Arcane Equilibrium

by Prane

Rating: everyone
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Trixie, Rarity, Adventure
Length: 28359

Plot against unicorns thickens! After unfortunate events of the last Nightmare Night, Trixie’s pursuit after the mysterious cult continues. Will she be able to find an ancient artifact while seeking revenge herself?

Join Trixie, agent of the Conclave – an elite and covert congregation of unicorns sworn to protect ponies from magic… and magic from ponies, sometimes!

Plot against unicorns and the magic itself thickens! After unfortunate events of the last Nightmare Night, Trixie’s pursuit after the mysterious cult continues. Will she be able to find an ancient artifact while seeking revenge herself? With an unlikely alliance she’ll forge, she might have that chance!

But there are battles that cannot be won by outstanding magic - ones that we fight with ourselves, ones that we fear to lose...

Published 2012-10-03 01:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-04-30 17:11:20 UTC

Chapter 2

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 2

Trixie passed by the purple unicorn without even looking at her.

Not that she felt uncomfortable with Twilight in particular, no – she just wasn’t too fond of anypony’s companionship right now. Of course, she was aware that her mission will require working with others. Just… not right now.

In fact, she was in good relations with Twilight – or at least much better than in the past – since the Everfree Fire…

Trixie went out of the Conclave Tower the same way she always did – through the arcane tunnel connecting the ancient unicorn statues on the top and the bottom of the tower. She cast a violet rain-repelling shield and headed towards the Canterlot Prison, but not the one at the Royal Guard outpost, one with comfortable holding cells for petty criminals. Instead, she went to the set of cold and dark caves carved in the mountain the city was build on, where enemies of the state were held.

The Everfree Fire. That’s when it all began.

What had started as a simple task turned out to be a prelude to the recent events. If only she had tossed away that cursed emerald fragment the moment she had found it in her bag! But no, she had to bring it to Canterlot instead, only to witness it being stolen by the cultist and… apparently another cultist, Moonwarden. The traitor.

And now Trixie had to find him, get the gem back and uncover the cult’s agenda. There were so many questions, and it was high time to get some answers. The only lead she had was an imprisoned cult member. Better that than nothing, Trixie thought, as she arrived at the rusty metal door attached to the mountain wall.

‘Halt! This area is off limits!’, the earth pony said, crossing his halberd with another guard.

‘Let me in.’, the azure mare answered. ‘I have the permission.’

She tossed the scroll to the guard. He read it, nodded and opened the door.

As Trixie was walking deeper inside the cave, she overheard the two guards’ conversation, as their voices were amplified by the stone corridor.

‘Hey, don’t you think she kind of looked like that Trixie mare, one who saved Princess Celestia about a week ago?’

Recognition? Great!

‘No way! Guys at the castle said that Trixie was a beauty, and this one looked like a homeless pony to me!’

Not.

Well, she definitely needed to pull herself together before speaking to Twilight and Sunseeker again. If not for anything else, than for the sake of avoiding their comments filled with compassion and caring. She didn’t need pity to find Moonwarden.

Trixie looked inside the cell. She barely saw anything, as one torch in the corridor was not enough to illuminate the room behind the metal bars. The would-be assassin was lying on the wooden bench, probably sleeping. The mare entered the cell, casting a wave of violet magic that covered walls, floor and ceiling for a while, then disappeared.

‘Who sent you after Princess Celestia?’, she said to the stallion, waking him up.

‘And good morning to you.’, the disregarding answer was heard. The stallion sat on the bench. ‘Or is it good afternoon? Forgive me, it’s a little difficult to say… no windows and stuff, you know.’

‘What is the cult’s goal?’, Trixie asked, deciding not to play the prisoner’s game.

‘I wonder why you’re here.’, he answered, as if he didn’t pay attention to what the azure mare said. ‘There were already some guards here and went out with nothing, why bother…?’

‘Where does the cult gather?’

‘Or maybe you’re here to replace me? You look like a first class prisoner yourself… have all mirrors been shattered while I was inside?’

‘I’m going to ask one more time: who sent you?’

The stallion stood up and approached her face to face.

‘Buck. Off.’

‘Answer me, or else…’, Trixie began.

‘Or else what?’, the prisoner interrupted and laughed, turning back at her. ‘You’ll do nothing. You have no power here. Look at yourself - you’re just a broken filly posing as a law enforcer!’

Enough was enough.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle went through the ivory doors.

As Princess Celestia’s protégé, she had heard many stories about institutions and organizations in Equestria, some being more secretive than the others. She was also smart enough to keep that knowledge for herself. But now, being part of these stories – this was exciting!

The purple mare always had a hard time adapting to a new situation, so she was glad to see the familiar faces of Trixie and Sunseeker. It all made sense now – Trixie’s appearance in Ponyville during the fire in the Everfree Forest, travelling with the white stallion across the land – it was not accidental.

‘Hello, Trixie…’, Twilight said, but the azure mare passed by without a word, leaving the unicorn confused. Sunseeker trotted to her side. ‘Did I say something wrong?’, she asked.

‘No, of course not. I’ll explain later.’, he assured, then smiled widely. ‘Good to see you, Twilight. Enjoying your first day as the member of the Conclave?’

‘Sure, I guess…’, she answered. ‘But I’ve got an awful lot of questions and…’

‘Come with me, I’d love to give you a tour!’, Sunseeker said, turning towards the councilors. ‘I’ll take it from here.’, he added, then walked out of the room. The purple mare followed.

‘Is it me, or agent Trixie’s carefree attitude has an impact on ponies around her?’, Councilor Stormcoat asked after the two ponies had disappeared behind the ivory doors.

‘At least we weren’t completely ignored, Stormcoat.’, Councilor Icemane replied. ‘Trixie might be brash, but who knows? Given time, she might even end up as a councilor of the Conclave.’

‘I hope to be retired before that doomsday comes.’

In the meantime, Twilight and Sunseeker sat on the comfortable sofa in the chamber below, which was filled with bookstands, workstations and pre-Equestrian art of various kinds. The purple mare was, obviously, more thrilled with the books than paintings and sculptures around – which reminded her that she was trying to find this organization in her books, after she had received an invitation few days ago. And because she found nothing it made a great question to begin with.

‘What exactly is the Conclave?’, Twilight asked.

‘A long time ago, there was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable unicorns, so they could take care of all kind of magical hazards in Equestria.’, Sunseeker answered. ‘It all started with one guy, Star Swirl the Bearded. Ever heard of him?’

‘Of course! Star Swirl the Bearded, who taught Clover the Clever, who taught Coconut the Curious…’

‘Right, anyway,’, the white stallion interrupted her and continued with his story. ‘Star Swirl and his fellow unicorns decided that extraordinary spell casting must be controlled. They did it because some bad things almost had happened back then. And that’s how the Conclave was made! We protect ponies from magic and vice versa.’, he ended with a proud smile.

Twilight nodded.

‘Like Trixie did in the Everfree Forest back then.’, she said to herself. ‘But what I’m supposed to do here? I’m not trained in combat magic…’

‘In brief, you’re supposed to help Trixie and me fight the cult of ponies that became a threat to Equestria when they tried to kill Princess Celestia.’, he said on a single breath. ‘And stole a magical emerald from the Royal Vault.’

‘There was a coup against the princess!? Is she alright!?’, Twilight exploded when she fully understood what she heard. ‘Why do I find out the last!? Should I visit her? Yes, I probably should visit her…’

‘She’s okay, Twilight.’, Sunseeker said with a soft voice, which made the mare calm down. ‘But I think there might be another pony that needs your help…’, he added, lowering his head. His usual smile faded away.

The purple unicorn literally felt the concern in the air.

‘What do you mean?’, she asked silently.

The white stallion stood up and looked through the window, as if he was trying to spot something in the distance.

‘I told you about what happened during the last Nightmare Night.’, Sunseeker said, looking at the streams of water coming down on the other side of the glass. ‘It was an inside job by Moonwarden, somepony Trixie though she knew well. Ever since, she became withdrawn and closed.’

Twilight said nothing. It turned out that she was going to be in the fight not involving combat magic at all. The fight she had almost lost when Discord appeared.

Sunseeker turned away from the window.

‘I mean, she had learned so much about trust and respecting others’ needs from you and your friends in Ponyville.’, he said and looked directly at Twilight. ‘I’m just afraid she’s on a brink of losing it.’

* * *

Trixie punched the prisoner again.

‘TALK TO ME!’, she shouted angrily at him. ‘Where do you gather!?’

The stallion dashed forward, subsiding at the metal bars.

‘Help! Guards, help!’, he cried, but was immediately pulled back by the telekinetic grip and slammed against the floor.

‘They can’t hear you, foal! I dampened the cell, nopony will come to save you!’, the azure mare said. Her horn was glowing as she immobilized the prisoner. ‘Let’s see how cooperative you can be… you are now crushed under the force two times stronger that the regular air pressure. When it reaches five, your bones will break. TALK!’

‘No way, you sick…’

‘Three times stronger!’, she shouted, increasing the force of the spell.

‘Nnnoo…’

‘FOUR times!’

‘Aaaallrighttt I’ll talk, just stop, please just stop!’

‘Wise.’

Trixie ended her atmosphere altering spell and sat on the bench, while the prisoner was helplessly crawling on the floor, grunting painfully.

‘Why don’t you tell me about the red, scarred stallion?’

The stallion rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling, panting and chugging. After a while he turned his face towards the azure mare.

‘His name is Zaeer. He is the main recruiter for our congregation.’, he said.

‘Recruiter? Is it a rank you give to your leader?’

‘He’s… he is not our leader.’

‘Who is your leader then?’

