//------------------------------// // Stakes // Story: Cause and Effect // by MoondustIsPoison //------------------------------// I arrived at one of the HQ's at around 4 in the afternoon, it was pretty empty as most people were only here to receive assignments, or cash in completed ones, the main HQ in the mointains was where most of the activity usually happened, this was just a discrete location for the headhunters and undercover specialists to work from, from outside and inside it's just a general store, it even sells stuff like a normal store as normal to keep cover, the owner is actually a militia dispactcher, and gives out mission's, usually disguised as instruction booklets or blueprints for furniture, only occasionally delivering missions outside of the building. I walked in and placed my envelope of proof on the table and said in a pretty nonschalant voice," hey man, need to mail this," I made a quick check of the store, some ponies were here looking around, i subconsiously checked my holster and looked back at him, "lemme see, another one to your grandma? Got it, it'll be sent within the week," Grandma M. Was a simple disguise I used to conceal my work, everyone had some kind of codename for a mission folder, more or less to prevent anyone from catching on, the store owner knew all 10 of us in this division, makes it easier to keep tabs on everyone, he then handed me an instruction booklet on how to build a cabinet, it was just that, inside was the actual next mission, a bookmark with a little serial number hidden in it, I would just have to mail the code to the dispatch for the next assignment and pay for the previous one, it was a pretty effective system to confirm everything at every stage to prevent fraud. I took the book and thanked him, as well as looked around the store, it sold everything from tools to guns, and if one had the right clearance it could be a good mine of armament, to sell my conversion potions I would just have to sneak them to a medical marijuana place near old Colorado city, they would buy them from me for quite the reasonable sum. Once I was satisfied by my inconspicuousness I left and jumped back in the aging Toyota and began my trek back home, I stopped for some coffee, and parked back in my garage at around 6, I had some pizza for dinner and browsed the internet for awhile and eventually went to bed. ***** The morning after I checked my bank account and found the promised $40,000, it was still pretty early but yet I had a new mission on my doorstep, this one would take some time and effort, I was going to kill the director of a potion manufacturer, the main problem I had was getting over the border between earth and ground zero, where it was supposedly located, the mission itself wouldn't be that difficult but it would be hard to actually get there, the mission didn't have a specified date of completion so at least I wouldn't have to rush. I set down the mission paperwork in my filing cabinet and had some cereal for breakfast, I needed to buy some groceries, and a gun I ordered about a month ago was finally ready for pick up, so I couldn't just good off today. The store was pretty devoid of humans, there were a couple of ponies but nothing out of the ordinary, I knew the ponies, they had joined the militia about a month after it was founded, I didn't know their names but they seemed to know me as the ran up to me with shocked expressions. One was a powder blue with a dark burgundy mane, and the other was a soft orange and yellow, one stallion and one made. " Are you the Grim Reaper!?" the blue one blurted as quietly as he could "Wait...What now?" his question caught me off guard and I subconsiously reached for my pistol. "Dude, you're a legend in the militia, that's what everyone calls you...you didn't know?" "Uhh, no.... I barely ever go to HQ I just take missions and fulfill them, I never knew that anyone seemed to know about me." I stepped back a pace as they were in my face a bit. " everyone is amazed at how you work, most of the kill photos you took are on the wall at HQ, all of them with one shot, that's why everyone knows you," the orange mare made another extatic looking face. "Oh, uhh....good to know....I guess?" I looked at the two with a thoroughly weirded out face "can I get your autograph!" they both chirped in unison " Uhh, I don't give out signatures" I stated slightly backing up " then just do the thing you do to sign off on your work! Ya know with the bullet stamping thing" I usually signed off on my work using the exact shell casing I used to kill the target, cover it in ink and stamp. " I'm afraid I'm bound by contract not to do that in public, I just want to get some eggs please..." I stepped back again and watched as one of them pressed in her ear, "Subject is not cooperating plan use plan RD" at that I drew my gun and ran, I heard a loud crash as the roof near the two fell in and a team of Pegasus soldiers dropped in through the gaping hole. I fired 2 shots into their numbers and bolted for the emergency exit, I heard yelling and some magic weapons going off, I heard a dull thud as I crashed through the exit and ran toward my daily driver Subaru, I jumped in and punched it to the road, a wing of pegasi hot on my tail. "Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shiiit" I muttered as I drove, I expected someone to try at my life but never with this much planning, a whole fucking platoon of soldiers, seriously, who can possibly expect that? I drove for a safe house nearby and occasionally made some detours to throw them off a bit, but they still relentlessly followed, why was another reason, they hadn't killed or transformed me yet and if they wanted to they could do so whenever, but they just followed, odd, I kept this up for about an hour and soon avoided them by hiding in the forest, I relaxed a bit before I felt a sharp prick in my arm, I looked to it just in time to see a mare decloak and inject me with some kind of clear fluid. " WHAT THE FUCK?" I yelled and punched at her, she grunted a bit as her face met my fist. "You shall be perfect...." she disappeared and I waved my hands in the place she just was, nothing, "oh fuck what the he'll did she just inject me with?" I found the needle on the floor, it was labeled, 'contains ketamine, for equine use only, CAUTION single dose only do not reuse this vial' "oh shit" I said to myself quietly as I felt the effects kick in. I'd just been injected with a horse tranquilizer ***** My vision went blurry, I heard whispers and saw flashbacks of the ponies in the store, then it all fell apart and the massive dose of drugs caused me to black out, I felt the fabric of the passenger seat touch my face before everything shut down.