Salting Snails

by bats

Rating: everyone
Tags: Comedy, Scootaloo, Snails, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sweetie Belle, Romance
Length: 6738

While Apple Bloom is on vacation, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle struggle to find something to do with their time. An innocent question is raised: what does Snails' cutie mark mean, anyway? It couldn't mean that, could it?

While Apple Bloom is away in Manehattan, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle struggle to find something to do aside from crusading. In their search for activity, they realize that they don't know what Snails' cutie mark represents. Curiosity regarding what happens when you introduce a garden snail to table salt gets the better of them. There's no case too big, no case too small. Not for Scoots and Belle: rescue rangers bandit busters.

Part of the Twilight Holmes continuity, following It's Elementary, My Dear Rainbow and TH: Sabotage After Sunset. Reading the previous stories is unnecessary to enjoy Salting Snails.

Editing by Formerly Committed, Shellsh0cker, and Warlord487.

Published 2013-07-16 16:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-16 16:30:02 UTC

They'll Take the Clues and Find the Wheres and Whys and Whos

Scootaloo half-heartedly batted the rubber ball across the grass. Lying on her belly with her chin resting on the ground and her legs stretched out around her, she didn’t even look as she swung her hoof. The ball rolled listlessly to Sweetie Belle, coming to a rest against her side. Sweetie stopped staring at the clouds to regard its shiny red surface with marked disinterest, and bopped it back towards her friend. It rolled to a stop in front of Scootaloo’s face and she let out a long sigh.

“I’m bored,” the little pegasus moaned, flopping over onto her back. “Why’d AB have to go to Manehattan, anyway?”

“She’s visiting Babs.” Sweetie let out a sigh, tired of answering that question.

“But why couldn’t Babs come here again? There’s nothin’ to do without Apple Bloom.”

Sweetie sat up and turned to Scootaloo, frowning. She asked with trepidation, “I’m not boring, am I? You don’t hang out with me just ‘cause of Apple Bloom, do you?”

Scootaloo sprung up quickly. “What? No! Sweetie, we’ve been friends for ages; you’re awesome!” At her friends somewhat hurt look, she grimaced. “I didn’t mean it like that. We just usually spend all this time crusading, and it’s not fair to AB to do that without her. She’d be really upset if she came back from vacation and we had cutie marks in alligator wrestling we got without her, ya know?”

Relaxing, Sweetie Belle smiled. “Yeah, okay. Seems like all we ever do anymore is crusade. We should think of something quick, though.” She lay back, looking up at the sky. “Cloud watching’s boring.”

“Yeah…” Scootaloo looked up. Minutes bled away as fluffy white blotches that refused to look like bunnies, turtles, or anything interesting lazily floated by. She grumbled. “Well, bein’ lumps in the grass isn’t gonna fix anything. Let’s wander around, see if anypony’s playing soccer or something.”

“Yeah, alright,” Sweetie Belle agreed in defeat, rolling over and climbing to her hooves.

Scootaloo jumped up and scanned the park. For a beautiful summer day, it was rather empty. She wrinkled her muzzle in annoyance and set out for the path, winding its way past the grove of trees towards the lake, hoping to spot a group of foals around a bend or two. Sweetie followed along next to her, looking vaguely off the side of the path. As they walked, Scootaloo’s frown deepened as she glanced sidelong at the filly. “…I really don’t think you’re boring, okay?”

Refocusing from far away, Sweetie shook her head. “What? Sorry, I was thinkin’ about catchin’ frogs.”

Scootaloo snorted. “Wanna go catch frogs then?”

“Nah, it’s not as much fun as it sounds.” She stuck out her tongue in distaste. “I asked Rarity if she wanted to do that once, but she didn’t. So I went and tried later. Frogs are fast; I got covered in mud and didn’t catch any.”

“…Then why were you thinking about it?”

Sweetie shrugged. “Somethin’ to think about.”

Giggling and shaking her head, Scootaloo said, “I thought you were angry at me about the bored thing.”

“Oh. No, we’re fine, Scoots!” She grinned and bumped her shoulder into her friend’s. “You’re right; we spend so much time doin’ stuff with AB that it’s kinda weird to not have her around.”

Scootaloo smirked and shoulder checked her friend back. They rounded a corner and looked up. Instead of the crowd of soccer players they both hoped to find, they spotted Snips and Snails, deep in conversation and heading towards them. “Ugh, not them,” Scootaloo groaned, stopping on the path.

“Wanna see what they’re up to?” Sweetie asked without much conviction.

“Not really.” The two colts slowly approached, too engrossed in their talk to have taken notice of either filly. A wicked smirk gradually spread across Scootaloo’s muzzle. “Wanna spy on ‘em?” Without waiting for an answer, the pegasus slunk off the path and behind a bush, peering over the top at the pair.

