//------------------------------// // Nopony's Home // Story: The Hero Club // by Mind Jack //------------------------------// “Alright everypony,” Gusty began. “Let’s go over the plan one more time.” Since they couldn’t very well go to their haunted house hideout before school, they’d gathered around a table in the cafeteria. It was so naturally loud in here that nopony (including Nopony) could overhear them. Thankfully, Pepper didn’t seem to be around yet, and nopony was eager to sit next to her recent targets, just in case her wrath spread to them when she did show up. Personally, Boomer thought they were cowards, even if it was convenient for the three of them. “I pull the fire alarm.” Boomer had a few more plans than just that. If she just pulled the alarm, it would be too obvious they were planning something. There needed to be a reason for her to pull the alarm. She had a plan of her own for that.  “I hide in the janitor’s closet until Gusty signals Pepper is outside,” Snake continued. “Then I sneak in and swipe the photos and any letters I can find.” She’s so brave to take the most dangerous job… Boomer swooned inwardly. “Then you signal me, and I tell Mr. Wonderbread I saw somepony inside through a window,” Gusty finished. “We bring him in, and show him the proof. Simple as can be. Boomer, got the radios?” Boomer pulled out some old walkie-talkies that she had borrowed on the grounds of a ‘school project.’ “Mom says the blue one doesn’t work super well,” Boomer informed. “Who wants it?” “My job is the least dangerous,” Gusty replied. “So I can take the worst radio.” Boomer passed Gusty the blue walkie talkie, leaving the yellow one for herself, and the green one for Snake.  There was a silence as all of them realized the kind of trouble they’d be in if things went wrong. “If you get caught, don’t squeal on the others,” Snake decided. “Word of honor.” Gusty nodded. “We aren’t doing anything wrong. We have to stop Nopony from hurting anypony else.” Snake shot her a tired grin. “That’s the spirit, Hero.” Boomer had a brief moment of panic as she pictured Snake suddenly crushing on Gusty. “Alright! So, Snake, you’d better head off to your hiding spot, and Gusty and I need to get to class.” Snake nodded. “Yup. You’re right. I’ve got the perfect one in mind.” She stood up from the table. “Good luck, ladies!” she said as she trotted out of the cafeteria. Gusty took a deep breath. “Feathers, I’m nervous. I really hope this all works.” Boomer gave her a hug, but rolled her eyes inwardly. “Relax. You’re not gonna be the one in trouble if all this goes south.” “That’s what worries me,” Gusty replied just before she left.  Boomer didn’t fidget or tremble as she set to work with the various materials in her AP Chemistry class. She was so much happier when she got to do this. When she didn’t have to put up the cheerful, innocent wall, and could just act like the machine she was. She could have just “accidentally” bumped her backpack a little too hard. There was probably enough residue from past experiments in there to put on another little fireworks show.  But this was for Snake. She wanted to add a little personal touch. She’d brought a few things from home to spice up today’s classwork.  “Whatcha got there, Boomer?” asked a middle-aged mare with a dark blue coat and a mane that looked way too much like a beehive for anypony with any kind of knowledge of lab safety to be remotely comfortable with.  Boomer had never actually bothered to learn the name of this teacher. In Boomer’s opinion, she was ditzy, overly cheerful, incompetent, and basically just there as a way for the school to look like they had somepony keeping an eye on children playing with dangerous chemicals. Even worse, she never actually taught anything, only passing out the papers with the formulas for the students to mix. Better get her away from here before I put in the last couple things. “Just toying with the amounts in the formula you gave us. Seeing if I get any interesting results.” “Aww! I’m so happy I’ve inspired you to be creative!”  Did you seriously just imply you have any inherent worth in this world? Boomer didn’t say that. She just smiled and got back to work.  At the table next to hers, a beige colt with a white mane frowned as the teacher left. “Creativity is not always a virtue. Certainly not in chemistry.” Shut up, Omelette. Not like anypony likes you. “It’s fine. I know what I’m doing. I’ve never caused an explosion in class that I didn’t mean to.” “Not in class you haven’t, I suppose.” Omelette didn’t look happy, but turned away. He wouldn’t tell on her without any actual proof she did it on purpose, and even the relatively small boom this was going to make would destroy any evidence.  Boomer sneakily slipped in her little secret ingredient just as he said that. Dramatic irony would make it a more believable accident. Boomer knew that this particular little mixture wouldn’t cause much damage, and she’d purposefully taken a table away from anything expensive. No reason to actually hurt the school. The mixture turned dark red, and started to fizz. Boomer raised her hoof. “Uh… ma’am, I don’t think mine is supposed to do this!” The line was delivered perfectly. They usually were.  