Cutie Marks At Last

Days and weeks passed. One by one, a foal was noticed to have disappeared. First, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's faces were plastered around Ponyville in 'LOST' posters, with urgent messages from their parents and promising a huge reward. Next were Snips and Snails, with a notice that said they were prone to wandering around the Everfree Forest. An exchange student from Saddle Arabia named Amira was missing after two weeks of school at Miss Cherilee's school, last seen arguing with Sweetie Belle about what is 'normal'. She seemed to have been rather harsh with her words before Sweetie Belle galloped off, Amira hot on her trail and calling her a mere coward. Next was Sunny Daze, who had last been seen roller skating and 'accidentally' running over Apple Bloom. Lickety-Split began to bully Scootaloo, but in a matter of days he had disappeared.

The disappearances began to pile up. Eventually, ponies stopped asking who did it. Parents feared for their foals. Curfews were set by Mayor Mare. Anypony who might have had anything to do with any of the disappearances were interrogated harshly.

But the disappearances continued.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo met up in the clubhouse. "Guys... I think ponies are starting to get suspicious. Of us." Apple Bloom's voice sounded a bit more nervous than usual.

Sweetie Belle stomped her hooves. "They're getting suspicious of all the foals who are still alive!"

Scootaloo sighed. "I think... maybe, just maybe, we could... come clean?..."

Sweetie Belle stared at Scootaloo blankly. "How could you even say that? If they find out we did it..."

"I know, I know. That's not quite what I meant by that. We could plead insanity and get off scot-free!"

Apple Bloom shook her head. "We'd all go to a mental hospital!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly squealed in delight and sparks shot from her hooves. "We could frame somepony!"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo stared at Sweetie Belle, unsure if they should respond. "But... who would we frame?"

"Um... well... maybe I should think it over a bit more..."

"Probably. But, that IS a good idea... but we'd have to stop killing ponies!"

"Even when they bully us?"

Scootaloo sighed and bit her lip. "Guys, we've killed and hidden 14 different ponies... or was it 21? I'm starting to lose count. Either way, ponies will eventually figure out what's going on! We have to figure something out!"

Sparks shot from Sweetie Belle's horn again. "Guys, I just got the absolute most perfect idea EVER!"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo leaned in close to hear Sweetie Belle's plan. They could already tell from the spark in her eyes that it was a good plan, but not something they could understand immediately.

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There was a knock on Cherilee's door. She trotted over and opened it, only to see a couple of guards with very angry looks on their faces and three of her students, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo.

"Um, how can I help you?" Cherilee did her best to act like she had some idea of what was happening.

"Yes, these foals said they witnessed you burying the bodies of their classmates after a horrific torture." The guard speaking, a grey pegasus, had his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Now, at first we weren't going to jump to any conclusions, but not only did the foals point out the place where you buried them and there were dead bodies, your hoofprints were found around the scene."

Cherilee gasped. "But... that's perfectly ridiculous! I never... honestly, girls, how could you even say something like that? I-it must've been an imposter!"

Sweetie Belle suddenly burst out crying. Apple Bloom whimpered and stayed close to her friends. Even Scootaloo seemed scared, which was surprising because in a situation like this she'd at least try to feign courage. But all of the Killer Cuties seemed deathly afraid of their schoolteacher. The other guard, a white Earth pony, stamped his hoof. "Ma'am, you have two choices: come peacefully or we'll have to take you by force."

Cherilee looked at the foals, then the guards, and sighed. A tear leaked from her eye. "I guess I'll go with..." The guards quickly put hoofcuffs on her. "Oh, my..."

The guards trotted off, practically dragging Cherilee with. The Killer Cuties watched for a few moments, then snuck into the house. Sweetie Belle went into Cherilee's bedroom. There was a box of jewelry that looked like it could've been worth quite a bit. Sweetie Belle took what she could tell was genuine gemstones and hid them in her mane. She then trotted around the room a bit more. It was medium sized, with a small bed, a few dressers, and some assorted decorative boxes on top of the dressers.

There was a loud yell from the other part of the house. "I found some bits!" Sweetie Belle galloped out of the room to see Scootaloo and Apple Bloom staring at a large pile of bits. "Wow... Miss Cherilee certainly made quite a bit of money!"

"Either that, or she never spent much!" Apple Bloom grabbed a hooful of bits and stashed them in her mane. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did the same. They all trotted out the door as fast as possible. A few bits fell out, but none of them noticed or cared.

They got to the train station and pulled out just enough bits for three tickets. Surprisingly enough, they were able to get their tickets and board the train with no incriminating questions asked.

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom sat down on one of the seats. Sweetie Belle looked out the window, watching ponies board the train. "Where are we going again?"

"Crystal Empire!" Apple Bloom beamed.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared at her like she was crazy. "You got the tickets to go THERE?!"

"No, I got a round trip ticket that goes all the way from the Crystal Empire to way down south, I forget the town, and back to Ponyville. I thought we could get off at the Crystal Empire!"

The train whistle blew, warning ponies that if they didn't get on soon, they'd miss their chance. "That wouldn't work. We'd be too... different. Remember how they were sparkly and we aren't?" Scootaloo waved her hoof dismissively. "I say we got to Trottingham!"

"Aw, do you think we'd see Pipsqueak again? It was too bad he and his parents moved away." Sweetie Belle smiled, remembering her classmate.

"Ugh, no, not Trottingham. What about... Manehatten? We could see Babs!"

"Uh... I don't think that'd be a good idea. She might not like the fact tat we've got our cutie marks now." Sweetie Belle sighed.

The train blew its whistle one last time and began to move, slowly at first, but gaining speed. Soon the train was chugging along smoothly.

"Well... we should wait a couple days before leaving the train. It's a three-week trip, so we should be pretty far from Ponyville after a few days." Apple Bloom looked around the train, wondering if she might see anypony she recognized.

Scootaloo nodded and began making faces at a random colt. He made faces back, until he started calling her names. It soon escalated into a fight that required two full-grown stallions and the colt's mother to stop. Needless to say, Scootaloo quickly stopped fighting when the angry mother was brought into the mix.

Sweetie Belle stared out the window, pondering how her life would flow at this point. "Guys?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we just gonna keep doing this until we die or get caught?"

Apple Bloom waved her hoof dismissively. "We won't get caught."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot plan B." Sweetie Belle sighed and kept staring. Soon her eyes closed, and she drifted into a dreamless slumber.

She awoke to find Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were poking her face. She waved her hoof at them wildly. "Quit it!"

Scootaloo laughed. "Sorry! We just wanted to see if you were alive."

"Also, we decided where we're going: Baltimare!" Apple Bloom beamed.

"Baltimare? How far away is that?"

"Four more days. Betcha can't wait, huh?" Sweetie Belle looked at her two best friends. An eerie smile crept across their face. "As long as they've got a school, I'm sure it'll be great!"