‘Feldora the Pegasus, liberator of the oppressed!’, he said proudly, trying to get up, but it turned out to be too painful. ‘You see, we believe that earth ponies and pegasi had been living under the tyranny of the unicorns for too long…’

‘Tyranny?’, Trixie was surprised. ‘What the hay are you talking about? There is a place for everypony in Equestria!’

The stallion tried to laugh, but that too turned out to be too exerting.

‘We’re in Canterlot, right? City built by unicorns. For unicorns! Just look out how many unicorns are there among the nobles. And how many earth ponies? None! We still work at places such as orchards and rock farms, like slaves! And it is because of your cursed magic!’

Trixie was amazed about how exaggerated this claim was.

‘But, when I think about it,’, the stallion continued. ‘It’s really not your fault. You were born unicorn, I was born an earth pony and there is nothing we can do… or at least we couldn’t do until Feldora and her friend Star Swirl the Bearded promised us to bring the balance. No longer shall the unicorns exploit the weak.’

Trixie got a sudden headache.

‘Wait, what did you just say?’

‘That no longer the unicorns…’

‘No, before that.’

The stallion looked into the azure mare’s eyes.

‘I said that Star Swirl the Bearded is back. Feldora will end inequality with his help. And then we shall have… peace.’, he said, then turned his head away. ‘You can kill me now, because that’s all I know, nothing more.’

‘It’ll have to do.’

The azure mare stood up, removed the sound dampening spell and went out of the dark cell.

‘One more thing. It seems I had underestimated you, lady.’, she heard the prisoner’s voice from behind. His muzzle was sticking out through the metal bars.

‘You’re not trying to enforce the law… you’re vigilante. You do not respect others’ needs, you make your own law…’

Trixie couldn’t stand listening to it. She knew it was so true, but she also felt it was so wrong.

She galloped towards the exit. This whole interrogation was a mistake. She shouldn’t let her emotions took over. And what was that gibberish about Star Swirl the Bearded? He’s been dead for over a thousand years. Sunseeker was wrong. She wasn’t a little distracted. She was totally lost. It’s all Moonwarden’s fault!

Distracted, betrayed, broken.

What happened to the Great and Powerful Trixie? What happened to the azure mare that always hold her head high and bravely faced every challenge? What happened to her that she couldn’t even keep her mane and hooves tidy for a few days?

Trixie needed help. Desperately.

As she was walking out of the Canterlot Prison, she heard the two guards talking.

‘Here she comes!’

‘And…?’

‘Oh, come on, just ask her or you’ll never find out!’

‘Quiet!’

Trixie went out of the stone corridor back to the surface. It was still raining, but this time she didn’t bother to cast the force field.

‘Excuse me, miss.’, said the guard. ‘Are you, by any chance, the Great and Powerful Trixie that saved Princess Celestia a week ago?’

It was a good question. The answer was obvious but it was difficult for Trixie to utter it. She put her cloak’s hood on and looked at the stormy sky. Her tears were well hidden in the rain falling on her face.

‘I once was.’, she answered, then shambled away.

Chapter 3

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 3

The next day it stopped raining. The sky was clear, the sun was shining brightly and only the puddles in the streets were reminding of the recent downpour. It was a brand new day for everypony, but even brand newer for the azure mare.

‘…and I can be once more!’, Trixie said to herself as she was brushing her mane. ‘I will be!’

Long sleep, shower and motivational monologue once again proved to be the best remedy for one’s problems. It was a temporary solution, but highly effective.

‘I will just treat this as a regular assignment.’, she continued, trotting from one side of her apartment to the other. She glanced at herself in the mirror and grinned, content with her appearance. ‘I excelled at dozens before and I will do so now. I shall amaze everypony with my talent and efficiency, and… what’s that?’

Trixie’s pet raccoon just jumped on the cupboard. He was holding some kind of scroll with his tiny teeth. The mare reached for it, taking out a cookie from a jar, but the grey pet didn’t let it go.

‘Oh, I see.’, she rolled her eyes and passed another cookie. ‘You furry exploiter.’

The raccoon threw the parchment on the floor, then took his spoil and scurried away.

‘Thanks… lazyball.’, she said, then pondered. ‘I swear, if I don’t find a proper name for you, I’ll run out of nicknames.’

Trixie unrolled the scroll. It was a letter from Sunseeker.

Trixie,

You were hard to catch yesterday, so I took the liberty of briefing Twilight Sparkle on our mission. We are at the library in the Archives – join us as soon as possible.

Stay great and powerful!

Sunseeker

PS: I think your pet stole my muffin.

The azure mare looked at the raccoon and giggled, but after that her good mood was gone. Who was she trying to lie to? It was obvious that the assignment was not ordinary and she clearly had some personal problems. But too much was at stake to let those issues cloud her judgment. She’ll just hide them under the mask. For now.

Trixie was, after all, a showmare by heart.

She ran to the Archives district and climbed the ivory stairs up to the library tower, where she found Twilight Sparkle sitting on the floor. She was surrounded by stacks of tomes and scrolls, some of them placed to resemble walls and towers of a miniature book castle. There were also a few lifted by the unicorn’s magic, opening and closing as the purple mare was reading them.

‘I thought it’s closed on Tuesdays.’, she said.

‘I spend most of my youth here.’, Twilight replied, still concentrating on the levitating books. ‘Librarian pony owed me for saving the day more than once. At least we won’t be interrupted.’

Trixie came closer, slowly navigating between a pile of Equestria maps and a rotary blackboard on a stand. She pointed at the labyrinth of stacked books.

‘And what’s that?’

‘Oh, it’s just the way I do my research.’, the purple mare answered. ‘Spike calls it the Book Fort Alpha.’

Suddenly, the movement of books and scrolls ceased.

‘So… uhm,’, Twilight began. ‘How are you, Trixie?’

Focus on the mission now. Deal with yourself later.

‘I’m fine.’, the azure mare answered, but because she was unable to look straight at the unicorn, she started looking around the room. ‘Where’s Sunseeker?’

‘I’m up here!’, a voice was heard form over a bookstand.

The white stallion was balancing at the top of a step ladder. He reached for an old tome from the top shelf and grabbed it, causing several other books to fall down on him. Then he fell on the floor with them.

‘I got the book, Twilight.’, Sunseeker said proudly as he stood up and shook most of the books of. One of them was still lying on his back, covering his torch cutie mark. The other, one on his head, served as a hat. He turned at Trixie and saluted overzealously.

‘Good to see you, agent Trixie, glad you could make it.’, the stallion said, keeping a straight face.

The azure mare laughed, to which Sunseeker smiled widely. He passed the tome to the purple mare. Twilight glanced at it, then expressed her disappointment.

‘Really? I ask for the Greedy Garret’s Gemstone Guide and what I get is… Creepy Carrots Cultivation Compendium?’, she said. ‘At this rate you’ll never be my Number Three Assistant. Besides, I’ve already read it.’

‘Oh, give me a break!’, Sunseeker replied, taking the Compendium out of Twilight’s hooves. ‘Seriously, I don’t know how Spike manages to keep up with your requests.’

He then returned to the bookstands and started picking up the scattered tomes.

‘Trixie, uhm…’, Twilight began once more. ‘Is there anything you would like to talk about?’

Avoid difficult topics. Stay professional.

‘Probably about how far you are with your research.’, the azure mare replied coldly.

Twilight noticed that Trixie became gloomy again, even if she was laughing a minute ago. The last time Twilight had to reach her friends in order save them from a self-destructive pattern, a simple memory spell had sufficed. But that required pointing at few moments of happiness from their lives, and to the purple mare’s knowledge, Trixie didn’t have too much good memories. Well, an extra careful approach was needed in this fragile case, as well as creating the atmosphere of trust and caring.

‘Well, Sunseeker told me that Moon…’, the purple mare abstained. ‘…that the cult had stolen some kind of emerald from the Royal Vault, setting up a coup against Princess Celestia as a diversion.’

‘Not just any emerald.’, Trixie said. ‘Remember that Diamond Dog we met in the Everfree Forest?’

Twilight blinked.

‘The emerald? I thought we got rid of it!’

‘Nothing is ever simple, is it?’, the azure mare sighed. ‘Anyway, try to cross-reference it with Star Swirl the Bearded.’

‘Star Swirl?’, Sunseeker broke away from the picture of a pony-sized carrot. ‘Why?’

Trixie told them about everything she found out when she was questioning the prisoner. Omitting everything about how she found that out, of course. Plain pieces of information about cult’s leader, the unicorn hatred and, most importantly, the ghost from the past were enough to leave the ponies stunned and silent for a while.

‘Do you think that he really is back?’, the white stallion asked. ‘Aren’t the dead supposed to stay… dead?’

‘I don’t know.’, Twilight answered, confused as never. ‘It’s not scientifically possible, but on the other hoof Star Swirl was one of the most powerful wizards… I don’t know.’

‘But what is the connection between the long gone wizard and a cursed, unstable magical emerald?’, Trixie threw a question but received no immediate answer.

For the next couple of hours, the three ponies have searched high and low, learning everything from gemstone types to the pre-Equestrian history. There were many discarded quills and parchments lying around, as well as empty coffee mugs, all showing the huge amount of work done, as opposite to the results obtained.

Around midday Trixie volunteered to go out and pick up something to eat, leaving Twilight and Sunseeker on the library’s balcony.

‘So,’, the stallion asked. ‘What do you think?’

‘She’s definitely not the mare I remember. And I’ve seen her many faces – Trixie the boasting showmare, Trixie the secret agent, Trixie seeking shelter, Trixie having fun at the Ponyville party… but that’s new.’

‘Just as I told you: distant and withdrawn.’, Sunseeker stated. ‘What can we do to help her?’

