Equestria Trainers' Society: Work For Hire

“What do you mean they never checked in?” said a confused gryphoness to a pony standing behind a hotel lobby counter.

“Just what I said, miss,” said the stallion, looking through the hotel’s records, “We did have a room for two booked for a three month period by a pony named Pathfinder, but they never arrived. We had to give the room to somepony else after the first day they no showed.”

The female gryphon was bewildered, but had to accept that what the clerk said was true. Collecting her thoughts, she gave the stallion a nod, saying “Thanks anyways,” as she made her way out of the hotel.

The gryphon, who was named Anya, was a mature female for her species, having been through much in her life. Her features were very womanly, having curves in all the right places, along with a sizable, but not too large, chest for one of her species, many gryphons lacking actual breasts as their birdlike qualities shaped that area of their body. The feathers from the head up were pure white, while the feathers and fur beneath that were grey, and covered with spots similar to a leopards. This all made Anya a very striking figure to behold, but what made her stand out the most was the patch that she wore over one eye, made of leather and embedded with a sapphire that was cut into the shape of the ocular organ she was missing.

Stepping out of the building, she too a look around with the one eye she did have, taking in the tropical scenery of Haywaii. Two of her friend, a pegasus and his adopted kelpie daughter, were supposed to have been on holiday here at this island off the coast of Equestria, staying in the hotel that she had just left, but apparently they never arrived. It had been nearly three months since they left their home, and now Anya, who had come to spend their last week of vacation with them, had learned that they had never even arrived.

Something was clearly off, as the gryphoness knew that her pegasus friend wouldn’t have ever lied to her about where he and his daughter were going, and she had made him write down where he would be in case of an emergency. Now she was getting worried, because two of her closest relations, ponies that she could almost consider as family, were not where they were supposed to be.

The only conclusion she could come to was that something prevented them from coming, and that maybe they had chosen to stay home. Anya hadn’t been to their house for a while, and thus didn’t know one way or the other if that was the case. There was the possibility that one of the ponies got sick just before they were going to leave, and thus couldn’t travel, which could have lead to more complications. The more Anya thought about it, the more it troubled her, because she knew something had happened, but she needed to know what.

Taking one last look at the resort area, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. She really would have liked to have taken some time off in a place like this, but now she had more pressing matters to attend to than sun, sand, and salt water waves.

“Pathfinder?” said an earth mare standing in front of the missing pegasus’ house, “I haven’t seen him since the day he and Scylla left on vacation.”

“Really?” Anya said, having just encountered the mare as she was mowing the grass around Pathfinder’s residence.

She didn’t know the mare, which was typical as Anya didn’t associate with many ponies, not even the ones that Path would have known as friends or neighbors, but she was aware that somepony would have had to take care of things while the pegasus was away. There was little suspicious about what was going on, except that Path and his daughter were now absent from both places that they should have been.

“Actually, I didn’t even see them the day they left,” said the mare, “I was trying to catch him on his way out, but when I came to bid him farewell, he was already gone.”

Anya kept her composure in front of the mare, but now was becoming fairly worried. There were still plenty of plausible reasons why he didn’t go on vacation, but decided to leave his home. Things such as something happening with a relative that called his attention, or perhaps he even got a summons from Princess Celestia in order to do some important map making job, as that was his professional trade. These were reasonable things that one could assume had happened, but for some reason those conclusions didn’t sit well with Anya.

“Well, do you mind if I look around a bit?” Anya asked, “I’m trying to find him, and I might be able to get a clue on where he went with a bit of snooping.”

“Well…” the pony said, not sure that she should let someone nose around a house that wasn’t hers.

“How about this?” Anya said, “You wrap and head on home, and then I’ll take a little look around. You won’t be responsible if something happens here, and I won’t be responsible if something would have happened to you here.”

Anya flashed a talon in front of the mare’s eyes, flicking them together a few times to make sure she got the point. Seeing the razor sharp claws mere inches away from her face, the mare tensed up in fear, and returned a nod to the gryphon.

“Good,” Anya said, backing off, “Now pack up and head home.”

The earth mare grabbed her push mower, and dragged it away as fast as she could. Anya wasn’t exactly proud that she had to resort to intimidation tactics, but she wasn’t about to let some pony she didn’t know stand in her way, and once the mare had ducked around a large tree, the gryphon set to her task.

Taking flight, Anya went to the roof of the building, finding a particular tile in it, and lifted it up to find a spare key her pegasus friend left there. As far as she was aware, only she and Pathfinder knew about it. Taking the key, she flew back down to ground level, using it on the front door so she could get inside. Her plan was to search for a letter, a note, or something that might have been left to indicate that they had changed their plans.

Checking the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and both bedroom, she couldn’t find anything like that left out in the open. She thought about opening drawers, but decided that would be a waste of time. If they did change their plans on the day of departure, then they would have been in too big a rush to store away anything that would lead to them. It was unfortunate, but the house was a dead end. Anya exited her friend’s home, locked it up, and returned the key to its hiding place.

“Where could they be?” Anya pondered to herself as she touched back down to the ground, walking away from the building as she went over her thoughts, “They aren’t in either of the places they should be, and it's not like Path to just change his mind on a whim.”

As she paced around the foliage around the pegasus’ home, Anya’s sense of worry rose quickly. She had reached the point where rational thought was no longer helping, and the only explanations that seemed possible were ones that didn’t bode well for the two missing ponies.

“Could they have gotten into an accident on the way to the boat?” Anya asked, remembering Scylla mentioning they were taking pegashuttle, “Could they’ve crashed somewhere? Are they stranded on some island in the middle of nowhere?”

