A hoof prodded Gusty’s back, forcing her to return to the world of the living.
Gusty’s eyes creaked open to see her alarm clock, reading five in the morning, as somepony shook her. “Mrghrr… What’s going on? Hearth’s Warming isn’t for another week…” And she still had two hours before she had to get up for school!
“Mistress Daffodil requests your presence in the study,” said the familiar, gravelly voice of Gruesome Gaze. “Due to prior obligations, she has been forced to reschedule your usual Monday meeting to immediately.”
Gusty grumbled a bit, climbing out of bed. She didn't want to be an inconvenience though, so she dutifully made her way to the study. The halls were a little chilly and empty in the early morning. Even Tall, Dark, and Gruesome were still asleep. It gave the house an eerie feeling.
Thankfully, Gusty was a bit too tired for her imagination to come up with any spooky monsters in the shadows. She marched almost robotically into her chair across from Daffodil.
As before, the study was lit by a single flickering bulb. To Daffodil's credit, she looked just as tired as she smiled at Gusty. "Good morning! Apologies for the rude awakening."
"It's okay," Gusty assured. "What's on the to-do list today?"
Daffodil checked some notes she had in a tiny book. "For starters, with the chaos of recent events, I haven't gotten the chance to ask your feelings on what happened at the school."
Gusty hesitated. "Mixed," she admitted. "I feel really bad for all the damage I caused, but at the same time… I think Wonderbread got what he deserved."
Daffodil nodded and jotted that down. "Understandable. Have you decided how you're going to begin raising the money for the bill? It's been nearly a week."
Gusty nodded. Daffodil had been very clear in her reading of the riot act to her and Boomer that, in order to teach them responsibility, she wouldn't pay any part of the thousand-bit bill, with it coming out of their allowances if necessary. Thankfully, those in charge had given them the mercy of not charging interest. "We're going to set up a stand offering to do odd jobs in the park."
That made Daffodil smile. "Good! That is an absolutely excellent idea! I'm proud of you."
"We've been working on some posters to advertise it for a few days now," Gusty admitted with a smile and a blush. "We're finishing them up today, then I'm gonna put them up all over town. Snake is gonna help us too."
"Very enterprising!" Daffodil replied with a wink. "It seems Boomer was right! You are a good influence on Miss Eyes!"
Gusty couldn't help but recall a conversation with Snake the previous night.
"Can I take just a little?"
"No!"
"Aw, come on! They'll never notice anything missing!"
"That's what got you into the mess with Nopony in the first place!"
"What if I put it back after I take it? I'll even tell them I took it."
"SNAKE!"
"Yeah, she's been doing pretty good," Gusty told Daffodil.
As they talked, Gusty noticed a few things. She was nowhere near as nervous in these meetings as she’d been at first. She felt a lot more confident speaking about her grades, friends, and progress in her anger management. She didn’t fidget in her seat anywhere near as often.
They continued talking until the phone rang. Daffodil glanced up at the clock. "Goodness! Have we been at this for that long already? You had better go start getting ready."
Gusty looked at the time, then at the ringing phone, confused. "But I normally wouldn't even be up for another thirty minutes."
"Hush! That's besides the point! There are absolutely no surprises being planned!"
With that, Gusty was ushered out with orders to start getting ready. Briefly, she considered trying to eavesdrop on Daffodil's call, but a stern look from Gruesome told her it would be a very bad idea. What could Daffodil be planning? Some kind of party? Maybe it was Boomer’s birthday soon. Guess I’ll find out later.
She didn't have a choice but to shrug it off. She went back to her room, and knew immediately what to do to pass the time. She was a bit too awake now to go back to sleep, but she could still use a boost in courage and energy that only one thing could give her. The Book of Heroes emerged from its hiding spot under her mattress, and Gusty quickly lost herself in her favorite tales of legend.
Meanwhile, Snake Eyes hummed happily to herself as she almost pranced through the snow. She was in a great mood today!
For starters, because she could actually trot through the market without the knowledge that she was about to ruin a bunch of ponies' mornings by making off with their spending money.
Though of course, she couldn't tell Hero that. She was way too fun to mess with. Stealing might be kinda fun, but only when somepony really deserved it.
Also, her mom had finally lifted her grounding. So there was that.
She'd gotten up early so she could meet the others at Daffodil's before they went to school. Boomer was still a lump under the covers when she climbed through the upstairs window.
Hm. How can I take advantage of this?
Grinning, she crept up to Boomer's bed, then under it. She made sure to make some scary scratching noises once she was down there.
Boomer mumbled something about rutabagas in her sleep.
Snake pouted. Apparently, her monster under the bed routine would have to be louder. She knocked twice on the floor.
BOOM!
Snake suddenly found herself blasted out from under the bed with massive force. Why me?
The explosion under her bed was at least enough to wake Boomer up. "Huh? Wuzzat?" She looked around wildly, having to fumble for her glasses before she saw Snake lying stunned against the wall. "Snake!"
She rushed to help her up, checking her over for injuries. "What happened!?" she demanded.
"WHAT?" Snake asked, her ears ringing.
Boomer seemed to put together what happened by the large blast mark under her bed. "Ohh," Snake heard as her hearing returned. "When Mom didn’t believe me about monsters under the bed, I set a trap for them. I forgot about that. What were you doing under my bed?"
"Was trying to… Ow! Pull a prank…" Snake replied with a grimace. "I'm ok. Just a little bruised. Isn't somepony gonna come up here and check on that explosion?"
"No. Explosions in my room are kind of expected. But that's not the point." She narrowed her eyes sternly. "You should know better than to try that kind of stuff around me. You're gonna get hurt."
Boomer looked genuinely concerned, and that hurt Snake more than any bomb ever could. "Sorry, Cuddles. I'll be more careful pranking you in the future."
That got her to smile. Not the fake one she usually put up. A real one. That made Snake feel much better. "Come on, you goof," Boomer said with a playful nudge. "Let's go get Gusty and get to school so we can finish the poster."
By the time they reached her, Gusty was, of course, muzzle-deep in the Book of Heroes, to the point that Snake had to walk up and jostle her to get her attention. "Huh?" She looked over at the clock. "Oh. Has it been that long already? Sorry. Been up for a while and lost track of time."
"How you feeling?" Snake asked.
Gusty hopped out of bed and stretched her wings and legs. "Pretty good. I think I'm a hundred percent again. How's your head?"
"About as empty as usual!" Snake chuckled. "It's fine. Though I did just get blown up."
Gusty blinked. "Okay. I am… not going to question that. Come on. Let's get going."
They were about to knock on Daffodil's door when they were interrupted by one of the butlers blocking the hall. It was the tall one. Snake… actually didn't know his name. But just like every time she saw him, he looked nervous and shifty. "Mistress Daffodil and my brothers are preparing for important guests tonight," he explained in a bit of a jittery tone, like he'd had too much sugar. "She asked me to bring you two to school. Wait. There are three of you now!"
