It was a peaceful night.

In the capital city of Equestria, Canterlot, most nights were nice and quiet. But it doesn’t mean Canterlot was a safe place. It was quite dangerous, but in a very specific way. Rather than rampaging dragons there were annoying ambassadors and dignitaries of all kind. Instead of fiery breath there were harsh words capable of hurting deeper than the strongest claw. And while there were no complicated labyrinths to cross, keeping up to the high society’s standards was quite a comparable challenge.

All in all, these were problems created and solved by those who cared enough for their renown and fame. But the gray-coated unicorn didn’t.

He was one of the Royal Guards – the formation of peacekeepers in the city. He wasn’t into politics and didn’t know much about court manners, but he was performing his duty with pleasure. The guard had that strong sense of responsibility since his father, also a Royal Guard, died in an avalanche in a village so small it didn’t have its own name. He saved half a dozen of ponies that day.

“I will make you proud, father”, he said to himself every time he put on his helmet.

Canterlot was a pretty secure place, yes, but it will never be safe enough for the guards like him to leave the post, even if nothing could happen during his shift. The need of intervention was rare, so it was mostly Royal Guard’s armored presence that inspired the citizens to obey the law. And thanks to that there was a relatively small crime rate compared to other cities of Equestria.

Gray unicorn was pleased to be part of this. Tonight he was guarding the ivory arch leading to the Archives. It was a district of Canterlot with libraries, art galleries and museums as well as some other spires and towers. His superior’s orders were quite clear: keep thieves off the area, let no burglar come through. Just a regular night shift.
And he was there, carefully watching the surroundings, with alleys in front of him and a passage inside the district behind him.

There was less than a hour before Princess Celestia rises the Sun, when noises came out of a nearby hedge.

“Who is it? Show yourself!”, he ordered, brightening the area with a magical light from his horn. “I’m warning you… not on my watch!”

He slowly walked towards the bushes.

“Gotcha!”, the unicorn said as he suddenly removed some branches.

It was a raccoon.

“Oh, just what the hay are you doing here?”, he asked as if the furry pet could understand him. “Shouldn’t you be in the Royal Gardens?”

The gray animal crawled outside and started sniffing around the guard.

“Now now, there is no need to call for support, right, little one? You will just…”

Suddenly, the small creature jumped on the unicorn, trying to bite his armor’s star emblem off.

“What the hay… ouch!”, guard screamed as the raccoon climbed on his back, pinching with its little claws. He tried to shake it off, but it already went further on and pulled his helmet’s blue crest.

“Get off me, you crazy squirrel!”

The guard rolled on his back, trying to get rid of the raccoon. He succeeded, then stood up, observing the pet disappearing down the alley.

“Yeah, you’d better run!”, the unicorn straighten up and checked around for any more raccoons, finding none.

“And that’s what I call security! Royal Guards are ever vigilant – we hear everything, we see everything”, he said proudly and went back to guarding the arch.

No, he didn’t see the raccoon taking away a loose golden ornament of his armor.

And no, he didn’t see the mare dashing behind him into the passage.

Indeed, it was a peaceful night…

Trixie moved quickly and left the ivory arch behind. Not knowing other guards’ patrol routes, she must rely on instinct. Varying between galloping and hiding she outmaneuvered two stallions and headed through the well-trimmed grass. Her hooves would make too much noise if she went the paved path. Also her bag was not making it easier – straps were loose and they made the bag sway from one side to another.

She looked around – no guards, only scenery full of sky-reaching towers. Although many buildings in Canterlot were rather flat and wide, the Archives was mostly vertical. There were spiral stairs wrapped around some spires, others were connected via elegant bridges at different heights. The mare was getting closer to her target, one of the towers…

“Only one more guard between me and the entrance”, she though and hid behind the statue of Clover the Clever, waiting for the unicorn to pass by. After the area was clear, she got to the small doors with few jumps and pushed them silently.

Trixie entered the tower. The dark room was almost completely empty and there were no stairs leading up. Even if they were, they would serve a little use, as the ceiling was only few meters above and there was no way to go through it. The only interesting object here was the old statue of Star Swirl the Bearded. Well, not so bearded - the artist depicted him as a young unicorn. Since it was way too unimaginable for the majority of ponies to think of one of the greatest wizards in that manner, the statue was left here. And the other one, properly bearded, was set on display near the Royal Castle.

“Well, well… look who’s trying to sneak in…”

Trixie recognized the voice.

“You know it is because of you, Moonwarden”, she replied calmly.

The dark-grey unicorn came out of shadows. He had a pointy horn, silver eyes and a black tail with some white stripes. Although his flank was covered with a short black cape, Trixie knew him long enough to have an idea about his cutie mark. It was a full moon on the diamond-shaped shield.

“So… The Great and Powerful Trixie still remembers about us, small and humble ponies…”, he said.

“Actually I’m trying not to think about you. But a bet is a bet.”