‘Trixie blames herself for that incident with Moonwarden. She needs to regain a positive self image to confront him, if – or rather when it’ll come to this. All we can do is… be there for her.’

‘Be there for her. Got it.’, he said, then trotted back to the room.

Twilight Sparkle looked at the stallion, puzzled. It seemed that there might have been more in this than a care for the fellow agent.

* * *

‘I found something!’, Sunseeker shouted with excitement. ‘Who’s Number Three Assistant now, huh?’

‘What is it?’, both mares asked simultaneously.

‘It’s an excerpt from the diary of Clover the Clever.’, he explained, then cleared his throat. ‘Although both my teacher and I knew it was coming, I still find it difficult to accept that he is gone... I buried him with his personal belongings, according to his will. My only regret is that I didn’t recover the energy source from his prized staff. That emerald couldn’t absorb more magical energy than it had already stored and was probably destroyed in Star Swirl’s most noble sacrifice.’

Sunseeker raised his blue eyes and grinned.

‘Probably not, Clover.’

Twilight felt a sudden surge of energy, which happened always as she was on a precipice of a breakthrough. Or a threshold, or a brink. She teleported to the blackboard, although it was only a few steps away from her. She telekinetically grabbed a piece of chalk and started furiously drawing and writing something, turning the board back at Trixie and Sunseeker.

‘There is more, listen.’, the azure mare spotted something in the book. ‘I have sealed the tomb of my teacher, so that pegasi and earth ponies wouldn’t interfere.’

‘That makes sense.’, Twilight’s head popped from behind the board. ‘Star Swirl lived before the exodus of three pony tribes and founding of Equestria.’

‘Does it mean that only the unicorn can open the tomb?’, Sunseeker asked. ‘That’s why Feldora needs Moonwarden for!’

Trixie staggered.

‘Sweet Celestia!’, she said. ‘Moonwarden’s specialties are deception, illusion… and some other dirty tricks. It’s obvious now!’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You see, there was never any pony wizard resurrection!’, the azure mare explained. ‘It has to be Moonwarden posing as Star Swirl!’

‘That sounds reasonable.’, Twilight agreed, pulling another piece of chalk from the nearby box.

‘Wait a minute!’, the white stallion said. ‘They got the gemstone, right? Clover said that the emerald was part of the staff that was able to absorb magical energy. What if they want to recreate the Staff?’

Trixie walked a few steps backwards.

‘Could they use it against the unicorns? No, impossible.’

‘Yes, possible!’, Twilight’s head popped again.

Sound of the chalk hitting the blackboard went silent.

‘Okay ponies, let’s think it through.’, said the purple mare, pushing the board and rotating it to the other side. ‘Let’s assume that… what?’

Trixie and Sunseeker were both tilting their heads to read Twilight’s notes.

‘Oh! Excuse me!’

She grabbed the blackboard with her magic and turned the whole thing, with the stand included, upside down. It probably wasn’t the best way, but the purple unicorn was far too excited to notice the confusion in the audience.

‘Feldora wants equality for earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns.’, she said, first pointing her hoof at a silhouette of a pegasus with a bubble speech ‘I’m evil’ over it. She then showed little drawings of the different kinds of ponies, with equals signs between them. ‘The thing that makes us, unicorns different from her is that we can use magic. So Feldora says no to magic.’

Twilight crossed out the drawing of a six-pointed star, which strongly resembled her cutie mark.

‘Since opposing unicorns while being a pegasus is too radical, everypony would consider her crazy. So she uses a respected figure from the past, Star Swirl the Bearded’, the purple mare said, encircling the bearded unicorn silhouette.

‘So that Feldora’s followers hear that unicorns are evil, straight from the horse’s mouth. Swell.’, Sunseeker added.

‘Precisely! Now we’re getting to the tricky part.’

Twilight pointed at the blackboard again, going from Star Swirl to the drawing of the stick, labeled ‘Ancient Staff’.

‘Remember what you’ve told me about your first meeting with Zaeer? About bringing balance to all of us? And what’s more, the prisoner’s confession, again about balance and reducing the role of the unicorns in society?’

‘What is your point?’, Trixie asked.

‘Feldora probably wouldn’t try to destabilize Equestria if she wasn’t capable of doing so. And if by mine ‘destabilize’ she means equalize…’

‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Listen, it’s just a theory…’, said Twilight slowly. ‘But I think that the cult wants to use Moonwarden to break into Star Swirl’s tomb, steal the Staff and…’

‘And what?’

‘Strip all unicorns of their magic.’

It was very intense for everypony in the room, so after Twilight put down the blackboard, they all sat down in silence.

‘Woah. That’s bad.’, Sunseeker said after a while.

‘That traitor.’, Trixie shook her head. ‘Not only to the Conclave, but to his own kind…’

‘The question is: how do we stop them?’

‘We cannot infiltrate the cult’s ranks, Moonwarden shall discover us the moment he sees us’, Twilight said. ‘And we’re unicorns, the cult enemies by default.’

‘And we can’t catch him either, because he mastered elusiveness…’, the azure mare added.

‘But he carries the gem, so maybe finding it will…’, the stallion came up with an idea.

‘Forget it.’, said Trixie. ‘We do not have enough horsepower to do it.’

‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’

‘I got it!’, Twilight jumped for joy. ‘I think I know just a pony for the job.’

‘A pony?’, Trixie asked. ‘We’re talking about searching the whole land for one particular gem. How can one pony do that?’

‘Trust me,’, the purple mare winked. ‘She’s a natural.’

Chapter 4

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 4

One week earlier

This is not good. Not quite what I have expected.

Moonwarden pointed at Sunseeker talking to some random mare.

‘Are we recruiting rock stars now?’, he asked. ‘The Conclave is falling apart, I tell you.’

‘Relax, he can do his job,’, Trixie replied. ‘I saw him under pressure.’

But can you, Trixie? Can you do your part?

‘I see… I don’t like him anyway.’, Moonwarden said.

It is time.

‘Excuse me. I must check something.’

Nightmare Night celebration in a Royal Castle ballroom was in full swing. Some high society ponies were sitting by the lavishly laid tables and chatting, trying to impress each other with their exquisite eloquence. Others were trotting around the ballroom, trying to find and keep to somepony esteemed and influential enough to raise their social status. But not too important, of course, that could have overshadowed them. Typical Canterlot party.

But not for Moonwarden.

He walked away from the azure mare and headed towards the back of the ballroom. As he was crossing through the crowd, he stopped by a perfectly common earth pony stallion.

‘Are you ready?’, Moonwarden whispered.

‘Ready as I’ll ever be. Celestia is greeting the guests.’, the assassin replied, gently nodding at the white alicorn in the distance. ‘She’ll soon go into the crowd. That’s where I strike.’

‘You contribution towards the balance is invaluable, acolyte.’, Moonwarden stated, then trotted into a corridor, away from a general noise of the ballroom. And although the voices from the outside were silenced, his conscience, if he had any, was still resounding.

How can you live like that, Moonwarden? You’re living in a web of lies.

Those are necessary lies.

The dark grey unicorn went deeper into the Royal Castle. During his time in the Conclave he had learned every possible mean of accessing the structure, and since he… borrowed the original architectural schematics, he knew even more about getting out. Which was supposed to prove useful tonight.

Moonwarden approached a window, opened it and leaned out. Although it was already dark outside and he couldn’t see the ground, he managed to avoid a small metallic item flying towards his head. It was the treble hook with a line attached to it. The stallion grabbed and held the hook with a silvery telekinetic mist, waiting patiently.

‘Good catch.’, a scarred stallion said, putting a bag on the floor and climbing through the window. ‘Things like these are much easier when there’s somepony on the inside.’

He grimaced when he saw his treble hook being held by the telekinesis. He didn’t seem to like magic at all.

‘My pleasure, Zaeer.’, Moonwarden smiled gently. ‘Take you things, we need to act fast.’

‘Relax,’, the earth pony answered. ‘Once the assassin is done, we’re going to have the whole night for it.’

Lies!

The two stallions galloped through the Royal Castle. Their objective was simple: to retrieve a magical emerald which once belonged to Star Swirl the Bearded. Although the unicorn wizard was long dead, his ‘legend’ lived on. Literally. And what was once the vital part of Star Swirl’s Staff, was now the vital part of Feldora’s plan. The only thing between the stallions duo and the emerald were heavy doors of the Royal Vault.

‘Did you bring it?’, Moonwarden asked, looking at Zaeer’s bag.

‘Of course.’, he replied. ‘There are many pegasi in Cloudsdale devoted to the cause.’

They dashed upstairs and entered a long hallway. There were two ponies of the Royal Guard standing at the end of the corridor, guarding the Vault’s doors. Neither Moonwarden nor Zaeer had stopped. They continued running towards their objective.

‘Halt!’, shouted one of the armored ponies. ‘You’re not allowed up here!’

He trotted forward to stop the intruders, but Zaeer was faster. He punched the unicorn in the face, leaving him unconscious. The second guard immediately charged at Moonwarden.

‘Oh.’, the dark grey stallion sighed, as if he was bored, and used his magic. ‘Sleep.’

The guard suddenly tripped and fell just at Moonwarden’s hooves. He passed over the body and joined Zaeer who was already at the doors.

‘How does it work, exactly?’

‘It’s from the weather factory labs.’, the earth pony answered, fixing small packages all over the doors. ‘It’s the energy of a lightning contained in a vial.’

‘Liquid lightning?’, Moonwarden said, examining containers with the gold and white swirling substance. ‘I presume that once ignited, it creates a local lightning hot enough to melt down the doors. But where’s the detonator?’

Zaeer took the last vial out of his bag and grinned.

‘Oh. I see.’