Frowning, Sweetie joined her friend. “That’s kinda mean, isn’t it?”

“Not, like, try to find out anything that’s private,” she whispered. “Just what they’re doing without asking ‘em. Like a game. We’ll just follow ‘em and try to not get noticed. It’ll be like we’re detectives.”

Sweetie Belle’s face lit up. “That does sound like fun.”

“Shh, here they come.” Scootaloo lowered down and quietly pulled a branch of the bush back.

Snips and Snails wandered by at a meandering pace. “So, ya see, Snails, we just gotta be quick about it. Just flash in, flash out, bam! You follow?”

“Uh, yeah, quick!” Snails agreed, nodding his head vigorously. “They won’t know what hit ‘em!”

“So it’s settled then, no more cold hooves?” As they talked they moved further down the path. Scootaloo darted to a tree, keeping pace just behind them and staying within earshot. Sweetie Belle followed her friend with growing enthusiasm.

Snails paused and regarded the ground. “Why would my hooves be cold, Snips? It’s summer.”

Scoffing and shaking his head, Snips said, “No, no, I mean you didn’t want to do it before. You wanna do it now?”

Snails blinked slowly. “…Yeah! Yeah, I do! Let’s go do it! They won’t know what hit ‘em!” He stomped off ahead, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Snips trotted on his short legs to keep up. “Slow down, man! We gotta be quick about it, but we also gotta be sly. Can’t let ‘em know we’re onto ‘em, yeah?”

“Oh, okay.” Snails slowed down and let Snips get in front of him. They took a fork in the path leading deeper into the trees, away from town. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle quietly crossed the path and continued to follow them through the foliage. They had to speed up to not lose sight of the two, but the thicker cover improved their ability to stay hidden.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Scootaloo whispered, dodging from tree to bush, craning her neck up every once in a while to make sure their targets hadn’t left the path.

“I don’t know. They were talking about being sneaky and fast, though.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened and half a surprised squeak escaped her muzzle before she clapped her hoof over her face. “You don’t think they’re gonna steal something, do you?”

Scootaloo paused, a worried frown creasing her face and her brows drawing together. “…They couldn’t be…” Further ahead, Scootaloo peered around to spot the colts and saw them back in an animated conversation. They were too far away to hear, but she breathed a sigh of relief. “They’re talking again,” she said in a relaxed tone, “so we don’t have to be so careful; they never pay close attention to stuff.”

“You don’t really think they’re gonna try to steal anything, do you?”

Scootaloo grimaced. “I don’t think so. They’re kinda annoying, but they’re not bad ponies. We’ll keep following ‘em, though. If it looks like they’re gonna steal something, we’ll be able to stop ‘em, maybe talk some sense into them both.”

Sweetie gasped. “Oh gosh, Scoots! It’s like we are detectives!”

Grinning despite herself, Scootaloo nodded. “We sorta are.”

The two fillies continued to stalk the colts from a distance as the path lost its cobbled surface in exchange for dirt and officially stopped being Ponyville Park. As they worked their way through the thickening growth of the outskirts of the White Tail Woods, Sweetie Belle started humming.

At first the little unicorn’s tune was a formless, random melody, but gradually she found a rhythm. Scootaloo began bobbing her head to the tune just before her friend switched to softly singing.

“Sometimes, some crimes…”

“Sweetie, what’re you—”

Sweetie Belle darted ahead, a playful grin on her face. Her voice rose in strength and volume. “Go slippin’ through the cracks. But these two—” she flicked Scootaloo’s snout with her tail and bounded forward “—gumshoes, are pickin’ up the slack.”

Scootaloo shook her head and giggled, rushing to catch up with her friend.

Sweetie Belle grinned, singing, “There’s no case too big, no case too small. When you need help, just call—” Sweetie slung her hoof around Scootaloo’s neck, pressing her cheek against the filly’s face. “Sc-Sc-Sc-Scoots and Belle, bandit busters!”

Scootaloo snorted and shoved her friend playfully. Between her giggles, she said, “Cut it out, you’re gonna get us caught.” She bit her lip and carefully checked on the colts. Seeing them a ways ahead and still enraptured in whatever they were discussing, she let out a held breath and started laughing again. “Alright, that was pretty good.”

Sweetie beamed. “Want me to keep going?”

“…Okay, but not so loud.”

They continued their hunt with Sweetie Belle providing theme music. Despite rustling far more plants than necessary, fairly constant laughter, and the unicorn gradually growing louder in her recitation, Snips and Snails never noticed them.

Eventually the two colts broke from their conversation and slowed their pace. Scootaloo and Sweetie closed the gap quietly. Sweetie leaned close and whispered, “What’re they doing?”

“I dunno. They stopped at the water. If we could get closer…” Scootaloo frowned and glanced around. She spotted an old log, rotted hollow and aimed so one of the ends pointed across the path at the still pool of mucky water Snips and Snails stood over. She grinned and crept along the ground.

