In the broad daylight

by Askre

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Scootaloo could hear voices coming from the kitchen when she arrived home. The filly hadn’t been too happy to be pulled away from her friends so soon after helping catching the foalnappers, but figured she might at least humor her mother and meet this guest before heading out again. She unstrapped the helmet from her head and tossed it to the floor before leaving the small front hall of the house.

“Scootaloo, is that you?” she heard her mother call.

“Yes mom, I got your message,” the girl answered and started towards the kitchen.

“Pick your helmet off the floor and hang it up properly,” Parasol ordered.

The filly halted and glanced back to where her helmet lay. The Pegasus sighed, trotted back to the discarded headgear, picked it up and hung it on the nearby coat hanger. She then resumed her course back to the kitchen, wondering how her mother always knew even if she wasn’t even present.

“Hey Scoot, look who has returned,” Parasol greeted her daughter when she entered.

Scootaloo blinked when seeing Snow Heart by the kitchen table with her mother. She did remember the white mare from earlier today when she almost ran her over on her scooter. But what she was doing here in her home the filly couldn’t even begin to understand.

“Uh… hi?” The orange Pegasus carefully approached, not quite sure what to think. Snow Heart didn’t look angry so maybe this wasn’t about this morning’s incident.

“Hello Scootaloo, I must apologize for not recognizing you this morning. You’ve grown so much since I last saw you,” Snow Heart said and smiled warmly to the girl.

“It’s Snow Heart, Scootaloo,” Parasol said as if that answered everything, but the blank look on her daughter said otherwise. “You really don’t remember her.”

“Oh I can’t blame her; it’s been several years since we last saw each other.” Snow Heart shrugged and sipped on her tea cup. “It’s not like I was any better when we almost crashed into each other today.”

“True,” Parasol nodded. Her daughter climbed to a chair and sat down on it, still bit confused about this visit.

“Scootaloo, it’s Snowy. Remember Snowy?” the yellow Pegasus tried again and now there came a glimmer of recognition in the girl’s eyes.

“Vaguely, I recall someone called Snowy. Wait that’s you?” Scootaloo gasped and her eyes grew even wider when the white unicorn nodded.

“You two used to be such good friends, Snow Heart even sometimes foalsat you,” Parasol continued to remind her daughter.

“Ooh,” the filly thought she understood now. “So I guess we are the old friends you were going to catch up with?”

“Well… uh…” Snow Heart fumbled a bit with her words. Parasol looked at her questionably.

“You told me you were hoping everyone had forgotten you,” the yellow Pegasus reminded her.

“That is true and what Scootaloo said is true as well,” the Unicorn said once she had regained her composure again. “I must admit I haven’t been entirely honest with you Parasol.”

Parasol raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Scootaloo tilted her head wondering why the Unicorn would say two different things. Snow Heart appeared calm on the outside but mentally she was banging her head against an imaginary wall.

I knew I should have waited with this and prepared myself more properly, she thought.

“Oh wait I think I get it,” suddenly the Pegasus Mare spoke up and smiled knowingly. Snow Heart closed her mouth, having been about to speak and only stared half confused at her friend.

“Ah, you do?” the Unicorn asked and wasn’t sure what possible conclusion Parasol could have arrived at.

“You came back because you were hoping to see Mulberry again,” the Pegasus accused and pointed straight at her friend with a hoof.

“Of all the…” Snow Heart couldn’t believe her ears and looked truly indignant. “What an idea! Think that I would even be remotely interested in that idiot. Besides it was Tango that I was infatuated with.”

Silence commenced in the kitchen. Scootaloo looked between the two mares all confused. Her mother was still smiling but triumphantly, Snow Heart’s expression had changed from disgust to utter horror as if she had realized a terrible error on her part. Then the Unicorn decided her forehead needed a closer and more intimate look at the top of the kitchen table.

“I did… not just say that,” Snow Heart’s muffled voice groaned.

“Yes you did,” Parasol chuckled. Slowly her friend looked up, resignation plastered on her face.

“You intentionally mentioned the wrong officer because you knew I can’t stand Mulberry,” she claimed and it was no surprise to her that the other mare nodded.