The teacher rushed over, and her eyes widened. She must have had some kind of actual chemistry knowledge, because the next words out of her mouth were, “EVERYPONY, TAKE COVER!” Meanwhile, in another part of the school, Gusty was doing her best to keep her hooves from trembling in anticipation. She kind of wished Snake was balancing a pencil on the tip of her nose or something to lighten the tension. But Gusty had no doubt that, hidden in some supply closet or bathroom stall, Snake was inwardly shaking as well.  Mr. Wonderbread strolled in. “Good morning, class!” “Good morning, Mr. Wonderbread!” the class echoed like the voices of the tortured dead.  “I’ve got something special for you all today…” Wonderbread said with a smile that looked out of place on the bored stallion’s face. “I got clearance from the school board to spend a few days on one of my favorite subjects.” He opened a cabinet, filled to the brim with books, and began to pass them out. Gusty took hers and looked it over. “The Collected Works of Tell-Tale Heart,” she read aloud. The book had a picture of a crow standing on a pony skull as a cover. “I only have permission for today,” Wonderbread explained. “Tomorrow, they expect me to get back to the curriculum, but now I finally get to teach something I’m excited abou—” BOOM! The ceiling shook briefly. A few seconds later, the fire alarm went off. Everypony was soaked as the sprinklers in the ceiling started spraying. Wonderbread’s smile froze on his face for a solid ten seconds before it fell, his soggy shoulders sinking with it. “Oh. I suppose we had better head outside then.” Gusty felt absolutely awful as she streamed out the door with the rest of the class, none of whom seemed to find this a very unusual occurrence. I’m going to have to find some way to make it up to him. I’m not in this to hurt anypony. As Gusty and the rest of the school filed out of the building, half the student body already treating this like an extra recess and all of the teachers trying desperately to maintain order, Gusty looked back at the school, her eyes zeroing in on Pepper’s office. Once she found it, she promptly hid herself behind a crowd of students, so as not to arouse suspicion by being seen with the radio. Though at this point, she would be surprised if the teachers noticed a rampaging manticore tearing through the playground. All she had to do was wait for the signal. Alright, Snake. Your move. Snake heard the boom go off from her spot in the fillies’ bathroom, and rolled her eyes. Of course. Cuddles would never just pull the fire alarm. She fidgeted impatiently while she waited for the telltale sign of the bathroom door opening. She knew Pepper would check the bathrooms to make sure they were empty, but she had a little plan to get around that. The door opened. She could hear Pepper muttering to herself as she checked the first stall. Then she moved to check the next one; Snake’s. The locked door rattled. "Hey! Who's in there?" Now. While Pepper tried to break the door open, Snake silently slipped into the stall she’d already checked. “Come on out, you little brat! Whatever bomb you’re trying to drop in there isn’t as big as the one that just went off!” A second later, she succeeded in busting the door down with a tremendous crack. If anypony was actually inside, they likely would have been traumatized for life. But luckily for Pepper, because student lawsuits were no laughing matter, Snake had already made it all the way out of the bathroom by the time she poked her head inside.  “Hmph. Guess some prankster just decided to leave the door locked. You think that’s funny, huh?! The school pays good money for these locks!” she yelled, breaking down a second door in her anger. No wonder she sticks to letters to make her threats, Snake thought, racing as quickly as she could down the hall towards Pepper’s office. The office was just like they left it last night. I guess it would be. Blackmailing kids won’t exactly make enough to buy you a shark tank for your evil lair. Snake approached the big metal locker containing the photos. I can’t wait to see the look on Pepper’s face when she sees her photos are all gone! Snake's radio buzzed. “I... Pepper... outside!” Gusty said, static overcoming her voice.  “She says she sees Pepper outside,” Boomer corrected.  “Awesome!” Snake replied, horn already glowing blue to fiddle with the tumblers on Pepper's locker's padlock. “I'm in the office now!” “Great. Let Gusty know as soon as you find something,” Boomer said. “I’m gonna go keep an eye on Pepper in case she gets suspicious.”  As Snake’s radio clicked off again, the unicorn set to work, trying to move as fast as she could to crack open the locker again. Thankfully, Pepper hadn’t had the time to install a better padlock or this might have been a lot harder. Motivated by determination and adrenaline, Snake got through the lock faster this time, tossing it haphazardly to the side as she pried open the locker.  