The Hero Club

by Mind Jack

Where Fillies Fear to Tread

Snake Eyes hated the hospital.

It was the most modern building in Coltsburg, but that only served to give it even more of an air of creepy sadness. The sterile white walls, combined with the little health pamphlets and motivational posters, and the eerie and awkward silence of the waiting room just screamed, ‘Hey, ponies sometimes die here!’

The fact that her new friend was currently out cold somewhere in here didn’t help either.

Boomer came back into the waiting room from the little alcove with a bunch of payphones. “Just called my mom. She’s on her way.”

“How bad is she freaking out?” Snake asked worriedly. I really hope Gusty doesn’t end up getting in trouble for this. It wasn’t even her fault.

“Pretty bad,” Boomer replied. “I didn’t tell her about Nopony and the blackmail. I think it’s best we just tell everypony that somepony in a mask had tried to break in, and Gusty went after them.”

Had they not been alone in the waiting room, Snake would have been more nervous about discussing the Nopony situation openly. “That’s good, at least.” She sighed, psyching herself up. Walls up, filly. You can crack when you get home. She smirked at Boomer. “You girls are the best friends I can ask for.”

Boomer nodded, climbing up into the seat next to her. “What was she thinking, going after Nopony alone like that?” she asked in a low, tired voice. “Ramming into a tree is the least of the things that could’ve happened to her.”

Amber came back into the room as well. “Dad’s stuck at work, and Mom is talking to the police,” she explained.

“Alright. Hopefully, they’ll be able to catch them,” Snake said, only partially-meaning it. On the one hoof, it would be pretty convenient if the police actually caught Nopony for them. On the other hoof, she didn’t particularly trust anypony other than them to do so. Nor did she trust the police in general, but that was a different story.

“They find anything so far?” Boomer asked. “Evidence? Witnesses?”

How hard is this going to be to lie about? Snake mentally translated.

Amber shrugged. “Not much. Just what you guys told me so far. Some masked burglar tried to break in, Gusty chased them off and got hurt in the process. Are you sure that’s all that happened?”

“We’re sure,” Snake and Boomer said in unison, having gone over their story perhaps a bit too well.

Amber shuddered a bit. “I can’t believe somepony just climbed in my window like that. Imagine if I’d been home alone!”

Snake’s heart went out to her. She knew how that felt. Imagine if I’d been in my room when Nopony came in. Somehow I doubt they’d offer me flowers and candy. Her mind also went to the envelope that Nopony had tossed on the floor. The one she’d scooped up and put in her saddlebag before anypony else could notice it. That’s gonna be some hard news to break.

On the bright side, she got to give Amber a comforting hug. Which made her heart beat a little faster and at least brought a smile to her face.

“I’ll be okay,” Amber said, patting her on the back reassuringly. “Thanks for that though. You can bet I’ll be double-checking that all of my windows are locked from now on.”

“And your doors. And your closet. And your pantry,” Snake advised, smirking.

She laughed. “If there’s ever an intruder in my pantry, you’ll be the first one I suspect.”

A nurse cleared her throat. How long has she been standing there? “Please, come with me. Your friend just woke up.”

Snake perked up. “Gusty? Is she okay?”

“She’s got two broken front legs,” the nurse replied. “The breaks weren’t widespread. So we can safely dose her with enough healing solution to get her back on her hooves in a day or two. But she’ll be pretty stiff and sore for a week or two.”

Snake winced. There goes the muscle of the group. She felt a hard pang of guilt for drawing Gusty into this. Though she probably would’ve insisted either way, from what I’ve seen.

They followed the nurse into the room, where Gusty looked about as terrible as expected, but also just as stubbornly upbeat. "H-Hey, guys. Good to see you."

Snake refrained from hugging Gusty as well, thinking that it wouldn’t be a good idea. “Welcome back, Hero. How are you feeling?”

“Could be worse, I guess. Not exactly 100% either.”

“I’ll say,” Boomer snorted.

“I’ll leave you alone for a bit,” the nurse said with a smile.

“Okay, thanks,” Snake said, smiling back at her up until the moment she left the room. After which, she immediately closed the door and “accidentally” placed a sealing spell on it. Nothing particularly powerful, given her age, but just strong enough to jam the door for a few precious seconds should somepony try to walk in on them. Satisfied, she turned back towards the rest. “Alright, everypony. There’s something we need to take a look at.”

Snake pulled Nopony’s envelope out of her typical hiding place for stolen goods, the fluff of her tail. “Remember how we said I got blackmailed? The creep in the mask tossed this down on the floor before they ran for it. It looks like the same envelope that I got.”

Amber’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me! You hid this from me!?”

“She’s being blackmailed too,” Boomer reminded. “If she talked, Nopony would sell her out.”

“Wait, you mean somepony?” Amber asked in confusion.

“Nopony,” Boomer corrected. “It’s what they go by. We sure didn’t come up with it.”