Anya quickly ruled out that possibility. If her friends ended up on an island, they both would have their own means of getting back to Equestria. Even if the worse came to worse, and they and the pegasi transporting them were all injured in such an accident, it wouldn’t have taken them that long to heal up and then head home.

“There has to be something I’m missing,” Anya said to herself, uncertain if that was really the case. There was absolutely nothing that led the gryphon to the location Pathfinder was at that moment. “Wait a minute… There was no sign of...”

Anya rushed back to the house, and let herself back inside for a second time. This time she took care to tread lightly, not wanting to disturb anything anymore than she had already. She inspected all the rooms of the house, top to bottom, and what she thought she had noticed was confirmed.

“It’s clean,” she said aloud, “Too clean.”

The house looked like it had been gone over with a fine tooth comb. When she entered the first time, everything was neatly stacked, put away, or cleaned to the point that it looked new. That wasn’t how most people would leave a house right before leaving for a vacation though, and even less so if they had to leave for an emergency, as no one would want to tidy up every inch of their home right before leaving it for months on end to collect dust. They would save those sort of chores for their return, if they intended to get to them at all. That was another thing, the place just didn’t look lived in, taking the appearance of a house that would be up for sale, only having furniture inside it so potential buyers would know what it would look like filled.

With this detail established, Anya reached a conclusion she would have never come to otherwise. “Someone didn’t want anyone to know they were here.” That was the only reason Anya could think of for the house being as it was, and that thought led the gryphon to another conclusion, “That means… Whoever did this took Pathfinder and Scylla.”

It was a tall claim, that someone had kidnapped two ponies who were, for the most part, not in the least bit important, but it wasn’t so far fetched that Anya could ignore it, especially since she had no other leads. The thought was also terrifying though, as if it was true, that meant Path and Scylla were in danger, and there was no way to find them.

“Unless,” Anya said, running outside, foregoing closing the door. What she had thought was a long shot, but it was the only chance she had.

The gryphoness started scouring the foliage around the house, going so far as to get on her hands and knees to crawl around. It was her hope that while the culprit might have made Path’s house spotless, they would have neglected something outside. It was a longshot, as even had they been so careless, time and nature might have destroyed that kind of evidence, but it was the last option Anya believed she had. Sure, the gryphon could have gone to the Equestrian Guard with what she figured out, but all she had was speculations, and she didn’t believe the authorities would care about a bunch of ‘what if’s’ from a non-Equestrian.

Anya must have spent the better part of an hour crawling around in the dirt, her dedication to the ponies she sought guiding her. She searched and searched, and only once on the verge of giving up completely, did she find something in a bush that she was just about to ignore, but then gave another look. It was a simple feather, protected from the elements by the plant surrounding it like a bubble. Not just any feather, though. It was a gryphon feather, which was the very reason she was going to ignore it, because she thought it was one of her own. However, when she gave it a second glance, she saw that it didn’t bare her leopard pattern prints, but the pattern it did have was something she believed she recognized.

Taking the feather and pocketing it, Anya believed that this was the clue she was looking for. Sure, it could have simply fallen off from a gryphon flying overhead, but seeing who Anya thought the feather belonged to, she found that unlikely. So since she now had a culprit in mind, the gryphon also had a destination; that being the nation of the gryphons itself, the city of Griffonstone.

Griffinstone had been in ruins for longer than most gryphons could remember. It could no longer be considered a kingdom, being more a collection of rundown shacks where gryphons gathered, the disheveled state of it being the result of a cultural lack of motivation after a certain tragic event. Most younger gryphons only saw it as a pit from which to escape from, but somehow always found their way back to it. Still, a few gryphons saw it as a place to call home, if only because of personal attachments to something or someone who resided there.

Anya was not one of those few, but she knew of one such gryphon, and to find the one she was looking for, the gryphoness would have to go through him first. She wished that she could show up at his doorstep under better circumstances, but with things as they were, Anya really didn’t have a choice.

Walking with a determined speed through the city, she headed to the house of her old caretaker, Grandpa Gruff, striding right past everyone in the street, who returned the disinterest of interacting with one another. Storming up to the ramshackle structure where the old gryphon lived, she hit the door three times with a force that threatened to knock the rickety piece of wood off its hinges, making a point that she would do just that if her knock wasn’t answered immediately. The message must have gotten across, as she heard a rustling from inside, and the quick opening of the door by the old, feline vulture.

“Anya?!” he yelled angrily, not liking that he had been disturbed, that it was in such a hostile manner, or that it was by one of his former wards, “What’s wrong with you?! Are ya trying to bring the house down?!”

“Zip it, you old buzzard,” Anya replied, the comment made in her own anger, as if this had been a normal housecall, she would have made an effort to show the elder gryphon a bit more respect, “I’m here for one thing, and then I’m off.” Anya reached into a pouch at her side, and pulled out the feather she had found. Putting it in front of the older gryphon’s face, Gruff could see it was mostly white, save for a gradient pink at its tip. With the feather presented to the old gryphon, the gryphoness asked a simple and straight forward question. “Where’s Gilda?”

Grandpa Gruff inspected the feather with scrutiny, and while the feather was worn and dirty, it was certainly Gilda’s, as there were no other gryphons with such distinct feathers. “Beats me,” he replied grumpily, settling down a little, since Anya wouldn’t be so inclined in finding Gilda unless it was something important, “I haven’t seen her in months now.”

Anya was afraid that might be the case, seeing that she found the feather in a place far away from Griffinstone. Gruff was her only lead though, so she had to try. “Why did Gilda leave?” she asked, hoping to get some clue on where Gilda could be.

