> Where The Road Takes Me
>  by kaylatheotaku
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Normal Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

       The sun shined into Sweetie Belle's room. She squinted and covered her eyes. She then got up, walked into her parent's kitchen slowly. Sweetie Belle walked out of the back door, and went outside. The air was fresh, the grass was green everything was perfect. She even saw a few butterflies that morning. After enjoying the outdoors she hurried to the Cutie Mark Crusader's club house. Inside Apple Bloom and Scootaloo awaited her arrival. When Sweetie Belle got there her friends jumped with joy. They must have been waiting all morning, she thought.
"You're finally here," Scootaloo exclaimed. "Now we can do some crusading!"
"Yeah," Apple Bloom agreed. "Now let's think of things to do."
"Okay, nothing to do with water though. You know how I feel about it." Sweetie Belle smiled at her caring friends.
Apple Bloom walked up to Sweetie Belle, and smiled back. "That's fine with me. We can always think of other super fun things to do. What about you Scootaloo?
Scootaloo groaned, "Why not do something with water? It could be really fun. We could get those water guns, and maybe Rainbow Dash can join us!"
"Yeah if we do that Applejack can come too!" Apple Bloom quickly agreed. "Or we could ask the weather team if they need any help. The worker ponies might get tired, and we can take their place!"
"Cutie Mark Crusaders weather team helpers....YAY!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo yelled spontaneously. Sweetie Belle slunk back knowing that she was defeated. When the "yay" is said nothing can stop them.


 
"Hey," Scootaloo yelled at the weather team. "HEY!"
"I don't think they can hear you," Apple Bloom said. "Try something louder."
Scootaloo nudged Apple Bloom to get her attention. "No dip sherlock."
"I've got this," Sweetie Belle smiled and walked forward. She opened her mouth, and mad an ear piercing sound. It sounded like five car alarms going off at the same time. All the ponies who heard it clamped their hooves over their ears to block out the annoying noise. While others just groaned from the annoyance. Sweetie Belle took notice to this, and giggled a little bit. When she finished she walked away proudly. "I've still got it."
A brown pegasus with blue mane and glasses flew towards them. He seemed really annoyed to be pulled away from his work like that. He came to work thinking everything would be fine, but it wasn't sunshine and lollipops today. He looked at the three fillies in anger.
'What the buck do you want? You know I'm trying to do my job right? It's not all about playing kiddies! Some ponies have jobs!"
Scootaloo stepped up to the hot headed stallion. "Sorry about that, but we'd like to know if you guys need any help around here."
"Well," the stallion started, "we need some help clearing the skies. Because of a certain lazy rainbow maned pegasus we're behind schedule. Oh and kid one question: can you fly?"
"Me?" Scootaloo asked nervously. "The thing is.....I can-"
"Of course she can!" Sweetie Belle interrupted. "We'll be back in a minute."
Sweetie Belle dragged the other two away from the stallion. When he was out of earshot Scootaloo pounced on Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle pulled Scootaloo off of her like a toy in a young foal's hoof. Scootaloo wasn't taken aback by her friend's strength she was just angry. Sweetie Belle had never surprised Scootaloo at all (maybe a little), but she was predictable through Scootaloo's eyes.
Scootaloo stared Sweetie Belle down like a hawk. "What was that for?! You know I can't fly! Now the whole weather team will mock me! They'll call me a liar, and say I'm not a real pegasus just like the others in school."
Sweetie Belle's response wasn't hard to understand for the crusaders. "You can't fly, but I can."  
The other two exchanged looks of excitement. Sweetie Belle explained her plan in great detail. Then they got to work. Apple Bloom made some fake wings, and painted them orange. Sweetie dyed her mane and coat to look like Scootaloo's. She also styled her mane to be a match to Scootaloo's as well. When she finished she put on the fake pegasus wings. Then she walked over to the stallion calmly.
"I'm back!"
"Okay kid just go up there and kick some cloud. If you want me I'll be over there." The stallion flew back to where he was working previously.
Sweetie Belle concentrated, and the jets in her hooves made her fly. With a tap of the fake wings it looked as if she was flying perfectly. She tried her best to hide the jet flames coming from her hooves. All was doing well until... CRASH! Sweetie Belle was pushed away by a flash of rainbow. She landed near a cloud, and stopped when she saw some dye coming off. She panicked and tried to go back to the other crusaders on the ground. She started to fly down thinking that nothing would stop her.
"Hey!" It was Rainbow Dash. She had finally realized she knocked into some pony and that she had to go to work today. "Sorry I ran into you!"
"Oh, um it's fine," Sweetie Belle replied. She didn't look back at Rainbow Dash. All she did was fly away. "I'm glad that's over. I'm never doing that again."
Rainbow dash looked back at the filly flying in the air. "Is that Scootaloo? No it can't be.......Right?"    
> My Dear Sister
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