“Anyway, that’s why I couldn’t talk to you about this,” Snake said apologetically.

Amber sighed. “Okay...I understand. Then you think this ‘Nopony’ was trying to blackmail me as well?” She looked uneasily down at the envelope in Snake’s hooves.

“Yeah. Do you want to read this by yourself? I understand if…”

“No,” Amber said, shaking her head. “We’re all in this together now. Keeping secrets is just what Nopony wants. Open it.”

Snake opened the envelope. She pulled out the letter first.

“Dear Miss Glow,” she read. “I hope this letter finds you in good health. As I’m sure you know, you often tell your parents that you attend an after school study group. As you can see from the contents included with this letter, I have obtained proof that this is very much not the case. What you and…” Snake paused in confusion at the next few words, “Miss Swab do in your own time is your business and I’ve nothing against it. But I’m keenly aware that your parents DO in fact have something against it. As it would result in an inquiry as to the nature of this blackmail, you will not go to the police. You have one week to deliver one thousand bits to the construction site off Hayseed Street. If the bits are not in place by midnight exactly one week from the time you read this letter, copies of these photos will find their way to your parents. Until then, I bid you good evening, and I look forward to receiving your payment.”

Sincerely yours,

Nopony.

All of the color had drained from Amber’s face. “Give me that!” She practically snatched the envelope with the photos away from Snake Eyes in panic. She ripped the photos out of the envelope, and Snake leaned over to look at them. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks went red at what she saw.

Amber hugging, snuggling, and holding hooves with Cotton Swab, another filly from her class, in various places.

“You’re the one who told her to open it,” Boomer said bluntly. “Right, Snake?”

“Yeah…” Snake said glumly, not as amused by this as she normally would be. Why do I feel so...numb?

“Nononononono!” Amber muttered, her hooves shaking as she held the pictures. “My parents will kill me if they find out!”

"Alright...that’s pretty bad," Gusty admitted. "But we’re going to catch Nopony before that deadline. We were going to before, and as far as I see it, we’ve only got more incentive now!" She tried to pump a hoof for emphasis, but groaned in pain and had to lay back down. "Just...might need a bit more rest first."

"Gimme the envelope," Snake offered. "I can hide it in my tail like before." Along with hiding my broken heart...

No sooner had Snake stashed the letter away, Snake felt the block she’d placed on the door shatter, and with the strength only a concerned guardian could muster, Daffodil burst into the room. She was actually flying, and one of the smaller nurses appeared to be trying to cling to her tail to slow her down. Her hug first caught Boomer, who was standing near the door, then moved forward like a bulldozer to catch Gusty too.

"Uh... You three look like you could use some time alone," Amber observed, seemingly having collected herself. "Snake, why don’t you and I go find the vending machines and get some snacks?"

“I think that’s a good idea.” Daffodil probably doesn’t want me around anyway.

The two of them left the room. Despite her earlier heartbreak, Snake couldn’t help going all moony-eyed when she was alone with Amber. So much so that she actually ran into somepony as they were walking. “Whoops! Sorry bout tha—!” She looked up at who she’d run into, and cut off. “Mr. Wonderbread? What’re you doing here?”

Wonderbread turned around in surprise. “Oh. Hello there, Miss Eyes. How are you?”

When her befuddlement at seeing him wore off, she managed to reply. “I’m alright I guess. My friend’s in the hospital, so—”

“What are you doing here!?”

No. She can’t be here. The universe doesn’t hate me THAT much.

The universe did indeed hate her that much, as Pepper Spray herself came marching over with her typical scowl and glare. “Out of all the places, you’re stalking around a Celestia damned HOSPITAL!?”

“Language,” Wonderbread warned dully.

“I’m off hours! I’ll talk however I want.”

Amber’s head jerked between them, eyes scrunched in confusion. “Hey, take it easy! A friend of ours got roughed up. She’s with family right now, so we’re giving her some space.”

“Stay out of this!” Pepper snapped.

“Why don’t you stay out of it!” Amber retorted, wings flaring angrily. “Like you said, you’re off hours! What business is it of yours why we’re here?”

Snake had never seen Pepper get so red in the face. She was as red as Boomer and looked about as prepped to explode. Please. Take my heart. Just take it. Snake willed to Amber, endlessly happy to see somepony stand up to Pepper.

Then Wonderbread whispered something in her ear. She took a deep breath, and her face returned to its normal color. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see my son.”

Snake’s jaw dropped as Pepper left without even bothering to pettily bump into her on the way past.

“Sorry about that,” said Wonderbread. “She’s got some issues. I’m here to see my kid, too. He got hurt pretty bad in that accident in the market the other day. The one with that superhero.”

“Nutshell is your kid?” Snake could not believe she’d gone this long without knowing that. “Is he okay?”

“As good as he can be, I guess,” Wonderbread replied. “Lots of broken ribs and torn muscles, a nasty concussion. It’s gonna take some time for him to get back to normal.”