“What is it, my job to keep track of every gryphon in Griffinstone?” Gruff replied, clearly irritated over the line of questioning.

In a way, it was Gruff’s job, and a self appointed one at that. If not for him, a lot of Griffinstone’s youth wouldn’t be looked after, and for as much of a miser and opportunist he acted like in public, he was always the first to help those in his care get the things they needed, like food or education.

“Grandpa Gruff,” Anya said, forcing herself to act more maturely about the situation, “I hate to impose on you, but this is important. Two of my pony friends have gone missing. They were supposed to go on vacation, but when I went to where they were supposed to be staying, I was told they never arrived. It’s been months since then, and when I went to check on them at their home, what I saw made me suspect foul play. The only thing I could find looking around their house was this feather, which shouldn’t have been there at all.”

It was surely suspicious, but Gruff couldn’t even think of a reason why Gilda would be connected to two missing ponies. “All I can say is that a while back, there was a group of minotaur that came to Griffonstone.”

“Minotaur?” Anya questioned, wondering how that related to Gilda.

“They were here offering anyone and everyone ‘jobs’ working for them,” Gruff went on to say, “But they never explained what the jobs actually were, only that they would be paying more gold coins than most gryphons see in a year.”

“So Gilda took the offer, I take it,” Anya concluded.

“Her and Gallus,” said Gruff, “And maybe Gabby too. Not sure about her though, since she stuck around a while longer, but she disappeared like a lot of other gryphons. All I could find while snooping around her room was a flyer for the minotaur’s little pyramid scheme.”

This was a lot to take in, considering that she was only looking for Gilda so she could get information on where her friends were, assuming Gilda was even involved with their disappearance. The minotaur lead did sound like a likely path to follow, as they tended to be entrepreneurs, and had the kind of bits that could lure in gryphons into doing diligent, if unenthusiastic, labor. It was fairly easy to see how Gilda could be suckered into doing some dirty work for a bull with bulging pockets, as well as the other two, seeing how they, like many others born in Griffinstone, had plans to one day leave the city. It was just strange in Gabby’s account, as she already had a job, but perhaps she saw this as a quicker way to reach the goal.

“Hey Gruff, you still got that flyer?” Anya asked, now seeing this as her only means to pursue both Gilda and her friends, “I’m about to go career hunting.”

A few days later, Anya had made her way to Dodge Junction. She was following the instructions written on the flyer Gruff gave her, which were written in an odd manner. There were different locations listed to go to, with different dates on which to be there. The minotaur who handed them out might have had different jobs at each of these places, seeking to meet a set schedule that took them all across Equestria, but such large projects were not the kinds of things creatures depended on day laborers with. She might have been overthinking a minor detail, but it would have just made more sense to hire a steady crew, and have them be there when you needed them, rather than to just hope that a group you told you had a job for would show up when you needed them, that group being a bunch of gryphons, no less.

Still, no matter how strange it sounded, this was Anya’s only lead, so she had to follow it. Looking at the piece of paper in her claw again, Anya checked the place she had to go, only written down as ‘The local bar’.

“They couldn’t have given an actual address,” Anya mumbled to herself, slightly agitated that she was gonna have to do extra work on something that, in all honesty, could lead to a dead end. Though she had the right date and time, it was still possible that Gilda wouldn’t even be there.

Anya stopped to get directions from one of the town’s ponies she saw on the street, who was very helpful as she pointed the gryphon to a building far down the street. Less than a minute later she was standing in front of it, looking up at the sign posted above the entrance that called the place ‘The Cherry Pit”. Poking her head inside, she could see all the standard trappings of an old western saloon, with round tables, a bar, and a piano that sat against one of the walls of the establishment. What she didn’t notice were customers, as the bar was empty, even though the door was unlocked.

“Maybe they just opened,” Anya said to herself, stepping inside. It was fairly early, before the time that most would come for a glass of cider. The only curious thing really was that there was nopony manning the bar.

“Hello?”Anya called out, having entered halfway into the building, hoping somepony was present that could help her. After not receiving an answer, she called out again, but louder, “Hello!?”

This time she got a response, in the form of a door opening, followed by the voice of a female pony, “Well I do declare, if it isn’t a gryphoness in my humble establishment.” Anya had to tilt her head up, to a banister above the bar, it just coming to her attention that the tavern had a second floor. There she spotted an earth mare with rose red hair, dressed up like a southern belle, and speaking with an accent to match. “Why, what brings a girl like yourself all the way out to Dodge Junction?”

Anya gave the mare a confused glare as she descended a flight of steps, as surely she should have known that her building was being used as a venue for recruiting gryphons by a group of minotaur.

“I’m here because of this,” Anya said, approaching the mare just as her hoof hit the bottom landing, and handing her the flyer, “I believe you were expecting some minotaur here today, and they were employing gryphons for some sort of job?”

“A job?” the mare said, looking the flyer over, though Anya was able to tell by the movement of her eyes that the mare wasn’t really reading it, “What kind of job?”

“Beats me,” Anya answered, “I’m not really here for that myself, but I was hoping to find a certain gryphon attending whatever this thing was.”

“Well,” the mare said, handing back the flyer, “I hate to disappoint ya, but we haven’t seen a minotaur in these parts since… well I suppose ever. Buffalo, yes, even bulls and cows, but not a minotaur. They don’t exactly see the business opportunities that can come with an out of the way place such as this.