He looked like he was going to panic when Boomer raised a hoof. "Chill out, Dark. She's just a guest. Mom won't freak out on you." She had the tone of somepony who would freak out on him if she had to explain something like this one more time.
He relaxed a little, but not completely. "Ah. Yes. Very well. Let's get moving then."
"Is he okay?" Gusty whispered as he went ahead of them.
Boomer pondered that question. "You'll see,” she said after a moment.
Dark flinched at every single noise as they passed through the market. "Jeez, does he have the Mafia after him or something?" Snake asked quietly.
"Would that really be that surprising?" Gusty asked in return. "This place has supervillains."
"Just… wait for it," said Boomer with a sigh.
Despite the snow, it was actually a nice morning in Coltsburg. There was a nip in the air, but the sun was out, and the townsponies were using the rare opportunity to relax outside. Before the Nopony incident, Snake would've used that as an opportunity to buy her mom a nice dinner. Feels nice to just enjoy the day myself.
Not far from the marketplace, some workers were setting up a tree for Hearth's Warming. As they passed, Snake could see Dark's shoulders visibly stiffen.
Snake frowned, looking between him and the tree. But nothing happened as they passed it. In fact, nothing happened all the way to the school. It was a normal, uneventful walk.
"I trust you three can get to class on your own, yes?" Dark asked, seemingly trying to look over his shoulder without turning around.
"We'll be fine," Gusty assured. "You uh… be safe going home."
As he left, Gusty turned to Boomer. "Why was he so freaked out? Nothing happened."
"It was a false alarm this time," Boomer replied cryptically. "Just trust me. You'll see it eventually. You wouldn't believe me if I just told you."
Gusty wanted to demand an explanation, but she didn't want detention. So she relented.
They went into the school along with their fellow semi-mindless drones before they split up. Mr. Wonderbread's class had been taken in by the chemistry teacher for the past few days, but was now back in their original classroom. There was plenty of chatter in the classroom about who his replacement would be, and Snake couldn't help but wonder the same thing as she put her hindhooves up on her desk and closed her eyes for a pre-class nap.
There was a loud bang as somepony hammered a hoof onto the teacher's desk, and a familiar voice yelled, "Hey! Everypony shut up and pay attention!"
No. There's no way the universe hates me that much.
Once the class was quiet and attentive, Pepper Spray addressed them. "Alright. I'm going to be your substitute teacher until they can hire on somepony permanently. Apparently, some little thugs among you drove Mrs. Care 'N Snuggles to a violent mental breakdown."
Snake knew better than to whistle innocently, especially when a second familiar voice demanded, "Who would do something like that!?"
The universe DOES hate me that much.
The colt who'd spoken was purple, with a mane and tail the color of peanut butter, in what genuinely seemed to be a military cut. He was standing with his hindhooves on his chair and his forehooves on his desk, leaning forward aggressively as he scanned the classroom.
His eyes landed on Gusty, who frowned in confusion as his glare intensified. He opened his mouth to speak, but Pepper cut him off. "Nutshell! Sit your butt back down before I put it in time out!"
Nutshell ground his teeth as he sat back down, but made the 'I'm watching you' gesture at Gusty.
Gusty gave a silent 'oh' of understanding, looking to Snake in concern. Snake could only sigh and shrug. Don't look at me. I'm just a loveable scamp.
Thankfully, they were able to survive through class. They reunited with Boomer at lunch once Snake had retrieved the almost-finished poster from her locker.
Gusty had never been more excited in her life. She had to bite her lip to keep from grinning like an idiot, and her wings would occasionally give an involuntary happy flap. Her spirits had been dampened when Nutshell randomly glared at her, as if he immediately knew who she was, but now she was back to eager fidgeting.
"Alright," Snake said once she'd stretched it out on the table in the cafeteria. "Are we all good with the list of things we say we can do?"
"I still kinda wish we could have some cooler stuff," Gusty admitted. "Like going on adventures, or finding bad guys."
Snake and Boomer both stared at her. "...You realize we're twelve, right?" Boomer said after a long silence.
Gusty blushed. "Well yeah. But we got Nopony."
"Pepper got Nopony," Snake countered. "We got concussions, broken legs, and a giant bill. No offense, Hero, but maybe we ought to start a little smaller."
Gusty pouted. "Fiiiine… Just don't forget to erase all my notes off the—"
"You!"
Nutshell came stomping up to their table, clearly fuming. Gusty silently clenched her jaw as he approached. Can I have just one lunch in peace and quiet? "Yeah?" she asked, forcing a smile. Maybe he'd go away if she just acted nice.
"You're the one who smashed up the school!" he accused.
Gusty was taken aback by his directness. "Yeah. That was me. But I can expla—"
"No, you can't!" he cut her off. "I don't care about your reasons! I care about making sure you don't do anything like that again!"
She gave an exasperated sigh. She could feel her blood starting to boil. "Look, Nutshell. Your mom was there. Just ask her, and she'll tell you that—"
He shoved her out of her seat. "Don't try to bring my mom into this!"
Gusty was back on her hooves immediately, teeth bared, wings flared, one hoof scraping the ground. "Nutshell…" she said through gritted teeth.
"Uh, Nutshell," Snake said nervously. "Maybe you ought to let this one go."
He put his forehead to Gusty's, mirroring her body language. "You think I'm just gonna walk away?"
By now, the other students had noticed the commotion and gathered around. They started to chant, and what they said made Gusty's blood run cold.
"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
Gusty's ears pinned. Her wings flattened against her sides immediately. She shook her head to clear it. Without thinking, she turned and jumped, opening her wings to glide over the crowd of students, then galloped out into the hall without looking back.
She huddled up in a little nook outside the library, wings folded over herself as she tried to ease her racing heartbeat and unsteady breathing. Idiot. Featherhead. You almost hurt him. You almost did it again.
The sound of galloping hooves barely brought her out of her stupor. Snake burst through the library doors. "Hey! I found her!" she called, ignoring the shush from the librarian.
Boomer huffed and puffed as she ran in from the other direction. "Jeez, you run fast," she panted.
Gusty didn't reply.
Boomer sat down next to her. "What the hay happened back there?" she demanded.
Gusty shrugged.
Snake had a visible realization. "What happened with Nopony almost happened again?"
Gusty nodded.
Snake nodded too. "Cuddles, you're better at it than me. Do your thing."
Boomer somehow went redder than she already was. "...In the middle of school?"
"No one is looking!" Snake assured. "Come on. She needs it."
Boomer sighed, and wrapped Gusty in a tight hug.
Gusty resisted a little, but Boomer was shockingly good at hugs, and soon she found herself hugging back. "I'm sorry," she said softly.