Snake winced. “Ah jeez. I’m sorry to hear. I hope he feels better.” That’s one name off the Nopony list at least.

The snack machine Wonderbread was standing in front of whirred and clunked, but no snack fell out. Wonderbread frowned. “Oh. I think it’s jammed.”

“Ouch. Want to borrow a few bits? I’ve got some extra,” Snake offered.

He shook his head. “No, thank you. I think I had better just go home.” He sighed. “I’ll see you in class, Snake Eyes.”

The two of them watched him slowly saunter off.

Poor guy. Maybe I’ll buy him an apple or something before class tomorrow.

“Hey! You two!”

They turned to see Boomer trotting down the hall towards them. “Mom’s got a surprise for you. She wants you to come back to Gusty’s room so she can tell you.”

“Daffodil’s got a surprise for me?” Snake faux gasped. “She’s not gonna lock me up in her secret lab, is she?”

Boomer rolled her eyes, but kept her smile. “Nah. She’s just grateful a certain pair of ponies found Gusty and got her to the hospital so quick, and wants to reward them.”

Amber frowned. “But wait, all three of us tracked her down.”

“And the trail of gawkers wasn’t exactly hard to follow,” Snake added.

Boomer innocently examined one of her front hooves, but couldn’t help smirking a little. “Whaaaaat? Nooooo! You guys practically saved her!”

Well, it isn’t like we’re not already lying to her. It was pretty easy to justify it to herself when she thought of it that way.

As they headed back to the room, Boomer explained what the doctor had told them. “Both of her front legs were dislocated, along with several fractures. Thankfully, the fractures were minor enough that a few healing potions were able to heal them overnight, so she can head back home with Mom and I.”

“Minor?!” Snake realized she was raising her voice too much and hastily lowered it to a sharp whisper. “Her legs were at the complete wrong angle! The nurse said it’d be at least a day!”

“I know, I know, it’s weird,” Boomer admitted. “Healing potions can do crazy things, but you only really have to have an extended stay if enough stuff gets messed up that the amount needed would overdose you. At least, that’s what Mom says. Anyway, are we gonna go in or what?”

Snake and Amber looked between each other uneasily, but nodded in agreement as they entered the room.

Daffodil looked up from a conversation with a nurse when they arrived. “Ah! Just who I was hoping to see!” Despite saying that, Snake could tell she was a little strained as she continued. “I admit, I may have misjudged you, Snake Eyes. Boomer tells me you’ve been doing your utmost to help Gusty since you two became friends, even introducing her to some of your own to help her get acclimated.”

Now it was Gusty who looked uncomfortable, though Boomer beamed her biggest, toothiest salesmare smile to cover it up. “That’s right! I told you she and Snake being friends was an awesome idea!”

“That you did,” Daffodil admitted.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Snake replied. “Gusty’s cool, once you get to know her a little.” She shot Gusty a wink that got a small smile out of her.

“While that may be the case,” Daffodil continued. “Boomer also tells me you and your friend here were able to find where that ne’er-do-well had lead Gusty, and quickly get her to the hospital. I can’t thank you enough for making sure she’s safe, but I feel I have to at least offer something to repay you.”

Had Snake been more of an ideal hero, she probably would have responded with something like, “No reward is necessary, ma’am. I was just doing my duty.” But since she was still Snake Eyes, she instead replied, “And what would that be?”

“I would like to invite you to dinner!” she said brightly. She must have noticed the look on her face, because her own quickly fell. “Is something wrong?”

Boomer nudged her and Snake perked right up again. “Uh, no, that sounds great, Miss Daffodil! Thanks a bunch!” A thousand bits would’ve been nice though.

“Yes, thank you!” Amber agreed, bowing her head politely.

“Excellent!” Daffodil agreed, her grin returning. “You’re Wisteria’s daughter, are you not?” she said to Amber.

“Yeah,” Amber confirmed. “I’ll have to call her to tell her where I’m going.”

Daffodil waved a hoof in dismissal. “No need. I’ll call her myself. We’re in the same book club.”

Amber blinked in surprise. “Oh. Huh. I never knew you two knew each other.”

Snake knew why she was surprised. Daffodil had a bit of a reputation in town.

With the arrangements made, it didn’t take long to get Gusty signed out and wheel her out of the hospital. She tried to argue that she could still fly, but Daffodil insisted she’d carry her on her back, at least on the way home.

Noticing Amber was falling behind a bit, Snake dropped back and bumped her playfully. “Hey, why so nervous?”

Amber chuckled. “Is it that obvious? I mean, it’s not every day I get invited to the house of a local mad scientist. It’s awesome, but still a little scary.”

“Don’t worry about it. As long as you stay on your best behavior, she’ll only experiment on you a little bit.”

Boomer, having expected as much, promptly fell back and nudged her again. “Cut it out. Mom’s not going to experiment on anypony. And if she was, Snake should be a lot more concerned about bad behavior than you.”

