Rarity was hard at work in her inspiration room, putting together ensembles for the big royal wedding between Shining Armor and Mi Amore Cadenza, which had been postponed thanks to the 'Cadenza Crisis' and resulting conflict with the Unliving Queen. Jingling bells informed her that somepony had entered her dress shop, Carousel Boutique. Rarity smiled and set down her sewing needles.

Rarity quickly jotted down her ideas, lest she forget, and called out in a sing-songy voice. "Be right with you!"

Rarity trotted to the front of her store and smiled at the familiar unicorn standing there, Donut Joe. Joe was wearing a tuxedo and sleek black saddle bags. Rarity's mouth watered a little bit as she glanced at the pink frosted donut cutie mark on his flank - Joe ran a donut shop in Canterlot and Rarity was quite fond of the tasty treats. A pegasus mare leaning against the entryway glared at Rarity. A tight-fitting bodysuit covered most of her, but the hood was pulled back exposing a silvery grey coat and jet black mane.

Rarity nodded at the pegasus. "Hello, Joe! What are you doing here? Buying some more super sprinkles? I see you took my advice regarding the tux."

Joe chuckled. "Afraid not, Miss Rarity. I've actually come to see you."

Rarity glanced towards the pegasus in the entryway. "Oh, and not a moment too soon. Your date for the royal wedding needs new clothes, yes? Her current outfit does look rather dreadful."

Joe looked back at the scowling pegasus and laughed. "No, that isn't why we're here, Miss Rarity. Official business, I'm afraid." He glanced around the shop. "Are we alone?"

Rarity raised her eyebrow. "Why, yes. Sweetie Belle was here, but she is out with her friends. What do you mean, official business?"

Rarity noticed the pegasus had left the entryway. "Where did she go?"

A voice behind her startled Rarity. "It's clear."

Rarity turned to see the pegasus emerge from the shadows in the rear of the store. Rarity took a closer look and noticed that the bodysuit she had disparaged as a lousy fashion choice let the pegasus blend almost perfectly into the shadow. It was in actuality a Mark VII Tactical Operations Suit, a specialized wetsuit produced by the Canterlot Intelligence Agency designed for stealth. It was made from interwoven enchanted fabrics allowing it to stop projectiles and attacks from pointed or slashing weapons. Around the mare's waist was a utility belt from which several gadgets were attached, but Rarity could only identify a pair of night vision goggles, a radio, and a knife hanging from the belt.

Rarity frowned and turned back to Joe, who was magically holding an ID card for Rarity to read. It was a government-issued ID from the Canterlot Intelligence Agency which proclaimed Joe to be an operative named Con Mane.

Joe winked. "As you can see, I am Con Mane, and my partner here is Special Agent Mayday, Canterlot Intelligence."

Rarity squealed with delight. Several weeks ago, Pinkie Pie and all of her friends had volunteered to escort the local bakers' - Mr. and Mrs. Cake - entry for a Canterlot dessert contest. When somepony took bites out of the dessert during the night, Pinkie had immediately suspected the rival bakers that were also aboard the train. Pinkie created elaborate scenarios for why each baker did it, and for Donut Joe (who was entering a dessert of a city made of donuts called Donutopia), Pinkie had claimed he was a secret agent named Con Mane who had received orders to destroy the Cake's entry for reasons unknown.

"Oh my gosh, I can't wait to see the look on Pinkie Pie's face!" Rarity exclaimed.

Con Mane, alias Donut Joe, shook his head. "Whoa there, Miss Rarity. This mission, and my identity, are classified Most Secret. Although I do know Pinkie Pie has a thing about promises, it is better to remain clandestine, you follow?"

Rarity giggled. "Oh yes, of course. How did she know about you, though?"

Con Mane laughed. "Honestly? Even we don't know. You should see our file on Pinkie Pie. It's a yard thick, I kid you not. The way she caused all of us to lose control of our selves and eat those desserts? I couldn't believe it."

"It was so good though," Rarity said, closing her eyes and licking her lips as she thought about the 'ladylike' bite she took of it.

Con Mane nodded. "Rumor has it that Celestia was pretty distraught that she missed out on having more of that dessert."

Rarity grinned and played with her mane. "So, Mister Mane, what do you want with little old me?"

