I've got a job for you (Patreon)

An electric motor came to life causing a large metal rolling warehouse door to screech and groan in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape. Accompanying the screech was the constant, rhythmic thump of a 660cc single cylinder engine. Blipping the throttle made the dual-sport motorcycle growl as the zebra rode it into the warehouse. The beam of the headlight swept across the far wall of the building.

     The warehouse was empty and most of the lights had been turned off except for a couple of emergency lights. Halting in the middle of the warehouse floor Two Tone killed the motor on the bike. Silence returned to warehouse and the docks. Putting the kickstand down the mare removed her helmet and peered into the deep shadows of warehouse before getting off the bike. She knew the that security guard wouldn't be coming through this part of the docks for another hour. Even that was unlikely since the old earth pony mare who made the patrols was incredibly apathetic when it came to doing her job. More likely she'd remain in her booth reading her magazine.

     It was another typical Ft. Trotterdale summer night. Hot and muggy. Offshore one could see the almost strobe-like flashes of a major thunderstorm. Slowly the mare walked around her bike doing a more thorough check of the area. Satisfied she unzipped her leather jacket. It wasn't much but it made things a tiny bit cooler. At the same time Two Tone took a moment to adjust her IWB holster and magazine pouches. Having completed that she unlatched the top on one of the side panniers on the bike and pulled out a sort of chilled bottle of ginger beer. Twisting off the top she took big swig of the sweet, spicy, fluid. The smell of ginger root and cane sugar flooded her nostril. She sneezed a little and then awaited the arrival of the other party.

     10 minutes later Two Tone had almost finished her ginger beer when she heard the sound of approaching vehicles. They were powerful sounding. Not the whiny sound that the security guards electric golf carts made. A few seconds later 2 SUVs and a large sedan drove into the warehouse. They fanned out so their headlights filled the room with beams of bright light. They stopped about 40ft in front of the zebra and her bike.

     Two Tone finished the bottle and tossed the now empty bottle it back into the pannier. Having accomplished that she watched as 8 unicorn stallions started emerging from the still running vehicles with weapons drawn and at the ready. Their drivers remained at their positions. The security team fanned out in a circle erecting force walls as they visually checked the interior of the empty warehouse from the floor to the rafters with the lights mounted on their weapons. Through all of this Two Tone remained still as she leaned against her bike with her hands clearly visible.

     After a few seconds of scanning the lead member of the security detail raised a right hand and the team lowered their weapons went to at ease. One of the team walked over to the sedan and opened the back right door. As he did this the stallion bowed his head as an attractive unicorn mare in a business dress suit merged; the mare casually looked around herself and then slowly started walking toward Two Tone. For her part the zebra stepped away from her bike and started walking toward the mare. The 2 stopped about 20ft from each other. The zebra spoke first.

     "Evening. Got yourself a new mane styling I see. Looks good on you. So. What's the job?"

     The unicorn giggled. "Ah Two Tone. Always getting right to the point. Believe it or not I find your bluntness strangely enjoyable."

     The zebra shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and then crossed her arms. "You've got an operation to run, and you don't have time for excessive fancy words and bullshit. Am I correct? Your Majesty."

     The unicorn grinned and her eyes flashed green as her disguise melted away revealing the Queen of the Changelings. Chrysalis was now wearing a pants suit. She rested a hand on her hip as she spoke. "True enough, and hopefully you're not too encumbered with other enterprises. Because I have a project for you.

     "If I'd been too busy I wouldn't have told you to come. So, what's the job?"

     "Ah. Yes. Recently while concluding a transaction Link I discovered that a former business associate of mine had been conducting what I found to be a very vile and distasteful side operation on a property that I owned."

     The zebra arched her back as she slowly stretched arms above her. "Yeah, and what was it? I mean your regular business can be very distasteful to most ponies. So, what did this former business associate do that was vile? "

     "Foal trafficking." The queen said coldly.

     The changeling watch as the zebra froze and then her jaw clenched for a second then relax a tiny bit. "Okay. How many are we dealing with?"

     "11."

     "Shit!" Growled the zebra. "Do we know where they all came from? Are they all local? And do we know how they got into this mess in the first place?"

     Changeling retrieved her cellphone from her purse and opened it to consult some notes. "Unfortunately the former business associate didn't know the specifics for many of them, and trust me I was able to extract a plethora of unrelated information from them before they departed the land of the living. Link  Most of them were acquired as result of their parents, relatives, or legal guardians getting tangled up with one or more of the associations and being unable to repay their debt or obligations ."

     Two Tone was now pacing back and forth. "Fuck!" She muttered and glanced back at the queen. "Do you know how long they were in your  former business associate possession before you liberated them?

     Chrysalis continued consulting her phone. "Due to the fact they've been kept in isolation with little contact with outside world, and they are foals ranging in age from 15 to 9 it's been difficult to obtain an exact time. If I was to speculate I would say between 3 months to at least several years."

     The zebra pressed the palms of her hands against her forehead as she continuing pacing about. "Which means their legal guardians may not be alive anymore. If you fuck up this much with an association,your odds of things getting better are fucking slim! Or they've skipped town and went on the lam. Besides there's no guarantee that the parents aren't pieces of shit themselves in the first place!"

     The changeling nodded her head. "And even they're still alive. Returning them to their original homes might endanger them or their parents even more. They're undoubtedly kept under observation. So for the foreseeable future a 3rd party's involvement; either from the government or the private sector would be the most prudent course of action. And it would be best if this 3rd party was discreet and didn't allow this information to leak to the press or the general public."

     "Yeah, yeah!" Growled the zebra as she walked back over to her bike and retrieved another bottle of even warmer ginger beer. Yanking the top off she took a big swig of it as she stared at one of the warehouse walls. "You know this ain't gonna to be a cheap job? A whole bunch of fucking palms are going to need to be greased to make this work. You willing to do that your Majesty?"

     "Yes." Said the queen. "If I wasn't willing to commit to this enterprise I wouldn't have released them or contacted you. I'll cover the necessary costs. Plus your usual fee and an additional 25% bonus if you can make the arrangements in a timely fashion. Say a fortnight? I am currently sheltering them myself, but this is an arrangement that cannot continue indefinitely."

     "Yeah." The zebra took another swig before speaking further. "Use the usual channels of communication?"

     "That should be acceptable." The changeling passed a small portable data drive over to the zebra. "This contains what information I have been able to collect. Now I have other matters that require my attention." She turned to leave when Two Tone spoke.

     "Why are doing this? You can be an utterly ruthless bitch when you want to. So why are you willing to be all merciful now? Especially since you're gonna dropping some fucking big bills to pay for all this. Why?"

     Chrysalis stopped looked back over her shoulder at the mare. Then she made a slow, sweeping gesture at her security detail with her hands. "Because I am a mother, and if anyone tried to hurt or take one of my hive when they were young I would personally tear their limbs off with my own hands." Her eyes grew hard and began to glow. "It's barbaric, and barbarians have no place in my world." Then she resumed walking to her sedan.

     Two Tone watched the queen and her motorcade depart leaving the mare alone in the once again in the mostly unlit warehouse. The zebra downed the last of her ginger beer and then spoke out to the silent warehouse.

     "Well I learned something about her tonight." She stared at the empty bottle for a moment before scowling and pitching it away. As she heard the glass bottle shatter she muttered.

    "Wish somepony had cared for me that much when I was a foal." She put her helmet back and then started her bike. Two Tone let it idle for moment before she rode off into the muggy Ft. Trotterdale night.