Scootaloo peered into the log. For a fallow hunk of wood, it appeared rather clean, and she quickly crawled inside, inching her way to the end. “Perfect,” she muttered. Snips and Snails were directly in front of her, but she was low to the ground and completely in shadow.

A low scrabbling started behind her and for a moment Scootaloo’s coat stood on end in a wave of gooseflesh, her mind flashing through a parade of vicious, filly-eating predators. She looked back quickly and stopped holding her breath, seeing Sweetie Belle climbing in behind her. “Scooch over,” the unicorn whispered.

Scootaloo pressed to the side of the log and Sweetie Belle squeezed in next to her. The hollow middle was a tight fit for both fillies and Scootaloo grunted, twisting herself to not be squashed. She got a hoof free and wrapped it around her friend’s shoulders. Comfortable, she turned her attention back towards their quarry.

Sweetie Belle felt her face slowly grow warm. Scootaloo shifted again and Sweetie found herself pressed into the little pegasus’ chest with a foreleg around her shoulders and a hindleg over her hip. She looked at Scootaloo indirectly. Her friend watched the two colts intently, seemingly unaware of the utter lack of space separating the two fillies. Staring forward, Sweetie Belle tried to not focus on the slow rise and fall of her friend’s chest against her side.

“Ugh,” Scootaloo groaned suddenly, gently thumping her head against the inside of the log in annoyance.

Sweetie blinked and shook her head. “What?” she whispered. “What is it?”

“Look.” She caught Sweetie’s chin with her free hoof and led her friend’s gaze. “They’re catching frogs.”

Sweetie bumped her head against the log and moaned.

Snips leapt into the water with a splash. “Dang it! Almost had that one!”

“Quick, but sly, right, Snips?” Snails whistled nonchalantly, stepping into the water and wading forward a few feet. In a flash, he lunged to the side, sending a spray of mucky water over his friend. “Aw, I missed.”

Sputtering, Snips wiped the grime from his eyes. “Well, keep tryin’!”

Scootaloo sighed. “C’mon, let’s go.” She pushed against the log and tried to slide backwards. She couldn’t get any leverage and only succeeded in tightening her grip around Sweetie Belle. After a few tries, punctuated by muffled squeaks from her friend, she gave up, grumbling, “Here, you go first.”

Sweetie Belle grunted and shoved herself away from the colts, but couldn’t get a grip. Frowning, she sought a hoofhold somewhere along the inside of the log. She swallowed thickly. “Uhh…I can get out, but not backwards.” She eyed Snips and Snails with worry.

“…I guess we’ll have to wait, then.” Scootaloo let out a long and exasperated breath. Snails dived again and soaked Snips with a large sheet of thrown water. “…Least it’s not as boring as watching clouds.”

Sweetie giggled weakly and resigned herself to being trapped for an indeterminate amount of time. As the minutes dragged out longer and longer, the sense of awkwardness between her and Scootaloo gradually lessened. A while longer and it was comforting, like a hug from her big sister after a long day. She smiled thinly and closed her eyes, her head drifting against Scootaloo’s chest.

Scootaloo watched the colts splash around in the murky pond until the novelty of seeing them drench each other over and over again wore off and she let her mind wander. As hopeless as the hunt in front of her looked, she would much rather have been getting muddy than just sitting there, squashed in a log. She consoled herself that it was at least better than their ‘crusade for cutie marks in lion taming’ fiasco. They couldn’t even find a lion.

An especially loud splash redrew her attention to Snails, halfway buried in algae-stained gunk with his rump in the air. Scootaloo frowned thoughtfully. “Hey, Sweetie Belle.”

The little filly started, blinking blearily. “Hmn?”

“D’you know what Snails’ cutie mark means? He ever tell you?”

Sweetie shook the fog of half-sleep from her mind and she looked out across the path. Her frown matched Scootaloo’s. “No, he hasn’t. Funny. What’s a snail cutie mark mean? Is he good at keeping snails as pets?”

“It’s not that he’s slow; he can run really fast. At least, that’s what Rainbow Dash told me when I was asking about that Ursa Minor thing.”

“Well, what else is special about snails?” A moment of contemplative silence passed between them as they regarded the colt in question, currently sitting up in the pond scum and blinking stupidly. Sweetie Belle’s eyes grew wide. “You don’t think it’s…” She turned to Scootaloo. “You know what happens when you pour salt on a snail, right?”

Scootaloo’s jaw dropped open. “No…”

“Do you think that maybe…?”

“It couldn’t be…” The both turned and watched the gangly unicorn stand awkwardly, wiping his face and succeeding in smearing more muck across his vision. “…Only one way to find out.”

