A little chime on the computer told me it was time. I locked it, stood up, and strode purposefully from my new office. I was in the zone. I was ready to tackle this project. Fatigue was entirely forgotten as I moved with that singular purpose down the hallways to where the meeting was scheduled to take place. I was not successful by being late, ever.
The room had a number and little else. I rapped the back of my hand on it. No answer. I opened it to reveal a sparsely appointed room. There was a single small table in the center with three chairs on one side, and one on the opposing side. Which side was I sitting at? There was only one person I was to speak to that day, so I made a choice and sat on one of the three. It wouldn't be hard to move if I was proven wrong.
Ah, there she was. She entered with two severely-dressed men, which had me switching sides quickly. Oops.
She smiled thinly. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Frohein," spoke the director that Linda has just briefed herself on. She strode to the table with much the same purpose I had earlier and slid into the center of the three seats. She was flanked by the men quietly. "Don't mind them. They're just security."
Security? "We should be secure here, I'd hope."
"As do we all." She gave that thin smile again. "We have much to discuss, Miss Frohein. Thank you for coming such a long distance to reach us. We understand this was quite an inconvenience on your part, but there are only a few places equipped for this specific matter of investigation."
Investigation? That was not in my briefing at all. I thought we were discussing a potential merger. This was not going as I had planned at all. "We're... investigating the potential barriers to the merger, I imagine?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes." She leaned forward, forearms on the table, fingers twined from one hand to the other. "Let's dispense with some of the... small lies. Every bit of intel we have says you are the key to our research. Your employer was paid quite a handsome fee to ensure your arrival." She pulled up a slim briefcase from the floor and slid it onto the table. "I should start by saying that you have committed no illegal acts, save one, which we are willing to forgive for your cooperation."
I had read enough books. I could guess where this was going. "You work for the government, or a shadowy business that works for the government, I assume?"
"Astute." She popped open the briefcase. "Yours is not the first case, though most were, at their respective times, dismissed as the ravings of a damaged mind." She pulled a single sheet free and slid it across to me. On it was a photograph of a horse. Not just any horse, a blue horse, with large eyes and wings. It was a pony. "I trust you know what this is."
It wasn't a question. They knew. They knew everything, somehow. I considered the options. I could try to be cagey. I could lie like it was going out of style. There... were few happy endings in either direction. If I worked with them, I was an asset, possibly a valuable one. "Is he alright?" I tapped the picture.
"I'm fine," said the guard on the left. With a flare of flames, he was gone, and the blue pegasus was seated in his chair, still wearing the severe tuxedo, glasses, and earpiece that the man had been. "Thanks for asking."
The women glanced aside at him, but did not seem startled. I was startled! I'd seen ponies. Heck, I saw them transform before, but not like that. He had no horn, so how was he even doing it? "You have a pony... on the payroll?"
"We have." She drew the picture back. "He's been quite the source of information, and loyal beside that. He's our first true alien to be nationalized. He is a citizen. Show her."
He drew out his ID. It displayed his human self. His name was 'Simulacrum'. What a name...
"So... What is it you're hoping to get?"
"Using Simalacrum, we have been monitoring the country for similar patterns. Pony 'magic' is a specific spectrum of radiation. It can be detected." She pulled a metal rod from her case and twisted it on. It made a few odd clicks, like a Geiger counter. She waved it over Simulacrum and it got a little more excited. "When he changes, it gets much louder for a brief period of time. Now, you." She reached across the table with it. I didn't fight it. It began to click and chirp as she waved it over me. I was radiating pony 'magic'.
"You gave our agent quite the scare."
Who? "Who?"
"The young man at the alien spotting attraction. That coin your associate attempted to hand him made his detector go black." She saw my confusion. "Field agents are given sheets of paper, like a litmus test. The more they are exposed to this radiation, the darker it gets. He avoided coming into contact with it, and reported the incident."
I cringed at that. "She wasn't trying to hurt anyone."
"We are certain she didn't. This radiation is harmless, so far as research has uncovered. Unless actively being directed, it does very little to anything." She steepled her fingers. "Your guest has been very polite, please tell us about her."
Oh... Oh... "Look, she just wants to go home. She isn't an invading alien or even breaking laws."
"She's broken one." The woman raised a finger. "She is an illegal alien. We could fix that... Tell us about her." She folded the suitcase shut. "I've seen the same movies, read the same books. I'm sure you're worried we're here to harm her, but that's not the truth. We are authorized to make judgments outside the direct supervision of the executive branch. Our mission is to apply the laws fairly to unusual would-be citizens and other foreign nationals."
"Does that apply to just ponies?"
