It had been a great day in Ponyville but, for me, it was an understatement. There were several reasons why I was feeling this way. I’m nervous for some reason. I knew that I was all right because I was confident. How did this happen in the first place?, I thought. I've been pondering about yesterday. It had been a blur, but the memories were slowly coming back. I was backstage in the Canterlot Castle, getting ready for my second performance. The lyrics of the song repeated in my head, making my nervousness dissipate and my confidence slowly grow from my heart. I know I'm going to succeed tonight.

Speaking of succeeding, memories of my fillyhood flooded in. It was thanks to my friends, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom, that I've earned my Cutie Mark. Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and I formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC) to search for our special talents. With our nonsensical Cutie Mark Crusading, we tried to earn our Cutie Marks by doing various, dangerous activities. I lightly shook my head at the ridiculous ideas we had come up with: zip lining through the forest, chicken herding, pig farming, taffy making, hairdressing, mind-reading, mountain climbing, underwater exploring and so many from there on.

Overall, we had some ups and downs; Rarity and her friends scolded us for our mischief, but we eventually learned from our mistakes and had better ideas. The three of us took Twilight's advice, before and after she became a Princess, to heart. We focused on what we liked and not what 'brilliant ideas' we could come up with. Sure enough, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and I found our Cutie Marks thanks to Twilight's advice and Twilight Time. Scootaloo found her love of doing stunts and earned her Cutie Mark for being a Daredevil and Apple Bloom worked her way in earning a Cutie Mark in Chemistry. Unfortunately, I was the last of the CMC to earn my Cutie Mark in something I thought I wasn't good at: singing. Sighing again, I looked to my right to see my reflection on the mirror. After I earned my Cutie Mark, my body had grown through five years and so did the rest of the CMC.

I had made a decision to have my mane tied in a ponytail; the glitter in my mane glistened when the light came upon it. I really wanted to have a new look for this performance in Canterlot. Even though my mane was down in the first performance at Ponyville, I needed to look presentable for the rich ponies. I checked my cheeks, which had some make-up on that Rarity gave me before I departed.

Speaking of Rarity, she had been doing fine in her fashion business. She had many employers across from Equestria and she couldn't be any happier. She was surprised that I was going to perform at the Royal Garden for Fancy Pants' party without her. I chuckled when I remembered how ecstatic Rarity was when she heard the great news.

"This is probably THE BEST POSSIBLE THING!" She shouted causing my ears to slightly ring.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were in the room with us. They were just as excited as her sister. I recalled that Apple Bloom wore a green bandana around her neck and some small red ribbon bows on her mane and tail. Scootaloo kept her mane style, but it was always messy. Her wings were all grown out and were flapping with excitement.

"This is cool! Not only did word get through to Canterlot, but they actually want you to play over there! Congrats!" Scootaloo congratulated.

Apple Bloom spoke as she rested her hoof on my shoulder, "It looks like your dreams are finally coming true."

"To tell you the truth, I never thought that my voice would become popular," I observed. "I just wanted to sing on the occasion."

"You are, Sweetie Belle! It's just that your voice caught Pony's attention and they're paying for you to sing." Rarity exclaimed.

I nodded, "I know, but I wanted to be a casual singer, not a famous one."

"Why?" Apple Bloom asked. "Are you afraid that you're going to make this glory go into your head and it's going to make you forget about us?"

I nodded again, "Just like the bands that have gotten together and separated due to their famous status. I have read it in magazine articles and autobiographies about how the individuals' lives had changed for the worst because of their glory. They lost their friendship in the process and I don't want that to happen." My ear dropped as well as my head in sadness, but Rarity gave me a little hug.

"I'll leave you to talk to your friends. I'll pack your overnight saddlebag." She whispered into my ear.

Once Rarity left it was just the three of us. I tried not to cry, but I couldn't help it. When I lifted my head to look at them, they jumped towards me into an embracing hug. Now I was confused, but shook my head inwardly and hugged them back in return.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle! We're never going to end our friendship ever! I learned that lesson when we shared our dream with Princess Luna." Apple Bloom said.