       For the rest of the day the crusaders searched for their talents in many different ways. They had decided not to work with the weather team again. Instead they did other crazy things to find their purposes in life. Apple Bloom had suggested painting, and Scootaloo had suggested a race. The rest of the day went on like that, but when it got dark they all returned home. They had told each other that they would crusade more the next day.
When Sweetie Belle walked inside her house, she found her parents in the kitchen. They were both crying, and they looked extremely stressed out. They both had looked up when they heard Sweetie's hoof steps.
"What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked worriedly.
"I guess your old enough to understand," her father responded. "Something terrible happened....... With your sister. I'm sorry Sweetie, but........She died."
"Sh-she what?!" Sweetie Belle cried.
Her mother tried to comfort Sweetie Belle. "I'm afraid so, but she is in a better place. She gets to see your grandmother again, and she will still be here in our hearts."
Sweetie Belle ran to her room. She laid down on her bed, and cried. Her tears were oily, but somehow clear. Her tears ran down her face and onto her bed. Sweetie Belle stood up, and looked out of her window. I just need to see Rarity again. I love her,she thought.
Sweetie Belle opened her window, and climbed out. She didn't think that there would be any sort of danger in going to Rarity's house to see her for one last time. She ran as fast as she could. When Sweetie Belle arrived there were police there as well. She overheard some police near the front door.
"It's a strange case. There are no clues to be found. It's obvious that she was murdered, but there are is no evidence that supported any other cause. It does look as though she has been stabbed." The police officer was talking to another one about Rarity's death.
"That is strange," the other replied. "There isn't even a weapon?"
"No," the first one said. "I would say she died another way, but I don't think any other way could be exactly possible. The mare's back in covered in blood, so I don't think there would be any other way."
Sweetie Belle couldn't take it anymore. She jumped into the nearest open window, and made sure not to be seen by the police outside. She looked around, and saw police tape surrounding the stairs. She decided to go upstairs to investigate since she saw nothing in the downstairs area.
When Sweetie Belle looked up the stairs there was a trail of bloody hoof prints. She followed the prints into Rarity's room, and she looked around. The first thing she spotted was a body on the floor. Tear flowed out of her eyes, and ran towards the body.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle hugged the limp bloody body tightly. "Why did this have to happen? I love you Rarity! It's too bad you can't hug me back. I love yo-"
"Did you hear that?!" Sweetie Belle jumped up in fear, and realized that it was the two police officers from outside. She was so busy talking to herself that she didn't hear them come in. She ran to an open closet in the room, and hid inside.
"Must've been you're imagination," came the reply of the second one. "Let's go see if there's anything else we can find upstairs before we leave."
Sweetie Belle could hear the hoof steps coming up the stairs. With each step she heard they were coming closer and closer. She started to sweat inside the hot closet. 
"These bloody hoof prints weren't here before."
Sweetie Belle cringed, and started to grind her teeth. She heard an officer come up to the closet, so she quickly piled clothes on top of herself. Each piece of clothing made the closet seem even hotter than it was.
"There's a lot of blood over here that's a bit strange. Especially near this closet."
"Open it."
The closet door creaked open, and Sweetie Belle started to panic even more. She felt the clothes being lifted ff of her. Sweetie Belle looked around nervously, and then buried herself even more. She shut her eyes tightly, and grasped onto the coat she was inside. 
The officer lifted the coat, and threw it to the ground. "That coat was heavier than the other ones."
The other officer looker inside of the coat cautiously. "Nothing's in there."
The two officers walked back downstairs. Sweetie Belle then came out from underneath of Rarity's bed. She had slunk under there shortly after the coat was thrown to the ground. The two officers were still down there, so she didn't walk down there.
Sweetie Belle noticed an open window in the room. She concentrated until she felt the jets in her hooves starting up. Then she flew out of the open window and hurried home.    
	
> Meanwhile
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Rainbow Dash was in her room that night. She was sitting on her bed, thinking about her run in with Scootaloo earlier. She decided to just lie down and ask Scootaloo the next morning. The cyan pegasus tossed and turned, but she couldn't sleep a wink. Rainbow Dash hadn't learned of Rarity's death yet, and she was wondering why she hadn't heard anything from Pinkie Pie or Twilight. What she also thought about was how Scootaloo even got off of the ground. She had just been training with the young pegasus the day before, and she couldn't even get herself off the ground. How could Scootaloo learn so quickly? She thought.
The cyan pegasus was about to sleep, but then she heard the sound of a jet engine outside. She immediately sat up in her bed and stood up. The noise got louder as she went towards her window. When Rainbow looked outside she saw a strange looking pony flying by her house. It was too dark to see what the pony looked like, but Rainbow Dash could tell that it was definitely a pony. Though at this moment she didn't care what it was; that thing was keeping Rainbow from her sleep, and no pony wants to see Rainbow Dash without her sleep.
"I'd better see what they want," she groaned.
Rainbow Dash flew out of her house, and caught up with the pony. The pony was the cause of the loud noise. It was so loud that Rainbow had to cover her ears. She flew right in front of the pony to get it to stop. Her plan succeeded, and the pony stopped. It looked a little shocked to see Rainbow Dash standing before it.
Dash decided to take a closer look at the pony, and she gasped. "Sweetie Belle, it's you?!"
Sweetie Belle squealed in fright, and hurried back to her house. Rainbow Dash watched her fly away, and noticed the jet flames coming out of her hooves. Sweetie Belle's a robot?! 