She shrugged. “True.”

“Are you three alright back there?” Daffodil called out. “Do you need me to slow down?”

It would be pretty sad if they did with her carrying her limp niece. “No, ma’am! It’s okay!” Amber answered back, perhaps too quickly.

Snake smirked. I’ve still got it. Knowing she could still get under Amber’s skin was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

---

It would have been quicker to cut through the backstreets to get back to Daffodil’s house, but with the sun getting low in the sky, they were forced to take a longer route.

Snake felt weirder than usual being in Daffodil’s house, purely because Daffodil actually knew she was there this time. Most of her previous visits had been via the drain pipe outside Boomer’s window.

But good ol’ Gruesome Gaze never failed to cheer her up. "Hello, Miss Eyes," he greeted coldly as soon as she stepped in the front door.

“Heeeey, Goose!" Snake replied. "Nice to see you again! How ya been?”

“I haven’t had to deal with any impromptu raids of my mistress’ pantry, if that’s what you mean.”

“Awesome! Must have been some nasty rats you guys had,” Snake said without missing a beat.

“Yes. I’ve set traps. I dearly hope they catch those rats doing something untoward,” he replied unsubtly.

Ah, good ol’ Goosey. No worries. I’ll be on my best behavior. “Well, good luck! Rats can be pretty tricky.”

The servant snorted and turned away, knowing a lost cause when he saw one.

Soon, they were all situated around the table in the dining room, being treated to a meal of rye bread, an exotic fruit salad, and tomato soup. Not the most conventional dinner, but Daffodil wasn’t the most conventional pony. “Ah ah. That one’s for Gusty,” the mare said as Snake attempted to snatch a bowl of soup from Tall Order’s tray. She rolled her eyes at the formalities as Tall gave Gusty “her” bowl and then gave another to Snake. She took a sip. Have to admit, it is good though.

“Thank you, Aunt Daffodil,” Gusty said, still jittering a bit as she sipped at her soup as well. It had been a rough day, to be sure, but Snake was relieved to see her finally starting to relax after a while as they ate and chatted.

Now Snake could use some TLC of her own. “Um...excuse me? May I have some alone time with Boomer?”

Gusty and Amber both raised an eyebrow, but Daffodil smiled knowingly and nodded. “Of course. Take as much time as you need.”

Gruesome stepped in. “Mistress, are you sure about—?”

“Yes, Gruesome,” she said, cutting him off. “I know Boomer wouldn’t do anything wrong and I trust her to support her friend.”

“Thanks,” Boomer said, stepping away from the table and leaving the room with Snake while their curious friends watched them go.

As soon as they stepped into the other room, Boomer knowingly sat down in the middle of the room, opening her arms. It only took a second for Snake to collapse into the hug and start crying. “It’s okay,” Boomer promised quietly.

Snake just nuzzled into Boomer’s chest and let all her troubles leak out of her eyes for a few minutes. The Nopony letter had pushed her almost to the brink of the stress she could handle. Seeing Gusty crumpled on the ground and knowing it was her fault had shoved her right off the edge, but she’d kept on trucking, like she always did. She’d come close to collapse at home, but hadn’t wanted to stress out her mom. But now that she had a moment’s peace, she wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry while Boomer patted the back of her head comfortingly.

“So that’s why she calls you Cuddles.”

Snake shot up like a dart, hastily wiping the tears from her eyes, but Gusty raised a hoof. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m not judging. Everypony needs a shoulder to cry on once in a while.”

“You should know,” Boomer said slyly.

She blushed. “Yes...I do. I’ll just leave you to it then. I could use some alone time myself.” Gusty turned and headed back up to her room.

Snake looked up at Boomer as she stared off in Gusty’s direction. “You wanna go after her, don’t you?”

“My services are needed elsewhere,” she confirmed.

“Eh, I was about done anyway.”

They caught up to Gusty right outside her open door. Her mouth was agape, and she had a haunted look in her eyes. She took several steps back and pointed one cast-clad leg wordlessly into the room.

Confused, Snake looked to where she was pointing, and soon shared her expression.

Sitting on her bed was a yellow envelope.

“No!” Boomer whispered.

Snake pushed them both into the room before they could argue. “Okay. Crybaby moments are over. Another letter means more evidence we can use to bust Nopony. According to your book, more evidence is good, right Gusty?”

Gusty shook herself out of her stupor. “Y-yeah. That’s right.”

“I’ll go downstairs and see if I can get Amber up here, and arrange a little distraction for Daffy-Daff and the Funky Bunch,” Snake offered. “Take the letter to Boomer’s room and close the door.”

“Right,” Gusty said, knowing better than to argue under these circumstances.

As Snake headed back downstairs, Amber was just finishing up dinner. “Well, finally! For a second there, I thought I was going to be the only pony who actually bothered to finish eating.”

“Yeah, about that,” Snake whispered. “We have a problem. Gusty got a letter.”