"Even if we're apart from doing our dream jobs, we can still make time to see each other. Apple Bloom will be making egghead experiments. I'll be doing stunts to entertain ponies and you'll be singing to a lot of ponies." Scootaloo smiled.
I wiped the tears with my foreleg and sniffed, "No matter what happens, we are and always will be the..." I paused for the three of us to say our cheer.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" We shouted in unison.

After I had zoned out, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself as I thought that I would never focus on getting all the glory from being famous. All I need is to be myself. I caught the sight of my face to see that I was smiling at the mirror. Lovely as always, I thought. Sighing, I trotted ahead to the stage, where the curtains were still closed. I focused on the teleportation spell to get my microphone to the stand and activated the speakers with my levitation spell. I lifted my hoof to my chest. Breathe in, breathe out. I cast the levitation spell on the curtains to slowly open to the audience.

I glanced around the audience and noticed that they were giving their undivided attention to me. I was rather impressed, somehow, that the rich and snooty ponies would even pay attention to a commoner from Ponyville. It was either that Fancy Pants was behind this, or the fact that I was the little sister of the Element of Generosity.

"Good evening, Mare's and Gentlecolts." I began, "This first song is about friendship. It means that they will always be with you."

I cleared my throat and was about to sing, but was interrupted by a yell, "LOOK OUT!"

I jumped to the left to dodge what was heading towards me, but it was too late. A beam of magic struck on my barrel and it went all the way through my body. It didn't hurt me, but I felt a slight tingling sensation throughout my body. Once it went through, the bolt of magic formed into a bubble around me. I struggled to get out, but my body wouldn't let me move.

I shouted in panic, "HELP!" Unicorns came forth and tried to break the bubble with their magic, but when I blinked, the bubble popped and I landed on my back into the dirt. "Ouch." I groaned as I flipped my body to get back on my hooves.

Once I stood up on all fours, I immediately found out that I was in Everfree Forest and not in Canterlot. Whoever did this must be a very powerful Unicorn. I didn’t care where I was at. I’m going to rip that Unicorn a new one, whether it was a Stallion or Mare. One flipping Unicorn stopped my performance for no reason. In frustration, I bucked a tree behind me. I didn’t like to get angry, but I couldn’t help it. This was my first performance outside of Ponyville and my second time practicing my singing voice to many ponies. Now my chance was ruined… ’Oh!!! They’re going to pay!’ I screamed internally. I stomped the wet dirt only to get my face dirty.

I calmed myself down and once I got my frustration out of the way, I realized that these trees weren't from the Everfree Forest. Out of all the times that the girls and I went crusading in the Everfree or to visit Zecora for a potion, I didn't recognize any of the trees here. I knew this because we were trying to get Cutie Marks in studying different types of trees. There were three kinds of trees in the Everfree. I didn't even recognize these trees. There were so many different trees that I couldn't identify. The grass seemed more yellow than lime green, the ground was light brown while the Everfree Forest had dark green grass and very dark dirt that any type of plant could grow in it.

I needed to get a better look around where I was. I looked up at a tall tree and saw a thick branch to teleport on to. I got ready to do the teleportation spell that Twilight taught me only to get a splitting headache towards my horn.

"OW!" I yelped putting my hoof on my horn. Thinking it was just a fluke, I tried casting it again but got the same pain. "OH!!!" I groaned in pain. Once it had subsided I was now fuming. "Not only did this bucking Unicorn teleport me to a place unknown but blocked my magic temporally! Can things get any worse?!" I shouted into the cloudy night sky.

There was a flash of light and a loud grumble. It made me jump in fright, but then a heavy downpour followed straight after it. I sighed loudly and took shelter under a tree with a large canopy. I slightly shivered as I shook my barrel to get the water off my coat. The rain was a little warm, but the ground was really cold and I couldn't sleep on it. Looking around my surroundings, I saw another tree that was thick with leaves and it had a leaf pile under it.