The plan had gone so smoothly so far that she was almost surprised to find the compromising photos exactly where they’d left them. Evidently, Pepper hadn’t had the time to move them either. Criminal mastermind, my left flank.  She was about to radio Gusty when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. One of the photos that they hadn’t noticed before. Something seemed off about it. Curious, Snake brushed a few others aside to get a better look.  It was unmistakably a picture of Nopony, perched in the branches of a tree and clearly spying on another student with a camera. Sheesh, Pepper really went all out with these. She even took a picture of...herself... It took her a second to realize what was wrong with that statement. Snake’s eyes widened in panic. She nearly fumbled the radio in her haste to call Gusty. “Gusty, listen! Pepper is not Nopony! We can’t continue the plan! Abort now!”  Outside, Gusty heard a slightly different message. “Gusty, listen! Pepper is...Nopony! We can...continue...plan...now!” She nodded. “Thanks for the confirmation. Giving the signal.” She turned the radio off and looked to see where Boomer had gone. She winced when she saw her, being scolded by a furious Pepper who had apparently confiscated her radio. Well, I suppose I couldn’t ask for a better diversion. Now it was time to act out her part of the plan. Gusty trotted up to Mr. Wonderbread, who was seated on a bench and forlornly staring into the distance. “Mr. Wonderbread, sir! I think I saw somepony still inside, through the window!” He shook his head, as if broken out of a trance. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Gusty's ears pinned, slightly concerned. “I-I said I saw somepony through the window, still inside. I think they were going into Pepper Spray’s office!” Wonderbread’s head whipped back to the school, then over at Pepper. “Shoot! It looks like Miss Spray is busy. I’ll go in and go look.” “I’ll go with you, sir!” Gusty offered. “Just in case you need to send me back out to get somepony for something.” He seemed to be about to deny it, then shrugged. “Alright. Thank you, Gusty. The sprinklers likely put the fire out by now, so it should be okay to go in and check.” What he failed to mention was that the sprinklers themselves had not yet stopped. “Sorry,” he muttered as both of them got soaked on the way. “I’ll grab us some towels when we leave.” But when they entered the office, all thoughts of drying off abruptly vanished. As soon as Gusty saw the shocked look on Snake’s face, she knew they had screwed up big time. The proof they were looking for was not to be found. “W-What are you doing here?!” Gusty looked nervously up at Mr. Wonderbread, who didn't even seem to notice Snake at first. His eyes were squarely on the large pile of photos spilling out of the nearby locker. “What is the meaning of all this? What are those photos? Why… Why are you going through Pepper's office?!” Apparently, he did notice Snake. And even worse, Snake couldn’t safely answer any of his questions. “Uh…” “‘Uh’ is not good enough, missy!” Wonderbread snapped, suddenly going full teacher mode. “Obviously, Miss Spray has some things to hide, but that doesn’t give you any right to break into the school and dig through her office!” “Well, technically, I didn't break in. I was already inside to begin with, so…” Snake trailed off, seeing that her logical approach wasn’t working. Wonderbread left for a moment and returned with a detention slip. Unfortunately for them, there didn’t seem to be any sprinklers in this office. Great, Pepper. In addition to sneaking photos of random ponies, your office is a fire hazard. After setting it down on Pepper’s desk, Wonderbread fished a pen out of his shirt pocket and started to fill it out. Gusty was standing just close enough to see what he wrote. But it wasn't the content of the slip that sent a chill up Gusty's spine. It was his mouthwriting. She wasn’t sure at first, but the more he wrote, the more certain she was. Gusty stepped back towards Snake and whispered into her ear. Snake had to stifle a gasp, and instead used that breath to whisper the same message into her radio. Gusty winced, having not gotten the chance to tell her that Boomer wasn’t on the other end of it.  Not noticing any of this, Wonderbread finished with the detention slip and turned to face them. “Alright, given the extenuating circumstances, I’m willing to let you off with detention, but… why are you looking at me like that?" Both Gusty and Snake were glaring daggers at him. “Detention, huh? How generous of you,” Snake said sarcastically. “But I guess you can afford to be generous with all the bits you’ve swindled,” Gusty added. “And we’re not letting you off that easily, Nopony.” Wonderbread suddenly paled, taking a nervous step back. “N-Nopony? What are you talking about? I’m somepony just like anypony else!” “Drop the act,” Gusty growled, she and Snake taking a step towards him in return. “I saw your mouthwriting on that slip. It’s a perfect match for Nopony’s.” “I should know,” Snake said. “Considering one of those letters almost ruined my life.” “Okay, I think this has all been a terrible misunderstanding,” Wonderbread replied, trying to keep his cool. And failing. “So before we do anything rash, let's just forget about this whole thing. Who needs detention? Not you!” Forcing a smile, he promptly tore up the detention slip. “See? No worries.” “He's destroying evidence!” Gusty yelled. “Get him!”  “What? No! I’m just trying to… I mean, don’t change the subject… I mean, you can’t just hurl accusations at a school official like… Oh, horseapples.” He turned and took off down the hall. Gusty almost immediately felt her blood start to boil as she gave chase out of the office, and Wonderbread almost immediately slipped and fell on his face as he tried to run on the wet floor. Gusty used the opportunity to cut him off from the front door.  Snake walked up from behind him, stopping him from going around the other way. “Huh. So that’s why they tell us not to run in the halls,” she said with a smirk. “I knew school rules were going to bite me one day…” Wonderbread stood shakily to his hooves, looking back and forth between his two pursuers. He opened his mouth again, as if about to say something more, then bolted down another hallway instead. “He’s heading for the stairs!” Gusty realized. She flew after him, only to quickly brake as a locker nearly fell on top of her.  “I’ll pay for the damages later!” Wonderbread yelled, toppling several more into their path as he tried to flee.  “Not with my bits, you won’t!” Snake shouted back. She deftly lept around the fallen lockers while Gusty swerved to avoid them. Wonderbread dashed up the stairs, beating them through the door just fast enough to slam it in their faces. Gusty tried to open it, but heard the jingle of keys from the other side as he locked the door behind him. Gusty pounded the door with her hooves, trying in vain to break it down. At this point, her breathing was starting to quicken, and her heart was pounding out of her chest.  “He’ll be going for the fire escape!” Snake informed Gusty. “Can you fly us through a window? We can still cut him off.” Gusty wordlessly scooped up Snake and went for a window, going through one that couldn’t be seen from the front door through sheer happenstance rather than any kind of choice. She had tunnel vision. Nopony was going down.  She flew up to the second floor, and was lucky enough to find an open window, which was conveniently facing the back of the fleeing Wonderbread.  Seeing that coward run made something familiar wake up in her. It had been a while since she’d felt this, and she didn’t have the power to stop what was coming.  Gusty’s vision turned red, and then she blacked out. Snake realized they were just hovering there in front of the open window, and looked at Gusty with no small amount of concern. “Uh, Hero, we gonna go after him, or what?” Gusty slightly adjusted her stance, and the next thing Snake knew she was flying through the air at high speed. It took her a split second after she slammed into her terrified teacher to realize that it was not, in fact, with the help of a pegasus. Did... Did she just throw me at Wonderbread!? She had indeed, and Wonderbread looked just as surprised as she was. “Miss Cream? But you're not a pegasus!” “Never call me that again.” There was a loud crash as Gusty flew in behind them. Despite the perfectly reasonable gap left by the window, her entrance had taken a good chunk of the wall with it. Gusty looked like a pony possessed, glaring at Wonderbread with a primal fury.  The teacher let out a yelp and ran for his life. This time, Snake couldn't blame him. In fact, she found herself running alongside him as the enraged Gusty tore after them both. “What’s gotten into her?!” Wonderbread yelled. “I don’t know! This is new to me too!” It was then that Snake remembered something. “Oh buck. She was here because she broke all four of some poor schmuck’s legs!” “And that translates to her smashing through a stone wall how?” Wonderbread countered as they ran. “She’s got some kinda crazy super strength when she gets mad! She must have lost it when she saw you!” Gusty proved her point by throwing a pile of three metal lockers at them at once. She missed, but the lockers slammed into the fire escape door, embedding in the wall and blocking it off. “Maybe we can get up to the…” Snake turned to realize that Wonderbread had already run off without her. “...roof.” So much for protecting the students first. Snake ran after him, which unfortunately put her directly in between Gusty and her target. “Hero, come on! Snap out of it!” she yelled, having to dodge another locker as it was thrown at Wonderbread, and her by extension.  