Mayday moved back to the entryway and Con Mane pulled out a folder. "Remember, everything you are about to see and hear does not leave this room."

Rarity smiled. "Understood, Mister Mane."

"The Princesses have asked us to ensure that the royal wedding proceeds without incident," Con Mane said. "As a precautionary measure, our analysts have been pouring over the guest list, again. It's probably nothing, but one pony in particular caught our interest."

Con Mane pulled out an aerial photograph of a small island. "This is the island kingdom of Mareay. It boasts a small population of fisherponies and unicorns of the Order of the Eclipse. The Order is comprised of practitioners of solar and lunar magic, a fail safe measure that our tribe created many years ago in case the unicorn nobility could not perform their duty. The monks of the Eclipse are trained to take over raising the sun and moon, like our unicorn ancestors did centuries ago, should anything ever happen to both princesses."

Con Mane showed Rarity close-up shots of fishing villages and the monastery. The village buildings looked like they were from the last century, featuring large porches and pillars. The monastery was a magnificent structure made of limestone adorned with statues of Luna, Celestia, unicorn royalty of old, the sun, and the moon. "This little kingdom is ruled by the reclusive Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces, alias Winny. Translation: "In this sign thou shalt conquer." The name alone is a tad strange, but you know how pony royals can be with names."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Oh, quite!"

Con Mane gave Rarity a photo of the princess, who was clad in ornate golden battle armor. The armor was engraved with symbols of the sun and moon. Dark glass sealed the eye slits of her helm, and even her tail was armor-plated. Rarity could see that the princess was a unicorn, or at least that she had a golden-armored horn, and guessed that she was in her teens based on what she could make of the princess' body type.

Con Mane continued, "Our agent that infiltrated Mareay questioned the locals in the villages. Nopony there even knows their own princess well enough to accurately describe what she looks like without that armor on. All she learned was that the princess had been raised by the monks at the Temple of the Eclipse, and that she mainly keeps to herself in the small royal castle and attends services at the monastery. Luckily for us, there is a local holiday coming up before the royal wedding, the Feast of the New Moon. The princess will be in attendance."

Con Mane grinned at Rarity. "Which brings me to you. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to accompany me to the isle of Mareay to gather intelligence on Princess In Hoc Signo Vinces and see if there's anything fishy going on at the island of fisherponies."

Rarity blinked. "This all very interesting, but I don't quite understand why you are involving me. I mean, I'm flattered, but..."

Con Mane looked at the ground and sighed. "We're kind of stretched thin at the Agency. With the royal wedding and the recent... unpleasantness, our resources are dwindling. The mission requires a pony with beauty, grace and class, easily able to fit in with high society types, and you were the first pony I could think of."

Rarity blushed. "Oh, when you put it that way... Alas, I really need to get these orders finished before the wedding, why can't your partner do this?"

"Mayday... doesn't do well in these kind of situations.  We'll only be gone for a few hours, you'll be back and sewing up a storm in no time. I promise," Con Mane said.

Rarity sighed, then looked at the photo of In Hoc Signo Vinces. There was something unnerving looking into the soulless darkness of the golden helm's eye slit, and Rarity suppressed a shudder.

"Well," Rarity said, "I certainly don't want anything to happen to Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding. Twilight would be devastated if something else happens to disrupt their wedding. Can't you just prevent her from entering Canterlot?"

Con Mane shook his head. "She has an invitation, unless a genuine threat was made, and not just a bunch of 'bad feelings' about her, there's not much we can do. Well, there is, but wetwork isn't on our agenda at the moment. Nice job taking out the Unliving Queen, by the way."

Rarity grinned. "Thank you!"

"Oh," Con Mane said, "you'll find this interesting, Mareay's primary export are these."

Con Mane pulled out three prismatic gems and gave them to Rarity. Rarity's eyes lit up. "Ooh, they are lovely!"

Con Mane nodded. "They call them Sun's Tears. You may have those, and as many as you can drag back with you once this op is over, my treat."

Rarity used her magic to store the Sun's Tears in her chest of gems, then grinned mischievously at Con Mane. "Very well. I shall accompany you on this mission. For Celestia, for Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadence... and for all the Sun's Tears you are willing to buy me!"