"For what?" Snake asked. "It wasn't your fault. Nutshell was being a jerk."
"I should have calmed myself down," Gusty replied.
"Uh, Hero, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the whole reason you're here because you're bad at that?"
"Well… yes," Gusty conceded. "But I'm supposed to be doing better."
“And you are,” Boomer assured, still keeping one hoof around her. “But even heroes have flaws. That’s what makes them relatable. Like…. that one from the book…. um……” She was visibly wracking her brain trying to remember. “Stone Cold, the earth pony guardsmare protecting that one walled city from monster attacks. She took down hundreds of beasties to keep the ponies inside safe, but between her surly attitude and bad habit of accidentally breaking things with her giant war hammer, she was a bit of an outcast. But then she sought help, made some friends, started going out for drinking nights, which didn’t really help her stop breaking things, but it was a start!”
Gusty frowned slightly. “You’re really comparing me to Stone Cold?”
“Well… yeah, sorta?”
“Because I think I’m a better fit for Violet Venus, the pegasus mail carrier!” she said excitedly. “With her blinding speed and expert precision, she could deliver packages almost faster than ponies could send them! Whoooosh!” She startled Boomer off of her when she actually made that sound effect outloud, and despite being a pegasus herself, used her forelegs and not her wings to mimic flight. “But because of her sheer devotion to her duty, she never found the time to settle down, eyes always focused on the next destination! In the end, it was only stories of her that got left behind… in the dust, just like everything else! Fwoooom!”
“And you relate to that, Hero?” Snake asked, chuckling wryly at the sudden mood swing. “Because I kinda think you sound more like that Stone Cold mare.”
“Maybe on the outside, but you need to look past the surface!” she argued passionately, in true geeky fashion. “Like Mirror Shift, the unicorn sorcerer who accidentally opened a portal to another parallel universe and met his own counterpart!” The sound effect she made to convey that couldn’t be put into words, but she did a little sidestepping motion back and forth for a proper universe-crossing effect. “Who was female for some reason, but anyway! He was able to see his own flaws through his double’s and used that to improve himself! Magically induced introspection!”
“Okay, I think you’re just using this as a platform to fangirl now,” Boomer said. “But it seems to be helping, so more power to you.”
“And speaking of mirror images, we can’t forget about this!” Snake held up their completed poster eagerly.
On it was their chosen banner of “The Hero Club” shining brightly above bold portraits of themselves. It advertised the sorts of epic quests they would gladly undertake for the sake of preserving peace and harmony in Coltsburg, and most importantly, provided a map for those poor, helpless townsfolk to locate their services. Truly, a shining example of heroism on print.
It even came with notes! Gusty looked closely. “Hey, so are we going to take those off first, or—?”
“We’ll worry about that later!” Snake said. “For now, we focus on setting up shop and making a plan for distribution.”
“And get back to school,” Boomer pointed out. “We should probably do that too.”
Snake blinked for a second, as if she actually forgot. “Right. That first. Come on, Hero!”
In a better mood already, Gusty’s spirits were lifted even higher at their first sight back in the school building.
Nutshell was being dragged away by the ear in the magical vice grip of his own mother. “I can’t believe this! My own son, picking fights like a delinquent!” Pepper scolded. “What have I told you about taking things too far?!”
“But Moooom, I was just trying to protect the school!” Nutshell protested meekly. Pepper soon pulled him out of sight, all in full view of the snickering student body.
The returning fillies all laughed as well. “Okay, that just made this whole day worth it,” Snake said, wiping a tear from her eye.
After school, they put the first stage of their plan into action.
While Snake and Boomer headed to the park to set up shop, Gusty took the poster they had created to a local copy shop and got about four dozen of them printed. With all of these copies bundled under one foreleg, she walked out of the shop and spread her wings. "Alright. It's show time."
Gusty took off. It had been so long since she'd been able to just comfortably soar around like this, and it gave her opportunity to finally take an aerial tour of Coltsburg as she did, but she kept her mind squarely on the job. The job of planting one of these posters on each and every surface that looked even remotely sparse, and applying some creativity to those that didn't. Between her speed, agility, and lack of pickiness, Gusty completed the job in under ten minutes. And she loved every second of it.
She was so happy that she couldn't help closing her eyes and humming as she worked. Her concerns from earlier melted away as she flew from building to building, completing a loop that eventually brought her back to the park, where she saw the humble beginnings of her hero work.
The stand wasn't much. Basically the equivalent of a lemonade stand made with wood she and Boomer had pooled their allowances to buy, with a paper sign reading: "The Hero Club! Quests for cheap! Make an offer!"
"Great job, guys!" Gusty praised, coming in for a landing. "I just finished putting up all the posters. A whole bunch of ponies have probably already seen them by now, and business is sure to follow!"
"Of course it will," Snake agreed. "I mean, how much clearer could we have made our directions? Or how awesome we are? I'm sure we'll get a line forming in no time."
Gusty sat on a stool borrowed from home and put on her biggest smile.
'No time' turned into over an hour. Gusty slowly sagged down, her smile sinking into a frown as her chin rested on the stand. "Why isn't anypony coming...?"
Snake wrapped a hoof around her. "Cheer up, Hero. I'm sure somepony will turn up soon."
"Maybe they just need time to adjust to the idea of a Hero Club?" Boomer suggested. "You know, think it over, write up a list of quests, then narrow down the list to the biggest priorities. So they don't waste our time, or their own. That's just good business. Alternatively, they're not coming because they don't take us seriously."
"What? That's crazy!" Snake argued. "Who wouldn't want help from three eager young fillies?" She brightened as a pony approached the stand. "Look, here comes the mayor now! You can't be treated more seriously than that!"
The stallion approaching was a bronze-furred earth pony with a slicked back blonde mane. He was average height, but so buff that the rather cheap suit he wore looked like it might explode at any moment, and not because of Boomer. "Hey there!" he greeted. "You three selling lemonade?"
Gusty had perked up, but quickly flopped back down again. "You're the third pony to ask that. No. We aren't selling lemonade or psychotic help or whatever."
He read the sign on their stand. "Oh! Heroes, huh? You three must be the ones that put them posters up."
"We were indeed!" Gusty said proudly. "So you did see them! What do you think?"
"Well, two things really. A, I think you forgot to take these off first." He lifted one of the posters and gestured to the various notes and scribbles they had left on the original copy, and thus all of them. Gusty winced, mentally kicking herself for not bothering to actually look at any of the posters she was putting up.
"And B?" Boomer asked.
"B, you do know you need a permit for this kind of thing, right?"
All three of them went pale. "Uh... I'm on probation. I don't wanna go to jail,” said Gusty.
He laughed uproariously. "Oh, don't worry! I wouldn't do that! They're not hard to get. Just drop by city hall and I'll help you get one myself!"