Both ponies took a few steps back.

‘Just don’t look at the flash!’, the scarred stallion screamed and threw the vial at the doors.

KABOOM!

The sudden blast was heard. It was far too loud for Moonwarden’s tastes. He valued whispering over shouting and safety over recklessness.

Then why did you chose it?

It wasn’t the right moment to ponder. Moonwarden waited a while, then jumped inside the Vault over the hot, hardening metal. He looked around. There were so many precious items inside, most of which were diplomatic gifts from countries neighboring Equestria. The stallion regretted that there was no time to look into every ornamented chest, as there was only one thing he came for.

And he found it.

Moonwarden used his telekinesis to grab the small green emerald and jumped back into the hallway. He put the gem inside his cape.

‘We’ve got company.’, Zaeer said, baring his teeth. ‘This time I’ll do it properly.’

The unicorn glanced at the opposite side of the hallway and frowned. Trixie got here faster than he had anticipated. What a mare, she was unpredictable even in her predictability. She stood in confusion for a second, then started galloping towards them.

‘No.’, he said to Zaeer, pushing a concave fragment of the wall and revealing a hidden passage. ‘She is meaningless for now.’

Trixie was getting closer. The earth pony growled, but jumped into the tunnel, reluctantly. Moonwarden followed him, shutting the passage behind. From here the stallions got outside the castle and ran alongside the walls, reaching the courtyard.

Just as expected, there were no guards there.

The cult’s work here was done.

* * *

The present day

Moonwarden opened his eyes.

Not for the first time he was returning with his thoughts to things already done. He believed that by understanding the past and everything he had lived through he would be ready for whatever the future held. Of course, there were also some disadvantages of such approach. If you were too fond of your victories you’d end up spoiling yourself, and if you were overanalyzing your failures…

Stealing the gem was not a failure!

It certainly wasn’t a success, either.

Necessary evil.

It’s because she told you so! How can you be so sure she is right?

‘Enough.’, Moonwarden rebuked himself, as somebody knocked on the door. ‘Come in!’

An earth pony entered the room. It was Zaeer. He was wearing a regular cultist outfit, black with silver thorn-shaped markings, which covered his whole body but head. He actually never saw him without these clothes and had no idea what his cutie mark was.

‘Feldora wants to see you.’, the dark red stallion said. ‘It seems that we’re leaving this place.’

His face took on an expression of contempt and disgust. Zaeer didn’t like this place, as he referred to Canterlot. Although Moonwarden didn’t share the anti-unicorn hate that most of the cultists did, he already grew tired of hiding in the city, right under the Conclave collective nose.

‘The big day is coming, huh?’, he replied and put on his black cape. ‘Let us not make her wait.’

Moonwarden and Zaeer went through a corridor to the other side of a house they were staying in. It was located in, lightly speaking, less then wealthy part of the Residential district and it served as a temporal base of operations. Aside from them and Feldora, there were few more acolytes here, some designated to dig through the old books, others focusing on gaining assets for the cult.

The stallions entered Feldora’s room. There was a simple table in the middle, with a wide parchment expanded on it.

‘Bonjour, Moonwarden.’, said the green pegasus mare and gestured them to come closer to the table. ‘Please, come in. There is much to discuss.’

They all gathered around the parchment which turned out to be a very detailed map of Equestria and its neighbors. Equestria itself was marked with a green shade and stretched far to the northeast, with Germaneigh and Prance further to the north.

Moonwarden pondered. Feldora must be from Prance, possibly from its capital city of Pearis, judging by her accent and occasional fancy inserts, but she never talked about her past. When asked, she cleverly evaded that topic, telling that the future is much more important.

‘Rejoice, my friends, as our time is coming.’, she stated solemnly. ‘With the Star Swirl’s emerald at hoof we’re one step closer to forging a brighter future for everypony!’

Feldora pointed at a small casket standing on a shelf. The stolen gemstone was inside.

‘Still, there is one more thing before we begin.’, she continued. ‘As we all know, Equestria was founded after the three pony tribes’ exodus.’

‘I know the story,’, Moonwarden said. ‘Legendary figures of Chancellor Puddinghead, Commander Hurricane and Princess Platinum were forced to leave their cold homelands and flee to the south.’

‘Exactly.’, Feldora confirmed and pointed north from Equestria, to a cyan shaded land full of mountains. ‘They had to leave most of their possessions behind to come here. Similarly, although Star Swirl himself has returned, his Staff is still in the place we now know as the Griffin Kingdoms.’

More lies!

Moonwarden knew better. Heart touching story about the return of the greatest equine wizard might have been enough for Feldora to unite the ponies, but Moonwarden was no easily fooled. Dead stay dead, no matter what.

Yet he saw the unicorn twice. Both times were when Feldora gave her speech on the ‘official’ cult gathering in a village of Hollow Shades. The place itself has become a safe haven for the cult, as there were hardly any unicorns there and the Princesses’ influence was withering. Moreover, living in a forest situated between two mountains was stressing enough, so cult’s promises could easily fuel the poor ponies’ dreams.

Moonwarden was standing in a crowd back then, with his horn concealed by a simple hat. He saw Star Swirl the Bearded, the founder of the Conclave itself, telling everypony he feels ashamed that the unicorns took so much for themselves, leaving so little for earth ponies and pegasi. He stated that he returned to help Feldora bring a better tomorrow. It didn’t make much sense for Moonwarden, so the logical answer is that there was somepony posing as Star Swirl.

The only problem being… there wasn’t another unicorn in the cult. Not to his knowledge, at least.

‘I should come with you, mistress,’, Zaeer said, pulling Moonwarden from his reverie. ‘Griffin Kingdoms aren’t exactly known for their hospitality.’

‘Your concern est louable,’, Feldora replied. ‘But I need Moonwarden on this one. He will ensure my safety.’

‘I’ll do my best, mistress.’, the dark grey unicorn gave a single nod.

Good one.

‘Besides,’, the mare said to Zaeer. ‘You are needed elsewhere.’

‘Mistress?’

‘You will return to our place in Hollow Shades.’, she pointed at the map. ‘Most of the recruiters are already there, and vast numbers of our followers are coming each day. I need you to oversee the preparations for the ritual with Star Swirl the Bearded.’

Zaeer was shocked with this new responsibility.

‘I’ll see to it personally.’, he assured.

‘In the meantime,’, Feldora turned her attention back to Moonwarden, nodding at the gemstone casket. ‘We’ll take the carriage drawn by my pegasi acolytes and do what needs to be done in the Kingdoms.’

Moonwarden used his magic to take the casket from the shelf, to which Zaeer frowned.

‘When we’ll return with Star Swirl’s Staff, there will be no stopping the balance to come.’

Ah, the balance. Cult’s favorite catchphrase.

What did it mean, exactly? Probably only Feldora knew and was not sharing that knowledge even with her closest associates.

Moonwarden, naturally, had a theory. It was well known that the cult’s ultimate goal is to make everypony equal, possibly by reducing the role of unicorns in the society by weakening or even taking away their ability to use magic. And, from what he had learned about Star Swirl the Bearded, they could achieve that by using his famed Staff. He wasn’t sure, however, how it would affect the Royal Sisters. Would it take away their power to raise the Sun and, worse, the Moon?

There was one more thing. Feldora didn’t seem to understand that cutting down the amount of magic in the society will cripple the possibility of development. While temporarily improving the present, from a certain point of view, there would be no good future lying ahead. All in all, magic proved useful over the years. Many structures and projects, not only in Canterlot, were completed thanks to the collective effort of earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns. We’re not plucking out feathers from wings of the pegasi, why would somepony considered taking away the very thing that defined the unicorns?

Still, Moonwarden didn’t feel fear of losing his abilities. He felt… serenity.

After all, he was just following her plan.

Chapter 5

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 5

‘…and that’s why we need your help, Rarity.’, Twilight concluded.

Sunseeker raised a porcelain cup decorated with hoof-painted patterns and took another sip. The warm, aromatic beverage was one of the finest black tea blends, usually served by ponies with expensive taste. And although the Carousel Boutique’s owner was – without a doubt – that type of pony, the stallion couldn’t believe she was so naïve at the same time… or was she?

‘Just to make things clear, Twilight,’, the mare replied. ‘You’re telling me that Princess Celestia sent you, as well as here present Trixie and Sunseeker on a top secret mission to find… a stolen trinket?’

It was the pretty accurate summary of the purple mare’s completely made up tale. Sunseeker had pointed out earlier that getting more ponies involved with the Conclave business might not be the best idea, so Twilight came up with a cover story about how she has recently received an urgent letter from Princess Celestia. The red-maned stallion hovered the cup back on the oaken table. From what he heard from Trixie, those supposed letters were the Ponyville librarian’s excuse for almost anything.

‘Yes! That’s exactly what I meant!’, she said, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

‘And even though the Royal Vault is certainly still full of gemstones and chasing thieves is the task for the Nightguard,’, Rarity enumerated. ‘Even though you know the gem finding spell as well as I do, you still need my assistance?’

Huh. The cover story sounded more reliable when Twilight was telling it.

‘It’s not about the spell. It’s about… having a knack for finding gems!’, the purple mare clarified. ‘Remember what you’ve told me about how you got your cutie mark? We could use that kind of unicorn magic now.’

‘But one gem? You know I tend to be… enthusiastic about gems, but even I consider it vastly exaggerated! Besides, I promised myself to spend more time with Sweetie Belle after the last Sisterhooves Social! What can possibly be so special about one gem?’

‘It’s magical.’, Trixie cut in.

For the most of the ponies’ little tea party, the azure mare was rather quiet. She was now playing with an empty cup, rolling it between her hooves. Trixie gladly let Twilight take charge on recruiting Rarity as a gem huntress, because she was well aware of her current lack of… emotional stability to lead the team.