Con Mane laughed. "Splendid. Our flight leaves shortly. I will be going in as my Donut Joe persona, providing catering services, and Mayday will be our 'eye-in-the-sky' and provide support." He pulled a package out of his saddlebag and unwrapped it, "The Feast of the New Moon is a costume party, we grabbed this for you."

Rarity picked up the garments with her magic and raised her eyebrow. "A Princess Platinum costume from Hearth's Warming Eve?"

"Sorry, as I said, we are really short staffed at the Agency right now," Con Mane explained. "I had the boys down in Q Branch - which is to say the Quartermasters that rig up our spy gear -  tinker with it a bit. There's a communicator in the collar, focus your unicorn magic on it and we'll be able to hear you. The cloak also has some nifty toys sewn into hidden pockets. I believe there should be some smoke grenades, a flash crystal, and a tranquilizer dart gun. Do not use the perfume as it's a flamethrower - point it at a bad guy and they'll be wishing you hadn't. If you get into trouble, use your magic to press in the gems on the crown and you'll become invisible for a minute, enough time to get the hay out of Dodge."

"I saw your performance last Hearth's Warming Eve, you looked smashing in it. Really suits you," Mayday said as Rarity inspected the costume.

Rarity smiled. "Why, yes, of course it does. Thank you!" She slipped on the crown and cloak and admired herself in a mirror. "Perhaps a few adjustments, some accessories..."

Con Mane glanced at his wrist wizard, a high tech spy watch that was laden with gadgets. "If you wish. We have a small amount of time before the flight leaves."

Rarity quickly made her way up to her room and began rummaging through her clothes, trying to find the perfect garment to go with the Princess Platinum outfit. Satisfied in her choice of gown, she hauled it to her inspiration room and began making some slight alterations, adding in some trimming with silver thread and attaching some amethysts. She returned to her room and selected a matching purse, then headed down to the anxious spooks.

Con Mane clapped his hooves appreciatively. "Wow, you'll be the talk of the Feast I'm sure. All set?"

"Well, I would have liked some more time to get ready, but this will have to do," Rarity said.

Con Mane laughed. "Don't worry about it, you look wonderful. Shall we?"

Rarity followed the spooks outside where they had a hot air balloon tethered. As they took off, Rarity got the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. It finally dawned on her. "Oh, can we swing towards Sweet Apple Acres, please? I should really tell Sweetie where I am going."

Con Mane and Mayday glanced at each other. "Just tell her you'll be in Canterlot for a few hours, for a fashion emergency."

Mayday set a course for the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse. As they neared, Con Mane slunk low into the basket. He had been in Ponyville before and didn't want any awkward questions to arise if the fillies were able to recognize him.

Mayday hovered the balloon over the front of the clubhouse and Rarity used her magic to knock on the door. "Sweetie Belle, I need to talk to you for a moment!"

Rarity's sister emerged from the clubhouse. She was a young unicorn with a light grey coat and purple and pink hair. "What's up, Rarity? Who's that mare you're with?"

Rarity glanced at Mayday, then smiled at her sister. "Oh, just a friend from Canterlot. I just wanted to tell you I would be gone for a few hours so you wouldn't worry if you came by the Boutique. Fashion emergency, you know how it is."

Scootaloo, an orange-coated, fuschia-haired pegasus filly, poked her head out the door. "Come on Sweetie Belle, we need you!"

Rarity smiled and waved at her sister. "Have fun, Sweetie!"

Sweetie waved back at Rarity. "Bye, Rarity! My Crusaders need me!"

After a quick flight to Canterlot, Mayday departed and Con Mane and Rarity made their way to an airstrip where their ride to Mareay, a Titan-class airship, was ready for boarding. Originally designed as a long range, strategic bomber, in peacetime the Titans had been converted into luxury liners and boasted a lounge with a fully-stocked cider bar, ample seating space, an observation deck, and a cruising speed of 70 knots.

Aboard the airship Rarity found herself amongst many familiar faces - ponies she had met while becoming the 'pony everypony should know' of Canterlot. Rarity grinned as the ponies fawned over her outfit and she quickly slipped into her socialite persona, chatting up all the movers and shakers of Canterlot as they waited for the last passengers to arrive. Fifteen minutes later, the airship took off and Con Mane and Rarity were soon on their way to the Isle of Mareay.

Rarity sipped at a glass of sparkling cider and thought to herself, A possibly-evil-princess aside, this is just getting better and better!