The three of them could only blink. "I didn’t think I’d have to say this twice in one day," Boomer said after a moment of silence. "You realize we're twelve, right?"
The mayor waved it off with a good-natured laugh. "No reason to fret! There's no age limit for helping out the town! Now come on! Let ol' Mayor Lieutenant Governor help getcha set up!"
Gusty took a moment to process that. "You’re a mayor... named Lieutenant Governor?"
"Yup! You can call me Lou. Now come on! Time's a wastin!'"
There were limits to how much even they could keep questioning good fortune. No need to look a gift mayor in the mouth.
And so they arrived at city hall not ten minutes later. Mayor Lou led them through the pristine lobby of the building, waving merrily to all of his staff, and took them up to the front counter where a light blue unicorn with glasses was seated. "Excuse me, Private Secretariat, I need some hero permits for these young ladies here."
Gusty wasn't sure what surprised her more: that the mare behind the counter easily procured such forms in a heartbeat, or that she didn't bat an eyelash at giving them to children. I guess a lot of heroes DO start young. That's what origin stories are for.
The paperwork was even easy to fill out. It didn't ask for any real personal information besides name, age, and address.
They turned the forms in, and were brought into the back to get their pictures taken. Gusty was nervous, but gave her best smile and hero pose.
Snake went for a sly smirk that screamed "lovable rogue". Boomer's was nearly a straight mugshot that seemed to be teetering towards the opposite end of the alignment pool.
"You really have this whole thing down to a science, huh?" the earth pony asked, still rubbing some of the flash from her eyes.
"Of course!" Lou answered. "All heroes and villains of any kind are officially licensed by the city of Coltsburg. Under certain conditions such as being required to pay for any damages they cause, of course."
"Yes. Of course," Gusty said, forcing a smile.
"So what do we do now?" Snake asked, excitedly bouncing in place.
"Now we put up your poster, and you can get back to your booth!" Lou answered, holding up the rolled poster he'd had with him in the park. "Everypony comes here for help and the notice board usually has somepony for 'em!"
The board was mostly covered in ads for plumbers, foalsitters, and lawyers, but among those were posters of various superheroes and even a villain or two. They weren't exactly what Gusty pictured after reading the Book of Heroes, but the idea that so many ponies wanted to help others still made her smile.
"Who wants to do the honors?" Lou asked, pinning the poster to the board with one hoof, and holding up a tack with the other.
He barely finished asking the question before Gusty flew up to snatch the tack out of his hoof and drove it into the poster, nailing it to the wall. Even the simple act of doing so made her feel like she was taking the first step on the road of heroism. "The Hero Club is officially, and legally, open for business!"
Snake and Boomer clapped.
Lou did too. "Ah, seeing young heroes starting out really brings a tear to my eye. I hope the Tavern will provide plenty of opportunities."
Gusty nodded. "Thank you, sir. We'll do our best to… you call it the Tavern?"
The trio found themselves in an orphanage less than an hour after signing paperwork they probably should have read.
"So we're looking for somepony bullying the orphans, Miss...?" Gusty asked their client, an earth pony mare with a magenta coat and a mane the color of grape jam.
"Violet Dusk," the mare replied curtly. "And yes. I'm hoping they'll speak to somepony their own age."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Boomer asked.
"Anypony with bruises, cuts, or other unexplained injuries," Violet replied. "I don't know why they won't talk to me."
"If you don't mind my asking," Gusty spoke up. "What do you want us to do when we find the bully?"
Violet tugged at her collar "Well… I heard about what happened at the school, with Mr. Wonderbread. I couldn't condone the use of violence, especially with kids, but I'll leave your methods up to your discretion. As long as none of the orphans are hurt or the property damaged, your pay will not be docked."
That got a variety of reactions. Gusty was incredibly uncomfortable that she'd been hired just because she was known to be violent, but was at the same time excited to (officially) stop a villain for the first time. Boomer looked a little too eager. Thankfully, Snake stepped up with a smooth reply. "No worries, ma'am. We'll find your bully. And nopony will get hurt that doesn't deserve it."
That seemed to reassure Violet. "Thank you. Normally, I would never encourage something like this. But the idea of somepony hurting vulnerable children just…" She grit her teeth in frustration and fury, then sighed. "I'm sure you understand."
Gusty's smile returned. "Yeah. We get it. Otherwise, we wouldn't be doing this."
The three of them huddled together. "Okay, game plan," Gusty said. "We split up to talk to the orphans. Look for any who have bruises."
"What if they won't talk to us?" asked Boomer.
"We could be sneaky," Snake suggested. "Watch them. See if the bully tries anything."
"Let's just try talking with them first," Gusty decided.
"Yes, fearless leader!" said Snake with a smirk.
Gusty blushed. "Quiet. Come on. Let's get started."
Gusty was struggling to get any of the orphans to talk to her, mostly because they were all in class.
Thankfully, she found one in the arts and crafts room; an orange pegasus with a black mane. She was working on what looked like a cardboard replica of royal guard armor. "Hi there!" Gusty greeted. I'd better take the straightforward approach. "I'm Gusty. I'm trying to help find somepony who's bullying the orphans around here."
The filly spared her a bored look, shrugged, and went back to work.
Gusty frowned. "I take it you can't help?"
"Dunno," the filly replied. "Don't want to. I'm busy."
Somepony must be fun at parties. "Surely not too busy to help your classmates?" She didn't respond, and Gusty sighed. "Look, what's your name?"
"Blazey."
"Blazey. All I want is to help you, and everypony else here. But I need your help to do that."
Blazey snorted. "Even if I helped, I got no proof. Now leave me alone."
Gusty was desperately trying to think of a way to make her talk, when the door opened.
A unicorn mare stepped in. She had a frizzy white mane and a dark gray coat. She pranced into the room, humming a tune. "Hello there, Miss Bellows! I see you made a new friend! And…" Her smile turned to a look of distaste at the sight of the cardboard armor. "And more of that junk."
From the corner of her eye, Gusty saw Blazey stiffen. "Ms. Drizzle… I… can explain."
"No need!" Drizzle assured, her smile returning, picking up the cardboard armor in her magic, and beginning to walk away. "The garbage hasn't been picked up yet! I'll take care of this! You don't need to be encouraging violence and horseplay with crafts like this. There's paper, glue, and macaroni in the cupboard."
Blazey growled under her breath. It was subtle, but Gusty swore she saw Drizzle cast a warning look over her shoulder. The flinch Blazey gave only made her more certain.
She waited until Drizzle was gone to speak again. "Who was that?"
Blazey just snorted derisively and got up to get more cardboard. But, as she stood, Gusty noticed a slight dark mark on one of her flanks.
Meanwhile, Snake Eyes was just wandering around the orphanage, trying to look worthy of being bullied. Bullyable? She didn't know if that was a word, but it didn't matter. The point was she was trying to catch the perp red-hoofed.