Their eyes met in the darkened interior of the log and they grinned at each other, a spark of wild adventure lighting up their gazes. They both knew that the next day would definitely not be a boring one.

They turned back to watch the two fruitlessly hunt for frogs, their boredom replaced by excitement. Sweetie Belle gently nestled further into Scootaloo’s chest.

Scootaloo circled aimlessly through the schoolyard on her scooter, running over the sparse collection of weeds that sprung up in the bare month since classes ended for the year. On every pass she glanced up to check the path for her friend’s approach. The novelty of their day’s planned experiment was beginning to wane, but her excitement was still high and she smiled, humming the silly theme song Sweetie Belle had made up for them.

The little unicorn trotted up the path to the schoolhouse and Scootaloo stopped short on her scooter. Sweetie Belle was wearing a brown bomber jacket and a fedora despite the heat, the jacket’s off-white, fluffy fringe framing her face. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “What’re you wearing?”

“It’s a disguise,” she answered matter-of-factly. “I got one for you, too.”

Before Scootaloo could blink, Sweetie grabbed something red from her back and wrapped the little pegasus in it. Rearing back in surprise, Scootaloo felt her friend force her forelegs through a pair of sleeves. She glanced over her shoulder and found she was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. “…What?”

“It’s perfect!” Sweetie gushed. “If we’re gonna sneak up on Snails, we gotta be in disguise; it’s a rule.”

“But…” Scootaloo fidgeted her wings under the fabric. “Everypony’ll be able to tell it’s us. You just look like ‘Sweetie Belle in a jacket.’ It’s too hot for clothes, anyway, aren’t you roasting?”

“I’m fine. And it’s not about ponies not knowing it’s us, it’s about blending in.”

Scootaloo looked doubtfully over herself again. “…Blend in where?” She sighed. “And there aren’t any holes for my wings.”

“Oh, quit complaining or I’ll make you wear this.”

Scootaloo turned back to Sweetie Belle just in time for the filly to stick a large, red clown nose on the tip of her snout. Sweetie Belle stepped back and hid her mouth with a hoof, snickering. Scootaloo glared. Knocking the false nose off, she said, “Alright, I’ll wear the shirt if it’ll make you happy. You’re gonna cook in that jacket, though.”

“Oh, but it’s so comfy!” Sweetie twirled in place, showing off the jacket. Scootaloo had to admit, it was very flattering on her friend.

“Well, if you’re okay in it, I can’t really say anything.” Sweetie turned back and grinned at her, fluffing up the fringe and pulling the brim of the hat low. Scootaloo smiled despite herself. She snatched the fedora off Sweetie Belle’s head and slapped it over her mane. “At least let me wear the hat.”

“Aw, but it goes with the jacket!” Sweetie took it back and straightened it in place resolutely.

Scootaloo smirked; the hat really did go with the jacket. “Alright, you win.”

“Hmm...it looked good on you, too. Here, you take it.” Sweetie plopped the hat on her friend’s head.

“Nah, it really does look great on you; it’s probably weird with this shirt.” She returned the fedora.

“Oh, but—”

Scootaloo held the hat firmly in place. “I insist.”

“Fiiiine,” Sweetie said with a giggle.

Pulling her hoof back, Scootaloo blinked and shook her head. “Oh, did’ja bring it?”

Sweetie’s grin widened and she pulled a salt shaker out of the pocket on her jacket. “That’s the other thing this is good for; I don’t need ‘ta walk around carryin’ salt.”

“True.” Scootaloo chuckled. “Anyway, let’s go find Snails. Know where he is?”

“Nuh-uh,” Sweetie answered with a shrug. Scootaloo propped her ride against the schoolhouse wall and they set off at a brisk canter. “But I see him and Snips at the arcade a lot of the time, so let’s go there first.”

Scootaloo nodded and they headed back into town, weaving past the marketplace and town hall towards the outdoor arcade and malt shop. They both breathed a sigh of relief on their approach, spotting Snails waiting next to a fighting game while Snips pumped bits into the machine.

“So…” Scootaloo mumbled uneasily, “do we just go up and salt him?”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened. “What? No! We can’t do that. He’ll see us!”

“So what do we do?”

“We follow him again and look for an opening. C’mon.” Sweetie headed towards the outdoor tables in front of the malt shop and took a seat, facing so she could see the two colts in her peripheral vision. Mystified, Scootaloo followed and sat across from her.

As they sat, Scootaloo started tapping her hooves arhythmically on the table, glancing sidelong every few minutes to check on Snips and Snails. The two colts played the fighting game for a while, taking turns at the controls, before switching to a racing game. Scootaloo sighed. “We’re gonna be here all day.”

“We’re on a stakeout, Scoots.” Sweetie grinned. Scootaloo shook her head and smirked, resting her cheek on a hoof. “We’re missing something, though…”

Scootaloo frowned and glanced around. “Missing? Snails is over there, what could we be mis—?”

