Return to Sender
“I. Am. Freezing.”
Starlight rolled her eyes for the third time in as many minutes, wishing that she could have just handled this assignment herself. Unfortunately, as annoying as the Special Attaché to the Embassy – a thin pegasus stallion named Bright Beam – was, he was also essential to confirming the identity of the defector she’d come to collect.
There was also the small matter that she hated defectors. For a pony as loyal and devoted to her nation as she was, the idea of betraying it for money or out of some twisted, warped sense of honor was beyond the pale, and both sorts were often among the very worst of creatures.
Of course, given that the defector pony in question was escaping from the Changeling Empire, she hated them a little less.
Just a little less.
But she still hated them, and hate was hardly a good way to establish trust. Having the pony they’d originally made contact with involved in the actual extraction was the best way to ensure the defector didn’t get cold hooves at the last minute. Which was why she was sitting here on a freezing city bench in Crystal Junction, one of the Changeling Empire's 'free-trade zones', with a pony most definitely not suited for field work.
Levitating out her pocketwatch, Starlight verified they still had a few minutes remaining in the pickup window. “Go over his bio one more time,” she ordered.
“We already did that,” Bright Beam protested.
She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. After a few seconds, he relented.
“Fine,” he replied. “Rusty Bolt, mid-thirties, Earth Pony, degree in metallurgy, junior scientist in the Changeling Empire’s Advanced Weapons Research program. Gangly build, no spouse or children, last parent died about a year ago. All the usual hallmarks of someone ideal for defecting.”
“Yes, very convenient,” she replied. “And he told you that he just happened to have access to the plans for the new Talon chemical weapons airborne distribution system.”
“Actually, I was the one who asked him for that,” the other pony replied. “You know the game as well as I do, Glimmer. Celestia can talk up our charity all she likes, but we expect defectors to bring something of value to justify the effort of setting them up with new lives in Equestria. He said he had access to files, and you and I both know that Intelligence wants the details on the Talon system something fierce.”
“And did it ever occur to you that all this was a little too convenient?”
He snorted. “Of course it’s convenient. That’s why you’re here, in case it goes south. But just think of what a coup it’ll be to get the plans for that system! We can develop a countermeasure before they even roll it out.”
She said nothing, returning to her own thoughts and leaving him to his visions of glory, though she mentally revised her appraisal of the stallion up a point for being competent enough to see it could be a ruse.
That still left him ninety points short of a hundred.
A few minutes passed, putting them near the end of the window for the pony in question to show up. As much as she didn’t like it, she would wait the full allotted time, and not a minute less.
A flicker of light from a match appeared in the distance, the pre-arranged signal. Starlight moved away from the bench, discreetly pulling her gun from its holster.
“Told you he’d show up,” Bright Beam said, bringing up a flashlight and waving it back and forth twice. He started to move forward, only stopping as Starlight swung a leg out to block him.
“Let him come to us,” she said. Before he could protest, the echoes of gunshots cut him off, putting both ponies on alert.
“He’s heading this way!” a voice shouted in the distance, before more gunshots rang out.
Starlight shoved Bright Beam back behind her. “Get to the car.”
For once, he didn’t argue, only the sound of quick hoofsteps punctuating his departure.
Raising her gun, she moved forward, taking cover behind the low wall along the edge of the roadway where they’d been waiting. She could finally see the gangly stallion she’d come to collect, darting back and forth between the statues in the park, trying to use them for cover as the approaching guards continued to fire.
The stallion was moving quickly, but it wasn’t going to be enough – she could see his pursuit closing the distance. Aware it would give away her position, she took aim and opened fire, sending two rounds whizzing over the approaching stallion’s head.
He stumbled, but stayed upright, continuing toward her. The shots had the desired effect, the pursuit slowing as they now sought out their own cover, unsure of who or how many might be shooting at them.
Rusty Bolt slowed as he approached, drawing a curse from her lips. The fools always thought they were safe just because they’d seen someone friendly. Reaching out, she seized him bodily with her magic, pulling him in an arc over the wall and setting him onto the street behind her.
“To the alley,” she hissed, pushing him in that direction. “Go!”
Fur prickling that she was turning her back to him, she fired three more shots, slowing the pursuit once more. Then, concentrating, she disappeared with a crack of teleportation magic…reappearing right beside the car just as Rusty Bolt was skidding to a stop.
“Get in!” Bright Beam said, his hoof holding the back door open. The Earth Pony needed no further prodding, barely getting the door closed before Starlight was maneuvering them onto the main road, doing her best to disappear in the evening traffic.