Rainbow Dash flew to town hall in a hurry. She had to report Sweetie Belle. Everypony would be safer that way...Right? She frowned knowing that Sweetie Belle was a nice little filly, and she didn't do anything wrong before. The thought of having to turn Rarity's little sister in ate away at Rainbow Dash. I can't believe I have to do this! Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle out of any other pony!
When Rainbow Dash walked into the police station, she looked for a pony to report the issue to. She then saw a pegasus sitting at a desk. The pegasus was writing on a piece of paper, and she didn't even look up when Rainbow Dash approached her.
Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof on the desk, and the pegasus looked up. "I'm so sorry," she told her. "I get caught up in my work sometimes, so anyway what are you here for?"
"I'd like to file a report," Rainbow Dash replied.
"For what?"
"I," she stammered, "I saw a robot. It's Sweetie Belle, Rarity's little sister."
The pegasus seemed startled. "Really?" I just a got a message from the police saying that they think saw a robot tonight as well. Maybe they have a connection. Can you describe Sweetie Belle?"
"Well," Rainbow Dash replied, "she's a white unicorn, and she has curly pink and purple mane. She has green eyes, oh and she doesn't have her cutie mark yet."
The pegasus looked at a piece of paper on the desk. She skimmed it and looked back at Rainbow Dash. "The message the police sent me has the same description. They also said that they saw a pony in the sky, They were leaving Rarity's house when they saw it. It's really weird that the description is almost exact. What I really need to ask though is: Who does Sweetie Belle spend time with, and what are they like?"
Rainbow Dash nodded, and began to speak. "She spends time with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They don't have their cutie marks either, so that's why they're all friends. Why do you need this information anyway?"
"It's just what I thought," the pegasus started to stack her papers in a pile. "Sometimes radiation from a robot can do strange things to ponies. It's different for every pony who experiences this. I have a feeling Sweetie Belle is the reason the other two fillies don't have their cutie marks yet, but it is just a thought."
Rainbow Dash stood there for a moment, and thought everything over. Radiation? Is that all? I wonder if this crazy mare is telling the truth. For now I have no choice, but to take her word for it.
The pegasus giggled, and broke Rainbow's train of thought. "You seem pretty stunned. I don't get that too often. Anyways take my card," she gave Rainbow a small card. "Call me sometime. If I find anything else we can meet for lunch or something."
"Thank you...Um," Rainbow Dash glanced at the card, "Wind Flower."
Wind Flower smiled at the cyan pegasus. "Okay no problem! That robot will be taken care of. She waved her hoof as Rainbow Dash left the building. "For good..."
	    
> Metal Bars
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Sweetie Belle got home she immediately went to bed. She wanted to forget everything that had happened that night to return to her normal life the next day. Sweetie Belle started to drift off to sleep.......BANG! Her door burst open with great force. She screamed as the police piled into her room and surrounded the bed. An officer grabbed Sweetie Belle with his magic and ran outside.
Sweetie Belle kicked at screamed. "Let me go!"
The officer didn't answer the screaming filly. As he ran outside, still carrying Sweetie Belle, the other police followed. Sweetie Belle caught sight of her parents with tears in their eyes. She decided to scream, but her throat soon felt rubbed raw by all of the yelling. Sweetie Belle saw another office put a needle into her flank. Then she suddenly felt dizzy, and very tired. She fainted before she could see anything else.