“Milkshakes!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “Everypony on a stakeout needs something to drink! Let’s get shakes!”

Scootaloo blinked. “That sounds good, but I don’t have any bits on me.”

“I got some, I’ll be right back.”

As Sweetie Belle left, Scootaloo turned her head to watch the colts. As Snips steered the wheel for the game, Snails rotated his head to match, easing side to side as his friend corrected to go straight, his jaw hanging open slackly. On a sharp turn, he tried to turn his head completely upside-down and fell over.

A vanilla shake with two straws plunked down on the table. “Sorry,” Sweetie said, “I only had enough for one shake.”

“That’s alright. Thank you, Sweetie Belle.” She took a sip and grinned. “You’re right, we totally needed this.”

Sweetie Belle smiled and took a sip, keeping an eye obliquely on Snails. Scootaloo took another sip. A sense of strangeness gripped her as she shared a milkshake with her friend. She couldn’t put her hoof on it exactly, but there was an odd feeling of closeness from the act. She found herself ignoring Snails in exchange for watching Sweetie Belle, admiring how the puffy fringe of the jacket framed the filly’s features, making Sweetie’s face appear rounder and softer. Sweetie sucked on the straw and her face scrunched up from the cold and sweetness of the drink. Scootaloo smiled, sinking her cheek further into her hoof.

“Oh, they’re going!” Sweetie Belle stood up quickly.

“Huh, what?” Scootaloo shook her head and glanced at the arcade games, catching sight of Snips and Snails heading off into town. A small quiver of disappointment passed over her mind, but quickly went away as she jumped up.

“Don’t forget the shake!” Sweetie called, hurrying towards the road. In her speed, the wind threatened to steal her fedora and she clamped a hoof over her head.

Scootaloo’s smile returned and she swept the cup into the crook of a foreleg, rushing to catch up. They dogged Snips and Snails on a winding path through the market and the rest of downtown Ponyville, following from a distance and trying to not be obvious about it, crossing the street at random times, rushing down alleys to get ahead and waiting for the two to catch up, and pretending to browse windows, passing the shake back and forth the entire time. As their target approached Sugarcube Corner, Scootaloo stuffed the empty cup into a garbage can.

“Scoots, I got an idea.” Sweetie rushed to the back alley, leading to the service entrance of the bakery.

Trotting to keep up, Scootaloo frowned, looking around the bare alley. “What’re we doing back here?”

“Pinkie showed me how to get on the roof once, so we could watch fireworks. We’ll get above the door and salt him as he leaves. Whaddya think?”

Scootaloo nodded vigorously. “Perfect!”

“Alright, gimme a boost.” Sweetie Belle stood on her hindlegs underneath a low hanging section of the swooping roof. Scootaloo cantered close to the wall and lowered down, giving Sweetie a short step up onto her back. Climbing onto her friend, Sweetie jumped up and grabbed onto a metal pipe sticking out of the roof, dragging herself all the way up. She leaned down and stuck out her hooves. Scootaloo grabbed ahold and jumped, buzzing her wings in an attempt to help further. Sweetie pulled fiercely and lunged backwards, dragging Scootaloo onto the roof.

Taking a few deep breaths, they quietly moved up the sloping shingles towards the front of the building. Peeking carefully down to the street in front of the shop to avoid attention, Scootaloo said, “Looks like they’re inside. So let’s get over the door, yeah?”

“Yep!” They settled down on the dormer just over the doorway. Sweetie Belle glanced down at the random ponies milling about and frowned, murmuring, “We’re kinda exposed here…maybe we should hide behind Pinkie’s window.”

“But we won’t get here in time to salt him. Let’s just hope he’s quick. Better get the salt out.”

“Okay.” Sweetie pulled the shaker from her pocket. The large bell over she shop door clanged and she flinched violently. Her eyes went wide as the salt tumbled forward out of her hooves and she unthinkingly lunged forward to grab it. She caught it and looked down, seeing Snips and Snails heading back to the street. She also noticed that the street was a lot farther away and a lot more directly underneath her than she was at all comfortable contemplating. She shut her eyes tight as the former problem appeared to be fixing itself a little too fast.

Scootaloo gasped as Sweetie started to tumble forward off the roof. She wrapped her legs around her friend’s middle and twisted, pushing Sweetie towards safety. The fillies rolled end over end across the roof, coming to a stop with Sweetie hugged tightly to Scootaloo’s chest, leaning over the little pegasus.

They stared at each other, snout to snout, panting heavily. “Th-thanks, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle breathed out, “that was too close.”

