//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Foalsome Youth Detention Centre // by Stormy Cloud //------------------------------// As Scootaloo walked into the small Police Station, her breaths shaky, everypony instantly looked up to gaze at the blood-soaked filly. She calmly walked up to the front desk where she told the open-mouthed policemare "I have just killed my parents". After the policemare registered what Scootaloo had said, she then indicated for her sergeant to come forward, she then whispered to the officer what Scootaloo had just said. The sergeant asked her "What's your name and how old are you?" "My name is Scootaloo and I'm ten years old" The sergeant then took his time to mull what she had just said over. He knew that normally a pony could not be arrested or charged with an offence under the age of thirteen, however, if a serious crime was committed then a pony that is aged ten at minimum could be charged with that offence. He made his decision, clearing his throat he exclaimed "Miss Scootaloo I am arresting you under the suspicion of Murder, you do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be given in evidence" He then placed shackles onto the filly's bloody hooves as well as putting wing cuffs onto her barrel. When he did this, Scootaloo merely rolled her eyes before saying "There's no point in doing that, I can't fly anyway" The sergeant ignored her, instead of putting her into a cell, he decided to put her into an interview room while he went to the crime scene. Before he left, however, he offered her a drink of water, to which she only nodded her head, while staring into her reflection on the one-way mirror. He then asked her "Where do you live?" Still staring off into the mirror she replied "12 Giddy Up Lane" He then left the room, he told the the Policemare who was at the desk to keep an eye on her through the cameras. He then took out a radio and called for additional units, detectives, and CSU to meet him at the crime scene. *** When he arrived at the crime scene, his face was illuminated by the flash of blue lights being emitted from the police wagons. Suddenly he heard a voice shout his name. Turning to the source he noticed that it was Detective Cuffs. The detective asked him "Is it true, that the suspect is a kid" The sergeant nodded solemnly which caused the Detective to swear out loud. Walking towards the house, a patrol officer came out to greet them "House is clear aside from two DOAs in the master bedroom, they appeared to have their throats slit, I also noticed several stab wounds to the chest on both victims". Both, the sergeant and detectives muttered silent prayers to Celestia before entering the house. Initially, the house appeared to be normal aside from slight messiness and a lot of empty beer bottles lying around on the floor. However the Master bedroom was where all normalness ended, in the bloodied bed were the bodies of the killer's parents, their faces frozen in terror. The walls and even the ceilings were covered in blood. Several Crime Scene Techs, who were wearing white overalls, masks, and goggles, were examining both the room and bodies. Detective Cuffs asked a CSU unicorn, who was analysing the wounds on the bodies "What's the prognosis?" The CSU mare sighed before explaining "The mare had her throat slit while she was sleeping before the killer started to stab her repeatedly. However, the stallion seemed to have been stabbed multiple times to the chest before finally having his own throat slit." Detective Cuffs started to theorise "From the stab wounds, I would say that our killer had beef with her father, not sure about the mother though." He needed more information, so he decided to look at the confessed killer's bedroom, upon entering the first thing that Cuffs noticed was that the bedroom looked barren and plain aside from the crude drawings that littered the walls and floors, he could barely tell that it belonged to a filly. He noticed that there was no furniture aside from a thin mattress with springs, poking through the fabric and a thin, tattered blanket. There were no toys or books, the only things that appeared to belong to a filly were the drawings and a pair of saddlebags, that had seen better days. Kneeling down, he looked into the saddlebags to find school supplies and several more drawings. He analysed the drawings further to see that most of them were drawings of a rainbow-maned pegasus, whom he instantly recognised as Rainbow Dash, the local speed demon and somepony who was well known to police for the amount of speeding tickets she had. Several different drawings made him raise his eyebrows in interest, some of the drawings revealed a sad-looking orange and purple pegasus filly. He concluded and told the sergeant "From what I can see, she was definitely being neglected. Abused however I am not sure." The sergeant nodded and told the detective "My officers just told me that they recognise the filly, apparently she had a habit of stealing and shoplifting, this could be the reason why. They also found an old scooter in the