More Than Money Can Buy...
"Excuse me, good sir, might I bend your ear for a moment?"
Ring Master looked up from the magazine he was reading to take a look at the speaker. The individual in question was a colt, a crystal pony by the look of him. Youngish, not quite old enough to be considered a teenager. Behind him stood a taller, much older pony, dressed in a uniform identifiable anywhere: A butler's formal attire. It seemed that this young fellow had a great deal of wealth to have a butler as a minder...
Putting away his magazine, Ring Master said, "Fine, what do you want?"
If he seemed offended by Ring's curt behavior, he didn't show it. The colt asked, "I was wondering how much you might want for that exhibit over there?"
Ring looked over at the exhibit in question: The caged changeling. Scowling, Ring Master said, "Not for sale, colt. Buzz off."
Ring Master had been running this traveling circus for the better part of ten years, and he'd never in his life had such a massive draw as that changeling. He'd found it, injured, about a week after the Canterlot invasion. In the state it was in, it had been pretty simple to put a collar on it and put it in a cage. Since then, he'd practically been minting bits, the way it drew crowds, even if all it did was sit there and look sad all the time...
The butler abruptly shook a large bag of bits, as the colt said, "Good sir, it is in my experience that everything is for sale, provided that the price is right. I'm willing to pay you a very tidy sum for yonder changeling."
Ring narrowed his eyes, estimating the number of bits in that bag. Given the size, and the clink it was making, there had to be at least ten thousand bits inside, maybe more. That was double what the changeling had brought in for the last year. A smile began to form on Ring's face as he said, "Alright, colt, I'm listening..."
Aphid was miserable, but that wasn't anything new: She'd been miserable every day for the last year, she'd been miserable all day, and odds were, she'd be miserable every day for the rest of her life, the way things were going...
Looking out the bars of her cage, at the ponies who had apparently paid good bits just to see her, she gave a long, weary sigh. She'd long ago quit wondering if she should ask for someone, anyone, to let her out. She was a changeling, after all: The average pet dog had more civil rights than she did...
Ring Master, the dark brown, morbidly obese earth pony who ran the circus, and the jerk who had slapped the iron collar around Aphid's neck in the first place, was approaching, a colt and an older pony in tow. The colt was... shiny was the only word that could be used to describe it. He was bright blue, and sparkled like a sapphire. The older pony, a fairly handsome earth pony, looked to be a butler, given the suit he wore, and his overall bearing...
"Alright colt, she's all yours. Just let me get you some chains you can put on her, so she won't try to run," Ring said, his tone almost painfully obsequious to the colt in question. The colt moved like he had some serious money backing him, and over the last year, Aphid had learned that Ring would do anything for bits...
The colt, smiling as bright as sunny day, said, "Jolly good. Ah, before I forget, I need just one other thing."
Ring, turning away from the cage, asked, "What?"
"A receipt," the colt said with a perfectly straight face.
A few minutes later, after a sheet of paper, a quill, and a bottle of ink had been retrieved, Ring Master filled out an official bill of sale for Aphid. Seeing the amount that the bill was for, Aphid had to resist the urge to whistle. She didn't know much about money, but that was a whole lot of zeros that were behind that five. Aphid hadn't realized that there were that many bits in the world...
The transaction apparently complete, bits and bill exchanged hooves, and the cage was unlocked. Chains were clapped on her legs, and the collar, linked to a chain riveted to the ceiling, was released. Sighing, Aphid stretched her neck. While the chains around her legs would be a pain, it was nice to finally be able to move her head without almost strangling herself...
The butler moved alongside her, and whispered, very quietly, "Please don't try anything. There's a lot more going on here than you think..."
Puzzled, but more than willing to go with the flow if it got her out of that thrice-cursed cage, Aphid played the part of the submissive little drone. She was pretty good at that role, given that she'd been playing it non-stop for the last year...
As they walked away from the circus, she couldn't help but mention, "If you really paid five hundred thousand bits for me, colt, you were overcharged."
Snickering, the colt said, "My name's Azure Blue, and don't worry, I'll have my money back in fifteen minutes..."
"Excuse me, good sir, might I bend your ear for a moment?"
Ring Master snorted, scowled, and put down his magazine angrily. He looked up, expecting to see that colt again. He saw exactly what he expected... and a half dozen guards, all of whom looked rather angry. One held up the bill of sale that the earth pony had just signed a few moments ago and asked, "Is this your signature?"
Not really getting what this was all about, Ring said, "Yeah, yeah it is. What business is it of yours?"
The guard, a sergeant by the look of him, scowled, then placed a hoof upon Ring's shoulder and said, "Then I am placing you under arrest for the crime of trafficking in sapient creatures."
His eyes widening, Ring Master asked, "What sapient creatures? I haven't..."
Two guards approached, holding manacles and chains, and began putting them around Ring's legs. The sergeant stated, "Regardless of your personal opinion, changelings are considered sapient creatures, and it is considered a crime to kidnap, imprison, or to enslave one..." With a snort, the sergeant said, "Take him away."
As Ring was led away, he saw that colt, along with his butler, standing with the changeling, chatting as if they were friends. The changeling, a million bit smile on her face, waved, then said, "I hope you enjoy being in a cage EXACTLY as much as I did. Toodles!"
"Not for nothing," Aphid said, as she and Azure watched the guards began shutting the circus down (There had been more illegal activities going on here than just treating a changeling like property, and Aphid had already given a statement about some of the things she'd seen), "but why did you set all this up, Azure?"
The butler chuckled, as Azure cheerfully munched on a bowl of nachos. Wiping at his lips, the colt said, "How much do you know about the Crystal Empire, miss Aphid?"
Rubbing her chin, Aphid said, "Ummm, disappeared a thousand years ago. Before that, it was taken over by a jerk named King Sombra, who put... the entire city... in chains..." While Aphid might not have been a genius, she could see where this was going...
With a little snort, Azure said, "Exactly. While SOME ponies," he paused, giving a scowl at a couple of passing ponies who had, just moments ago, been gawking at Aphid through the bars of her cage, "may have forgotten it, there are laws against the kind of treatment you were receiving back there. Me, I'll never forget." Smiling, he changed the subject, stating, "Well, now that you're free, I was wondering if you might be interested in working for me: My parents have a mansion back in the Crystal Empire, and we're in desperate need of a maid."
With a sad chuckle, Aphid said, "I don't think your parents would approve."
The butler was suddenly wreathed in green fire, and changed from a handsome pony in a dapper suit to... a handsome changeling in a dapper suit. Smiling, the butler said, "They didn't object when he brought me in, so I sincerely doubt that they'll have a problem with you."
Author's Note
Saw that the USA network was doing a marathon about ending human trafficking, and I had the idea for this story.