‘What do you mean? Could you please at least describe its... magicality?’

‘I think we can even show you!’, Twilight clapped her front hooves and grinned. ‘May I use the mirror, Rarity?’

‘That’s what I’ve been trying to encourage you to since we first met…’, the white mare politely pointed out, stroking her indigo mane.

‘Why would I know then I will be needing one now?’, Twilight asked, completely clueless.

Sunseeker facehoofed discreetly, Trixie chuckled and Rarity rolled her eyes.

‘You can use one of those.’

The ponies got up from the table and walked to the middle of the boutique’s main room. Sunseeker lifted one of the three gold and brass framed mirrors and placed it so that everypony could see their reflections. Twilight closed her eyes and enveloped it with magenta mist, just as if she wanted to grab it with telekinesis. The mist imploded with a quiet whistle and turned the mirror’s reflective surface into a transparent glass, shining with a brass glow.

‘What’s that?’, Trixie asked, walking around the see-through mirror.

‘It’s called the pensieve.’, Twilight replied. ‘Many pony and non-pony wizards had them. They allow to share or even relive your memories with others. Just focus on your memory and send it inside.’

‘Send it?’, Sunseeker asked.

‘Observe...’

The purple mare concentrated once again. She sent a magenta streamer from her horn into the air. It danced around the ponies for a while, then was sucked by the pensieve.

The scenery has changed immediately.

The four unicorns were in a clearing of the Everfree Forest. There were burnt bushes and broken branches everywhere. Suddenly, a ring of green fire has appeared. No, not green. It was more like looking on a green fire through a piece of magenta glass. Everything around was composed of different shades of violet.

‘Sparkle, I will keep him distracted, you destroy that gem!’, somepony shouted.

It was a purplish Trixie, fighting side by side with Twilight Sparkle against the greenfire beast and desperately dodging its attacks. Every other lost bolt of lavender fire that shot towards the four unicorns just went through them.

‘Now, Sparkle! Now is our chance!’

The action of the memory froze. The four ponies walked towards the unmoving beast, towering like a sculpture. Trixie took a closer look on her past self, wondering what would she tell about the present one’s problems. Sunseeker was trying to catch motionless bolts of orchid flame. Rarity inspected the beast’s collar to see a large emerald among the colorless, yet slightly thistle diamonds. She nodded and Twilight ended the memory.

They were back at the boutique.

‘You have never told me about that, Twilight.’, Rarity said. ‘Did you destroy it?’

‘Not exactly…’, the purple mare began, but Trixie was already shooting an azure streamer into the pensieve.

The four unicorns were in the empty compartment of the Friendship Express. This time everything was bluish – cerulean seats, cyan walls, ultramarine floor.

‘No, I don’t want anything from the trolley!’

Past Trixie walked in, along with a sapphire raccoon on her back.

‘What? I don’t know what you pests… I mean, pets, eat! I never had one!’

The raccoon protested, pointing at a turquoise bag.

‘Oh, okay, I’ll check… no, nothing to eat… what’s that?’

She took a small shard of the emerald. It was no bigger than her hoof and was glowing faintly, yet in regular intervals.

‘I wonder where did that come from…’, she said, then glanced through the window. ‘Shall I keep it or throw it away?’

Again, the memory froze on Trixie’s pondering the fragment and the shrugging raccoon.

‘So it was not entirely destroyed.’, Rarity said.

‘The unusual thing about it is that it has grown since, back to its original mass and shape.’

‘I need to see the last time you saw it.’

‘That’ll be one of my memories again.’

Trixie created another streamer that enveloped the ponies and transported them elsewhere.

They were now standing on one end of a long corridor, decorated with stained glass on both sides. Again, everything was blue, just as in Trixie’s previous memory. There were two ponies near the doors to the Royal Vault. The memory froze just after past Trixie phased through the four unicorns.

They trotted towards the burglars, walking through the unconscious bodies of two Royal Guards. Rarity walked closer to the bluish grayish unicorn that was putting the emerald into his cape.

‘It has really grown back, from what I see.’, Rarity observed, then pointed at the caped unicorn. ‘And who is this?’

Every single window in the corridor exploded at the same time, scattering thousands of immaterial glass pieces around with a terrifying shriek. Colors changed from shades of blue to grey. Giant cracks of blackness appeared through the floor, walls and ceiling, shattering the memory. Twilight, Rarity and Sunseeker shouted.

Twilight, Rarity and Sunseeker shouted.

All four unicorns were back at the Carousel Boutique. They were staring at the broken mirror, no longer glowing with magic but with its reflective pieces lying on the floor.

‘I’m sorry about the mirror…’, Trixie said, turning away from the smoky gold and brass frame.

Twilight whispered something to Rarity’s ear.

The white mare was puzzled. Perhaps she couldn’t enchant a mirror to show the past, but she was certainly able to interpret the present. While Twilight and Sunseeker were cleaning up the mess around the mirror, Trixie shambled back to the table and poured herself a cup of tea.

‘It’s quite alright, my dear. It’s not your fault.’, Rarity assured. ‘Everypony, I will help you find… Princess Celestia’s missing emerald!’

Twilight and Sunseeker cheered happily, Trixie just raised the porcelain cup in a toast gesture.

‘Great! We’re moving out tomorrow!’, the purple mare said, trotting to boutique’s doors, opening them and causing a bell hanging over to ring. ‘I still want to check something in one of my books. And I have to brief Spike on his upcoming chores.’

‘I go with you!’, Sunseeker followed her. ‘I want to see Spike laughing at those chores… Trixie, you coming?’

The azure mare shook her head.

‘Neigh, I’ll just stay here. You guys have fun!’

Rarity spotted that for a brief second Sunseeker was little reluctant to leave Trixie in the boutique, but he eventually trotted outside, causing the bell to ring again. The azure mare was still sitting at the table, indifferent to her surroundings, with her head pillowed on the wooden table’s edge.

Rarity cleared her throat.

‘Oh?’, Trixie stood up. ‘Sorry, can I stay here? I don’t feel like walking around Ponyville today…’

‘I’m afraid you cannot.’, she stated firmly. ‘I am going to the spa…’

‘Well, have fun, too…’

‘…and you are going with me, of course.’

‘What!? But I don’t want to...’

‘You didn’t expect me to go on another adventure of a lifetime without getting mine coat shined up, did you?’, Rarity interrupted. ‘You want my help, you go to the spa with me. And I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer!’

Trixie stood up, looking daggers at the white mare and keeping her head just little over the ground. She passed by Rarity who was, in turn, gleaming with a joyful smile.

* * *

The usual!

Trixie never though the usual could mean so many different things.

Spa ponies beauticians, Aloe and Lotus apparently knew Rarity quite well, as they immediately dressed her in a white bathrobe with golden fur lining and an embroidered letter R. Trixie was asked to chose another bathrobe for herself, so she took a yellow one with red lining.

And then it started.

Steam room, visited. Facial mask and horn filling, both done. Massage, special seaweed bath wrap and mud bath itself – checked, checked and checked.

The last thing on the list was a hoof bath.

Trixie and Rarity entered the room and there was nopony inside except them. The mares stepped into already filled pools. The water had just right temperature and a scent of ripe cherries. There were even soft pillows on the ceramic tiles around each pool.

‘I want to thank you for bringing me here.’, the azure mare said, genuinely grateful. ‘Last week was tough for me and I… thank you.’

‘That’s nothing, really.’, Rarity replied, lying on her side and resting legs in a bubble curtain. ‘It would be a disgrace, not to help the Conclave agent…’

The azure mare was shocked. Spa atmosphere have knocked her vigilance! She sat down unsteadily and cleared her throat.

‘I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Oh, puh-lease!’, Rarity replied with a mixture of kindness and mockery. ‘Twilight is a terrible liar. I was hesitating between that and EIA, but only the Conclave would send three unicorns to find a magical gem…’

‘What do you want?’, Trixie asked, standing up. She recovered from the spa enchantment and readied her magic.

The white mare looked at the showmare with compassion.

‘To help you, of course.’, she replied. ‘I have no idea what war you’re fighting, but I tell you: you can’t win this with the burden you’re carrying.’

What to do now?

Trixie was trying to recall what she was told on Secretive 101 during her training? There must have been something about compromised agents!

Oh, right. She skipped few of these classes. Improvise!

Conjuring a smokescreen would allow her to reach the doors in few skips. But what about Rarity’s magic? Did she have power measurable with Twilight’s? And did the librarian know there was a dangerous unicorn among her friends? The unicorn who was now casually rippling the water by submerging her hoof…

No.

Rarity was right. Trixie had no idea how, but she was right. For too long the azure mare has been running away, suppressing emotions and hiding her feelings.

Not any longer.

Trixie sat on the pillows and let her legs float on the water.

‘I have never applied to be a member, but an inquisitive pony can learn a thing or two’, Rarity said, looking straight at Trixie. ‘Now, why don’t you tell me about Moonwarden?’

‘There is not much to tell.’, the azure mare began. ‘He’s a unicorn… from Trottingham, if I recall correctly. He joined the Conclave roughly at the same time I did. We trained together and excelled in everything we did… but we had much different ways of achieving our goals.’

‘Were you two close?’

‘What?’, Trixie responded nervously. ‘Of course not. I wouldn’t even describe him as a colleague or an associate. More of a rival, probably. Little taunts here, little taunts there…’

‘What about other agents?’

‘There… there were no other agents.’, Trixie replied, surprised by herself. ‘I mean, I was never particularly good at making friends… I even heard I was obnoxious… yet Moonwarden was the only pony who talked to me’

‘And he betrayed you.’