The teacher was fortunate to have the good reflexes he did, considering he managed to survive the last time she had done this, and dove to the side as it sailed past him. He scrambled back to his hooves, allowing Snake the time to catch up to him. Tempted as she was to throw him right in Gusty's path and see what happened, even she didn’t want him to get all of his legs broken, or worse. Nopony deserved that. Or rather, he didn’t. There was a sound of breaking glass behind them, and Snake looked back to see that Gusty had apparently grown tired of lockers and moved on to ripping out the ceiling lights to hurl at them. They exploded into the ground in a shower of sparks, which combined with the sprinklers, really made this whole thing a lot more epic than it had any right to be. They raced up the stairs. There was no time for Wonderbread to lock the door, because Gusty smashed it open seconds later. Then she smashed apart the stairs behind them too. Even if we win, we are gonna be in so much trouble. They made it to the roof, which the garden club had littered with planters. Snake tried to close the door behind them, but the second she did, it swung open hard, hitting her right in the nose and sending her stumbling back. Dazed, she was only able to watch as Gusty ignored her completely and started advancing menacingly towards Wonderbread. The teacher backed away until he found himself suddenly at the edge, a three-story drop and most of the school body waiting below. He looked panicked for a moment, but managed to stand his ground. “N-Now hold on there, Miss Breeze,” he said quickly. “I don’t think you really want to do this.” She kept coming.  “Uh, I’m kinda thinking she does!” Snake warned.  “Think of the consequences!” he continued. “If you attack me now, I’ll fall over the edge. I may survive, but you will be guilty of attempted murder at least!” Despite his situation, he actually managed to smirk. “And don’t forget, I still have the photos of you as well. Hurt me, and it will look like nothing more than an attempt to silence the truth! The truth that you are a dangerous delinquent who doesn’t deserve to be walking the streets let alone attending school! Is that what you want?!” Gusty slowed, grunting and shaking her head as if trying to shake off whatever force had come over her. Wonderbread’s words must have had some kind of effect. And that gave Snake the encouragement to try the same. Barely thinking of the consequences herself, she leapt onto Gusty’s back, attempting to pull her away as the pegasus thrashed in response. “Gusty, it's me! This isn’t how we should go about this! Remember what your book said? Do you think any of those heroes would do something like this?! I know you can hear me!” Gusty whipped back violently, flinging Snake off and causing the unicorn to crash headfirst into the concrete edge of one of the garden beds. She groaned, rubbing her head as a noticeable trickle of blood slid down her face.  That snapped Gusty out of it. “Snake!” Snake was pretty out of it as she saw a green blur move to help her. She heard somepony laugh, but that was about it before she lost consciousness.  Gusty immediately rushed to Snake’s side. “Snake! Snake! Stay with me!” Wonderbread hesitated at the edge of the roof. “I-is she alive?” Gusty didn’t know how to tell, but Snake was at least still breathing. “I-I think so!” Wonderbread let out a relieved breath, then laughed. “Well, when she wakes up, tell her she still owes me those bits! I don’t care if she has a concussion. I need that money, and I will still release those photos. And don’t even think about trying anything like that little demolition job you did inside again. If you do, I’ll tell the police EVERYTHING about you and your little friend. And they’ll absolutely believe me, what with your reputation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to the rest of the class.” Gusty watched, slack-jawed, as Wonderbread casually strolled towards the door. There was no boiling in her blood. Just a massive pit in her gut at the knowledge that they had just failed in the worst way possible. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to try anything, Wonderbread opened the door with a smug smile. Then let out a girlish scream as he immediately took a shot of mace to the face. “Not so fast!” Pepper yelled, shoving the stunned pony to the ground. “I heard everything!” Wonderbread was swearing and crying incoherently in pain as he was pinned. Gusty never thought she would be so happy to see Pepper Spray. “Wha… but how?” “How do you think?” Boomer asked, stepping out from behind her and waving her radio around. “Guess it’s a good thing I got myself caught, huh?” “She told me everything,” Pepper added, zip-tying Wonderbread’s front hooves together before she went to tend to the unconscious Snake. “I didn’t think YOU were dumb enough to be that maggot I snapped a picture of in a tree, Wondy. This is gonna look SO good in divorce court. Anyway, what happened inside? No way this idiot caused all that.” Gusty chuckled nervously. “Uh… I may have gotten a little… overzealous… in my… pursuit of justice?” Pepper raised an eyebrow. “You telling me you did all that?” “Er… yes?” “Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a sec!” Boomer interrupted. “I think we’re ignoring the bigger question here.” She looked at Pepper and pointed rapidly between her and Wonderbread. “You two were married?!” “Emphasis on the were,” Pepper