“Yeah…” Scootaloo became transfixed by Sweetie’s wide and shocked eyes, inches away from her own. The rapid pants on her muzzle didn’t alleviate the sense of claustrophobic closeness. Sweetie Belle pulled back to sit up and she found her forelegs still locked in a death grip. Letting go, Scootaloo noticed dots of pink on her friend’s cheeks. She absentmindedly touched her own face and felt the heat radiate into her hoof. She coughed in embarrassment and sat up, peering down to the street. Snips and Snails had not noticed them, but were quickly making their way out of town towards the library. “Aw man, they’re getting away. We better hurry.”

Scootaloo jumped up and smoothed out her Hawaiian shirt, hurrying to the back of Sugarcube Corner. She turned around and carefully lowered herself towards the ground. Hanging from the edge, she dropped the short distance and stood still to serve as a step down for her friend.

Sweetie Belle looked over the side with uncertainty. “I’m…” She cleared her throat. “I’m kinda scared…”

Scootaloo frowned. “We’re gonna lose ‘em if we don’t hurry…” She stood up on her hindlegs and spread her hooves wide. “I’ll catch you, if that’s better.”

After a moment’s hesitation longer, Sweetie nodded and turned around, tremulously lowering herself towards Scootaloo’s waiting legs. Scootaloo loosely wrapped around her friend’s thighs. “Okay, let go and I’ll catch you.”

A small whimper escaped Sweetie’s muzzle as she let go. Scootaloo clamped down around the unicorn’s middle and gently lowered her to the alley. Sweetie breathed a sigh of relief, straightening her jacket and recentering her hat. “Thanks, Scoots. Again.”

“You’re welcome. C’mon, we don’t want to lose ‘em.”

The two fillies hurried from the back alley and into the road, making their way towards the library. Half a block of running and Snips and Snails came back into sight. They sighed in relief, slowing to a comfortable canter. “Alright,” Scootaloo said, “let’s not do that again.”

Sweetie giggled.

“Where do you think they’re going, anyway?”

“Maybe they’re going to Golden Harvest’s,” Sweetie ventured. “I think Snips has a job helpin’ there.”

As the town thinned out and the roads got rough, leading into the farms surrounding Ponyville, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle left the path to make their way through the trees and avoid being noticed. They cut across to Golden Harvest’s carrot farm through the woods.

Scootaloo peeked out onto the path, checking for Snips and Snails. “D’you know what he does here? So we can find a good place to hide and wait?”

“Nuh-uh. We can probably hide in the barn, though. Golden’s only got the one and it’s nice and new, ever since her shed got broken. If they do anything with tools, they’ll have to get something out of it.”

“Good idea.” They slunk across the road to the edge of Golden Harvest’s farmhouse, cautiously keeping an eye out for the approaching colts or the farmer herself. Coast clear, they bolted to the barn. Scootaloo stuck her head inside. “Alright, nopony’s inside, let’s go hide somewhere.”

In the hazy shade and stifling warmth of the barn, Scootaloo looked around with falling optimism. Golden’s barn was surprisingly clean. There weren’t any hay bales to bury themselves in or large pieces of equipment to squeeze behind. She heard Sweetie Belle breathing heavily and turned to her friend, raising an eyebrow.

Sweetie panted, her mane already hanging limp from sweat. She shook an edge of her jacket to create a breeze. Scootaloo snorted. “Told ya you’d roast.”

“I was fine outside,” she whined. Sweetie peeled the bomber off of herself and breathed a sigh of relief. She gripped the brim of her fedora.

“No, leave that on,” Scootaloo said with a smirk. “Still looks good on you.”

Rolling her eyes and giggling, Sweetie Belle glanced around. “Not a lot of places to hide…” She looked up. “Hey, there’s a little crawlspace up on the loft, that’d work.”

Scootaloo followed her friend’s gaze. The upper loft, less of a floor and more a latticework of beams, had a small alcove where several beams converged and formed a shadowed corner with a simple board floor, directly above one of the racks of tools. “Yeah, that does look good. You, uh…” She winced. “You gonna be okay up there?”

Sweetie waved a hoof dismissively, draping her jacket over her back. “Yeah, I’m fine now. We climb up all sorts of stuff, just got kinda scared at Sugarcube Corner for a minute.”

“Alright.” She smiled at her friend and glanced back around the room, spotting the ladder running up the wall. “Okay, let’s get up there before they get here.”

Scootaloo climbed up quickly and eased her way onto a beam, turning around and frowning with concern at the little unicorn. Sweetie Belle edged out alongside her, smiling with confidence. Scootaloo shrugged and turned back around, carefully working her way over to the crawlspace.

The alcove was small. A few sacks of flour took up most of the floor space, and the walls on either side made it barely wide enough for one filly to fit. Scootaloo looked at the nook doubtfully, inching her way inside, lowering her head to avoid bumping a beam. She frowned and backed out, going down one of the other beams to give Sweetie a chance to approach. “I don’t think we’re gonna fit.”