Her eyes widened and she almost choked on a piece of rye bread. “Are you alright?” Daffodil asked in concern.

“I-I am. No worries.” Then she turned and whispered back to Snake. “What?”

“Yeah. So here’s the deal: I need you to distract everypony while we dissect this thing. Ask Daffodil about anything in her trophy room. Trust me, that’ll keep her going for hours.”

“Alright…” she said uneasily. “But you better fill me in later.” With that, she cleared her throat and stood up. “Excuse me, Miss Daffodil? I was hoping you could show me around the place a bit. I bet you’ve got some cool stuff here. Especially in, say, your trophy room?”

Daffodil brightened right up. “But of course! Snake, watch over Boomer and Gusty for me. I’ll be back soon.”

She won’t be back soon. Snake agreed anyway and waved her off, ignoring Gruesome’s suspicious glare as she headed back upstairs.

Gusty and Boomer were waiting for her when she returned. “Alright. We all ready?” Snake asked.

“Yup!” Boomer held the envelope up. “Let’s see what Nopony has to say.”

Gusty reluctantly allowed Snake to pull out the contents of the envelope. There were only two photos inside; one of her standing atop a carriage and shielding her eyes, and one of her with an incredibly angry expression, bricks flying everywhere as she seemingly flew right through a brick wall, barely stopping. “Jeez! How the heck did that happen?” Snake exclaimed.

Gusty blushed. “I had one of my anger blackouts. I can do some damage when that happens.”

“Gusty, that’s a brick wall. You smashed through it like it was wood.” Boomer shook her head, mystified. “I guess you really are the muscle of the group.”

“Also explains why you got hurt so bad,” Snake observed. “That’ll do some damage no matter how hard you hit it. We thought Nopony had slammed you through the park wall or something. But it looks like you made that big hole yourself.”

Gusty looked down and away, avoiding eye contact. “Let’s just look at the stupid letter,” she muttered.

Snake obeyed, unfolding the piece of paper contained with the photos.

Dear Miss Breeze,

I am aware that this letter likely finds you in poor health, and that is unfortunate. To avoid causing you undo agony, I’ll get straight to the point. These two photos show you committing unlawful trespassing and destruction of public property. I am aware of your circumstances, and so I do not ask for any bits from you. Instead, I only ask for your silence. Clearly you are aware of my actions, and disapprove. Simply cease any investigation you are currently taking part in and these pictures will not find their way to the police or your caretaker. Hopefully, we will never encounter each other again. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Sincerely yours,

Nopony.

Gusty’s face was absolutely red. Her teeth were bared, and her wings were spread. She stomped a hoof, and instantly she was on the ground wincing in pain.

Snake helped her up. “Are you okay?”

“NO I’M NOT OKAY!” Gusty snapped. “I WANT TO TEAR NOPONY’S HEAD OFF!”

Snake patted Gusty’s back, getting her to slow her breathing. “Hey now, none of that. You’re out of this. I’m not letting you get arrested because of me.”

“WHAT!?” Gusty and Boomer yelled at exactly the same time.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Gusty looked like she was in an absolute panic. “You can’t just kick me out of this after that! We’ve gotta stop Nopony! You need me!”

“She’s right!” Boomer insisted. “What are we even gonna do when we catch Nopony if we don’t have the muscle of the group? There’s no way me or you could take them on. You need to let Gusty help you.”

“But her legs aren’t even working!” Snake argued. “How’s she even going to do anything?”

“The doctor said her legs will be better in a couple of days with those potions,” Boomer replied. “She’ll probably be fine by the time we find Nopony!”

Gah. That’s a good point. Snake sighed, then chuckled. “Alright alright, I guess I’m outvoted. But we can’t talk about the plan here. Who knows when one of the butler trio will come up to check on us? What say we stow the letter for now, and meet up at the old house tomorrow?”

Gusty and Boomer nodded. Both of them looked rather glum. Snake needed a way to fix that, and fast. An idea struck her, and she stuck her hoof out. “Go team on three?” she offered with a smirk.

That got a smile out of Gusty, and an eye roll out of Boomer that Snake knew was her trying not to smile. But both of them put their hooves on hers. “Go team!” they cheered simultaneously.

---

The rest of the evening was fairly standard. They ate, chatted, and tried to put the events of the last couple of days out of their minds for just a little while. They even played truth or dare with Amber for a little while. Snake had to resist the urge to use the game to pry further into Amber’s love life.

Their moods had all improved greatly when Snake was sent home with some leftovers. Her mom sure was happy to see that. It’d keep them fed for a couple more days.

During lunch the next day, Snake scouted the school, looking for the best way in and the quickest routes to the places they needed to check out.

That night, it was snowing. She’d gone through the market after school and picked up some supplies they’d need. She wore her usual outfit for the cold weather, a simple black hoodie and one of those weird fur hats with ear flaps that she’d gotten at an old thrift store. She wasn’t particularly in the mood to nick any bit purses or wallets.