‘And he betrayed me.’, she whispered, then continued with her voice cracking every few words. ‘It was the worst time for betrayal, you know? I met so many ponies: Sunseeker, Twilight, you and your friends… and he… and he…’

‘It’s nothing embarrassing to cry, my dear.’

Trixie sniveled.

‘I want to make a difference in my life. When I finally understood that it’s not worth to go through life alone, that a pony is something more than her completed missions and mastered spells, I was shown that you’d better not trust anypony!’

‘But you trusted me.’, Rarity replied. ‘You could have ran away the second I mentioned the Conclave, but you stayed nevertheless.’

Trixie didn’t answer. She felt good that she had finally talked about her feelings with somepony. Maybe it will be easier now? Maybe friendship works just like magic – spells and tricks are difficult at first, but the more you’re engaged, the more natural it gets?

The mares have their hoof bath finished and went out the spa, fresh as never. Especially Trixie, who stopped on the threshold of the spa, just under a signboard of an orange-maned, butter-colored mare, with a silver horseshoe and five green flowers in the background. She was almost ready to take a step forward, almost back to life.

‘Is there any hope for me?’

Rarity turned around and smiled gently.

‘If you believe it, it’s so.’, she said. ‘And for what it’s worth, I believe it too. I believe that we will succeed on this task, no matter where you’d lead us.’

The azure mare was surprised.

‘Wait, who made me a leader?’

‘Haven’t you read any adventure books?’, Rarity asked. ‘A good team of explorers has to be balanced! I, for example, find myself in the archetypical role of a pretty party member. Twilight is the smart one, of course. And the dazzling gentlecolt is, as a stallion, the strong one.’

‘That doesn’t make sense.’, Trixie neglected. ‘Because of that I am left with being the leader? It’s huge responsibility, I don’t know if I’m ready! What would the others say?’

‘Don’t you worry, my dear.’, the white mare said. ‘Twilight was also alone when I first met her, but she eventually passed through. She surely understands you, you’re very much alike. When it comes to Sunseeker…’, she grinned, but Trixie didn’t get her intentions. ’Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the way he looks at you…’

‘I… didn’t?’, she replied, perplexed.

Rarity sighed.

‘So much Twilight…’, she said under her breath. ‘The bottom line is, he’d never betray you like Moonwarden did.’

The azure mare had no idea why Rarity was so certain about that.

‘What about you? You are… willing to put your fate in my hooves?’

‘That’s what trust is about.’

Trixie stepped forward. She couldn’t help not to hug Rarity. And she, like any good friend would do, hugged her back.

Chapter 6

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 6

The Sun was emerging over the horizon, slowly revealing its bright face and bathing Equestria in warm rays. It heralded the beginning of another day for ponies in Ponyville, who were soon to wake up and start their usual daily routine. But for some of them, such as a well-known trio of fillies, the day had already started.

‘Why are we doing this, again?’, Scootaloo asked, rubbing her purple eyes and helping Apple Bloom climb up one of the thickest branches of the library-tree. The spot their unicorn friend had chosen was well concealed and had a great view on a moored pink balloon, which was patterned with stars and had golden finishes here and there. The balloon that was supposed to take off any minute now.

Even when Apple Bloom was seated, the pegasus had to hold her, as she was dangerously tilting back and forth.

‘And ah’d like to know…’, Apple Bloom mumbled, but the rest of her sentence disappeared in an incomprehensible yawn. She stared at Scootaloo for a few good seconds. ‘Y’know what ah mean?’

The yellow filly was a perfect picture of a pony who had been awoken too early, with her barely opened eyes, amaranth mane in an absolute mess and a slightly smiling expression of a pony taking a nap.

‘Yea… not.’, Scootaloo answered, then turned to Sweetie Belle – the only one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders who looked fresh and full of energy this morning. ‘What is so important that it cannot wait until daytime, say, noon?’

‘Because at noon my sister will be far away from here,’, the white unicorn explained. She took a pair of binoculars out of her bag and gave them to Scootaloo, who passed them to Apple Bloom, who was clueless on what to do with the object. ‘Along with Twilight, Mr. Sunseeker and Trixie.’

‘Oh no, not this again!’, the orange pegasus yelled. ‘Are you, like, obsessed!? You’ve been trying to put a conspiracy theory on that Trixie ever since we saw her in Canterlot for the first time!’

Indeed she had. For some reason, the case of the azure mare was bugging her more than anything else. At first glance it was perfectly ordinary – after all, Trixie could have been visiting Twilight for books and her sister for dresses, just like dozens of other customers, and the white stallion could have been her brother, for example. But Sweetie Belle had a feeling there was something… elusive about the mare.

‘We saw her many times after that, always with Mr. Sunseeker, often with Twilight and sometimes with my sister. Don’t tell me that it’s just a coincidence.’

‘Wait, y’say Trixie is in town?’, Apple Bloom slowly asked, still not fully awake. ‘Coinci-what?’

‘Go to sleep, Apple Bloom.’, Scootaloo said, then turned back to Sweetie Belle, who pulled a scroll of parchment from the bag. ‘Seriously, every time she shows up you go… what’s that?’

The unicorn filly unrolled the scroll. There was a grotesque picture of the azure mare wearing a dark blue cloak, surrounded by probably everything Sweetie Belle had ever learned about her, starting from Trixie’s general description and ending at comparison tables about where and when she had appeared.

‘This is my Comprehensive Guide to Possibly Dangerous Ponies.’, she said. ‘Work in progress. As you can see from this chart…’

Scootaloo waved around. She didn’t want to have another lecture, so she gave up.

‘You know what, forget it. Just do whatever you need to do and let’s get out of here. Which reminds me, how long are we going to sit here?’

‘Not for long.’, Sweetie Belle assured. ‘Now be quiet, somepony is coming!’

The fillies looked down from their hiding and saw Rarity chatting lively with Sunseeker, who was holding two cases with his magic.

‘…have to admit, it was quite amusing.’, the white mare said. ‘Not the mud, of course, that was dreadful, but the idea of setting an obstacle course for sisters to run is undeniably engrossing.’

‘You must really love your sister.’, the stallion replied.

He put the cases on the ground and knocked on the library’s door. The ponies were now directly below the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

‘Why yes, yes I do. Do you have any siblings?’

‘A sister, back in Hoofington. She’s probably at Sweetie Belle’s age.’

‘You should definitely take her to Ponyville someday.’, Rarity suggested. ‘When we’re done with our little quest.’

The door opened and Trixie and Twilight came through.

‘Hello everypony!’, the azure mare greeted the rest of the team with an unusual joy. ‘Are you ready to go?’

‘Have scarves, will travel!’, Sunseeker saluted and pointed at the cases, which Twilight immediately raised from the ground. ‘Rarity made them for us in case of cold weather in the Griffin Kingdoms.’

‘I have to admit, it is so much easier since Rarity told us she’s aware of the Conclave.’, the purple mare said, closing the door and walking towards the balloon with the rest of the group. ‘We don’t have to hide anything at all.’

When the balloon flew away, Sweetie Belle grabbed a pencil with her mouth and wrote a single word on the parchment.

‘I got what I wanted!’, she joyfully exclaimed, with her voice cracking a little.

The unicorn filly looked at her friends. Apple Bloom must have taken seriously the pegasus’ advice, as she was now resting on Scootaloo, pillowing her head in the orange filly’s cerise mane.

‘You happy now?’, the pegasus frowned, trying not to collapse under Apple Bloom’s weight.

Sweetie Belle took a last glance at her Comprehensive Guide. Although she added only one word to the list of Trixie’s descriptors, she felt it was more than enough.

Conclave.

* * *

Sunseeker nestled his head deeper in a scarlet scarf. It helped a little, warming his muzzle and cheeks. They were flying for almost a day now, and the farther from the border they were, the colder it was. The wind was getting stronger, the sky became covered with dark clouds and it even started snowing a little. Luckily, they had food supplies and blankets which made the inside of a balloon’s gondola quite cozy. And they had magic.

‘Your turn, Twilight.’, Trixie said and the mares switched places.

Although Equestrian balloons were supposed to serve as short-range vessels for sightseeing or picnic trips rather than chasing sinister cults, there was a way to speed up the journey. By maintaining a simple spell, which Twilight taught Trixie, the unicorns could make the balloon move faster. The purple mare had even tried to explain how it worked, using terms like pressure, buoyancy and air currents, but her physics lecture found very little interest. The most important thing was that they were getting closer.

‘A little to the left, please.’, Rarity commanded with her eyes closed. She was doing that from time to time to ensure they were moving towards the emerald, a picture of which she had preserved in her mind. Twilight used magic to adjust the course and went back to manipulating the local air flow.

Trixie sat near Sunseeker and covered herself in a warm blanket.

‘So far so good.’, she said. ‘I don’t know how it works, but Rarity is a great compass. With that speed we’ll catch up with Moonwarden in no time.’

‘How can you be so sure he’ll be there?’, the stallion asked. ‘What if he sold the gem, or gave it away, and is now plotting elsewhere?’

Trixie chuckled.

‘He wouldn’t. He’s always chasing power, so if Feldora is onto something like Staff of Star Swirl the Bearded, he wouldn’t miss an opportunity like that.’

‘But… can we get to them before they’ll reach the tomb?’, he pressed on, not entirely convinced. ‘I mean, what if Feldora uses that power to take our magic away just before the confrontation?’

‘But she didn’t yet.’, Trixie replied, levitating two apples out of their bags. ‘Besides, Rarity said the gem was still moving, so they didn’t find the entrance either.’, she continued with confidence in her voice. She passed the fruit to Sunseeker and looked at him. ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to make it!’