Moonwarden joined the Conclave at the same time as Trixie did. He quickly became a promising agent who specialized in magic affecting ponies’ behavior, as well as creating illusions. He tended to plan and calmly analyze the situation. Trixie, on the other hoof, was trying to make things as spectacular as possible, making a show of every mission with unnecessary actions.

One day, after Trixie returned from an assignment involving skydiving on a gryphon and completely disabling part of the railroad for a couple of weeks, Moonwarden said she was “unable to act with subtlety”. It was probably more of a joke than a taunt, but brash azure unicorn couldn’t stand that kind of humiliation. So she accepted the challenge – every time she entered the Archives she must remain unseen up to the Conclave’s tower.

“Indeed, a bet is a bet”, Moonwarden repeated. “Too bad for you we agreed on not using magic while fooling those guards. You could just teleported here.”

“Of course I could. But I want to do it the hard way”, Trixie replied. The truth was she never learned the teleport spell.

“Shall we go? The Council will await your report about the Everfree fire.”

Trixie nodded. Moonwarden stepped forward and pointed his horn at the statue, illuminating the room with a silvery light. The stone figure began sparkling and building up a pulsating, magical wall around itself. When it was finished, Moonwarden confidently stepped into the golden curtain. Trixie followed him. Within the second two ponies were transported to second to the top floor of the tower, the Conclave headquarters. Magical curtain disappeared, revealing the stone statue of no longer Star Swirl the Bearded but another unicorn, said to be Star Swirl’s best friend.

“It’s a shame these only work on short distances”, Moonwarden said.

“It’s a shame we only have two of them”, Trixie replied.

Unlike the bare cellar, this room has soft rugs all over the floor. There were pictures and decorations on the walls, mostly old Unicornian paintings. There were sofas and workstations around the place, making it a perfect shelter for any agent of the Conclave. In fact, there were already a few unicorns here. Trixie asked around and found out that the Council will gather soon, in their quarters above.

“I’m here to report of my findings. And you?”, Trixie asked Moonwarden.

“I want to double check on one of these documents not available in regular library. I think I found a secret passage in the Royal Castle…”, he replied and headed towards a bookstand with tomes and scrolls. “I wonder if it’s in the original plans…”

Trixie sat on a sofa and took off her bag. She looked through the window. It was getting brighter – another beautiful day starts and the Council will gather soon.

“What is it with you and staying up night, anyway?”, she asked Moonwarden.

The stallion smiled.

“I like it. It is much more enjoyable than any day. The Moon, the stars, the quiet.”

“That’s the point! It is so quiet, nothing ever happens! It’s boring and…”

She was just about to criticize the very idea of the night when something crossed her mind.

“And what?”, Moonwarden asked.

“Nothing. I think I simply don’t get it, that’s all.”

“Now that’s new. I thought you’ll start your general speech of how spectacular it is when everypony can see your actions in a bright sun.”

“Maybe some other time, Moonwarden”, Trixie said, cutting the conversation.

As she was sitting she read few reports about other agents’ assignments.

“Crisis at the border of Germaney averted… boring… agent of Stalliongrad intercepting the parcel from the Griffin Kingdoms… so very boring…”

She sat there for a while, then took her bag and climbed the stairs to the top floor of the tower.

Ivory wall halved this floor, connecting its halves with massive, ornament doors.

Trixie entered the room. It was in a shape of a semicircle, with an entrance at the straight wall and the large, colorful windows all around. There were three comfortable chairs put in an equal distance from the center of the room.

On the middle chair was Councilor Stormcoat – the only stallion in the Council. He was also the oldest one and thus he was the mind of the organization. On the right side of the room was Councilor Firehoof. She was promoted to her present position only recently, but had already some fine achievements in solving magical problems in Equestria. Councilor Icemane was seated to the left. Even before joining the Conclave she had an impressive network of contacts. She was in charge in coordinating non-Canterlot cells of the group.

Trixie greeted them and began her story of what has happened in the Everfree Forest.

“…and I found this”, Trixie ended her report, showing the shard of emerald that was the actual cause of the Everfree fire. It was glowing faintly in a regular intervals.

“What is this?”, Councilor Firehoof asked.

“I don’t know. It looks like a gem, but I found out it has a regenerative structure. It was smaller when I found it and has grown since”, Trixie replied.

“And the fire issue ended when you and Twilight Sparkle destroyed this gem?”, Councilor Icemane inquired.

“Correct. After it exploded there was nothing left. This shard is probably the biggest, others have vaporized”.
Councilors were pondering upon the mysterious gem fragment. It was clear that they have never seen such thing.

“Since we don’t know much about it, it’ll be wise to hide it. You will transport it to the Royal Vault. Now go, Agent Trixie.”, Councilor Stormcoat instructed.

Trixie put the shard back in her bag.

“I have nothing more to add, Councilors”, she said. Then she left the room and went out of the Conclave headquarters, wondering if Moonwarden has found whatever he was looking for.