She made her way to the hideout at the old house, running both to keep herself warm and to make it there on time. Gusty and Boomer were already waiting for her there. “Heya, Hero. How are those legs feeling?”

Gusty, who was wearing a dark green hoodie to keep out the cold, gingerly lifted one of her front legs. “Still kinda sore. Daffodil says I’m supposed to go back for an x-ray in a few days.”

“At least they’re healing,” Boomer, who wore a yellow sweater and black ski-cap, remarked. “So, shall we break and enter?” She nodded her head towards the window. “I sure hope we didn’t sneak away only to find you’d chickened out.”

“But of course, my dear Cuddles!” Snake fiddled with the lock on the window, using her favorite little spell to once again crack it open. I really need to get a key for this padlock if I’m gonna keep putting it back on. “After you, my fair fillies!” she said with a mock bow.

Gusty rolled her eyes and crawled inside. “Just to be clear, I still don’t fully approve of this place.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re the hero here, we know,” she teased as Boomer and then herself followed soon after.

The house was, as usual, dark, cold, and creepy. They went to the same unlocked room they had before.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” Gusty asked once they’d all sat down and set up the lantern. “I assume you have one, right?”

“But of course,” Snake replied, smirking. “But if you’re still not cool about this place, you might have some issues with it.”

Gusty narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“You want to break into the school, don’t you?” Boomer asked bluntly.

“Ding ding ding! Corrrrect!”

“Wait WHAT!?” Gusty’s jaw dropped, looking like Snake had just said they were going to go graverobbing. “You can’t be serious!”

“I’m dead serious,” Snake replied. “I noticed something about that letter for Gusty the other night. One of those clue things Pure Luck talked about. Nopony knew Gusty by sight well enough to find her in less than a day, and knew about what happened to her. There are some crazy rumors floating around, but I doubt anypony could just take one look at you and know your address without having it on file somewhere. We suspected as much before, but this confirms it; Nopony works at the school.”

“But…” Gusty floundered like a fish out of water, struggling to find a hole in Snake’s logic.

“Why don’t we have a look at the book, and see what it says?” Boomer suggested with a smirk. “Surely there’s gotta be something in there about what to do in this situation?”

Gusty sighed in resignation, starting to regret ever showing them that book. “Fine. Let me just open it up and-HEY!”

Snake swiped the Hero Book from her before she could even get it all the way out of her bag, cracking it open. “Hmmm...yep, says so right here. ‘If you have reason to believe there may be clues to find, then go forth and find them! Even if it means committing actions of questionable legality and ambiguous morality!’ Seems pretty clear cut to me.”

“It does not say that!” Gusty insisted, shoving her aside to look at the book. “...It says exactly that. Huh.”

“Well there you go!” Boomer said smugly. “So, all we’ve gotta do is decide where we’re gonna look for clues.”

“I’ve got a list made already,” Snake replied. “First thing’s first,” She pulled out three cheap wigs, three pairs of sunglasses, and three bandanas from her bag. “I got us disguises! I also brought black tape for Boomer to cover up her cutie mark.”

“I think you forgot the fake mustaches,” Gusty said, not exactly impressed. She put it all on anyway. “Well, it’ll have to do. Anything to keep this off my record.”

“That’s the spirit!” Snake cheered. “Anyway, our prime targets are going to be the principal’s office and the teacher’s lounge. Those are the two places most likely to hold something incriminating. And if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find some keys to search around the classrooms as well.”

“If we’re lucky, we’ll never have to get that far in the first place,” Boomer pointed out.

“True. So, is everypony game?”

“I promised I’d help,” Gusty reluctantly agreed. “Just please let’s not do anything too wrong in there.”

“Of course not, Hero.” Snake put a reassuring leg around her shoulders. “We’re looking to catch the bad guy, not become bad guys ourselves.”

“And we’re gonna!” Boomer rubbed her hooves together evilly. “I can’t wait to see what we do to teach this scumbag a lesson.”

Snake and Gusty shared a look. “Well... turn them in to the cops?” Gusty suggested.

Snake nodded agreement.

Boomer pouted. “You two have no imagination.”

“And I don’t want to know what goes on in yours,” Gusty said, shuddering.

“Probably a wise move,” Snake agreed. “Alright, then it’s settled. Let’s bag this crook and clear our names! Go team?” She stuck her hoof out into the center.

“Go team,” they both replied, putting their hooves unenthusiastically to hers.

“We need to come up with a better name for us,” Boomer muttered to herself as they ran off.

---

It was true what everypony said. School during the day is a drag. School at night is just creepy.

And it didn’t help that the three of them were dressed as burglars and about to commit some serious actions of ‘questionable legality’. “Alright, let’s make this simple,” Snake said. “We should be able to get right into the principal’s office from a window on the second floor.”