Bless your romantic heart Parasol, you just saved me from having to come up with something myself, Snow Heart sat up properly and composed herself once again. “Alright, I admit it. I did come to see if I could talk with Tango in private.”

“I knew it,” Parasol cheered and pumped the air with one front leg. Scootaloo rolled her eyes at her mother’s antics.

“Well you are in luck; he is still working here in Ponyville. Though he might be tad busy as he’s working on the foalnapping case,” the yellow Pegasus told her, this snapped her daughter to life.

“Oh right, mom they have caught the foalnappers,” Scootaloo declared. Snow Heart nearly spit out her mouthful of tea, Parasol didn’t notice as she was looking at the filly in surprise.

“What?” the older Pegasus rose up from her seat and rushed to the window to look out, just at that moment ponies were running around announcing the news outside. A large crowd of them were rushing off into the direction of the hospital.

Those idiots! Snow Heart thought but somehow managed to retain her calm frontal appearance.

“How?” Parasol turned away from the window to look at her daughter.

“Oh you’re going to love this mom,” Scootaloo grinned proudly before she told exactly what happened since after she and the other Crusaders crashed into Snow Heart. The two older mares listened to the story, both with astonished expression. Even the Unicorn had to admit this was quite impressive.

I’m not ready for this phase yet, I wasn’t going to implement it for another week. Snow Heart resisted the urge to palm her face or bang her forehead on the kitchen table again.

“Wait, you three actually went to look for the foalnappers?” Parasol asked, the realization of what exactly her daughter had done was slowly sinking in.

“Well strictly speaking we only went to search for their hideout then we were going to alert the guards,” the girl clarified.

“You have any idea how dangerous that stunt was?” her mother asked sharply.

“Well… uh kind of…” Scootaloo sunk a little in her seat.

“And you still did it?” Parasol approached the table and the just the sound of her hoof steps indicated how displeased she was with her daughter.

“Now Parasol, can you really blame her? I mean we searched high and low ourselves for Claymore Cottage when we were little, I’m sure the girls really didn’t expect to find anything there even if they did find it,” Snow Heart finally spoke up again stepping in Scootaloo’s defense.

“Yeah, uh I never thought they were really there at all,” the filly nodded in agreement.

“I really should ground you for this young lady,” Parasol said and still glared at her daughter before eyeing Snow Heart. “But I suppose I can’t look past the fact that it did result in this awful foalnapping case being finished.”

“There is that too,” the Unicorn nodded and looked at Scootaloo. “I take it Diamond Tiara is a friend of yours, since you risked so much finding her?”

“Oh no, no, no,” the filly shook her head quickly. “She’s annoying and drives me and my friends crazy; she bullies us for being blank flanks.”

“Oh?” Snow Heart’s brow rose high, but it was only a brief surprise. Inside in her mind the Unicorn began grinning deviously.

“We did it mostly just to help Apple Bloom and maybe in vain hope to get a cutie mark in foal rescuing,” Scootaloo smiled innocently. Her mother groaned and put a hoof on her own forehead, Snow Heart couldn’t but chuckle.

“Yeah, Apple Bloom was worried that Mr. Rich would kind of die if Tiara wasn’t brought back, the Rich family does big business with the Apple family,” the filly explained.

“Ah I see,” the Unicorn nodded.

“And of course cutie marks were involved as well,” Parasol sighed and sat down again.

This might work to my advantage, as long as Paul did what he was supposed to do, Snow Heart thought.

“By the way Scoot, between that and your regular crusading this weekend, did you finish that school report you’re supposed to turn in for Monday?” Parasol asked.

Scootaloo’s jaw dropped and for a moment the filly just sat there frozen in terror. Then she sprang up with such force that the chair was kicked down from under her, but the girl was already gliding back to the floor. The mares could then only watch as she sprinted out of the kitchen and took a sharp turn for the front hall, yelling as she went:

“Gotta go! The girls were going to help me with that!”

“I do believe that was ‘no I have not finished that school report’,” Snow Heart commented on the abrupt departure of the filly and both ponies giggled.