I made haste and took shelter onto the pile of leaves. I really hated myself that I had to stay the night in a pile of leaves, but with my magic temporarily gone and with the pouring rain, I just wanted to keep warm to survive the night. It had been a long time since I've camped, but it was either with my friends or Rarity. 'My friends... I wonder if they're worried sick, knowing I disappeared.' I thought. I was sure that my friends would find me eventually. I yawned as I covered myself in dead leaves to get comfortable and I soon found myself going into a deep sleep.

It was morning, the sun peeked through the leaves onto my face. I scrunched up my body and turned over to my side to get comfortable. The one thing that woke me up was a drop of freezing water that the tree collected from the downpour last night. The drops of water landed on my snout making me shiver. Several more drops landed on my horn, muzzle, and mane. I gave up and woke up. I felt very groggy and hobbled out of the leaf pile to stretch.

"Morning." I yawned to myself.

Feeling a bit parched, I trotted towards the sound of rushing water. I found a river that was slightly flooding the plants and trees, but shrugged it off and took several drinks from the river. When I finished, I trotted towards the rising sun. As I trotted, I tried to use my magic again, but no dice. Before when I tried to use a spell, a headache would emerge, but it didn't happen this time. The headaches subsided when I attempted to try another spell. It was an improvement, but I needed to use magic to get home otherwise I would have to walk there. I didn't even know where this place was. All I knew was that I needed to find civilization and find a way to contact Rarity or my parents. I was lost in my thoughts until my hoof hit something hard. I looked down and saw a black slab with white lines on it. I looked left and right to see that the slab stretched across far into the horizon. To my left was a sign that had Equestrian Language. It said:

North
St. Louis, Missouri - 65 miles
Red Bud, Illinois - 30 miles

Feeling curious, I looked behind the same sign to see a different one saying:

South
Grimsby, Illinois - 15 miles
Rockwood, Illinois - 5 miles

Something really didn't settle well with my stomach. These cities and villages were not familiar. I didn't know what to do. Without my magic, I couldn't navigate back to Ponyville. I needed to make a decision, so I analyzed my options.

Looking north, there was a clearing of flat land, probably used for farming. This could be an opportunity to where I could find and seek refuge in a family farmhouse. Though I'm going through an open field where anything and everything will be watching me. I really wasn't sure about getting the unwanted attention.

I turned my head to the south. The woods were thicker, untouched by any hoofs. There was a chance that I could encounter random cabins that ponies were living in. Seeking refuge in the woods really unsettled me because not knowing what lied beyond the forest could mean danger. I had my fair share of danger in the Everfree, such as the Cockatrice. I shivered in fear for even thinking about the creature.

My ears twitched. I felt a presence coming and I jumped back into the forest. Something was roaring through the black slab. Once I was behind some bushes, I eyed the black slab. Was it some sort of monster looking for its prey? I looked behind to make sure nothing was watching me. When I looked back to the slab, the 'monster' rushed by. It was like a blur. It was so fast that if I blinked, I would have missed it. I poked my head out of the bush to see that the monster was on wheels? It was no monster. Was it was a motor carriage? I didn't hear stallions pull the carriage and it would be impossible for them to be going at that speed.

"Where in Celestia's name am I?" I asked myself.

Author's Note

Edit: Due to the hacking of my account (my acquaintance who was once my friend, got my password for some reason and post this story prematurely) I had to rewrite the story. Then I had to change the story from third to first person, because the acquaintance thought it was funny to make it third person. So, I hope that is alright with everybody.

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Sweetie Belle on Earth - An Interactive Story. This is how it's going to work, it's very simple: I make a poll on pollcode.com on what you, the audience will get to choose where Sweetie goes.

Today's question is:

Should Sweetie Belle go North or South?