“Well, we’re really high up; nopony’s gonna look up here unless we make a noise or something. We’ll just use it if we need to.” Sweetie dropped her jacket onto a flour bag, not noticing the salt shaker slip out of its pocket. The shaker came to a rest at the edge of the crawlspace. The two turned to face the door and sat on the beams to wait for Snips and Snails.

The concern that their target wouldn’t enter the barn vanished as two voices grew close. They both grinned and watched the door with keen interest.

“So, I’ll do the weeding if you do the edging, alright, Snails? Ms. Harvest’s edger’s over there.” Snips gestured to the wall of tools directly under Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle and turned to the other wall.

“Okay, Snips. I like edging.” The taller colt wandered over to the tools and started staring at them in concentration, moving from one to another slowly, probing for some inscrutable bit of information.

“Now’s our chance!” Scootaloo whispered, grabbing Sweetie’s jacket to dig through the pockets.

“Wait a minute.” At Sweetie Belle’s urgency in her hushed tone, Scootaloo stopped and turned. “What if…what if this really hurts him? I don’t want to hurt him.”

Scootaloo blinked slowly. She settled back on her haunches and dropped the bomber. “…I don’t wanna hurt him either.”

“Why are we doing this again?”

Scootaloo chewed her lip and shrugged. “…We were bored. We don’t have to, though. I mean, if that is what his cutie mark means, it would be awful to hurt him like that.”

Sweetie nodded in agreement.

Grimacing, Scootaloo mumbled, “…At least we had fun following him.” Sweetie grinned in response and the pegasus sighed. “Ah well, we’ll wait for them to go and we’ll leave.” She turned to look over the side and nudged the fallen salt shaker with her hoof. She stifled her gasp.

Tumbling in an arc, the salt shaker struck the wall just over the rack of tools. The metal cap snapped off and the shaker bounced, spraying white every which way. Snails, still glaring at the tools, stepped back in surprise as salt rained down on his mane and back.

Holding their breaths, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stared with widened eyes at the colt. Snails shook himself off and ran a hoof through his mane. He stared at the specks now dotting his coat for several seconds. “…I gotta use different shampoo,” he said.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sighed loudly in relief.

Straightening in surprise, Snips barked, “What was that?”

Scootaloo clamped her hoof over her face as she groaned involuntarily. She grabbed Sweetie Belle and pushed her friend into the crawlspace, squeezing her way in afterwards, glancing over her shoulder, pulling her back legs in as tightly as she could and tucking her tail around herself, desperate to get completely hidden in the tiny space. She fitfully stared out into the barn, unable to see the two colts and wildly wishing she knew exactly where they were.

“Snails, did you hear somethin’?”

“I heard you say ‘what was that,’ does that count?”

“No, before that. Thought I heard somepony say something.”

“I didn’t hear anything, I don’t think. Would it’ve been before or after I got dandruff?”

“Dandruff…? What the—there’s a salt shaker over here…”

Scootaloo whimpered quietly and turned back to Sweetie Belle.

The crawlspace was very small. In hugging the little unicorn to force her into the space, Scootaloo’s front legs were held apart wide enough to get wedged against the walls of the alcove. Her friend was pressed all the way back, and with Scootaloo tucked in out of sight, she was almost completely on top of Sweetie Belle. Their snouts were touching, and if Scootaloo backed up at all, her flank would be visible from the ground floor. She held her breath.

“A salt shaker fell on you?”

“Well, it didn’t hit me, so I guess it was salt, not dandruff. Eww, I hate salt.”

“Think there’s somepony up there? Why would they have salt?”

Scootaloo grimaced and pulled in closer, helplessly staring into Sweetie’s eyes from the confinement. She took controlled and steady inhalations, feeling Sweetie Belle breathe against her muzzle, feeling their chests rise and fall against each other, feeling her friend’s hooves around her back and pressed against her wings through the thin fabric of the shirt.

“Is somethin’ moving in that little dark corner up there?”

Scootaloo pressed in closer, seeing the bridge of Sweetie Belle’s muzzle crinkle from the contact. She blinked a few times and held her breath.

In the stillness, Scootaloo found herself hypnotized by Sweetie’s gaze. Free of panic, Sweetie’s expression seemed more surprised and…cautiously curious. Scootaloo let out a long exhalation, feeling her racing heart slow. Sweetie’s eyes gradually shifted from unsure to resolved, a mesmerizing internal conversation taking place that Scootaloo couldn’t follow, but one where she could perceive the barest glimpse of her friend arriving at a decision.

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and leaned upwards, pressing her lips against Scootaloo’s muzzle. Scootaloo felt her face grow burning hot in the already stifling air, her eyes wide on Sweetie’s scarlet face, her currently bunched muscles trembling. Sweetie Belle’s eyes reopened, the curiosity still there, but shifted to searching Scootaloo’s face for something.

