Pony of Interest

"Uhhhh" Rainbow Dash moaned as she woke up. Her wounds still hurt from her recent fights. She got out of bed and trotted out of her room and into the main room. Luna was sitting at a table reading a file and finishing an apple. There was a small paper bag on the table next to her.

"Good morning Rainbow Dash." Luna greeted her, not taking her eyes off the paper she was reading.

"I guess this is the pony you want me to find." Dash said.

"It is, but before I brief you, your going to have to change your look." Luna motioned to the paper bag. It had mane dye, hair scissors, and a few other products. Rainbow Dash hadn't really changed or cared about her looks after she got court martial. She would cut it every now and then, but nothing out of the usual. She took the bag then trotted towards the bathroom.

After about fifteen minutes Rainbow Dash trotted out of the bathroom. Her mane mane and tail were cut short. Her mane was now blue and red and her tail was light green mixed with a dark blue.

"That will do" Luna said. "Your now going to need a new name."

"Spectra" Rainbow Dash said her middle name. Her mother's first name.

"It'll work. Now Spectra, Rainbow Dash is dead. She died of exhaustion and starvation while attempting to flee Manehatten. Do you understand?"

"Yes"

"Here's the file for your first mission." Luna gave Spectra the file and she began to read.

"His name is Sickle" Luna began while Spectra was reading. "Earth pony. Born in Las Pegasus then he got drafted into service. He was a blacksmith for the royal guard. He now runs a project called Project High Point. Him and his team research and advance royal guard weapons and armor. He currently lives in Canterlot so your not going to have to go far."

"So he's a high class target. Some pony's going to assassinate him." Spectra assumed

"I don't know. My spell gives me a cutie mark and that's it. For all we know he could be trying to kill somepony. Mabye a competing project director or too stubborn client. The Royal Guard aren't the only ponies interested in his line of work according to these business papers. Either way you need to observe him then go in for the kill or the save."

"Understood." Spectra then went off to pack her gear. According to the documents Sickle lived on the north side of town. That is where the important business ponies all lived. It wasn't going to be easy. Not only did Sickle live in a gated community, but he also ran the security there.

Night time One day after start of mission Gate community 14 Royal Trade Gates

Spectra flew above the clouds carefully avoiding any night guards or alarms hidden in clouds. She had a bad experience with tripping alarms throughout her life. She surreptiously flew down on a rooftop. She looked at the address or what the community called an address. The community was organized by businesses and occupations of the ponies living there. Bankers, stockers, lawyers, and other business ponies lived together while scientists had their own section. Luckily she wasn't too far from her objective's destination. She was currently at Section 3: Physics and Chemistry and she needed to be at Section 6: Magic and Technology. She flew over the many mansions and guard stations that littered the land. After about ten minutes of searching she arrived at Section 6. Sickle lived directly in the middle of the block and he had the largest house too so it wasn't hard for Spectra to find his house. House 15, Section 6, Professor Sickle, Magic and technology.

Spectra flew on top of a nearby house top and pulled out her binoculars and began observing Sickle. He was out on a balcony trotting in circles. He seemed impatient like he was expecting somepony. Then suddenly the clouds over the house dispersed and a dark figure landed on the balcony. The form was too large for a pony and the body structure only suggested one species in Spectra's mind. A griffon. Spectra focused on Sickle and the griffon. They were talking about something. The professor seemed calm while the griffon was stressed and angry. Then Sickle went back inside his house and after two minutes he reappeared with a package. It had the similar shape to a case that Spectra had opened the previous night. Sickle unlocked the case and took out a crossbow. He hoofed it to the griffon who was looking over the object. Griffon tech wasn't as advanced as Equestria's, so black market trading wasn't uncommon for the Griffon Empire. Then the griffon handed it back to the pony and Sickle put it back into the case. The pony then went into his house again and brought out more cases. The griffon inspected the cases then grabbed them and took off. The cloud above the house reformed leaving no trace of the griffon.