Anya grimaced, not liking the sound of that, “So this flyer is…”

“A fake,” the mare said, stepping behind the bar counter, placing two cups on its surface, then grabbing a bottle from the shelf behind it, “Or maybe a typo. Perhaps they meant a different building, or maybe a different city.”

While typos were possible, one that wrote down the wrong city would have been a monumental mistake that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. It’s not like there were other cities in Equestria with a name similar to Dodge Junction.

“Perhaps they meant to put down Appleloosa,” the mare said, opening her bottle, then pouring its contents into the glasses, “I wouldn’t be surprised if those minotaur couldn’t tell the difference from one western city to another.”

“Maybe…” Anya said, really hoping that wasn’t the case, “But that doesn’t explain something…”

“And what might that be?” the earth mare asked, pushing one of the now full glasses over to Anya.

“You’d think that there’d at least be a few more gryphons here, even if this was a typo.” Anya explained, “Because each flyer would say the same thing.”

“I reckon you’re right,” said the mare, taking the remaining glass in hand, “You can’t be the only one who got a bad flyer. Maybe if you stick around, they’ll show up.”

“I’d hate to just take up space,” Anya said, putting the piece of paper away, “Your customers should be coming in any minute.”

“Oh nonsense,” the mare replied, “You’re not gonna scare off any of my regulars, and we don’t get enough visitors in these parts for me to be worrying about every stranger who walks in.”

“Well then, thank you for the hospitality, Miss…”

“The name’s Jubilee,” said the earth mare, “Cherry Jubilee. I own the cherry farm in these parts, along with a few other businesses in town. Oh! And in case I didn’t make it clear, that first drink is on the house. Just a little something to make your trip not a complete waste, in case none of your friends show up.”

Anya picked up the glass, her gryphon instincts telling her to take it since there was no cost attached. Ponies did have a thing for being charitable, so such gestures were not unusual, and something to calm her agitation was welcome. She downed the drink, but found it was very strong as it hit the back of her throat, which made her cough a little as it traveled down to her stomach.

“Oh, sorry hon,” Cherry said, setting her own glass back on the counter, “I’m afraid Dodge Junction likes their cider spiked with a bit of whisky, but I thought a tough looking thing like yourself could handle it.”

“Oh no,” Anya said between coughs, “It's fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“You should probably take a seat, just to be on the safe side,” Cherry said, leaving the bar in order to get one from a nearby table.

“Really, I’m fine,” Anya insisted, not believing that a single shot would harm her too much, “I can hold my liquor pretty well.”

“That might be true,” Cherry replied, “But once those sedatives kick in you’re not gonna want to be standing.”

“What are you… Shi-!” It took a second for Anya to understand what Cherry had said, but by that time she started to feel herself go a little tipsy.

It was a rookie mistake, but Anya wasn’t exactly some person who had to deal with drinks being drugged, nor were Equestrians known for drugging other creatures. There was little she could have done to prevent this from happening, but she couldn’t help but kick herself mentally for falling for such a trick.

“Now don’t you fret,” Cherry said, siding the chair over to catch the gryphon as she fell backwards, “It’s all part of the process. Just a little nap, and you’ll get all the answers you need. They might not be the answers you want, though.”

Anya tried her best not to fall asleep, but the sedatives she ingested acted fast. Soon her eyelids were too heavy to keep open, and it was all she could do just to stay conscious long enough to hear the sound of loud hoofsteps enter the room. The last thing she could sense was a sudden lack of gravity, or at least the feeling of vertigo, as some strong creature effortlessly picked her up from her seat. By the time she was securely cradled in the creature’s powerful arms, she was out like a light.

The next thing to breach Anya’s bubble of perception were the words, “Wakey, wakey, sleepy head,” said to her in a tone that was both condescending and dripping with egotism. At least, those were the first words spoken to her that she understood clearly, as the occasional mumbling had also reached her prior, but being able to understand the words was an indication that she was ready to do as they suggested.

Slowly, Anya’s eyes crept open, and she found herself in a new location, which was to be expected. She didn’t know where she was exactly, but the gryphon could tell that she was in a dimly lit room, the only source of light coming from a fireplace on the wall across from her, which was being obstructed by two large figures. One of the figures was expected, being the form of a large bovine, with muscles that looked thicker than her entire body in her still inebriated state. The other was a large chair, placed directly in front of her, and sitting within it was a purple unicorn, who’s fur shimmered lightly in what light was available.

“Ah, so you are awake,” the unicorn mare said, leaning forward in her seat, hands folded in front of her muzzle, “I hope your relocation to our facility wasn’t too rough on you. I’d hate for you to have bad first impressions about our organization.”

Anya made an attempt to get up out of her seat, but quickly found that her wrists had been cuffed to the arms of the piece of furniture, and her ankles were similarly shackled to its legs. She then tried to spread her wings out, but they had been bound into a folded position with leather belts. She was annoyed by her restraints, her sentiments not going unnoticed by the mare across from her.

“Sorry, but we can’t have you lashing out, which is a common reaction to our recruiting process.” said the purple pony, “But if you relax, then we can have you out of those cuffs in merely a few minutes.”

The gryphoness growled to herself, her catlike qualities coming to the surface in her annoyance. As pissed as she was, she knew that she couldn’t escape this predicament on her own, and she had to take into consideration that she hadn’t really been harmed so far. It hurt her pride, but listening to this mare couldn’t make things any worse than they were at the moment.

“I’m relaxed,” Anya said, “But I’ll let you know that I’m not happy being chained down like this.”

“Of course,” said the mare, “I can tell you have a pretty strong dominant streak, which is something I can appreciate. Just give me some time to explain why exactly I need to take these precautions, and so long as we can reach an understanding, I’ll gladly let you go.”

