are like. They can't have gotten far. We'll go out and look fer them while y'all stay here."
Feeling Cheerilee nodding, Applejack let her go before taking off into the woods, followed by Rarity.
"I know Scoots isn't my kid," Dash said, "but I kinda feel like she's still my responsibility. Don't worry, Cheerilee. We'll find them."
Cheerilee didn't respond as Dash took off after Rarity and Applejack, leaving Cheerilee with the rest of the class, as well as her thoughts.
I am so fired...
***
Luna's moon was beginning to take over the sky by the time Applejack and the others returned. Upon seeing them coming, Cheerilee fixed a smile on her face, which soon faded upon seeing that the Crusaders weren't following behind.
"Ah'm sorry, Cheerilee." Applejack said. "We looked everywhere for 'em, but we didn't find anything. Oh, Bloom. Where in tarnation are ya this time?"
She sat down and allowed the tears to flow freely.
"We'll have to come back tomorrow with a search party." Rarity said, stifling a sniffle. "I can't stand the thought of my poor Sweetie Belle being lost."
She joined Applejack, the two of them hugging each other for comfort as Rainbow Dash watched.
"I'll come back tomorrow and look for them as well." she said. "As I said, Scoots may not be my kid — but I still look out for her."
Cheerilee nodded and turned to the rest of the class.
"Pack up your things, everypony." she said. "We're going back to Ponyville now."
The students wordlessly trotted away and began packing. Cheerilee walked over to the Crusader's tent. As she prepared to bring it down, her attention was caught by some objects in the middle of it.
"Silly fillies." she sighed. "If only they had taken their bags with them. Perhaps then they'd have some provisions."
Grabbing one of the bags in her teeth, Cheerilee picked it up. As she did so, she grunted.
By Celestia, this is heavy! What on earth did they bring?!
She carried the bag outside and let go, dropping it to the ground. The bag landed on the ground with a dull thud.
"Ow!"
Cheerilee froze.
What was that?
"Ummm, hello?" the voice sounded familiar. "Anypony there? Ah... Ah could really use some help."
"Me too!" came another voice.
"And me!" a third chimed.
Cheerilee smiled from ear to ear before waving frantically to catch the attention of the other three adults. The three of them ran over to Cheerilee, who pointed at the bags. They looked at her, and then to the bags, with confused looks on each of their faces. Cheerilee put a hoof to her lips.
"They're in the bags." she whispered. "Let's find out why before we release them, hmm?"
The other three nodded, each with a small grin on her face.
"Shoot." said a voice from the bag. "Ah guess Ah was imaginin' things. Ain't nopony out there after all."
"Sweetie Belle, you dodo!" another voice roared from another bag. "This is the last time I try any of your stupid ideas!"
"I'm sorry, okay?!" Sweetie Belle shouted back. "But it has to be said that at least we've learned something from all of this!"
"Learned something?!" Scootaloo bellowed. "What have we possibly learned from this disaster?"
"We've learned..." Sweetie Bell replied, "...that Cutie Mark Crusader Contortionists was a bad idea."
There was a moment of silence before three little fillies heard a series of thumps — as the ponies listening to their conversation suddenly fell over, roaring with laughter.