“That was simple up until ‘second floor’,” said Gusty. “I’m not exactly in the best shape to carry you guys up there.”

“Wasn’t counting on it.” She pointed to a dumpster and some crates from cafeteria food deliveries stacked up against the side wall. “We just gotta get a bit creative. Once we’re in there, we can work our way down to the teacher’s lounge on the first floor and hit any other fun stops along the way.”

They built a pyramid of the old crates, and climbed up to the window. Snake’s horn lit up, reaching inside to telekinetically pop the latch and slide the window open before climbing in herself. Once she’d helped Boomer in, Gusty flew up and inside.

The office was small and dark. After all three of them had slammed into something at least once, Gusty brought out the lantern from her saddlebags and tapped it, waking up the fireflies within and illuminating the room.

“Good thinking, Hero!” Kinda wish I had thought of bringing one of those. Snake took the lantern in her magic, shining it around the room.

Principal Pusher’s office was an absolute mess. There were papers everywhere, and a picture of a very stressed-looking cyan mare in a graduation cap on the wall. A dirty coffee cup was sitting on her desk. “How are we even gonna find anything in here?” Gusty muttered.

“Look everywhere,” Snake replied. “There’s gotta be something that narrows things down.”

They did their best to look around without leaving too many signs that they’d been there. With all the chaos in the office, it wasn’t hard.

What was hard was actually finding anything in the massive mess. The walls were completely covered in paper. If there was ever some kind of board that they were once posted on, it was long buried. Her desk had multiple towers of paperwork and folders, which should not have stayed upright yet somehow did.

“So this is why we never see her,” Boomer remarked. “Girls, be prepared to find a skeleton somewhere in here.”

Snake chuckled. “Nah. She’s fine. I saw her a couple of weeks ago.”

“I think I found something!” Gusty announced, holding a piece of paper up in her wing for them to see. “I think it’s from the Vice Principal. A list of things she needs to know when she gets back from vacation. I don’t wanna read the rest. Might be private stuff.”

“Probably a good idea,” Snake replied. “And that wipes the principal off our list. If she’s on vacation, she can’t have been at Daffodil’s or Amber’s last night.”

“Girls…” Boomer’s voice sounded shaky, as if she’d just seen a ghost. If fur could go pale, she’d have been pink. “I think I found something else.”

It was a detention note for another student. The teacher’s signature was an illegible scribble, but the rest of the writing was clear enough to read. It took Snake a moment to figure out what had shaken Boomer, but then she saw it. She retrieved Nopony’s letter to Amber from her tail, and put it up next to the notice. “It’s the same hornwriting. Or mouthwriting. Whatever Nopony uses.”

Gusty glared at the notice like she wanted it to combust. Snake thought she may have even growled a little. “So it’s true. Nopony works here at the school.”

“Looks like it,” Boomer replied. “At least we know we’re in the right place.”

“C’mon,” Snake said with a nod towards the door. “Let’s get out of here and check the other spots.”

They left the principal’s office and made their way downstairs. Their hoofsteps echoed in the quiet hallways. “I hope Nopony isn’t actually here,” Boomer remarked. “If they are, we’re doomed.”

Snake tried to think of a funny quip about that. She couldn’t.

Fortunately, the teacher’s lounge was a lot more orderly than the office. Unfortunately, that also meant that there wasn’t much to find. Snake had hoped some of the teachers might have left the keys to their classrooms there or something, so she could avoid having to pick the locks. Sadly, there was only one key left on the peg board. Gusty took the lantern and flew up to squint at the words on the label. “Security office! Maybe Pepper Spray has some keys in there too!”

Snake Eyes tilted her head, frowning. “Ol’ Skunk Spray left her key behind? That doesn’t seem like her.”

“Does it matter?” Boomer replied. “We’re not looking to figure out why she left her keys behind. We’re looking to see if she’s Nopony.”

Something felt weird about this to Snake, but she shrugged it off. “Alright. Let’s hurry. The quicker we all get back home, the less likely anypony will notice we’re gone.”

Snake had never actually been in the security office. Not a lot of ponies had, since Pepper was pretty protective over it. It was small, but oddly cozy. There was an office chair in front of a desk, a few papers and notes on the desk and the wall in front of it, and a locked metal locker on the wall across from the door. But again, something felt off. Snake couldn’t put her hoof on it, until Gusty pointed it out. “Why are the lights still on?” Gusty asked.

That was it. It was the middle of the night. All of the lights should have been off. “She must have left in a hurry,” Snake theorized. “Maybe to visit her kid in the hospital or something, like she said earlier.”

“Let’s make this quick,” Boomer said with a shudder. “Gusty and me will look at the stuff on the desk. Snake, you get that locker open.”

Snake nodded absently, still trying to figure out why something about this gave her goosebumps.

She wrapped her magic around the padlock and started trying to pick it. Whether it was because she was distracted, or because Pepper had really good taste in locks, she had a tough time of it. But nevertheless, it eventually popped open, and she opened up the locker. What she saw inside made her jaw drop. “Girls…”

Gusty and Boomer walked over, and the exact same thing happened to them.