garden." "Probably the only thing that she has for fun" the detective said before adding "I need to question the suspect before I can gain any real conclusions." *** Back at the station, Scootaloo was sat in the interview room, fiddling with the uncomfortable cuffs. She was terrified, she had no idea what would happen and the thought of prison scared her. She was trying to keep her emotions in check but was failing as several tears slipped through the dams. Suddenly the door opened, causing her to jump out of her skin, The detective noted this as he sat down in front of the prisoner. The detective examined her movements as he let the uncomfortable silence continue, he noticed that she was shaking and scared. He reassured her "Scootaloo, you did something bad however because you came here willingly tells me that you are sorry for what you did" He was cut off as she shook her head, erratically "NO! I'm not sorry, I'm glad that they are dead." Cuffs was stunned as his instincts told him that the filly was lying and that deep down she regretted her actions. "I'm sorry? Can you tell me why?" he asked, wanting to know the full picture. Scootaloo reluctantly told the detective "They hurt me, they ruin my life." "Ok, so was they hurting you when you killed them?" he asked, already knowing what the answer was. Scootaloo didn't answer at first but as the floodgates came down she slowly shook her head before lowering her head into her arms, muffling her sobs that were now wracking her body. Detective Cuffs couldn't help but feel sorry for the killer, he knew that she had no choice but he also knew that the judge would not see it that way. The door slammed open as a white unicorn mare with a brown mane and wearing crescent glasses stormed in, saying "What have you done to my client, you know full well that you should not be questioning my client, a filly no less without a lawyer or a responsible adult present." Cuffs sighed irritably, he recognised the mare as being Golden Truth, his arch nemesis and a ruthless lawyer, who liked to embarrass both the prosecution and the police at any chance she got. She was followed by the same cyan mare from the pictures. He knew that somepony had money as Golden Truth did not come cheap. Rainbow Dash rushed over to the distraught filly saying "Are you okay?" Scootaloo nodded, wiping her tears clumsily, Rainbow noticed the cuffs and turned to the detective, hissing "Why is she in hoof cuffs, she's just a filly?" "Miss Dash, she is a murderer, who killed her own parents in cold blood while they slept," he explained. "Alleged murderer, I demand that you release my client at once," Golden ordered. "Not happening besides this interview is now over, your client is being charged with double homicide," he said finally. However, Golden was not finished "Like Tartarus it isn't, what is your evidence?" "I don't need evidence, she confessed, you can even watch the security tapes, see you in court." He said before leaving the room, not waiting for an answer. Rainbow looked down at Scootaloo, who averted her eyes, she then asked in disbelief "Is it true, did you actually kill them?" Scootaloo didn't answer, not wanting to say yes out loud, she instead whispered "I'm so sorry." *** The trial had lasted several weeks, the defence had blatantly rejected a plea deal that could have seen Scootaloo only serving 5 years for mareslaughter. Scootaloo was wearing a dress that she was slowly ruining with sweat from nervousness as she waited for the verdict to be handed down. Despite her confession, both sides had fought with such ferocity that could take on a fully grown lion. The judge, whom was a grumpy old unicorn stallion, named Blind Justice and was typically known for handing out harsh sentences, sifted through his papers before clearing his voice and announcing "On the case of the Principality versus Scootaloo, I have heard both sides of the argument and I ask the members of the jury to declare their verdict" A brown unicorn stallion stood up and shouted "We the jury find the defendant guilty on all charges!" The defence groaned with Golden verbally swearing, the judge then spoke up "Thank you, you may now retire. Now to you Miss Scootaloo, while I am aware of your circumstances, that is no excuse for taking the lives of two ponies. There were other ways of you getting help but instead, you decided to make a vile decision and commit the horrid crime of murder and for that, I can offer no mercy. I hereby sentence you to the maximum sentence I can give and that is Life with a chance of parole after at least twenty years. You are to serve your sentence at Foalsome Youth Detention Centre. Case closed, court is adjourned." Everypony was stunned, even the prosecution felt that the sentence was harsh however for Scootaloo, it felt like her life was falling apart, the news came too much for her as she collapsed and started to hyperventilate. She ignored the guards who had came to take her away and she could faintly hear her name being called. All she could think about was her friends and how she may never see them again...