The mares returned to their conversation before Scootaloo arrived. Parasol had mostly been filling her old friend in on what had been going on in Ponyville since she disappeared. Snow Heart did listen with mild interest and became so lost in it she momentarily forgot her previous scheming. But she was brought back to reality when the Pegasus asked:

“So where have you been all these years Snow Heart?”

“Ah…” the Unicorn hesitated and quickly began scrambling her brain back into focus. “I did sort of wander north, far north.”

“Past Canterlot?” Parasol wondered and received a positive nod.

“Almost all the way to the Crystal Mountains,” Snow Heart admitted in a low tone, trying not to tell too much.

“That is far north,” her friend commented with a slight frown. “And what did you do with yourself all this time?”

“I…” again Snow Heart hesitated for a moment. “I was taken in by this Pegasus who lived alone just by the mountains. He was rather solitary and didn’t seem to like company too much. But he allowed me to stay.”

“Wow, that was kind of him,” Parasol nodded.

Hm, I need to jumpstart on phase 2. Paul better have done what I told him to do or this will be very hard to explain later, Snow Heart mulled in her mind before she finally hung her head. “Oh Parasol, I’m sorry to have lied to you.”

“Huh?” her friend frowned in confusion.

“I didn’t come here to see Tango… I’m over him, long time ago,” the Unicorn looked up and put on a distressed expression. “I came here because I’m looking for him, the Pegasus who took me in. He disappeared few weeks ago I don’t know why.”

“Wha… but why didn’t you just say that?” Parasol asked feeling mildly hurt that her old friend didn’t think she could be open with her.

“I didn’t want anyone to get involved, I guess I was just too used to doing things on my own by now,” Snow Heart sighed. “I was only going to quickly pass through Ponyville see if anyone had heard of him here and then head back out.”

“Alright, alright. I won’t pretend to understand your reasoning Snow, but you really should just have come to us with this immediately. Have you talked with the authorities?” Parasol wondered.

“No. Like I said, I didn’t want anyone else involved,” Snow Heart repeated and pushed her empty cup away.

“What’s his name, the Pegasus that is?” the yellow mare asked.

“He called himself Silver Axe,” the Unicorn answered and tilted her head when her friend’s eyes opened wide in shock.

“Did you say Silver Axe?” she whispered, hesitantly Snow Heart nodded. Then as if on cue there was knock on the front door.

“I’ll just be a second,” Parasol said and rushed out of the kitchen.

While she was now unseen by others, Snow Heart’s brow sunk in a scowl as she thought things over. She remained alert though and could hear Parasol address someone and the Unicorn heard a voice she found vaguely familiar. Her Pegasus friend hesitated before almost reluctantly inviting someone in. The white mare quickly assumed a neutral expression as the yellow pony escorted both Officer Tango and Officer Mulberry into the kitchen.

“Hello Snow Heart, nice to see you again,” Tango addressed her half smiling.

“Uh… yeah hi Snow Heart,” Mulberry didn’t sound as happy.

“Hello yourself,” Snow Heart greeted them warily; she looked at Parasol who looked back with an apologetic smile.

“I wish the circumstances were better though, we really must take a statement from you,” Tango continued.

“Oh really,” the Unicorn’s brow dropped heavily. The Pegasus cringed.

“Yes, you have been named in our current foalnapping case,” Mulberry explained and was lightly kicked by Tango. The stocky stallion glared at his partner who glared back.

“We agreed I would do this and I would break it to her more gently,” the thin stallion whispered between his teeth.

“I’ve been what?” Snow Heart’s eyes began to twitch. Ooh I’m going to stomp that Gryphon to the ground when I get my hooves on him.

“Look now, don’t get upset Snow Heart,” Tango quickly said and raised one hoof as if to try and calm the mare down from the distance. “You see we have conflicting statements from our suspects and the victim.”

Snow Heart narrowed her eyes a bit but the twitching stopped. The Unicorn hardly dared to hope how those statements conflicted with each other. Tango cleared his throat before carefully approaching; he also gave his partner a signal to just stay where he was.

“You see, it’s rather embarrassing. I mean we do know why you left Ponyville and it sounds almost ludicrous that the moment you return you… are almost immediately accused…um…” the Earth Stallion fell silent when Snow Heart’s eyes began twitching again.