For a minute, the only noise in the car was breathing, as two of the occupants did their best to catch their breath, while the third focused on the road.
“Did we lose them?” Rusty finally asked, coughing a little as he did so.
“Well?” Bright Beam asked, looking to Starlight.
“For now,” she replied, downshifting to beat a stoplight. She looked at the defector in the rear-view mirror. “How did they catch you?”
“The night patrols,” he said, pulling a kerchief from his saddlebag to wipe at his brow. “They wanted to see my papers. Usually, it’s just a way to harass you, and they don’t look too closely, but this patrol saw my assignment and realized I was out past curfew. They started to call for help, so I ran.”
“You have the documents?” Bright Beam asked.
The defector nodded nervously. “Of course,” he said, rummaging in his bag once more before coming up with a silver document folio. “It’s all here.”
Bright Beam seized the folio, flipping it open with one wing. In the sporadic light from the streetlights above, Starlight could see glimpses of technical drawings as she glanced over.
“Well?” she asked.
“It looks to be genuine,” the other pony said, a smile crossing his face as he closed the folio. “Thank you, Rusty.”
The defector now seemed nervous. “You’re not going to send me back now, right? I brought the stuff, so I get to stay?”
“Of course you get to stay,” Bright Beam replied. “You’ll be heading for Equestria and your new life there soon enough.”
Starlight took the next left, driving in the direction of the embassy. Now that the exchange was made, she would drop the pegasus and the defector back there before heading to the train station to make her own exit. After a few days, once the situation had cooled and the police would be less on alert, the defector would be smuggled out, likely through the diplomatic bag.
“I don’t get to leave now?” he asked, sounding disappointed. “I thought Agent Glimmer was going to take me back with her.”
“Too risky,” she said, now relaxing as she pulled the car to a stop next to the curb, a small distance from the embassy. Looking in the mirror, she gave the defector a reassuring smile. “You’ll be safe in the embassy until they can get you out.”
Putting the car in park, she stepped onto the street, moving to open the door for the defector to get out, doing a cursory check for anyone on the street at this hour. Satisfied it was all clear, she tugged the handle.
“Well, thanks anyway,” he said, stepping out onto the street.
“My pleasure,” she replied, before sticking a knife into his neck. Just as quickly, she grabbed him in her magic to keep him from falling, focusing the energy to clamp down on his muzzle and prevent him from crying out as green ichor oozed out around the knife.
“What are you doing!?” Bright Beam half-shouted, before catching himself and lowering his voice. "You just killed him!"
She held the grip and knife in place until the eyes went glassy, then faded, the eyelids drifting closed.
“He’s not a defector, and he’s no scientist,” she replied, levitating the body back into the back seat. She pulled out her knife, showing Bright Beam the green ooze on the blade before she wiped it off on the supposed defector’s coat.
Bright Beam looked floored. “A Changeling? But…what gave it away? How did you…”
“He knew my name,” she replied. “You didn’t know who was coming to do the extraction, so you couldn’t have told him, and a scientist has no reason to know who I am.” She closed the door. “And neither of us used my name in the car. That left only one option.”
The pegasus looked thoughtful. “That means these plans are likely worthless.”
“Most likely, but send them in anyway. Determining their value is above either of our paygrades. Now, you’d best get into the embassy.”
“The body?”
“That’s for me to worry about,” she replied, getting back into the car. “And Bright Beam?”
The pegasus halted mid turn, looking back.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said, before closing the door.
There wasn’t much point in attempting to continue the deception. Sooner rather than later, the Changeling would have been expected to report in, and Starlight knew Princess Luna well enough to suspect that she’d rather send a clear message to the Changeling Empire that their attempt to plant a new spy had failed.
Accordingly, she didn’t even attempt to hide the body. Driving the car to the train station, she parked it in the return lot for rentals, knowing that it wouldn’t be checked in until the morning anyway. Dropping the keys into the night drop box, she concealed her weapon in her bag before trotting into the train station.
The security measures were sedate and unchanged, which to Starlight was merely one more confirmation that the Changelings had wanted to make sure the spy had an easy time being smuggled out, regardless of the method. She stifled a yawn as she let the conductor check her ticket, taking it back with a passive smile. As far as he was concerned, she was just another overworked, underpaid citizen of Equestria, going back to toil in the salt mines for her employer.
Unsurprisingly for this hour, the compartment was empty. Starlight waited for the train to start moving before she turned the lock on the compartment door, pulling the shade down for extra privacy. Then, trusting her instincts, she stretched out on the cushion and settled into a light sleep.