The locker was filled with photos. Dozens of them. Of ponies in all kinds of compromising positions.

Snap!

The three of them whirled around, only to see Pepper Spray standing in the doorway, holding a camera in her magic. “Caught you!” she said with a triumphant smile. “I knew I heard hoofsteps upstairs!”

It was then that the puzzle pieces came together for Snake about why something felt off. Pepper hadn’t left her things behind in a hurry. She was still here! Of course the security guard would work overnight too.

“And of course it’d be you three who broke in!” Pepper continued. “I knew you were no good from the moment I saw you!”

“Wait, you don’t know us!” Snake attempted to argue, hoping that their disguises would persuade her.

Pepper rolled her eyes. “A: The tape is falling off of Boomer’s cutie mark. I can see it. B: None of you did anything to hide the color of your tails, or your fur.”

That’s… a good point. I hadn’t actually considered that.

“But now, you three are done!” Pepper’s smug grin hurt Snake on an emotional level.

Gusty stepped forward aggressively, but Pepper pulled out a bottle of mace in her magic, holding it up threateningly. “Back off, kid.”

Gusty reluctantly did. “So you’re Nopony?” she snapped.

Pepper’s glare went to Gusty.

“You’re the one who’s been leaving blackmail letters all over town!” Gusty accused, wings flaring angrily.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Pepper replied, narrowing her eyes. But her smug grin returned, she turned her nose up a bit. “There’s no more sneaking around for you three. I’ve got you on camera n—”

While her eyes were off them, Snake lashed out with her magic. She hadn’t had time to try and grab the bottle and spray it, so instead she knocked it out of Pepper’s magical grip and smacked her in the face with it. “Run for it!” she yelled to Gusty and Boomer. Neither had been prepared, but they had just enough time to run around the stunned Pepper.

Snake’s blow hadn’t been very powerful, but it certainly wasn’t a light tap either. It was enough that she actually staggered back, taking a second to realize what had happened. “Wha-? Hey!”

Snake tried to grab the camera as well, but Pepper yanked it away. Gah. Not enough time to go for it again. Gotta run.

They ran back upstairs. Gusty actually flew, and Pepper was still right on their tails. But they had the advantage of actually knowing where they were headed. That turned out to be just enough for them to get out the office window and clamber down their makeshift box pyramid, before tearing it down.

They took off down the street and climbed over the wall. They ran all the way down the street and cut through the market, before finally looking back and seeing no Pepper. “I think we lost her,” Snake panted.

“FEATHERS!” Gusty hissed under her breath. “What are we gonna do now?”

“We can’t keep investigating,” Boomer pointed out. “She’ll let out that photo the second she sees us doing anything.”

Those were good points. Snake slumped against a market stall, defeated. “Nothing. You two go home. I’ll have to scrounge up my savings and just pay the piper.” Things would be pretty hard for a while. Nopony’s pay would take up all her savings and her emergency fund. She’d be flat broke. Maybe she could just outright steal food for a while?

“No.”

She looked up. Gusty looked even angrier than before, but somehow not as unstable as usual. “We’re not going to just give up. We know who she is now. We just have to get her busted before she gets us busted.”

“If we do that, we’ll have to do it tomorrow morning,” Boomer suggested. “Back to the old house to plan?”

Snake didn’t think anything could give her hope in that moment, but Gusty’s nod somehow did. “Go team,” she whispered under her breath as she followed the two of them back to the hideout.

Author's Note:

Thank you VERY VERY much to my editors Berserker88 and Krickis. Without them this chapter would never have been finished on time. Berserker88 actually helped me write a lot of this chapter.

Comments

[Szalhi]

Paying off is only a short term solution anyway.

[Berserker88]

Glad to see our gang is hanging in there. Those healing potions really do the job. Better yet, they're making some real progress in the Nopony investigation. I love how polite and eloquent their letters are, by the way. Especially the one for Gusty. "I am aware this letter likely finds you in poor health, and that is unfortunate." Hard to tell if that's genuine friendliness or not, adding to their mysterious air.

Looks like Amber is along for the ride now, even if she's not on the cover art. And we get to see more of the dynamics around Daffodil's estate. Unsurprising that Snake Eyes is not on good terms with the servant staff. More surprising that her nickname for Boomer comes from her literally cuddling her when she needs a shoulder to cry on. That is so endearing and I want to hug her too now!

Pretty ballsy of them to break into the school, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And with Pepper onto them now, times are getting more desperate than ever. Excited to see how this all turns out!

[Toriandthehorse]

Well, this was a lovely piece! A nice storyline, excellent execution.. and it was entertaining to read. Was worth the read for sure, and I'll keep this in mind when anyone asks for a recommendation. Great work!

[Mind Jack]

9836878
Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it. ^^