“Then start explaining,” Anya said, being civil, but direct.

“Well for starters, my name is Schorl Tourmaline, but since we are under less than formal circumstances, you may call me Schorl. With that out of the way, I heard from my associate, Miss Jubilee, that you didn’t answer my flyer looking for work, and instead you were looking for a fellow gryphon. Is this correct?”

Anya gave a nod in reply, seeing no point in lying at this point. She acknowledged the information the pony gave freely, as the flyer wasn’t from the minotaur directly, but this mare instead, meaning she was the one seeking gryphons.

“Might I ask whom you were looking for, and for what reason?” asked Schorl.

“I was looking for a girl named Gilda,” Anya said, “Because I think she might know the whereabouts of two ponies I’m acquainted with.”

“See, I was afraid that was what this was about,” said the crystal mare, “We get a lot of creatures around here in search of missing persons. Not often enough that it alarms me, but enough that it can be a hassle dealing with them.”

“And why, might I ask, do you have creatures coming to you looking for others?” Anya gave the question, but she was starting to piece together the picture, but she wanted to get confirmation from the mare herself, as there were still a few answers she could give, though none of them would be acceptable to the gryphoness.

“For the same reason I have to drug and strap down anyone who might inquire about a job from me,” Schorl replied, “Because the business I’m in isn’t exactly legal.”

“So you’re some sort of crime boss?” Anya replied, having figured out that much already.

“Of sorts,” Schorl went on, “But it’s not like I’m part of a mob or gang of thugs. My business is in the acquiring and preparations of hard to get commodities, which some will pay a large sum to get. This is why I sought out help in Griffonstone, as I know that for the right price, a gryphon will be willing to do anything.”

“Fine, I can respect that you consider what you do a business,” Anya said, not exactly happy with the mare’s given profession, but not exactly concerned with it either. Whatever she was doing, it was a pony matter, and pony matters were not her problem. “I don’t have any reason to get in the way of what you’re doing.”

“And what am I doing?” Schorl asked, wondering if the gryphon had actually put the pieces together.

“Smuggling, I guess,” Anya answered, “I’d say drugs, artwork, or artifacts if you didn’t say that you had to deal with creature looking into disappearances, but with that detail I can only believe that you’ve been sneaking ponies out of Equestria, to be sold into slavery.”

Schorl smiled, sliding her rump partially on the table between her and the gryphon, sitting atop it at an angle, “Very good. I knew you were smart, but it’s not just ponies.”

With a snap of her fingers, the wall around the fireplace lit up, revealing that sections of it were made up of glass windows, which lead into three small chambers, one holding a zebra, another with a small dragon inside, and the last containing a kirin. Each of the creatures were nude, bound up in compromising positions that exposed their most private parts, and looked to be in varying levels of discomfort, moaning and sobbing to themselves as they wriggled about in their bonds.

“For the clients that we serve, we acquire all sorts of different creatures, from the mundane, to the exotic, to the excitingly dangerous. We also train them so they can become perfect servants, willing to do anything their owner desires.”

“Who’s your client,” Anya asked, seeing if the mare would let that little detail slip, “The Storm King, the changelings?”

“Oh deary, no,” Schorl replied, “While you’d think those would be good choices, the changelings are not exactly hospitable to those who aren’t of their kind, and dealing with the Storm King’s nation is impossible, as they would rather take what they don’t already possess.”

“So you’re either dealing with another nation further away from Equestria, or your selling your slaves locally,” Anya said, still connecting one piece to another, “And seeing how you’ve displayed your examples here, it looks like your aim is for sex slaves, more than labor slaves.”

“You really are keeping up with the conversation,” Schorl said, slightly impressed, “But a clever gryphon like yourself should realize that I would never reveal my clients through simple conversation. At least, not until our own business matters have reached a conclusion.”

“Fine, that’s fair,” Anya replied, not really caring who the mare’s clients were, “That’s your business, but the problem is that your business has cost me.”

“In what way have I cost you anything?” Schorl questioned, her tone gaining a bit of hostility at the accusation, “Because I sent one of my workers to enslave a few of your friends?” The crystal mare wasn’t even trying to hide the notion that she might have been the one behind Path and Scylla’s disappearance, as it was clear that both sides had come to the same conclusion of the events that brought them to this point.

“Because you took what is mine.” Anya said, calm, but coldly. Anya spoke these words without thinking, the drugs still meddling with her thoughts a little, but in a way she meant what she said. As far as she was concerned, Path and Scylla belonged to her. Perhaps not in the way that Schorl believed a creature could belong to someone, but in a way that made her claim just as valid, if not more so.

Whatever Anya’s definition of her claim was, the crystal mare looked back at her statement impressed. “So you’re saying I stole your property?”

“I am,” Anya spat back, “And if you’re an honest business woman, you’d return what’s rightfully mine to me.”

Schorl stared at the gryphon, going over her demand in her head. It wasn’t the first time someone completely at her mercy acted with such defiance to her face, but the approach was something wholly unique. Anya was attacking not her morality or sense of decency, but her standards as the provider of a service. In the end, the crystal mare couldn’t help but smile, the gryphon winning her over with her bold approach.

“I want to be direct with you,” Schorl said, “While I know you aren’t looking for work, and can see you believe I owe you the return of your ponies. I want to offer you a job, one that I’ve offered many gryphons like yourself.”

“I’m not interested,” Anya answered, not really wanting to get caught up in some ill conceived slavery ring.