"That's on a need-to-know basis." She raised a fine brow. "I'm sure you understand that. Under the current president, there's considerable pressure to have things... changed, but let's not get too mired in politics. Your guest?"
I let out a heavy sigh. This was not the way I planned to spend the day at all. Still, lying wasn't going to help. They knew her... "Starlight. Her name is Starlight Glimmer. She's a kind soul, curious about the world."
"And she's from their world?"
I put my hands on the counter. "As am I." She started. I surprised her, and that felt good in a petty sort of way. "I am the first dual-citizen. The sovereign of their nation knows me on a first name basis."
She frowned sharply. "You have a means of moving from one country to the other? You use it daily?"
At first, that surprised me, but I quickly reasoned they were probably looking for whatever Equestrian magic radiation was. I must have been putting it out every time I fell asleep. "Yes. It's not a voluntary action."
Surprise flickered across her features again, but she was back in control. "Not voluntary?"
"I... transition when I fall asleep. I lead two lives right now. In one, Linda Frohein, lawyer. In the other, True Shot, relationship counselor."
Simulacrum flashed a fanged smile. "You're a pony? Of love?"
The woman, Director Swanson, held up a hand to silence him. "There's no law against that," she said simply. "So long as you obey the laws of both lands, you are free to come and go. However, that means you are uniquely equipped to give us information to handle this better. We have little doubt that there are other members of their country scattered across the world. If you can help us deal with them, you would be doing them, and your country, a service."
I glanced towards the guard who was still silent. "Pardon, but is he one too?"
"No ma'am," he gruffly replied.
She nodded. "Simulacrum is uniquely adapted. Now, we don't want to entirely disrupt your living conditions. You are still employed, with the same title and responsibilities. Consider us a little authorized moonlighting. We will correspond with you, and you might help a lot of people."
There she was again, trying to appeal to my sense of goodness, maybe a little patriotism in there. "What's the pay?" I asked bluntly. If I hadn't committed any crimes, then payment should be standard.
Simulacrum seemed to approve, his grin growing wider.
Swanson produced a small envelope from a pocket. "As I imagine you have guessed, your new residence was not entirely launched by the benefit of your employer." She set the envelope within reach. "We are prepared to make an offer. Do you accept?"
I slid the envelope closer, popped open the flap and pulled free the slender slip of paper inside. It was on a formal header. Everything looked proper. I was being offered forty thousand a year as a consultant. As a lawyer, that wasn't a high-paying job, not at all, but the listed responsibilities were simply to 'disclose information'. It said any additional duties would be compensated for. I tapped that clause. "What other 'additional' duties, and how much?"
She shrugged lightly. "For example, if one of their citizens is disoriented and lost, we may need someone familiar with them to help settle them. If you succeed in sending Miss Glimmer home, access to that technology may be required. If this becomes a full-time position, the option to renegotiate is included."
I read over it. As it stood, it limited my weekly hours to ten. Ten hours a week for 40k? That wasn't nearly as bad. Still wasn't a lawyer's pay... It wasn't bad, mind. "Benefits?"
"Pension, medical, dental, vision. You would be an employee of the United States, with all the benefits thereof."
And downfalls. I had heard about the times people in similar positions were screwed when Washington decided to play with the budget. "Can I think it over?"
Miss Swanson stood up. "This is where I make a threatening posture about this, but this isn't a spy novel. We really do want your help, and you are a law abiding citizen. However." That brow went up. "Harboring an illegal alien can get you up to five years in prison. I trust you are perfectly aware of that. You are also aware that your guest is not a citizen. You are guilty. I doubt many judges would see it otherwise."
I was starting to really sweat. They had me. There weren't a lot of ways I could claim I didn't know Starlight was an alien. I had already given up that option in the conversation we already had. "But if I go along, this goes away?"
"Oh, not entirely. If we simply brushed it under a carpet, it would be waiting to cause trouble down the road. No, you would be prosecuted, found guilty, and sentenced. The gravity of that sentence would be severely reduced." She pointed to the paper I still held. "Consider it community service."
Simulacrum glanced aside at Miss Swanson, then me. "Do you know what I am?"
I didn't, and admitted as much. "A spellcasting pegasus?"
"Huh." He went quiet.
"Consider it. You have my number. Please do not leave the state before giving me a reply, and don't take Miss Glimmer out of the city or you will be guilty of alien smuggling in addition to harboring." Swanson made a gesture to come along to her guards.
Simulacrum became a man again in a rush of flames that didn't harm the chair he was seated on. They both stood up.
Like that, they left. I slumped against a wall. Had the whole thing with my boss being an extreme lie just to get me out here? How much did even he know? Should I tell him? Should I ask? Questions stormed through my mind. Life had just gotten considerably more complicated.