There was something new in her eyes. Her beautiful, dark violet eyes.

The mare was still devoted to the cause, just like he had seen after her magic combat training back in Canterlot, but this time there was nothing terrifying in her stare. Instead, there were glimpses of hope, faith and trust. Even more, her eyes were smiling as much as her face did. Sunseeker didn’t need anything more than that.

‘You’re right. We’ll do fine.’, the white stallion smiled back and took the apple. When he started chewing it, he felt as if didn’t need the scarf and blankets anymore.

Suddenly, a shriek resembling a hunting falcon was heard. Something hit the balloon, but bounced away from it, thanks to a magenta shield.

‘Griffons!’, Twilight yelled. ‘I don’t know how many and I can’t protect the balloon from all sides!’

Trixie and Sunseeker stood up and prepared their magic, ready to repel the attackers, but Rarity had never trained combat spells. She leaned on the gondola’s rim and warmed up her hooves. She had seen a griffon only once, when Rainbow Dash’s supposed ‘friend’ was in town, but now she had a chance to look again at those feathery creatures, as about a dozen on them was flying in attack formation to get the ponies.

‘Steady, steady…’, Trixie said, waiting for them to get closer.

The griffons’ body was similar to a lion, but they also had strong wings, sharp claws and beaked heads resembling an eagle. They were known for their air superiority, matched only by the pegasi, indomitable hearts and the will to fight, hardened by the rough climate of the Kingdoms, as much as the unforgiving clan system of their societies.

They split up into three groups. The first one headed up and was led by a griffon wearing a black bandana, presumably the sign of leadership as no other griffon had one. The rest unsheathed their razor-like talons and aimed at the lines connecting the gondola to the balloon.

‘Fire!’

Trixie conjured two multicolored orbs and tossed them at the left group. They zapped a pair of griffons who broke the formation, but the rest was getting closer. Sunseeker guarded the other side of the gondola. He used his magic to create a fiery whip coming out of his horn, which tied around the attacking griffon’s arm and held him like a dog on a leash, resulting in a sharp turn around the balloon. The griffon was forced to fly around and eventually hit the group on the opposite side, taking one of their attackers down.

The merciless wind and the increasing amount of snowflakes in the air marked the beginning of a snowstorm. But the battle was not over yet, and although Twilight did everything she could to shield the balloon and the lines, the flying assailants found a way to cut one of them. The gondola tilted a bit.

‘There’s too many griffons!’, Sunseeker shouted, heating up a nearby cloud and soaking a diving griffon, who became immediately frozen.

‘We’re on their turf! What’d you expected, Diamond Dogs!?’, Trixie yelled back, still tossing flashing bolts of radian light. ‘Though I have no idea why they’re hostile!’

A sound of the balloon’s fabric being ripped off was barely audible among pony shouts, griffon shrieks and the general noise of the snowstorm. The unicorns felt the gravity pulling them down.

‘We’re falling!’, Trixie screamed. ‘Rarity, behind you!’

Rarity didn’t even turn around. There was a griffon there, from the upper group that was now trying to tear the rest of the balloon apart. He, judging by a harsh look of reddish feathers, reached inside the gondola only to receive a strong two-legged kick in the beak from the mare. With his tongue sticking outside, the griffon flew away discouraged.

‘No, behind YOU!’, Rarity pointed with her hoof.

Trixie was pulled by an iron grip and fell out of the gondola. For a second she struggled to hold the griffon who grabbed her, one with the black bandana, but she was eventually shaken off and thrown towards the ground. The griffon leader followed the falling mare, encircling her in the air like a predator.

‘TRIXIE!’

Sunseeker jumped out. At the same time the griffon attackers cut another line, which caused the gondola tilt to the side, with Twilight and Rarity trying to hold on.

The stallion reached Trixie about halfway to the snow-covered plains below. The azure mare was desperately trying to use her cape to reduce the terminal velocity they were falling at.

‘You idiot! Now we’re both gonna…’

‘Grab me!’

Trixie took the stallion around his neck, and he conjured another fiery whip to grab the flying by griffon leader. Over the years he had learned to control the amount of magic flowing through the whip, so it could cause anything from real burns to painless zaps. This time he relied on the latter – he didn’t want to make their lift faint.

Trixie spotted that the leader was surprisingly a she, with her orange-amber coat, slightly darker wings and the black bandana standing against the background of her white head. The agents were now bounded with the griffon, and, despite her attempts, she was not able to fly up with the load of two ponies. So they were all approaching the ground, but at a much safer pace than before.

Ten seconds later they hit the surface with much less impact they were bracing for. The fiery whip melted the snow between Sunseeker and the griffon, as he by no means released the leash. He was holding her firmly, fueled by the feeling of Trixie holding him just a minute ago.

‘Leave me alone, dweeb!’, the griffon shouted, trying to break the magical bond.

Trixie jumped and pinned her down to the ground, sticking her beak in a snow pile.

‘Why did you attack us!? Did Moonwarden hire you?’

‘The archeologist? Kinda, he passed us about an hour ago. NOW GET OFF ME!’

‘Was he alone?’

The griffon shrieked in rage and threw off the mare. Trixie rolled to the side, then conjured three blinking spears. The griffon was breathing heavily and even though she’d probably wanted to fight on, she knew she had been outmatched. She looked at the stallion, then back at Trixie with her golden eyes and sighed.

‘Tell your coltfriend to let go and I’ll talk.’

The azure mare nodded, and Sunseeker released the griffon.

‘Don’t you dare flying away, birdie. I’ll catch you.’

‘Fine, whatever you say, knighty.’, the mocking answer was heard, then the griffon stood up. ‘We have honor, you know.’

‘Was the grey unicorn travelling alone?’, Trixie asked, jumping straight to business.

‘Nah, there was that green pegasus girl with’im.’, she said. ‘He told us they were Equestrian archeologists…’

‘He lied to you.’, Sunseeker cut in.

‘How should I know? He was kinda persuasive. Anyway, they were archeologist on the run from some bad lame-os…’

‘We’re not lame-os!’, the stallion protested.

The griffon gave him a murderous look, which was even colder than the wind that was still blowing, although with less intensity than up in the air.

‘Would you kindly shut up, dweeb? I’m telling the story. The girl asked if my squad could hold off the chase, and since they were paying with bits… why not. They also asked if there was a cave nearby where they could hit the hay, so I sent Goriel, my second-in-command, with’em.’

It was good to know that even the night-loving pony himself needed some sleep. But on the other side, Trixie could use some rest, too. And a shelter for the upcoming night. She wondered if the griffon had any reason to lie. The cult’s advantage of one hour corresponded with Rarity’s feelings on the emerald’s proximity. There was a pegasus mentioned, most likely Feldora, the cult leader herself. They had sold the story of being a pair of archeologists… which was true, from a certain point of view.

‘You’re going with us.’, the mare said. ‘We’re trading you for our friends and a safe passage to wherever those archeologists went.’

‘You balloon fell somewhere… there.’, the griffon looked around and pointed the likely crash site. ‘We’d better get moving, unless you want your friends to be eaten by some of my guys…’

The griffon leader walked a few meters, then turned around at the ponies.

‘You guys have names? Cause mine’s Gilda, by the way.’

Chapter 8

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 8

Rarity was struggling to dig herself out of what was left from the pink balloon.

Twilight’s last spell might have softened the fall, but it didn’t do what it should have done in the first place to ease the white mare’s pain. She was about to shout out her misery and torment when she heard the griffons’ cheering.

‘One hell of a raid, guys!’

‘Yeah, we rule!’

‘That’ll teach ‘em not to mess with us!’

Oh well, her complaint on the lack of proper mane-protecting spells in Twilight’s magical repertoire would just have to wait. For now she had to act fast to at least save her hooficure from this dreadfully cold snow… and her coat from the bloodthirsty griffons, of course.

‘The white one kicked me! Lemme at ‘er!’

On second thought, she could probably bear the weight of the torn, star-decorated fabric for a little longer. It was, after all, just like being wrapped in a gigantic, yet extremely cozy blanket on a Saturday morning…

‘Ey! I found one!’

…only to be ruthlessly stripped of its coziness.

One by one, the griffon warriors were falling from the stormy sky to surround the unicorn. Dashing from one side to the other, Rarity could find no way to get through a barrier made of unsettling laughter, mocking grins and threateningly snapping beaks.

She turned around only to face the reddish, savage-looking griffon. A large bruise over his left eye was certainly a souvenir brought from the recent aerial skirmish.

‘Hi there.’, he said, trying to sound softly but eventually turning out as even more frightful. ‘You missed me, beak-kicker?’

Rarity gasped in horror and tried to scurry away, but the griffon grabbed her pink and white striped scarf with one hand, stretching out a single claw on the other. He pulled the mare closer and pressed the talon against her throat, positioning it sideways. The other griffons were cheering and whistling grossly when he looked straight into her eyes.

‘I asked,’, he slowly repeated, moving the claws up to her chin, ‘if you missed me?’

It took all of Rarity’s self control to withstand the piercing, hawk-like stare and keep her body and voice from trembling. If that had to be the end of her, she would go down with her head high!

‘I’d prefer not to answer that.’, she replied with great dignity.

The crowd murmured, amazed by the pony standing up against their bruised kinsbird.

Events happened in the blink of an eye.

Rarity was knocked into the snow, the griffon unsheathed the rest of his claws and, roaring in anger, jumped at the defenseless mare… but he never reached his prey.

Poof!

The leaping griffon crashed into a pony, whose sudden appearance in midair caused a stir in the crowd. They collided and both fell to the ground, but when a cloud of magenta smoke was gone, it was the pony who got back on her hooves first.