 
Sweetie Belle opened her eyes, and yawned tiredly. She looked around, and then realized something extremely horrific. She was in a smallish jail cell. Sweetie Belle look for a place to run, but then realized her back left leg was chained to the wall. She was about yell for help, but she didn't see anyone around. Sweetie Belle then saw a shadow in the corner. The figure stood up, and walked into the light. The figure was actually a light blue filly with yellow mane. The filly showed no sign of emotion towards Sweetie Belle.
"Hello," the filly spoke,"my name is Sun Beam. Who are you?"
Sweetie Belle was taken aback. This filly seemed a little younger than herself. It was a little a crazy that a filly that young could be in jail. "I'm Sweetie Belle....Where are we exactly?"
Sun Beam walked closer to Sweetie Belle, also revealing that she had no chain. "Some pony must've reported you to the robot police. That's what happened to me. I've been here for a few days, and they brought you in late last night. You didn't wake up once that night. They must've used some heavy drugs on you."
"Wait the robot police?! I'm no robot!"
"Neither am I!"
Their small conversation was interrupted by a guard coming in. He had brought food for them on a tray. There were fruits, vegetables, and two juice boxes on the side. The guard opened the cell door, and then he put the ay inside. Before Sweetie Belle could thank him for the food he walked away.
Sweetie Belle took the juice box, and sipped it. "Mmm... This isn't bad! You should really try one Sun Beam." She then took an apple and took a bite out of it. "Come on don't be shy."
"That juice," Sun Beam responded. She took a juice box as well, and motioned towards it. "It's oil.. You actually like it?" You must be a robot then!"
"No! I uh just haven't had anything to drink in a while."
They both turned around, and didn't talk to each other. The two finished their meals in silence. Sweetie Belle ate a lot because of how hungry she was. When they both finished they turned back around, and look each other right in the eye.
"See I'm not a robot," Sweetie Belle said coldly.
Sun Beam nodded in agreement. "Yeah I suppose, and I'm not a robot either."
Sweetie Belle rubbed at the chain that held her back. "Wait a minute. How come you don't have a chain, but I do? That's a little strange."
"I broke it with my heat vision." Sun Beam smiled at the chain around Sweetie Belle's hoof. "I can melt it off for you. Then you won't have to worry. Plus the guards here are too stupid to notice anyway."
Before Sweetie Belle could answer Sun Beam walked over to the chain. She concentrated really hard, and then a bright orange light came from her eyes. It struck the chain, and it immediately broke in half. Sweetie Belle watched her in awe. She lifted up the chain, and just stared at it. No wonder Sun Beam's in here! She must be a robot. I have to be very careful or she could really hurt me! 
"Sweetie Belle," a guard shouted, "You've got visitors."
The guard let Sweetie Belle out, and lead her down a long hallway. Then he took her into a room which was known as the visiting room. When she walked in she was bombarded by the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were jumping up to her in excitement. 
"Hey Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo shouted.
Sweetie Belle smiled at them. "What are you two doing here?"
Scootaloo gestured to the saddlebags on Apple Bloom. "We got our bits and combined them. Together we both have fifty bits to bail you out of here."
"What?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "I didn't commit a crime. They think I'm a robot." She explained what had happened last night, but she didn't include the part where she went to Rarity's.
"Oh," Apple Bloom stated. "That make much more sense. I was wondering how a pony like y'all could commit a crime. You're so nice and sweet!"
Sweetie Belle blushed. "Thanks Apple Bloom you're a good friend."
"Well girls what are we gonna talk about?" Scootaloo asked them.
Apple Bloom's ears perked up. "How about our cutie marks."
The fillies talked about cutie marks for several minutes. They changed the subject knowing that they couldn't work together to get theirs at the moment. They all talked about school, friends, and family for several hours. They were all laughing again like before any of this ever had happened. For Sweetie Belle it was nice to take a break from reality for a while. Soon enough the guard took Sweetie Belle back into her cell with Sun Beam. Sun Beam was waiting for her inside. She had something behind her back.
"What do you have?" Sweetie Belle asked cautiously.
Sun Beam held up a bloody machete and smirked. "I swiped it off of a table when the guard wasn't looking. It's a beauty isn't it?"
Sweetie Belle looked at her new friend in utter shock. "A... Knife? Wha..What are you going to do with just a knife?"
"Just a knife?" Sun Beam frowned. "It's much more than that. This is a machete, but I did hear it was used to killed a pony before." She grinned, and Sweetie Belle noticed a spark in the filly's big blue eyes. " My last so called robot roommate was killed with this. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping. So I cut him open. And boy was he a screamer. It was quite impressive even for a colt. The blood went everywhere though. I remembered I had told him not to struggle while I gutted him. At least I knew one thing: he wasn't lying when he said he wasn't a robot."
Sweetie Belle was paralyzed with fear. She didn't want to be cut open. Even if it was to prove if she was a robot or not. Something told Sweetie Belle to glance at the small window in the cell. Luna's moon was shining high up in the sky, and Sweetie Belle had wished that she was safe up there with the moon.
Sun Beam tapped her hoof on the ground. "Well it's time to have the lights out."
The lights went out, and Sweetie Belle sat in the pitch black darkness. It was very cold, and she was extremely homesick. It was colder than she would've imagined it would be, but she had to make the best of it. Why must I be here with this insane filly. She's a murderer, and do the guards even know it? Sweetie Belle curled up on the floor, and tried to sleep.