Sickle trotted back inside and turned out the lights. After another hour of watching the house Spectra packed her gear and started to head back towards the Canterlot Underground.

"What do you have to report Spectra?" Luna asked as Spectra trotted down one of the hidden entrances and into the main hall.

"Sickle is working for the other side. He's selling weapons to the griffon army." Spectra reported. "The griffon buyer seemed angry towards him."

"Ok. So we have a top equestrian scientist working with the Griffon Empire selling them weapons and probably other technology. So why?"

"He doesn't care who he's selling weapons to as long as he gets money. He's making an easy fortune by helping the other side." Spectra made an educated guess. "He seemed calm while talking to the stressed griffon. He knew that he had other clients he could rely on if the griffons stopped doing business with him."

"But mabye if they stop trading the griffons will just kill him and take his work for their own use. Tomorrow you're getting a new job. I have sent Sickle a letter saying that you will be overseeing his project and that you and The Cloudsdale Guard are interested in doing business with him. Get as much information as you can and if you see the griffon at Sickle's house again trail the griffon mabye we can get some more information."

Morning The next day High Point Labs

"Good morning Miss......Spectra was it?" Sickle asked. It has been two hours since the facility had opened and all of the ponies started working and testing. There was a lot to do today. Three new armor prototypes had to be tested as well as a new crossbow variant. Today was also the the day where all sub directors of the project had a meeting. He was not looking forward to this day and a sudden letter sent from the Cloudsdale Guard the day before and a representative visiting today was not a good start.

"That's correct Professor Sickle. I must apologize for the late notice, but in Cloudsdale has become a large target for griffon border jumpers and spies alike. The guard are easily outnumbered and our technology isn't as advanced as it is for the Royal Guard. We were hoping that your project would be willing to accept another large client."

"Miss Spectra my organization is always looking for new clients and I assure you that I can assist you in any way possible." Sickle smiled. He knew that another client would put more stress on his organization, but at the same time more funding and profit. After another hour of talking about the guard's interests and the facility's technology, Sickle realized his direction meeting was about to start. "Well it's been great talking to you Miss Spectra, but I have a directors meeting to attend to now unless you would like to join me. You'll meet the sub directors and see how fast our tech moves here."

"I would be honored to join you Professor. I'm very interested in the technology myself and I would like to see the progress your facility has achieved."

"Very well then. Follow me." Sickle motioned her to follow him. The two ponies trotted down a hallway and into a large meeting room with four other ponies sitting at the table. "Attention everypony this is Miss Spectra. She will be joining us on this meeting. She represents the Cloudsdale Guard and she is interested in our organization. Please show some respect." The scientist ponies understood and all stood up and introduced themselves.

"I'm Aegis, I research and improve armor. I also oversee all prototype testing in the laboratories." The red unicorn said. He looked at Sickle as he sat down knowing that this was another important client. He knew that all introductions to clients for sub directors should be brief unless the client wanted to learn more.

Then a gray earth pony stood up and introduced himself. "I"m Broad Head. I test and research crossbow and bolt technology."

"I'm Flicker. I research pyrotechnics for military usage." Said the female orange pegasus. Her mane and tail were a mix of yellow and red, and out of everypony there she seemed to be the only pony with energy.

Finally the last scientist got up. She was a wood green pegasus with a black mane #Too similar to Fletch#. She also had a deep scar running across her neck. "I'm Valkyrie. I research and test crossbow technology along with Broad Head. I also coordinate the manufacturing of all of the products built in this facility." She sat back down and had a slight glare at Sickle.

Sickle noticed Valkyrie, and seemed a little annoyed with her, but shrugged it off. "Now down to business. I know today is a busy day for everypony so lets just cut to the chase. Aegis, how much more time do you need to test our newest armor?"

"We should be done testing tomorrow if everything goes smoothly." Aegis answered him. "Forging the armor is done, it's just enchanting them that's taking them so long."

