Babs Seed

	Babs Seed trembled. She was frightened, fearing for her own life, and the life of her partner, Lazy Hoof. It was all her fault. She was the one who had suggested that they should follow the shady looking stallion who had left the bar in a hurry.

	After Babs had discovered that her special talent was police work, she had become a junior member on the Manehatten police force. And, much to the dismay of her superiors, she was always overstepping her bounds slightly; trying to move up the ranks even while she was still in school. Unfortunately, her ambition had finally gotten the better of her.

	She was now trapped in a closet in an abandoned building in a bad part of town. Lazy Hoof, her partner, was trapped with her. He was an earth pony with a white colored coat, and a dark brown mane. And boy, was he unhappy with her. Neither of them spoke a word, for fear that the criminals outside would hear them, but Babs could feel the rage seething out of her partner.

	The pair weren’t even on duty. They had just gone out for a few drinks. And of course, Babs had to make the stupid decision to follow somepony.

	To make matters worse, Babs could feel a tickle beginning to form in her nose. She had always had a dust allergy, and as she got older, it seemed to be getting worse. Babs could smell the dust hanging in the air. It smelled like moth balls, mold, and cobwebs. It smelled like a sneezing fit. Babs raised a hoof to her nose, and rubbed.

	Unfortunately, there wasn’t very much space in the closet, certainly not enough to comfortably fit a young mare and stallion. As Babs raised her leg, she elbowed Lazy Hoof in the side, causing him to shift. The sudden motion sent a dust cloud into the air.

	“Huhh…” Babs gasped. “Huhh.. Huhh! …Uhhh…”

	She managed to stave the sneeze off with the help of her hoof, but there was no telling when it would strike again. Babs opened her eyes to see Lazy Hoof staring at her.

	“Everything ok?” He whispered softly.

	“I’m fuhh.. Huhh… fine…” Babs whispered. She really did not want to be talking right now.

	“Babs…” Lazy Hoof said, “Please tell me you don’t have to sneeze.”

	“I duhh… don’t huhhaaa… huhhaafta snuh.. Huhh.. Huhh… Huhh! HUHH! SneeEEmmpphh!”

	Babs stifled. She really thought she had had things under control, but her nose was just too tickly.

	“No more sneezing.” Lazy Hoof insisted.

	“Huhh… Huhh…” Babs hitched.

	“And no more gasping!” He whispered sharply.

	He had a point. They needed to stay quiet. But it was difficult to keep her body’s natural mechanisms in line. Babs drew in a shaky breath, hardly complying with the ‘no gasping’ rule. She could feel the dusty air pressing in on her. Her head tilted back as the urge to sneeze swept through her body. She breathed another shaky breath, which caught in her throat. “Huuuhhh-hhh! Huhh…”

	She could hear Lazy Hoof sighing as she drew in breath, but she simply had to let one more sneeze out. Her nostrils quivered and her eyelashes fluttered shut. Her backside pushed into the closet wall as her lungs filled with air. “Huhh.. Huhh! Huhh!”

	Babs was on the brink of her sneeze when she heard it. A voice in the distance, getting closer. She raised a hoof to her itchy nose, whimpering softly as she barely held the sneeze back. “Mmmmmh…”

	Her nostrils flared angrily against her hoof, as if her nose was mad at being denied relief. Her mouth fell open. No, this could not be happening. Babs tried her hardest to hold her breath, but she quickly ran out of air. “Huhh!”

	“Huhh.. Huhhelp…” Babs whispered to her partner. “I guhh… Huhh… gottUHH.. Huhh! HUHH! HEEETCHmmmph!”

	Babs bent over with the force of the stifle. The voice continued as if its owner had not heard her. Luckily, she hadn’t made much noise. Unluckily, her sudden motion had kicked up even more dust, and she was going to sneeze again. Her head tilted back, and she raised a hoof to her nose, only to have it fan uselessly in front of her face. Well, not uselessly. It was sure doing a good job with stirring up the dust in the air.