“Snow, look can you just tell us where you have been for the past week or so?” he then whispered.

“I CAN’T!” Snow Heart snarled causing Tango to back quickly away, Parasol winched and Mulberry braced himself.

“Let me guess, the conflict of statement is that Diamond Tiara is blaming me for being foalnapped and the thugs who did it don’t know what she’s talking about. Well I CAN’T tell exactly where I have been because you can’t verify it anyway. I have no witnesses that can confirm it. You want to know why? Because I’ve been on the road for the past several weeks, I’ve not been in contact with anypony and nopony can probably verify my locations!” the Unicorn snapped and hammered her hoof on the kitchen table.

“Snow Heart, please calm down,” Tango pleaded. “Look yes you are right, Diamond Tiara did accuse you but one of the foalnappers has contradicted that statement by saying he and his partner where working alone.”

“How did you know it was Diamond Tiara who was foalnapped?” Mulberry asked.

“Because I told her,” Parasol stated dryly as she approached the kitchen table and walked over to her friend. Tango eyed back to his partner who cleared his throat in embarrassment.

“Well here is my statement. I had nothing to do with it, I’ve been spending weeks looking for somepony who is very dear to me,” Snow Heart barked and ignored Parasol’s attempt to calm her by placing a hoof on her back.

“Well then we will take that statement,” Tango nodded quickly and looked at the other officer. “Mulberry, take that statement.”

“Yes right,” the stocky officer produced his notebook and began writing in it, the pencil firmly placed in his mouth.

“Of all the nerve…” Snow Heart fumed, but deep inside she was laughing. Oh dear Paul, I must apologize for my silent threat. You have done well.

“Snow Heart…” Parasol began but then looked at Tango. “Tango, tell her the names of the foalnappers.”

“What? Uh sure, it’s a Gryphon named Paul, he’s the one claiming the credit and a Pegasus named Silver Axe,” the thin stallion told them.

Why didn’t I just become an actress? Snow Heart thought as she immediately changed her enraged expression to one of utter shock.

“Is he a large pony, with brown coat, silver mane and tail and silver axe cutie mark?” she asked and jumped down from her seat.

“Yes as a matter of fact he is, ah you know him?” Tango asked with a worried frown. Mulberry scowled but said nothing at the moment.

“Where is he?” Snow Heart demanded, changing back to anger. She stomped one hoof hard on the floor.

“He’s currently detained at Ponyville Hospital, he was in a fi…” the thin Earth Stallion had to watch as the Unicorn galloped out before he could finish. Parasol jumped up and flew after her friend, leaving the two officers in the kitchen.

“Is it just me or is this thing getting more complicated by the minute,” Mulberry muttered.

“She hasn’t changed one bit,” Tango commented with a smile, ignoring what the other officer said.

“Yes, jumps between three different emotions in a single leap,” his partner snorted.

“It gives her character,” the thin pony snorted and started towards the kitchen entrance. “Come on, we better go after them and see how she knows this Silver Axe. I wonder he’s the somepony she was looking for.”

“Yes it gives her character, a psycho character,” the stocky officer remarked as he followed.

“She’s not a psycho,” Tango snapped.

“May I remind you that in fit of rage she broke her own horn on a rock,” Mulberry said.

“Shut up!” the other officer grumbled.

End chapter 13.

Comments

[Askre]

I was almost tempted to give this chapter a subtitle, "The kitchen chapter".

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Hm so Snow Heart is not fully off the hook, but at least right now no one other than Diamond Tiara knows she was involved.

[Iamsorry]

oooh plot twist!
as if it couldent get any better XD

[alahh601]

I love this story. Please keep adding chapters, even though it looks like you haven't been adding any recently.

[alahh601]

I love this story. Please keep adding chapters, even though it looks like you haven't been adding any recently.

[Askre]

1386350 I had some technical difficulties that essentially prevented me from updating (my work computer decided to up and die on me despite valiant efforts to fix it). Unfortunately that meant I had to write chapter 14 again from scratch and it is in works as we speak and hopefully should be up this weekend. I apologize for this unscheduled delay