replied. “Divorced. You okay, kid?” Snake’s eyes drifted open a little bit, then closed again. “Did anypony get the number of that carriage…?” she mumbled incoherently. “Go get the first aid kit,” Pepper called to Boomer. “There's one in my office.” As Boomer ran down to get it, Pepper started looking over Gusty. It was only then that she noticed she had a lot of wooden splinters in her front legs. “I guess those are from when you made that big hole in the stairs I had to jump over,” Pepper remarked as she started to pull them out. “Now, you are gonna tell me everything that happened, why you were breaking into the school late at night, and do it all from the beginning.” Gusty may have been a pegasus, but she sang like a songbird. Who could blame her? After everything she and her friends had just been through, she wanted nothing more than to put a pin in this thing and call it a day. Boomer came back somewhere around the part where they had to flee from Pepper’s office, chuckling a bit at the memory even as Gusty got increasingly nervous of the way Pepper was glaring at her.  But finally, the guardspony sighed, taking the first aid kit from Boomer and beginning to patch them up. She started with the unconscious Snake Eyes, wrapping a bandage and some gauze around her head injury. “Alright, just to be clear, I am not happy with your little crusade of justice. Especially not the part about you needlessly destroying school property, and I’m still not clear on how you did that, by the way.” “Me neither…” Gusty looked away sheepishly.  “However, I do understand why you felt that stopping my ex yourselves was the best option under the circumstances. Just know that there was a better way than going full vigilante in complete disregard for the law.” “Coughhypocritecough.” Pepper immediately turned her ire on Boomer, who looked back at her innocently. It wasn't much of a disguise, especially since she had actually said “cough”. “She has a good point though,” Gusty pointed out. “Why did you have all those photos in your locker?” Pepper went from annoyed to a little uncomfortable. “Well... it’s my way of doing community service. I see somepony doing something illegal, I snap a photo of them. Later, I tell them I have proof, and demand that they stop.” There was a long, awkward silence. Even Wonderbread had ceased his crying to be sullenly quiet. “That just sounds like blackmail without asking for money,” Gusty said, narrowing her eyes.  “It’s better than rampant destruction of property and attempted assault,” Pepper pointed out. Gusty shrank, looking down. “Fair enough.” “Alright, so where does Wonderbread fit into this then?” Boomer asked. “You had a picture of him, so I guess you were looking for Nopony too?” “Of course I was,” she scoffed, starting to look over Gusty's injuries now. “You think I was gonna let somepony like Nopony get away with blackmailing everypony? Not that I had any idea who he was, but now that I do, this all makes sense.” Gusty slowly raised a hoof. “Uh... mind telling us how?” Pepper hesitated, and she realized that it probably wasn’t the most tactful thing to pry into somepony’s failed marriage. “I mean, you don't have to, if it's too painful—” “Ha! Good one!” she laughed, checking Gusty's wings for feather damage. “I was just thinking of how to best rake Wondy over the coals. See, he was threatened with losing custody of our son if he couldn’t pay his hospital bill, so apparently he got this crazy idea to start blackmailing ponies until he could pay up. He always was a bit too dramatic for me.” Gusty and Boomer looked at each other and collectively raised an eyebrow, but wisely kept their thoughts to themselves.  Pepper forcibly pulled Gusty’s head back to start treating the cuts she’d gotten from wantonly tearing apart ceiling lights. “Honestly, it’s a good thing you came into the picture when you did. With those photos in my office, he was probably going to try to frame me for his own crimes. I wouldn’t put it past him.” “Hold on…” Boomer said, suddenly realizing something. “Your son's hospital bill? You couldn't mean... Nutshell?” “Yup,” Pepper replied. “You seriously telling me that, after all this time, you had no idea who his parents were?” “...Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked to him before.” “We were going to in the hospital,” Gusty added. “But we ended up not needing to.” “I was taking him to school when it happened,” Wonderbread admitted, breaking his self-imposed muteness. By now, his eyes were red and the fur around them was wet with tears. “Can you please clean my eyes?” “When I’m done cleaning up the twelve-year-olds you tried to blackmail,” Pepper replied. “Anyway, somepony, and by that I mean Nopony, decided to let him play with that idiot superhero’s ice cannon.” “Well, excuse me for wanting to let him have some fun!” Wonderbread grumbled.  “Have some fun, huh? Is that what multiple cracked ribs feel like? Or a punctured lung? Are they fun?” Pepper's tending to Gusty’s wounds was getting a little aggressive, and she had to take a moment to visibly force herself to calm down. “This is all very surreal,” Gusty said slowly, “but can you please just tell us where you hid the photos you took of us?” Despite being a teacher, Wonderbread pouted like a stubborn child. “And why should I?” Boomer growled, about to give him a piece of her mind, when Pepper spoke up. “Oh, those? They're probably just in his desk drawer or something. He’s not very good at hiding things.” His eyes widened. “N-No, of course not! I would never choose such a terrible hiding place! That would just be silly! Ha ha…” Pepper turned blankly towards Boomer. “Boom—?” “I got it,” she said, leaving the roof once again. Boomer returned a few minutes later with a small backpack. “It was right where you said it was. The drawer wasn't even locked.” Pepper's eyes narrowed. “Is that... Nutshell's backpack!?” Wonderbread winced. “Well... he wasn't using it…” Now Pepper looked like she was ready to murder somepony. “You... You IDIOT! What if there had been an inspection and somepony found this in your desk? Somepony might think Nutshell had been doing this before you started it!” “Oh...” He looked away. “I didn’t think of that.” “Of course you didn’t! You never think through anything!” She opened the backpack and pulled out a small box containing the photos. She nodded in satisfaction before setting them back down. “Well, I’m taking these to the police and putting all of this behind us for good.” “It won’t be behind me,” Wonderbread muttered.  “I meant Nutshell and I!” Gusty tapped Pepper on the shoulder, interrupting the oncoming squabble. “Sorry to bother you, but um… What you said about turning these photos in to the police… at least one pony has a secret that isn’t illegal or even wrong, but would hurt her if the photos of her in there got out. And a lot of others could get hurt too.” Boomer ruffled through the bag. “Yikes! She’s right!” She pulled out the letters and passed them to Pepper, before going back to look through the photos in the bag. “Some of these are pretty dang bad.” Pepper looked at the letters in uncertainty, but then shook her head. “Sorry, kid. We’ve gotta let the police deal with this. I’m not withholding evidence of crimes so a few embarrassing secrets can stay hidden. Some of those ponies are just gonna have to deal with the consequences of what they did, whether justified or not. That's life for ya.” “But you do this all the time!” Gusty argued. “All those photos you took were—” “—sent straight to the police if what they were doing didn't stop right away,” Pepper finished for her, looking irritated. She sighed and ran a hoof down her face. “Look, kid. I get you’re trying to keep a member of your little club from getting in trouble. But sometimes consequences just—” BOOM! All three of them jumped backwards as the bag was consumed in a small but fiery explosion. Pepper rushed in to stomp it out, before whirling on Boomer. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?” she demanded.  Boomer smiled sheepishly. “Uh… well…” “You forgot to wash your hooves after messing with those chemicals you used in the distraction,” Gusty realized. “Didn't you?” Boomer nodded, looking embarrassed, but smirking just a little. Pepper spent several moments looking like a volcano about to erupt. A vein was visible on the side of her head as her mouth opened and closed in a vain attempt at speech.  Then she just sighed, rubbing the side of her head with a hoof. “Alright, alright. We still have the letters. But you’re telling the cops what happened to the photos.” Gusty felt a wave of relief wash over her. It was over. They’d done it. Snake and Amber were both safe, and Nopony had been caught. The hole Gusty had made in the stairs was just small enough to go around, so they started getting Snake and Wonderbread ready to be carried down.  Wonderbread just sulked as Pepper levitated him up onto her back. He looked absolutely miserable. Gusty almost felt bad for him. Almost. Snake mumbled a little more as Gusty picked her up. Something about cabbages. “Is she gonna be okay?” Gusty asked worriedly. “She’ll be fine,” Pepper assured. “She just took a nasty bump. Now come on. If we hurry, I’ll still be able to make visiting hours at the hospital.” It was a few days later when they met back at the haunted house hideout again. It was not by choice. “So....” Snake started. “How bad did you guys get it?” Gusty rubbed her foreleg uncomfortably. “Well... on the one hoof, I don’t think anypony is going to bring up my little ‘episode’ back there. She didn’t exactly tell me, but I'm pretty sure Daffodil pulled a bunch of strings to keep that quiet.” “On the other hoof, she was not happy about it,” Boomer finished. “She chewed us out for hours. Like, literal hours. I kept count.” “Yeesh. Not sure if I’d trade what I got for that,” she rubbed the bandages still around her head. “Apparently, Pepper told my mom about the stealing you told her about, Hero.” Gusty winced. “Sorry. I was just freaking out and didn’t know what else to say but the truth.” Snake shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m not mad. I didn’t get