Her inveterate wandering (Snake didn't know what the difference was between inveterate wandering and regular wandering was. She'd just read the term in a book and liked the sound of it.) eventually brought her into a small playroom. There were a few tables and shelves with board games on them and a big chest in the corner, probably full of toys.
At a table, an earth pony filly with a white coat, red tail, and mane covered by some kind of fur hat, was playing chess by herself. She grinned and waved when she saw Snake peek in. "Hey there!" she greeted in an accented voice. "Don't be shy! Wanna play?"
Hm. She might know something. Snake sat across from her, doing her best to look somewhat professional, which generally resembled her having tasted something foul.
"You one of the fillies from that poster, eh?" the filly asked as she reset the chess pieces.
Snake was surprised, to say the least. "How'd you know about that? We just put it up in town hall a little while ago."
"I know more than I look like I know." She tapped the side of her head and winked. "Plus, your green friend put up more posters all over the playground. Name's Bangarang. I already know yours, but introductions are polite and such, eh?"
Snake lost her professional look with a snort that broke into a laugh. "Name's Snake Eyes. Good to meet you. Yeah, I'm from the Hero Club. We're on a bully hunt. Know anything that could help us?"
"I might," Bangarang admitted, moving one of her pawns forward.
Snake got the picture. "What do you want for the info?"
Bangarang laughed. "Nothing major. But haven't been able to find a good chess partner in a while. Just keep playing for a bit. I'll explain."
What a weird filly. Hm. Is that bullyable? Putting her Pure Luck hat away for a moment, Snake nodded.
Over the next several turns, Snake absolutely decimated Bangarang, taking multiple pieces and controlling the center of the board. Snake was happily surprised with herself. She’d never been good at chess.
Bangarang moved her Queen. "Checkmate!" she announced with a polite little grin.
"What!?" Snake examined the board carefully. Indeed, Bangarang's few remaining pieces were stopping all of hers nearby from moving to protect her king, and her king could go nowhere. "How the hay did you do that!?"
"Ya forgot to watch the one piece that mattered!" Bangarang teased.
Snake pouted. “Guess that means you’re not gonna help me, huh?”
"Now hold on there," Bangarang interrupted, chuckling. "Didn't say ya had to win, nor did I expect ya to. I'll help ya out."
What kind of filly says ‘nor’? She's gotta be bullyable. I bet she knows exactly who it is. Don't worry, nerd. I shall save you!
Bangarang led her to the window and pointed. "See that mare out there? The one with the frizzy mane?"
Snake looked out. The mare in question was herding a bunch of students into a group for a head count. "The teacher?"
"Mmm," she confirmed. "Her name is Ms. Drizzle."
"And you're telling me to talk to her, or that she's the bully?" Snake asked.
"Yes."
Snake glared. "You said you would help."
"I did. Just not to what degree."
"Do you just enjoy speaking in riddles and messing with ponies?"
"A little," she admitted with a shrug. "There is something I can tell ya that's completely straightforward though."
"And what's that?"
"Ms. Drizzle is coming this way. Ya might wanna hide."
Indeed, the mare had seen something at the playground, and was coming towards the building with a scowl on her face.
Snake, thinking quickly, jumped into the toy chest, closing the lid save for a tiny crack to look through.
Drizzle entered with a big smile on her face. Snake had seen fake smiles on her mom, but they had been hiding pain or tiredness. This mare's face hid something she couldn't put a hoof on, but made her uncomfortable nonetheless. "Bangarang, did you draw those... highly unpleasant pictures on the playground slide?"
"I sure did!" Bangarang admitted without losing her grin.
What is she doing? Snake asked herself. Number one rule: never get caught! Unless... this is her own convoluted way of showing me something.
"Naughty girl," Drizzle said, coming closer. "You know such images aren't good for children to see."
"I sure do!"
Snake watched as Drizzle's fake smile started to fade.
Then vanished completely when she struck her.
Bangarang tried to get up, but the mare picked her up and started to carry her into a corner of the room that Snake couldn't see. A thick, wooden ruler levitated across the room towards the same spot.
Snake wanted to help, but Bangarang gave a subtle shake of her head as she was carried away.
Snake's ears pinned, and her eyes widened at what she heard next.
SMACK!
SMACK!
SMACK!
SMACK!
SMACK!
Each loud sound of the ruler connecting was punctuated by Bangarang's pained cries.
It was several minutes before Drizzle left, and Snake was able to get out of the toy chest and go to help Bangarang. The battered filly waved Snake off. "Don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look."
"What the BUCK!?" Snake demanded. "Does she do that all the time?"
Bangarang nodded. "She's a nasty one. Deserves a good walloping of her own."
Snake gritted her teeth. Now I know how Gusty feels. "You're absolutely right." Enjoy your reign of terror while you can, Drizzle. Because the Hero Club ain't bullyable.
Boomer had been much more direct with her approach. "Do you know where the bully is?" she asked one of the teachers, an older stallion, who seemed a little deaf.
"Bully to you too!" he called back in a cheery voice. She grunted in frustration as she turned back into the rest of the cafeteria.
She found a spot in the corner that was hidden from most of the place. Surely, Gusty and Snake would have more luck. They had charisma. She'd just wait on word from them for a little while.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been napping for when a hoof prodded her side. "You're in my spot," an irritated voice complained.
Boomer wiped the drool off her face as she opened her eyes and straightened her glasses. The speaker was a dark pink unicorn filly, with a mane done in twin braids. She had a yellow stripe going through her mane and tail. Huh. Like Gusty. Wonder if that's natural or just a fashion thing. "Sorry. Didn't know it was your spot."
"I'm here every day," the filly said as she tersely moved Boomer out of her spot, pulling out a book to read and then promptly ignoring her.
"Yeah, well I'm not," she replied, just as tersely. Filly or no, Boomer believed in returning only the amount of respect she was given. "I'm here today because I'm looking for a bully who's been picking on the orphans. Don't suppose you want to tell me anything?"
"Nope," she said, turning a page in her book.
"Didn't think so. Good talk." And good luck getting adopted. She grabbed her bag and made to leave, hoping to find a less obnoxious spot to nap in.
"Morning Glisten!" a cheery voice called out.
Boomer thought that it was just someone wishing her good morning, but apparently that was just the filly's name, as a teacher approached her. "Stop hiding back here!" the gray unicorn mare admonished as she snatched the book away. "Go and play with the others! You know it's good for you."
Morning Glisten strained to reach the book, held up just outside of her reach. "Ms. Drizzle! Give that back! It was a present!"
"Well, it's mine now," the teacher shot back. "That's what happens when you don't listen."