“Y…you kissed me,” Scootaloo murmured breathlessly.

“Yes.”

“Why did you kiss me?”

“…I don’t know.”

They stared at each other for several tense moments, squashed close in the confinement, barely able to think or breathe. Scootaloo whispered, “Kiss me again?”

Sweetie Belle pressed her lips back to Scootaloo’s and both fillies closed their eyes, the cramped quarters suddenly welcome. When the unicorn pulled back again after mere moments of contact, their grins were punch-drunk and their thoughts jumbled. She found getting kissed wasn’t quite enough, so Scootaloo leaned forward and kissed Sweetie Belle herself.

In the haze of hot air and traded kisses, Scootaloo barely heard Snips as he scoffed, “Ah, it’s probably just rats or something. C’mon, I wanna earn some bits so we can go back and play that racing game some more.”

“Okay, Snips!”

As the barn door swung shut, Scootaloo leaned back out onto a beam, releasing a giggling sigh of relief. She discovered the fedora had somehow found its way onto her own head. “You are so, totally not boring.” They shared a coy and blushing grin. “C’mon, let’s get outta here right now.”

“Okay.” Sweetie leaned in and pecked Scootaloo on the snout. Pressed in close again, she swiped her hat back and rushed across the beam, giggling madly. Scootaloo grabbed the nearly forgotten jacket and hurried to follow. They snuck back off the farm and galloped all the way to the park, laughing together, shoulder to shoulder the entire sprint.

“So what’d y’all do while I was visitin’ Babs?” Apple Bloom asked, lounging in the tall grass of the park, watching clouds drift by. Her friends chuckled conspiratorially and she sat up. “What’s so funny?”

“Well…” Scootaloo giggled again and took ahold of Sweetie’s hoof. “We found out that Snails’ special talent doesn’t have anything to do with salt.”

“…What?”

Sweetie laughed and pressed into Scootaloo’s side, resting her head in the hollow of the pegasus’ shoulder. “Maybe his special talent’s in matchmaking, eh, Scoots? Better than we were with Big Macintosh and Ms. Cheerilee, anyway.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “Ya mean…you two?” She pointed back and forth between her friends and started snickering. “Well don’t that beat all! How the heck did that happen? And what in Equestria did Snails haveta do with it?”

Smiling, the two took turns relating their exploits to Apple Bloom. She listened intently and didn’t interrupt, frequently hiding a smile behind her hoof and trying to look serious. When they finished, she collapsed into laughter, gripping her belly and kicking her hindlegs.

“What’s so funny?” they both asked, mystified.

Her mirth still coming in hitches and starts, Apple Bloom slowly regained control and sat back up. “Aw man, y’all did all that ‘cause of Snails’ cutie mark? You really don’t know what it means?”

The fillyfriends exchanged a confused look. Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “So you know what his cutie mark means? Did he tell you or something?”

Apple Bloom snorted and pointed across the field. Snips and Snails were playing soccer, running across the grass, kicking a ball back and forth. Even across the dozen yards separating the two groups, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle could clearly see Snails’ tongue lolling from his mouth as he ran, his jaw slack and eyes unfocused. Snails stopped suddenly and sputtered. He yelled in dismay, “Eww, I swallowed a bug!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle turned their bewildered expressions back towards Apple Bloom. The filly grinned wickedly at them. “Somethin’ tells me y’all might do mighty fine with a pair of snails for cutie marks.”

Scootaloo’s brow furrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Their friend rolled her eyes, blowing a stray bang away from her face. “Least y’all look cute together.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth to argue further, but Sweetie Belle snuggled back into her neck. She smiled despite herself and hugged the filly around the middle, letting go of whatever Apple Bloom was hinting at.

“Sounds like ya had fun anyway.” Apple Bloom smirked at the two snuggling fillies. “Bein’ all spy-like sounds awesome. Maybe we can get our cutie marks in bein’ detectives!” She started in surprise. “Aw man, maybe if’n I was there, we would’a gotten ‘em! And then I could’a seen those outfits, too!”

Sweetie Belle grinned. “Next time we’ve got some sneakin’ to do, you can come, too. I got a disguise all picked out for you already.”

“Oh yeah?” A gleam of excitement entered Apple Bloom’s eyes. “What is it, what is it?”

“A purple jumpsuit and some goggles.”

Apple Bloom blinked. “Who the heck wears a jumpsuit with goggles?”

Author's Note

Oh no, it never fails once they're involved; somehow whatever's wrong gets solved

If you are unfamiliar with my Twilight Holmes continuity, you might be interested in checking out It's Elementary, My Dear Rainbow and Sabotage After Sunset, which will answer the question of why Golden Harvest's old shed got broken.

Also, if you are unfamiliar with Rescue Rangers, fix this immediately.

Thanks for reading.