"Very well. You have two days to complete testing and I expect to see the final product by the end of the week. So Broad Head how are things coming up on your side of research?"

Broad Head seemed a little hesitant with his answer. "Well our recent crossbow variant will be completing it's final tests today and we should have a final product by tomorrow. We would have been done by know, but of course you know well about our little accident that set us back." After he reported he looked at Valkyrie. She was staring down at the table trying to avoid any contact with Broad Head.

"I see. Miss Spectra I'll have to explain later to what happened, but for now I would like to continue. Flicker what have you been doing? From what I've heard you and your team have done something too big."

Flicker chuckled at the comment. "We finished testing our mines. They work on land and on clouds. We've also finished our exploding tips. Sorry if you heard some noise boss."

"Just tell somepony next time Flicker. I don't want this entire facility destroyed. Ok well last and foremost what have you been doing Valkyrie?" Sickle knew very well about Valkyrie staying up past working hours. "From what the guards have told me, you've been spending more time here than in your house. Sixteen hours at least each day."

"Well that's a little exaggerated sir. I've just been caught up with research, trying to regain some lost time. As Broad Head said we're finishing testing today, but there is something I want to bring to your attention. There was another report of stolen weapons, but this time it happened inside the facility. I checked the stock every week, but we were short twenty crossbow Mk 10s this week. All shipments were accounted for, and all visitor and worker check ins were accounted for that day."

"That will be for another time Valkyrie. I understand that there is a security issue and I do intend to fix it. Remember when we moved the facility a few years years ago? A lot of things went missing and so we moved to a more secure facility. We are all scientists here so instead of complaining lets fix the problem and move on." Sickle seemed more annoyed. Valkyrie didn't seem to be doing anything wrong, but only he knew where those crossbows were. Spectra noticed the stress in Sickle even though he was working hard trying not to show it.

Sickle got up from his chair and spoke "That will be the report for the month. If anypony has anything else they want to say please say it now..................Ok well I expect all finished products by the end of the week. Miss Spectra I have a few things to do, but you are free to take a look around the facility."

The ponies shuffled out of the room and Spectra was left alone. "If only Sickle knew or even Valkyrie could know." Spectra said to herself. She trotted over to a file cabinet a started going through them. Nothing. No security reports, no worker check ins, and no reports on an accident. The files were a dead end. Spectra figured that Sickle had them all in a more secure place. She then trotted out of the conference room and headed over to the area marked Lab 1A. Aegis was there with five other unicorns working hard on enchanting the piece of armor that's on the table. An aurora of different colors started forming around the armor. After another five minutes of continued concentration by the unicorn team the armor began to glow on it's own. Aegis started to trot over.

"It's harder than it looks you know." said Aegis.

"I'm just taking a look around. When I served my platoon didn't have armor since we were all pegasi. Have you ever considered making a more flexible armor for pegasi guards?" When Rainbow Dash served all she had was a jacket and a vest as armor. Most pegasi guards on the border didn't wear armor since it slowed them down in flight.

"Yes I have as a matter of fact." Aegis trotted over to a table and levitated a vest. "It doesn't look like much, it's not even enchanted, but it can withstand crossbow bolts shot from one hundred meters or more and most close range ballistic explosions. The only problem is that it dissolves if it gets hit with a chemical explosion."

"That's interesting. I'll keep this in mind. The pegasi guards have always needed better protection especially from archers. Anyway I heard that the company has moved before. How come and where was the original location?"

"Well I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this. Sickle used to run the project in the Canterlot Underground, but a rival company shared the same labs with them. It was when Project High Point began and we didn't stay in the underground for more than a year. Why do you need to know?"

"I see. Well thanks for the information. My company wanted a little more history on your project and that's why I asked." A little more history on the company could reveal what Sickle's involved in.

"It's not my project Miss Spectra, It's Sickle's" Aegis said.

Incredible. Spectra thought. Sickle seems to be enforcing his authority and dominance over the ponies in the facility. Somepony or someponies might want to rebel.