Boomer hesitated. Sure, Morning had been rude, but this teacher was ruder. Maybe she was the bully, but Boomer wasn't sure she needed that excuse to do what came naturally. She kind of just had a thing with authority figures in general. "What seems to be the problem, ma'am?" she asked, deceptively-innocent.
"Hmm? Who are you?" Drizzle asked. "A new orphan? Well, you'll learn the rules around here soon enough, just like this one." Morning herself was looking at her skeptically, as if trying to gauge her motives.
Boomer chose to ignore her. "Rules, huh? I'm sure I can follow them just fine. One question though?"
"Yes?" she asked, clearly losing patience already.
"By any chance, are these against the rules?" Boomer opened up her backpack, showing off the unnervingly-large stockpile of explosives she had stored inside.
Roughly twelve seconds later, she was levitated out the front door and literally kicked to the curb.
"She really is the bully!" Boomer exclaimed. "That was so unreasonable!"
Gusty and Snake were already out there waiting. "You ran into the Drizz too, Cuddles?" Snake asked worriedly, helping her up.
For a moment, all of Boomer's worries went away as Snake leaned against her, but she shook her head to clear it. "Old smiley nag with a mane like a cotton swab? Yeah. I met her. I think she needs to be taught some manners."
"I literally saw her beat up an orphan," Snake agreed. "What do you say, Hero? Wanna dole out some schoolyard justice? Or orphanage... yard... justice?"
"There's a school in there," Boomer compromised. "Schoolyard works."
"Then yes," Gusty decided. "We need to put a stop to this!"
Admittedly, they didn't have much of a plan for how exactly they were going to do that. What they eventually settled on was simply confronting Ms. Drizzle alone in her office and locking the door behind them. "We've got you now!"
"What the—?" She seemed as surprised by their abrupt entrance as they were. "Who are all of you?"
"We're heroes of justice here to put a stop to your bullying, bully!" Gusty declared.
"There's nothing cool about hitting orphans!" Snake agreed.
"And we're going to make sure you won't do it again!" Boomer added. "Seriously, we met like five minutes ago and you forgot me already?"
Drizzle's shock wore off quickly and she laughed. "Really? You three think you're so special, do you? Maybe that's what your mommies told you to make you feel better at night, but these orphans here? They don't have anypony like that but me, who watches them, provides for them, attends to their needs. They owe me their very lives, so I will treat them as I please." She leaned against her desk, giving them a smug, condescending smile. "You think anypony will believe a trio of brats like you? I'm in control here, and there is nothing you can do about it."
Gusty closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Then she gave her best business grin. “I guess you didn’t hear us properly. That’s alright. We’ve got a better way of introducing ourselves.”
Moments later, the three of them tossed a battered, bruised Ms. Drizzle onto Violet Dusk's desk.
Violet looked at her like a mouse delivered by a well-meaning cat, obviously having to figure out what the gagged and hogtied mare was supposed to represent. After a few seconds, it clicked. "You!?" she exclaimed, an expression of pure betrayal on her face.
Drizzle tried to say something, but the duct tape gag muffled her protests.
"We've got her dead to rights, stealing from and beating the orphans." Gusty explained what the three of them had seen, and Violet looked down at Drizzle with disdain.
Violet examined Drizzle carefully. "Did you three… beat her up?"
"It was mostly Gusty," Boomer replied. "Don't worry. We stopped her before she broke anything important."
Gusty ducked and blushed a little. Snake gave her a pat on the back. "Hey, you did good. She deserved it and you didn't break anything besides her face."
"I suppose a deal is a deal." Violet pulled out a rather sizable bag of bits. "It'll be worth every single coin knowing she's out of here for good."
Their second client chose a different way of approaching them.
"So let me get this straight. You destroyed our stand… because you needed our help?"
The Hero Club's stand had been cracked in half by their rather unfortunate customer's crash landing. She was a gray bat pony with a short, dark blue mane and tail. "Yes. Sorry, but I don't have time to properly apologize. The police won't help me, all those no-good superheroes are so busy posing for pictures that they were barely paying attention, and I've nopony else to turn to!"
"What exactly do you need?" Gusty asked, while Snake and Boomer taped and nailed the stand back together. "We're more than happy to help."
"My manuscript!" The mare blew a few strands of her mane out of her face. "My name is Evening Star. I'm an author, you see. I was working in a coffee shop. I went to the bathroom, and my manuscript was snatched right off my table before I got back!"
"Got your stuff nicked, huh?" Snake Eyes said sympathetically. "We can help with that. In fact, I think I might know where it is."
Evening blinked. "You do? Did you take it?"
Snake shook her head. "But I know where stolen things go around here. Follow me."
The pony Snake led them to was currently tail-deep in a dumpster, rummaging noisily. She reminded Gusty a lot of a raccoon.
Of course, judging by the large pile of pilfered possessions this Fence Painter laid out before them, she probably should have been wearing a bandit mask.
"This is all the Rascals have brought in today," the black-maned, green-coated, somewhat unkempt filly informed. "See anything you like?"
Snake looked over the items. "Hmm. There are a few cool things here."
Gusty spotted the sheaf of papers among them. Immediately, she could feel her blood start to boil. Snake put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head.
Unfortunately, Evening hadn't caught that. "Give me that!" she said sternly, reaching for the manuscript.
But Fence Painter was just too fast. She snatched it up in the blink of an eye. "Not a chance. You want something, you pay. Just like everypony else."
"It's mine!" Evening argued. "I wrote it!"
"And it's mine because I bought it," Fence shot back. "How much is it worth to you?"
Evening hadn't been emotional up until that point, but now she growled. So did Gusty.
"Fencey, listen," Snake interrupted, stepping between them. "We got hired to get that thing back and we're gonna. I'd rather we keep this nice instead of nasty."
"Tell that to your friends," Fence shot back, with a wary look to Evening and Gusty. "Snake, you know I can't just give away merch. It makes me look bad."
"Tell you what," Snake replied. "I'll play you for it. A game of Princesses, for old times' sake."
Fence paused, then smiled. "Well, alright. Since it's you, I'll do a round. Just the paper thing for the pot. I don't feel right asking a bet from you."
Gusty raised an eyebrow. "Princesses?"
"It's a card game," Snake explained. "Goal is to either run out of cards in your hand, or make your opponent run out of cards in their deck. I'll explain as we play." She reached into her tail and pulled out a beat-up deck of cards. "I got mine. You got yours?"
"Wait wait wait!" Evening cut in. "Why can't we just take it? It's right there, and we know it's stolen."
"You don't have any proof of that," Fence pointed out. "I bought it off a chimney sweep who found it."
"Don't worry," Snake assured. "In this game, we may as well just be taking it. And Gusty, you already beat up one pony today. Probably best not to push your luck."
Gusty was immediately cowed. The boiling feeling faded to lukewarm. Her eyes fixed themselves on her hooves.
Evening had to take a moment to gather her composure. "Alright. But you had better win… Please."
