Laying Low

Once Lyra and Bon Bon had patted down Fast Talk. Taken his revolver and unloaded it. Then confirmed he had no other ordnance stashed around his little office things relaxed a bit in my Royal Equestria Security Forces (RESF) dreamscape. Link

     The mares had plopped the stallion back down in his knackered office chair and Lyra was now sitting on the edge of his desk while she questioned him. For her part Bon Bon stood in one corner of the room with her back to a couple of battered filing cabinets. From here she could keep her eyes on the stallion, the drawers of the desk, the door, and slightly out the one window of the office. The earth pony continued to cradle her shotgun in her arms.

     The mint green unicorn was more the charmer, so Bon Bon usually let her handle most of the questioning while the earth pony loomed and projected an aura of stern authority. This good pony, bad pony routine worked very well for them and was paying dividends this evening.

     Lyra leaned over slightly and smiled at the stallion. "Now Fast Talk. We have an agreement. You remember that agreement don't you? The one you signed with the DA's office. You could keep your freedom and could continue to run some of your businesses, but in return you had to discreetly keep us aware of your whereabouts. That way you could help us now and then when certain problems came up."

     The unicorn brushed some imaginary dust from one of her pant legs before continuing. "So imagine our surprise when you suddenly ditched your apartment. Cleared out of your old place of business, and stopped replying to our emails, texts, and calls. Fast Talk we were genuinely concerned for your well being! Bon Bon and I were worried you'd run afoul of some unsavory ponies."

     "Yeah we were really concerned." Bon Bon grumbled as she inserted some finger between the closed blinds and carefully peered down at the now darkening street below.

     Fast Talk grinned sheepishly. "Officers trust me! I wasn't trying ditch you 2 fine mares, or squirm out of our agreement! I mean I didn't leave Ft. Trotterdale. I'm just laying low for a bit. Things out on the streets have been fucking weird. One of my biggest, um, business relations just vanished and everypony is now pointing fingers and saying shit about each other. I was afraid somepony would decide I needed to disappear as well! So I went to ground. That's all!"

     Bon Bon set her shotgun on the filing cabinet next to the .41 magnum they'd taken from the stallion. She picked up the revolver and gave it a critical looking over. It was a big brutal looking thing. Its 3 inch barrel looked almost comical compared to its large frame and cylinder. Most of the bluing had rubbed off, and at some point somepony had lopped off the hammer spur and then technically rounded the edges with a coarse file. The oil finish of the smooth wood grips was almost black from years of handling and neglect. She looked over at the stallion.

     "So is that why you have this hand cannon? You usually don't pack, and I'm pretty sure no legit shop sold you this piece of iron." The earth pony opened cylinder again and confirmed again that it was unloaded. Then she snapped it closed and pointed at a far wall. She looked down its low, fixed sights and pulled the trigger. There was a sharp click. The mare nodded her head and muttered.

     "It looks like shit, but its timing is alright and its got a nice trigger."

     "Yeah." Fast Talk said. "Look. Broken Jaw and most of her lieutenants and upper troops have suddenly vanished overnight, and I can easily see some ponies thinking I had something to do with it and try to put the blame on me. Link Broken Jaw was a fucking psycho, and she was feared and despised by most out on the streets. But many of those same ponies would still whack the pony that took her out. At the same time if some association had moved in took her out you'd expect them to come out and immediately claim the turf. At the same time you'd expect other interested parties to try and stop them."

     The stallion shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "But none of that has happened. Nopony is openly claiming they iced her and her lieutenants. Nopony is trying to claim the businesses she use to own or would shake down, and for their part those businesses seem to be acting like nothing has changed."

     Lyra pursed her lips and thought for a second before replying. "Bon Bon and I have heard similar rumors in the grapevine. Unfortunately we're just as much in the dark. Have you heard anything Fast Talk? Any speculation, rumors, gossip, or WAGs? No matter how crazy?"

     The stallion's face scrunched up, then he spun his office chair around and peered out between the blinds at the street below for a moment. He then spun back around and looked at Lyra. "Check the hallway with your glasses." He said quietly with a deadpan voice.

     Lyra looked over at her partner. Bon Bon slowly nodded her head as she carefully picked her shotgun. The unicorn got up and donned wraparound glasses. Once again they shimmered as the wards activated. Quietly she walked to the door and slowly opened it. Cautiously she looked out into the hallway. Slowly peered up and down it several times before closing the door and return to the stallion.

     "Nothing."

    The dapple violet stallion took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his neck and short mane with his right hand. "Okay. Understand this is just stuff I've heard. Nothing concrete. The kind of shit ponies say when they think nopony is really listening to them. Crazy stuff.

    He paused and looked at the 2 mares. "Rumor on the street is.... that Ft. Trotterdale has a serious changeling problem."