	“Huhh! HUHH!” Babs hitched violently. Stifles never really satisfied her, but if the buildup was any indication, this sneeze was going to blow their cover a hundred times over. And yet, she couldn’t help herself. Her lips curled, getting in position to scream out a sneeze. “HUHH!!”

	And then, Babs felt Lazy Hoof rubbing her nose. The sneeze retreated almost instantly, and Babs let out her breath in a sigh of relief. That was a close one. Her nostrils wriggled as the dust in her nose begged to be set free. But with Lazy Hoof’s help, she was managing to not build into another sneeze.

	The voice was getting close enough to decipher. “I shouldn’t have done it. I should have played it safe. What if somepony puts it together, and sees all of the pieces?”

	“No, nopony will even investigate it. I should be safe…” The voice trailed off. Was he talking to himself? Lazy Hoof slowed his rubbing as he listened, coming to a halt. The urge to sneeze instantly returned. Babs’ mouth fell open.

	“Nuhh… No…” She whispered. Her tongue pushed into her cheek and her eyes squeezed shut. She desperately needed to sneeze. “Huhh… Huhh…”

	Lazy Hoof rubbed at her nose again, and Babs struggled to stop her breath from hitching. Her nose didn’t understand her current predicament, and wanted nothing more than to expel all of the tickly dust that had built up inside of it. Babs gasped again. “HUHH!”

	The voice stopped. Lazy Hoof slowly sat down on his haunches, freeing his other front hoof to be stuffed inside of Babs’ mouth. Dust was swirling around in the closet. All Babs could think about was giving in, and releasing the torrent of sneezes that this dust demanded from her.

	“Hhh… Hhh!” Despite her full mouth, Babs’ sneeze continued to build. Footsteps echoed in the hallway, coming closer to their hiding spot. Babs lightly bit into her partner’s hoof, in a final attempt to stop her breath from hitching. It was no use. “Hhh!”

	As Babs drew in air, her mouth opened slightly. It closed again as she exhaled, and her teeth sunk into Lazy Hoof. He yanked his hoof out of her mouth, wincing in pain. As he moved, all of the dust in the closet began whirling around with a renewed frenzy. It was too much for Babs’ poor nose to withstand. “HUHHUHH!”

	“KKKKEEERRRRRRTTTIIIIIIIIIIICHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!” Babs Seed exploded, bending forwards until her nose touched the ground. Clouds of dust swirled above her head, stirred up by the force of her sneeze. She stood up as a second sneeze began to build. “HUHH… HUHH!”

	Lazy Hoof burst out of the closet. “We’re officers of the law! You’re under arrest!”

	Even in the throes of a sneeze, Babs could appreciate what her partner was doing for her. If the ‘suspect’ called his bluff, this could go all the way to their superiors, and he could get blacklisted from public service. Luckily, the suspicious pony turned tail and ran. Finally free to release her sneezes, Babs’ head reared back, and her tongue pressed into her cheek. “HUHH! HUUHUHH! HUUHUHUH!!”

	“HHHEEEEEERRRREEEEEEEETTTIIIIIIIICHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” Babs bent down again, her wide hips pushing outwards. She didn’t normally sneeze like this, but then again, her normal sneezes weren’t caused from twenty minutes of sitting in a dusty closet. She stood up and exited the closet, but she only made it a few steps before another sneeze bent her over. “HUHH! HUUH! HUHUHH! KKKEEEEERRRRRTTTIIIIIICHHAAAH-CHAAH-CHHAAAAAAHH!!”

	“Bless you.” Her partner said.

	“Huhh… HUHH… Th-Th-HUUUH… HUHH!” Babs gasped, unable to reply. Her nostrils flared wildly as the sneeze built. She looked at the ceiling, her eyes squeezed shut. “HUHH! HUHHUHH! HEEEERRRREEEETTCHHOOOOOOOH! HEEEEEECHHOOOOOOO! HUHHUHH! HUHH! KKEEERRRTTIIIIICHOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

	“Thanks…” Babs said, her nose finally satisfied.