yelled at or anything. She just gave me this… disappointed look.” She shuddered. “Then she sat me down on the couch, and made me talk about why I felt like I had to do that. I totally didn’t cry while telling her. She hugged me and made it pretty clear that she’ll tan my backside if I’m not done with pickpocketing. So yeah. Guess I’ll have to find a real job.” “You’re not the only one,” Boomer replied with a roll of her eyes. “It seems that Mom couldn’t sweep everything we did under the rug. Instead of pressing charges, the school wants Gusty and me to pay for the damage she caused in her psycho rage.” “Hey!” Gusty said indignantly. “You were the one who blew up the lab! It wasn’t all me!” “Bah. Details.” “The point is, we’re going to have to find some way to make up a lot of cash. There’s not a huge rush on it or anything, but still.” Snake sighed. “And right when I’m banned from stealing…” “I'm guessing we can’t just use Wonderbread’s distrust fund?” Boomer joked. “Boomer, that’s terrible,” said Gusty, unable to stop a slight snort. “But also, no we can’t. I just heard from Pepper that all of Wonderbread’s victims have now come forward. He’s been arrested and his ill-gotten bits are back where they belong. Which is not with us.” “Dang. Well, anypony got another idea then?” Gusty wasn’t sure exactly what triggered the idea in her head, but it did seem like a good one. “Well... a lot of heroes in the book mention looking for ‘fame and fortune,’” Boomer raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.” “You suggesting we go on some kind of grand quest for treasure or something?” Snake asked curiously, looking excited at the concept. “Well... no,” Gusty admitted. “At least, not yet. But surely there have to be ponies around town who could use a hoof, and be willing to help out a few brave heroes who help them out.” Boomer contemplated this. “So what you’re saying is... we do the same thing we just did, help ponies out… except now we start charging for it?” “Um… when you put it that way, it sounds kinda—” “I like it!” She grinned. “When can we start?” Gusty knew a lost cause when she saw one. “First, we’d have to advertise our services somehow. Put some flyers around town, spread the word, that sort of thing.” “We’d also need a name,” Snake pointed out. “Can’t just call ourselves ‘Three Fillies Doing Good Deeds for Money’. That’ll never catch on.” There were a few beats of silence as the three of them considered it.  “How about the Boomer Bunch?” Boomer suggested. “Or the Boomer Battalion?” “Those names are cornier than a local farm,” Snake said with a shake of her head. “Plus, it was Gusty's idea. The Gusty Gang?” “Ick,” Gusty grimaced at that one. “I’d sooner call it the Snake Squad. Let’s pick something that isn’t just there to fill up one of our egos.” “Oh, alright,” Boomer said, only slightly disappointed. “Well... you got the idea from the Book of Heroes… so how about... we call ourselves… the Book Club?” Snake shook her head and groaned. “You did that on purpose. But I think you’re on the right track. How about the Hero Club?” “The Hero Club…” Gusty said to herself, repeating it a few times. Slowly, a smile crossed her lips. “Yeah... yeah, I like that! The Hero Club, it is!” Boomer shrugged. “I guess that's an okay name. Short enough to put on a poster.” Snake smirked. “Aw, come on, Cuddles, you know you like it.” It was hard to see in the light of the lantern, but Gusty could have sworn she saw Boomer blush. “Well... maybe it is kind of a catchy name. So what do we do now?” Gusty pondered that for a moment. “We probably ought to go tell Daffodil and Snake’s mom about what we’re gonna do. Then maybe we can plan how we’re gonna do this.” Boomer wasn’t entirely sold on that part. “You sure you want to tell Mom that we’re going to be getting in even more trouble?” “We’re not going to be getting into trouble!” Gusty insisted. “This is just fundraising for us, that’s all. It’s not like we’re going to be getting involved in anything dangerous like Nopony again. Just finding lost cats and doing chores for old folks and stuff.” Boomer now wasn't entirely sold on this whole idea. “That sounds like community service.” “Probably because it is community service,” Snake replied. “Except we get bits out of it.  Come on, it won't be that boring. Those lost cats can really put up a fight sometimes.” “Unless one of them is a lion, I’m not impressed.” Gusty couldn’t resist. She put her hoof out. “Everypony gather ‘round and put your hooves in the middle. My coach used to make the team do this when I played hoofball.” They did so, Snake eagerly and Boomer reluctantly. “Anypony have an idea for a cheer?” Snake asked. “Or just ‘go team?’” Gusty stopped her. “Wait, wait, I think I got one.” “Something’s coming to me too actually,” Snake said.  “Oh, me too!” Boomer added. “On three then?” Gusty asked. “One… two… three!” “Heroes always prosper!” “For bits and glory!” “Kick ‘em in the nuts!” They all stopped and stared at each other. “Um... ‘go team’ then?” Gusty said meekly.  “Agreed.” “Yup.” “Alrighty. One… two… three!” “GO TEAM!”