Snake and Fence sat down across from each other, each putting down a deck of their own. They shuffled each other’s decks. Then each drew five cards. A single card was turned over. A two, with a little crescent moon in the corner.
Snake immediately put down a five with the same moon, leaving her with four cards.
Fence snorted, and put down a card of her own. This one had an image of Princess Luna.
Gusty blinked. "What's that one mean?"
"It's a face card," Snake explained. "That means she can put down more cards of the same suit if she has them."
"Wouldn't have played it if I couldn't," Fence said with a smirk, putting down two more moon cards, a one and a seven. Now she only had two cards left in her hand.
"Nice move." Snake didn't look worried at all, responding with another seven that bore a heart suit.
Fence grinned, putting down a heart six. Now she only had one card left in her hand.
Snake shot back with a smirk, and a heart nine.
Fence's grin turned into a scowl. "Shoot." She drew a card, and her scowl got deeper. She had to draw three more before she got a nine with a sun in the corner to put down.
"You knew what she'd have in her hand?" Gusty asked.
"Call it intuition," Snake replied with a chuckle. She made her next move, playing a sun six. Now she was down to one card.
Predictably, that didn't last either. Fence smiled so wickedly that it looked like she was about to commit murder.
And she might as well have. The next card she played bore no suit or number, just the visage of the spirit of disharmony: Discord. The very image seemed to be mocking her. "You know what that means," Fence said innocently. "Draw five."
Snake frowned, but showed no other reaction as she did so. "Dang. Got me good there."
Gusty noticed Evening practically gnashing her teeth next to her. For such a simple game, it sure was capable of causing stress. She hoped it would be over soon herself, but with the kind of luck factors involved, it could potentially go on for some time. "Hope there's not too many of those."
"Only two per deck," Snake replied. “Good thing since they’re pretty bad. Skips my turn too.”
Gusty's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Fence. There's only two? And she just happened to draw one of them now, at the best possible time? I don't know about that.
Fence actually had the gall to smirk as Gusty glared at her, but she could do that all she wanted. Gusty was going to watch her like a hawk.
Sure enough, as Fence drew another card, Gusty noticed it slip into the sleeve of her ratty coat, before swiftly being replaced with a card that was already hidden inside. "Snake!" Gusty tried to warn. "She's—!"
"Shh!" Snake interrupted. "Concentrating."
Gusty barely restrained herself enough to listen. Snake knew what she was doing, right? She could still beat her.
Evening seemed to pick up on what she was getting at, and judging by the hateful look on her face, had much less faith in Snake's ability to win. If she didn't... Gusty feared how this would turn out.
Fence put down her swapped card, a Princess Celestia face, then two more sun cards on top of it, once again leaving her with only one. "Top that."
"Gladly!" Snake slammed down a Celestia of her own. Then, while making perfect eye contact with Fence, put down every single card left in her hand, all suns.
Fence, Gusty, and Evening all gaped, then Fence fell over laughing.
"Wha...?" Gusty looked back and forth, utterly confused. "What just happened? She totally cheated! How did you—?"
"Easy. I cheated better," Snake said, shrugging as if there were nothing to it. "I've hidden so many things in my tail that it's become an art form. And believe me, playing cards are far from the most difficult. Now, about that manuscript..."
"Here. You've earned it," Fence chuckled, giving it up with no further hassle. She gave it to Snake, who gave it to Evening, who gave Fence a slight glare. Gusty couldn't blame her. Even though it worked out in the end, having to win back stolen goods still rubbed her the wrong way. And while Evening's problem may have been solved, the other objects here were still parted from their rightful owners and might never be returned. There had to be something more she could do.
But while looking around at them, Gusty noticed something else. "Hey, where did Boomer go?"
"Oh, her?" Snake asked calmly. "Just had her run an errand for me on the way here."
Fence stiffened. "What did you do?"
Snake sighed, turning to face her again. "Fence, I'm sorry. I know we've had some good times together, but I have a new job now. New responsibilities. And as an officially-licensed hero, I can't exactly let a ring of thieves keep operating under my nose."
"Miss me?" came Boomer's voice from behind them.
She wasn't alone, accompanied by both a cop and a shit-eating grin.
The cop, a sleepy-looking mare with a sandy coat and a dirty yellow mane, walked up. "Somepony mentioned a ring of— HEY!"
Fence had taken off galloping down the street, and the cop charged after her.
"Are you gonna be okay?" Gusty asked, looking to Snake in concern. "You did the right thing, but she was still your friend, right?"
"She was," Snake confirmed. "But like I said, those days are over now. If I'm not gonna steal anymore, I can't just sit back and let other thieves run free. Besides..." She looked to Evening, now overcome with joy as she hugged her manuscript tightly. "It feels pretty good too."
As the sun started to set, the three fillies headed for home.
Gusty flew down to land next to Snake. "I think today was a good day," she said to her fellow heroes.
Her heart swelled with pride at that thought. They'd officially solved their first cases. They were real heroes now!
"Only one measure for that!" Boomer countered. "How many bits did we make, Snake?"
Snake, who had been carrying the bitpurse that contained their pay, levitated it out and opened it to count the coins under her breath. "Looks like… sixty bits!"
"Nice!" Boomer reared up, kicking her forelegs happily. "How much was our bill again?"
Gusty's face fell, and she sighed. "A thousand bits."
That soured the mood a little, but Snake was unflappable. "Hey, look on the bright side! The stuff we did today will probably get the word out about the Hero Club. Y'know, show everypony we're worth it."
Gusty brightened. "That's true! I bet we'll get a lot more customers tomorrow."
"Yeah!" Boomer agreed. "Maybe that carriage outside our house belongs to some new customers."
"Huh?"
Gusty glanced over at the driveway of the house she called home for the moment. Sure enough, an unfamiliar carriage sat in the driveway. It was big, and looked rather expensive. Not the kind of thing anypony she knew would be able to ride in; except maybe Daffodil, but she'd never seen her aunt ride in any carriages.
Boomer opened the front door. "Mom! We're home! Are we being evicted?"
Daffodil's head popped around the corner of the kitchen door. Her mane was ruffled, and her glasses on crooked, as if she'd just been doing something physically exhausting. "Not at all, sweetie! Sorry for not telling you. But we have guests! Oh! Somepony cover Gusty's eyes! It's a surprise?"
"Wha—?" Gusty began.
"On it!" Snake whipped a black blindfold out of her tail and tied it around Gusty's eyes.
Gusty glared in her general direction. "Do you just carry a blindfold around everywhere?"
"Nope!" Snake replied cheerily. "I carry two. Never know when you might need 'em."
Gusty let herself be led into what she assumed was the kitchen. She remembered Daffodil's strange behavior from earlier. Who could possibly be visiting?