“Funny, most of your kind were happy to exploit other creatures for profit,” replied Schorl, “That is why we decided to rely on gryphons to act as our hunters above all others, as you’re more likely to turn a blind eye, so long as the bag tossed to you has enough gold in it.”

Anya didn’t like how the unicorn was describing her kind, but she also couldn’t deny that it was the truth. Had the pony approached her with the same kind of offer when she was still a young adult, it was likely that she would have accepted without hesitation.

“Of course, you’re not like the rest. You came looking for me, poking your beak around because of your lost property.” said Schorl, hopping off the table to walk around to the restrained gryphon. “So who were you looking for?”

“I told you, a gryphon Gilda,” Anya replied, hoping that this would get her somewhere, if she played her cards right.

“No, no,” Schorl said, shaking her head, “She might be the one I sent to kidnap your ponies, but she’s not who I meant. You do wish to get your property back, yes?”

“I’m looking for two ponies,” Anya corrected herself, understanding what Schorl was getting at now, “A brown and white pegasus by the name of Pathfinder, and a kelpie named Scylla.”

Schorl’s eyes widened, and she took a step back to ponder. “I see… To think that you’d have come for them. The kelpie was such a rare species that we took extra precautions in acquiring her when no one would miss her for a while.”

“Too many precautions,” Anya said, wanting to humiliate the mare, “Their house was so clean that I knew something was wrong immediately.

“I see,” Schorl said, making a mental note of Anya’s criticism of her coverup, “Miss Scylla and Mr. Finder were indeed acquired by The Society. That much I’m willing to tell you for free. It’s a shame you were looking for them though.”

“Why’s that?” Anya asked, worrying something bad had happened to them.

“Well, I was hoping that I could resolve this by simply trading the ones you sought back to you for a bit of work. I was even going to give you a discount, since you came so far in search for your friends, but I fear I can’t do that with those two. Miss Scylla was such a rare species that I had sold her off almost immediately, and Mr. Finder was bought as a father/daughter set.”

“Then tell me who bought them,” Anya said, “And I’ll go deal with them directly.”

“It’s not that easy,” said Schorl, “One of the benefits to my service is discretion for the clients. If I were to tell you who purchased your friends, then word of that would spread, and soon no pony would trust me to keep their sordid secrets of slavery.”

Anya shook slightly in her seat, being so close, yet so far away from those she sought. She felt like breaking the chair she was cuffed to into pieces, and using its splintered parts to force the information out of the mare. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen with the bull in the room, but she still held the sentiment.

“Don’t get too upset,” Schorl said, unable to ignore Anya’s slowly rising temper, “At least not yet. While I’m not privy to tell you myself where your friends are, perhaps I can figure a work around for you. If you’d give me some time to sort things out, I’ll be willing to help you out as much as I can.”

“For a price, right?” Anya said, knowing that the mare wasn’t going to do this out of the goodness of her heart.

“Of course,” replied the mare, “But for now, I’ll have my bodyguard release you from your bonds and escort you to a room, fully comped, so long as you don’t cause us any further trouble.”

“Fine,” Anya complied, disliking that she was essentially being put on hold, “But can you at least tell me how long I’ll have to wait?”

“A day at the latest,” Schorl answered, using her horn to release all the bonds on Anya’s person, each one simply falling off the gryphon’s body once undone, “By then I’ll know everything I need to in order to deal with your situation.”

Anya gave Schorl a nod of agreement, and stood up from her seat, looking over to the brutish bull still standing on the other side of the table. The bull gave a huff through his nostrils, and pointed to a door in the room, one that had been mostly hidden in shadow, in case Anya did make an attempt to escape, to make it harder for her to know which way to flee.

“This way.” he said, going out the door first, and opening it for the gryphon.

Anya followed the minotaur’s instructions, ready to allow him to lead her wherever he was going. She had gone from prisoner to reluctant guest, but that was subject to change the moment that she stepped out of line. It certainly bothered the gryphon to comply, but if it led her so much as one step in the direction of her friends, then she had to do so, at least for now.

Anya was detained for some time, stuck in a room that was comfortable, even if it was intended to be a cell to stick her in as Schorl decided what to do with her. Still, there was a bathroom to freshen up in, and a nice bed to take a rest, both of which Anya found herself using as she waited. She also didn’t go hungry, as she was treated to two meals during her stay in the room, both a meal fit for a gryphon, featuring a variety of meats and fruits, prepared in a manner fit for a five star restaurant. The unicorn was trying to appeal to the gryphon, for what reason, Anya could only guess at, and overall didn’t matter. The only thing that did was the inevitable rescue of Pathfinder and Scylla from this place.

Anya waited and waited, and finally a minotaur came to retrieve her to meet back with Schorl. She was happy to be able to leave the room, her thoughts never straying from her self appointed task, but she held no delusions that whatever the mare would say or do to her would be pleasant, and that was if she actually intended to be helpful at all. It was possible the unicorn just came to the conclusion that helping Anya would be too much of a hassle, and that she’d have to deal with her some other way. All it meant was that Anya would have to remain on guard, in case her host turned on her.

When brought to her destination, Anya was at least relieved to see the unicorn was there, which at least meant that the mare did want to speak with her again, which reduced the chance this was all going to lead to betrayal, if only slightly. She was also glad to see that the new room she had been brought to had appropriate lighting, Schorl ditching the darker atmosphere that was intended to be more intimidating. In this light, Anya could finally notice that Schorl was a crystal pony, her fur sparking as the gryphon was led to a seat. That did make her raise an eyebrow, as Anya had never heard of crystal ponies with horns. Still, that aspect of Schorl was only mildly interesting, as what she was meant little when it came to getting her friends back.