"Ohhh!" Boomer said as she saw who was in the kitchen. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"I have no idea who you are, but hi!" Snake greeted, before taking off Gusty's blindfold.
Sitting at the kitchen table was a very familiar pegasus stallion. His fur was a pale mint green, and his mane short-clipped and dark green, almost a military cut. He wore a carefully neutral expression.
Gusty and the visitor stared at each other for several quiet moments as Gusty tried to contain her disbelief.
Then she rushed forward, wrapping her wings around his neck in a hug. "Dad!" She almost sobbed in sheer happiness to see him.
Stiff Neck finally let a smile break through as her back. "Hey there, Lil'bit," he said in a deep voice with a country accent, slightly strangled by the pegasus around his neck. "I'm glad to see you're still strong as ever, but your dad needs some air."
She reluctantly released him. "What are you doing here? I thought I was living with Aunt Daffodil until my probation ends."
"Well… you are." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I just figured if I came out to visit for a while, it might help you settle in."
"How long are you gonna be here?" Gusty asked excitedly.
"Two weeks," her father replied.
Gusty's face fell a little. Not super long. I wish he could stay longer. But I guess that's what I get.
"Buuuut…" he said with a slowly spreading smile. "I'm not the only one here!"
"Huh?" Suddenly Gusty was blindfolded from behind again. "Hey!"
"It's a surprise!" Snake insisted. "You gotta wear the blindfold. It's tradition."
"But I already know somepony is here!"
"Shush. It's tradition. Just go with it." Snake slowly started pushing her back out of the kitchen.
With an irritated sigh, Gusty let herself be herded out into the main hall. The blindfold was taken away, to reveal…
...nothing. Just an empty hall.
Then, out of nowhere, Gusty was bowled over. She rolled along the floor with her attacker, struggling to get the upper hoof. Why isn't somepony helping me!?
Gusty managed to pin her attacker down, and was about to punch them when she stopped.
The mare was a pale blue pegasus with a curly, dark green mane that bore a yellow stripe. She was a few years older than Gusty, and had little white freckles on parts of her body.
The attacker grinned mischievously. "Hey, dude. What's up?"
"WINTER!" Somehow, in her haste to get a hug, Gusty tackled a mare who was already on the ground.
"Whoa there, little sis!" Winter didn't sound startled or inconvenienced. She never had. Somehow her voice always sounded relaxed. "I may be wearing armor, but my ribs are still breakable."
Gusty hopped up and off her, getting some lift as she spread out her wings.
Winter ruffled her mane playfully when she landed next to her, getting a big grin out of Gusty.
"Do you feel like a third wheel, or is it just me?" Snake whispered to Boomer awkwardly.
Gusty was about to introduce them, when she noticed something that gave her pause. Winter was indeed wearing armor. It was dark green armor, with a symbol on the front; three wavy white lines inside a white circle, the Breeze Family coat of arms.
Upon seeing it, her face immediately crashed into the basement. "Oh no."
Winter nodded. "'Fraid so."
"Hello there, Gusty."
This voice came from the top of the stairs. It belonged to a dark orange mare, with a long, deep red mane that bore yet another yellow stripe. She leaned nonchalantly against the wooden rail of the staircase.
Please, universe, if you hate me, just hit me with a meteor or something. Don't do this to me.
Gusty stood silently for a moment, but no meteor came. She slumped. There would be no mercy tonight. "Hi, Mom."
Wonderbread languished in his cell. The former teacher and failed blackmailer was not in the best of shape. On his first day, his cellmate had punched him. On his second, he'd been cornered by a small group of other prisoners, angry at him for "ratting," whatever that meant. An attempt to defend himself landed him in solitary confinement, where he currently was.
His cell had even less than the cell he was in before; just a bed and a toilet. Oh how the mighty have fallen…
The door unlocked with a loud clank!
Wonderbread nearly jumped out of his jumpsuit. The guards shouldn't be here to take him back to his regular cell for another couple of hours! Was this yet more prisoner revenge?
Thankfully, the face on the other side was a familiar one, so he put down the surprisingly solid pillow he had intended to valiantly defend himself with. "Thank Celestia, it's you. Please tell me you intend to get me out of this horrible place."
His visitor was a rather beautiful butter-yellow mare. She had a long, elegant purple mane, and deep purple eyeshadow to match. "That entirely depends on if you actually did what I paid you to do," she replied with a smirk.
Wonderbread flinched. "Well, I…" He cleared his throat awkwardly.
The mare's smirk vanished, her expression turning harsh. "That expression doesn't make me hopeful, Wondy."
"L-look, Whispers! I swear I was close to finding it!" Wonderbread said desperately. "I'm almost completely sure one of the fillies in my class has it! I heard some of her friends talking about it!"
"Horseshoes and hoof grenades, Wondy, Horseshoes and hoof grenades." Whispers shook her head in disappointment. "And we already knew that anyway. We don't need to know who has it. We need to know where she hid it."
"I searched her entire room!" He swore. "It took so long, they came back upstairs as soon as I placed the letter for Miss Breeze! I had to hide under the bed until they left again!"
"Wait!" Whispers interrupted. "You literally hid under the bed, and listened to what was probably them planning your downfall, and yet you still got caught?"
He scowled. "Well they didn't plan right in front of me! Even if they did, how should I have known that I needed to take the plans of three young fillies seriously?"
Whispers only laughed and shook her head. "I think we're done here. Seeya, Wondy."
"Wait!" He stood in her path. "You can't just leave me here!"
"I can, and I will." She easily shoved him out of the way.
Thinking quickly, he went with the only plan that came to mind. "I'll tell everypony!"
Whispers stopped in her tracks.
His grin returned. Now he had her. "I'll tell everypony that you paid me to burglarize a young filly. I bet your bosses won't be too happy if word gets out about that."
Then, Whispers did something unexpected. She started to laugh.
"Oh, Wondy," she said as she turned back towards him, wiping a tear from her eye. "You really shouldn't have said that."
"Oh please!" Wonderbread rolled his eyes. "We're in the middle of a crowded building! There's nothing you can do to m—"
His sentence was cut off by a sharp pain in his neck. His eyelids suddenly felt very heavy. Then, everything went black.
Whispers pulled the syringe out of the unconscious Wonderbread's neck. Just for kicks, she kicked him in the chest.
The lackey she'd had stationed outside the door, a wiry, blue stallion with a black mane, whose name she didn't get paid enough to remember, stepped in. "Orders, ma'am?"
Whispers kicked Wonderbread again. It really was cathartic. "Do something to get this idiot out of our way, then destroy any evidence connecting him to us."
"What about the book, ma'am? We still need to find it."
Whispers sighed as she put on the uniform of the also-unconscious guardsmare who had been the only one keeping an eye on the solitary wing. "You know what they say," she said as she left. "If you want something done right, ya gotta do it yourself."