“Miss Anya,” Schorl stated as the feline fowl took a seat, “I hope you were treated well during your stay.”

“Well enough,” Anya replied, “So is this the part where you give me the good news and bad news?”

“I already gave you the bad news,” Schorl said, “And that news remains the same. I can’t help you directly in locating your friends. I can, however, point you in the right direction.”

“How so,” Anya said, not believing for a second that this would be straight forward.

“Well, as much as it might anger you to hear this,” Schorl said, prepping the gryphon, “Your friends were sold to a minotaur from a country outside of Equestria. The country itself has restricted access to outsiders, and it would be very unlikely for you to be allowed to enter, find your friends, and leave with them. Even with my connections, I can only set hoof on those lands when given permission.”

“Then how do I get permission?” Anya asked, not even knowing until this point that there was a country of minotaur outside of Equestria, as the minotaur she had encountered were all Equestria natives, and didn’t exist together in large civilizations.

“Simple enough,” Schorl replied, “While I have no authority to grant you access into the minotaur’s lands, I can get you in contact with those who can. In fact, I’ve contacted such a bull right now.”

Schorl looked to a door behind her, opposite the one Anya had entered, and a few seconds later two figures entered. The first was a large, grizzled looking minotaur, which Anya had expected. What followed after him though was more surprising, as it was a gryphon, and one that she was familiar with, as it was the one she was tracking to begin with. The fact that Anya was in the room wasn’t lost on the other female gryphon either, as her eyes widened for a moment upon spotting Ayna, before her expression changed to annoyance, her feathers ruffling as her cheeks puffed up her cheeks and her arms went cross.

“Miss Anya, I know you know Gilda,” Schorl said, entertained by the reaction of the younger gryphoness, “But our more important guest here is a minotaur slaver from the island continent of Minopolis.”

“Never heard of it,” Anya stated bluntly, having indeed never heard that name in her life.

“As you wouldn’t,” said the minotaur, “We have done well to not spread the name of our homelands in Equestria, nor have we allowed its location to be known to those outside of our most trusted… resources.”

“Oh please,” Schorl responded to the bull’s remark, “You flatter me. What our friend here says is true, though. Ask any pony in Equestria, be they a common earth pony, or Princess Celestia herself, about Minopolis, and all you’d get are confused looks.”

“Meaning that even if you let me go, I’d never be able to find the place on my own, I take it.” Anya said, voicing her conclusions aloud.

“Exactly,” said the minotaur, “But if you are willing to prove your worth to the minotaur nation, through service to our cause, then I may be inclined to grant you passage into our lands.”

“Schorl, what is he talking about?” Anya asked the crystal mare, “Cause this is starting to sound less like a business affair, and more like a bovine cult.”

“Well you see…” Schorl took a moment to explain the minotaurs’ situation, how they sought to increase their population, and how they could only do this through enslaving other species, as they had no females of their own, and willing participation in minotaur mating was dwindling, “So we supply slaves to Minopolis, and are paid generously for our services.”

Anya was both repulsed and impressed at Schorl’s handling of the minotaur’s need for slaves, taking their misfortune and turning it into something she could exploit. She could at least hold some form of begrudging respect for that kind of devious business model, which was something she couldn’t say about the minotaurs’ mating behaviors, which to her seemed like they were making excuses to kidnap and rape ponies.

“Now that you know about my little side business,” Schorl continued, “I want to leave you with the options you have. First one is the one that’s been stated. You do some work for this minotaur here, and in return he will take you to his homelands, where you can continue the search for your friends, without any further assistance from me. As far as it is concerned, I had nothing to do with this.”

“And what other option do I have?” Anya said with curiosity, as the mare was implying that there was some other choice the gryphon could make.

“Well, if it satisfies you more, I could simply compensate you for the loss of your property,” Schorl stated, “Pay you a sum that would be more than adequate for their value, and then we part ways on neutral terms. You would be taken out the same way that you came in, and delivered to Griffinstone, where you would have no idea how to find us again, and you wouldn’t be able to trust any other gryphons to help you.”

“Because they’d either not know what I’m talking about, be disinterested in helping, or on your payroll,” Anya said, listing off all the reasons gryphon help was not viable after leaving The Society.

“Correct,” Schorl confirmed, “And while you know Miss Jubilee is one of our members, searching any of her residences will not grant you any information about our whereabouts. Believe me, we’ve scrubbed her properties clean, and she will not speak against us.”

Anya knew that Schorl could have Cherry’s estate cleaned of any evidence of The Society, though questioned if it were true that Cherry herself wouldn’t squeal, but Schorl was trying to make a point here. Taking any gold that she was offering was a bribe, and would be an agreement on Anya’s part to never interfere with Society matters ever again. She had no doubt that if she tried, Schorl would take measures to silence her, which depending on how deep her network was, it might have been something the mare could very well do.

“If I chose to work for the minotaur, how long would it take for me to have pulled my weight?” Anya asked, considering the bribe a non-option, but still wanting to hear what it was she was signing up for.

“Nine months,” the bull answered, “And you’d be aiding us in enslaving other races, both on an individual level, and on a cultural scale.”

“Nine months!?” Anya yelled, standing up from her seat, outraged, upset more about the length of time she’d have to work than the things she was being asked to do, “Are you mad?!”

“You’re wanting me to reveal the secret location of my homelands, in the pursuit of two slaves who are in the hands of my kin. Nine months of work is the minimum I’m willing to go.”

“And don’t assume you will be working for nothing,” Schorl added, “Since our relationships with the minotaur have us exchanging slaves between each other, some of your captures will be brought to the Society, for which you will be compensated with room, board, and a bit account which you can use to barter the return of your friends with, once you locate them.”

“Wait,” Gilda interrupted, “That’s not the deal you gave me.”

“All deals are negotiated personally, and are not intended to be equal, Miss Gilda.” Schorl replied, “If you ever find that you no longer enjoy the terms we agreed upon, you are more than welcome to renegotiate your payment once they’ve come to a close. That is... unless you want to breach our agreement.”

Something Schorl said put a look of dread on Gilda’s face, and she shook her head at the mare. It was easy to tell that going back on a deal made with the mare was not a good idea, as one would expect when dealing with someone who made a profit from selling creatures as slaves.

“So nine months, with all my expenses covered, and you’ll even pay me.” Anya said, confirming Schorl’s list of benefits, “And how much are we talking about?”

“You’ll get a monthly pay rate, along with a commission for any capture you make,” Schorl said, sliding a paper on the table over Anya, “It’s less than what I pay most of our gryphon workers, if that pleases Miss Gilda to hear, but that rate is taking into consideration the service we are providing to you upon completion of your contract.”

Anya looked over what turned out to be a large list of coin totals she could receive for successful captures, which had been categorized down to male, female, and even children of any species that one could think of. While she didn’t know what the crystal mare paid other gryphons, the prices for each head on the list were enough that most bounty hunters would have been pleased. That was, except for…

“Not to sound like a heartless bitch, but why do you pay so low for children?” Anya wondered, seeing that for most species, they were a tenth of the value of adults.

“There are several factors,” Schorl said, “First being that The Society has standards when it comes to what we allow our customers to do, and one such standard is on abuse of the young. Basically, we don’t allow it, and thus capturing fillies, colts, foals, or what have you, is a large investment for us, for reasons I won’t go into here. Still, there will be times where you will have to capture one, such as in raids of foreign cities, and thus I wish to compensate you for the effort.”

“Fair,” Anya said, seeing that this was simply motivation, as most gryphons wouldn’t go out of their way to do anything if they weren’t rewarded for it.

“Now understand that you won’t be able to go out and capture any creature you want,” Schorl explained further, “You aren’t freelance, and we have to approve targets for capture. I say this because some of our hunters think they can just go after some of the higher valued targets and make a fortune.”

Anya had noticed that there were some creatures that were ridiculously high amounts, even with her supposedly reduced rates. There was even a listing for alicorns, which was in itself worth what looked to be enough coin to fill the Equestrian National Treasury, where one could easily retire in a small mansion with several servants, and still have left over money. Clearly, no one had actually claimed such a bounty yet, since there was no widespread panic over Equestria that one of their princesses was missing. It also had dragons on the list, but Anya didn’t think it would be a good idea to try and raid the Dragon Lands in hopes to capture something the size of a house.

“Those ones just exist to let employees know that if they will be appropriately compensated if they are given the opportunity to acquire such elusive captures. Now, if everything is in order, I’d like you to sign this.”

Schorl slid over another sheet of paper, this one having bold letters at the top that said ‘Employee Contract’. An inkwell was sent with it shortly after.

“You want me to sign this?” Anya questioned after reading it, finding that it touched upon everything Schorl had said, but knowing that it couldn’t possibly be a legally binding contract, due to the nature of the job Schorl wanted her for.

“It’s just a bit of insurance,” Schorl said, “Something to connect you to our business, in case you try to back out of our deal for any reason.”

Anya didn’t see the mare’s logic here, as if she did try to turn her into the local authorities, it would be unlikely she would be brought down by a simple signature telling them what she would already have let them know. If that was what Schorl was thinking, then it was a mistake. Still, at the moment she had no reason to go against the mare, so long as she fulfilled her part of the deal. Plucking a feather from her body, she dipped the tip into the inkwell, and placed her name on the line at the bottom, agreeing to the terms both in writing and mentally.

The gryphon sent the paper back once her name had been written, catching a small glimpse of the crystal unicorn’s horn glowing, before fading back to normal. Seemed she was quite pleased to have Anya on board in her slave ring. “Ok, everything is in order.” She said, taking the paper in hand, “You will leave for your first assignment immediately.”

“Immediately?” Anya asked, surprised to hear that she wouldn’t even be given a day to mentally prepare herself, “Okay… then where am I going and who’s the target?”

“You’ll have to ask your supervisor about those details.” Schorl said, “From this point on, you’ll be working under this bull here, since this deal is mostly between you two.”

“Fine,” Anya said, just wanting to get started.

The bull had been fairly stoic throughout this meeting, only watching as the two females spoke. When Anya looked in his direction though, he gave her a gesture to follow him out the door he had entered through, not waiting a second before heading to it himself. Anya quickly got up from her seat, seeing that the minotaur was stopping for nothing, and that she’d be left behind if she didn’t hurry.

“It was nice meeting you, Miss Anya,” Schorl said as the gryphon walked by, “And I hope you enjoy your stay in our employment.”

Anya didn’t reply, instead walking right out the door with the minotaur, with Gilda following right behind her. It was going to be a long time before she’d be able to find, and then free, Scylla and Pathfinder from their enslavement, and she didn’t want to waste a single second on unnecessary words.

There was one thing she was going to need to know going forward, unless she wanted to make things incredibly awkward for the next three months. “So big guy, do you have a name, or should I just call you minotaur?”

The bull tilted his gaze to her, still showing only a stern expression as he maintained his stride. As the three walked to their next destination, he only said one word, answering Anya’s question with as much brevity as possible.

“Rubric.”