‘Rarity, are you alright?’, Twilight asked with concern, making a stand between her friend and the infuriated feathered warrior. After receiving a confirming nod and a voiceless ‘I’m fine, my dear’ from the snow-covered mare, she shouted at him, and then towards the crowd.

‘You leave us alone! In fact, you all leave us alone!’

‘And who are you!?’, a muscular, well-built silhouette from the crowd yelled. ‘Identify yourself or perish!’

Twilight gulped. She would have to be completely blind to miss the fact that this particular, silver coater griffon was much bigger than the average representative of the species.

‘I’m… Twilight Sparkle, and according to a binding treaty between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdoms…’

The bruised warrior was back on his paws. He dashed in front of Twilight, obscuring the view of the big guy and forcing her to take a step back… or few steps back, to be exact.

‘We do not speak for the Kingdoms!’, he rolled his eyes, following the withdrawing mare. ‘We stand apart.’

Contrary to that declaration, all of the griffons moved closer and tightened the cordon around Twilight and Rarity, who could only hug each other in fear. The red one leaned over them.

‘And I make my own treaties and rules.’

They closed their eyes and braced for the worst.

‘Stand aside, Garrote!’, a new, female voice spoke, towards which the griffons immediately turned.

Still alive, thank the Princesses!

Twilight couldn’t see the individual who just saved them due to the feathery pillars growing around her. She pondered. The voice sounded rather firm and fierce, but at the same time it had a note of… odd familiarity? She looked at Rarity who clearly came to the same conclusion, but wasn’t one hundred percent sure, either. Could it be…?

‘I said, stand aside! You can make your own rules as long as you follow mine!’

‘B-but…’, Garrote tried to protest, but gave up eventually. Suddenly he appealed much less threatening.

‘Clear? Then MOVE, you nestlings! Take what you can and get lost, ‘cause there’s a blizzard coming this way and I don’t need having my butt iced in here!’

Indeed, it became significantly colder, or maybe it was Twilight’s body reaction to actually starting paying attention to the temperature, now that the paralyzing fear was gone.

The crowd dispersed at once, either flying or walking away from their would-be prey. The mares could now see their unexpected savior in all of her orange-amber glory, proudly stirring towards them, along with… Trixie and Sunseeker?

Twilight felt slightly confused. She didn’t like that feeling. At all. She could easily name a dozen of factors concerning their current situation, but the just didn’t seem to add up! At least not in a preferred way. Logical and reasonable way, that is. Well, at least her initial hypothesis was correct! ‘Thank heavens they’re safe and sound!’, Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. ‘But Twilight, last time we met her…’

‘It didn’t turn out well, I know.’, she replied. ‘And now they attacked us with no reason. Just stay calm.’

‘I’m turning into a snowpony here and you ask me to stay calm?’

The griffon leader had to come closer to recognize the mares, as there was more and more snow whirling in the air. And when she did, along with Trixie and Suneeker, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

‘Oh, horsefeathers…’, Gilda cursed, more with resignation rather than with actual anger. She turned to the azure mare. ‘You gotta be kidding me. These are your friends?’

‘Uhm… hi, Gilda.’, Twilight greeted the griffon in a friendly, but highly cautious manner.

‘You’d better not be hiding that sentient cotton candy somewhere in this mess.’, she hissed. ‘Or I might change my mind about Garrote…’

‘We have a deal.’, Trixie said, figuring out that those two must have already met. ‘Remember that.’

‘What kind of deal?’, the purple mare inquired.

The wind wailed stronger.

‘Not here.’, Gilda shook her head. ‘I wasn’t joking about that storm, you know?’

* * *

She wasn’t.

By the time the merciless blizzard hit, the group led by Gilda had already reached a place called the Amber Aerie. Despite its proudly resounding name, it was just one of a thousand mountain caves, ordinary and indistinguishable from any other – at least from the outside. But when the ponies went further inside, they found themselves in a much warmer place.

It felt that way not only because it was well protected from the cold and wind, had a colorful patchwork of randomly placed carpets covering the floor, or because the cave’s main hall was almost fully furnished with home-made wooden tables and equally mismatched chairs.

There was something unique in a joyful atmosphere amongst the griffons, a sort of an never-ending party. They were laughing at inappropriate jokes, telling more or less exaggerated stories of their soaring achievements and trying to prove themselves in arm wrestling or card games for bits. All to eventually end up singing old griffon war chants and raising their drinks in a boastful manner. And although it was near impossible to find two griffons with the same coat color or shape of the beak, there was one common thing they all shared.

For all of them, this place was home.

In the midst of this safe haven, one mare was doing her best to maintain a protective aegis she conjured. The spell took the shape of a cut diamond seen from the top, with its every optical characteristic preserved, from crystal clarity to perfection in shape. Even more, the hovering shield had a pulsing indigo glow around the edges and sparkled a lot.

All in all, calling this work of art ‘pretty’ would be a rude understatement. Fabulous, that was the word!

Sunseeker picked a chestnut-size pebble from the ground and threw it at Rarity’s shield. The pebble went right through it, shattering the diamond aegis into pieces and bouncing off the mare’s foreleg.

There was a group of griffons gathered around, curiously observing the unicorns’ doings. When Rarity’s shield spell broke, a general cheer was heard, followed by handfuls of bits being passed among the audience.

‘Why would you do that?’, she asked Sunseeker, seemingly disappointed.

‘To prove that you’re still missing the point!’

‘Care to elaborate?’

The griffons burst out laughing and the stallion knew exactly why. He couldn’t really blame them, though. Instead, he took a deep breath and walked towards Rarity. Bluish mist surrounded her horn as she started weaving another spell.

‘As I had already told you, twice,’, he began, ‘you’re putting too much effort in the… visualization of your spell, leaving very little magical energy for its substance.’

The mare finished shaping the spell into an ethereal umbrella.

‘Uhm.’, she muttered.

‘And it’s the substance of the spell, not shines and glows that makes it durable.’, Sunseeker continued his lecture. ‘This is why your defenses are easily penetrable!’

The crowd wheezed, obviously finding an unintended second bottom in the stallion’s speech.

‘Well you can’t possibly expect I’d cover myself with a trash lid, can you?’, Rarity replied, infusing the transparent fabric of the spell with lavender and gold. She then embroidered gilded butterflies on every second section of the umbrella’s rim.

‘Sure, but you’re the one who asked for some combat one-oh-one in the first place! Could you at least try to follow my instructions?’

‘Uhm. How do you like it?’, she asked, presenting the unusually shaped shield spell.

Sunseeker sighed.

‘I don’t think you’re listening to a word I say!’

‘You’re totally right, Matchhead!’, someone from the crowd yelled and the griffons laughed so hard they fell of their chairs.

‘Thank you!’, the red-yellow maned stallion shouted back. He looked at Rarity who was now humming and dancing with her magical umbrella. ‘Could you guys bring me something stronger from the bar? I feel this is going to be a long night…’

‘We sure hope so!’

Again, the griffons burst out laughing. Twilight, who was observing them from a distance couldn’t help not to giggle as well. She had known Rarity long enough to know that Sunseeker’s patience would be tested.

She went back through the main hall of the Amber Aerie to a place where Gilda, somehow the leader of about thirty griffons, had her office. Well, it wasn’t exactly the office, moreover, it technically wasn’t even a room. Just a recess in a wall separated from the rest of the cave with portable plank-made walls and some rugs.

On the other hoof, how could she know any better? She was living in a tree.

The mare looked inside. Trixie was already there, fully occupying and stretching on the only sofa in the room. Gilda was tidying up some documents on her desk made of a cut tree trunk and gestured Twilight to come in.

A read shape suddenly landed, barely two steps from her face, just as she was about to enter the office. Garrote snorted and shamelessly cut in front of her.

‘Gilda, I’ve counted the beaks.’, he reported. ‘With Goriel in the field only Gabriel is missing.’

‘No big deal.’, she chuckled. ‘Thanks.’

Twilight didn’t like the idea of being trampled at the gap serving as the door, so she patiently waited and entered only after Garrote flew away.

‘No big deal?’, she asked. ‘It’s freezing out there, aren’t you worried?’

Gilda raised a single eyebrow.

‘About Gabriel?’, she asked, amused. ‘I would, but have you seen him? He’s the biggest, the toughest and knows every single safe place from here to Gryphus. I bet he could even fly from here Equestria without a sweat. He’ll live through, but…’

Gilda stopped in mid-sentence. Smile on her face faded, she breathed a short, sad sigh and rested her head on the desk, pillowing it on crossed arms.

Twilight’s questioning glance was captured by Trixie who sat straight and nodded at the mare to join her at the frayed sofa. She conjured a door along with a frame and placed it in the gap between the wooden walls, adding a handle only from the inside and closing the room.

‘She is worrying about Goriel, the griffon guide hired by Moonwarden.’, Trixie explained. ‘I was filling her in just before you came.’

‘If what you told me is true,’, Gilda murmured, ‘then he is on his own against the slimy unicorn and few others of unknown intentions.’, she raised her eyes. ‘Pretty dark, if you ask me.’

‘You are really concerned about him.’, Twilight observed. ‘Are you two close?’

The griffon didn’t answer, only stared blankly at the wall in reverie. The azure mare cleared her throat and went for something completely different.

‘So, this Amber Aerie place? Pretty nice, huh?’, she opinioned. ‘But I still don’t understand how it all works.’

Gilda blinked several times and turned back towards the mares.

‘Well, it’s pretty simple. When a griffon has a hard time with his clan, he usually roams through the Kingdoms until he kicks the calendar.’, she said, but after spotting consternation on Twilight’s face, she clarified. ‘Until he dies. Unless he stumbles his sorry ass upon a place like Amber Aerie, where I happened to be in charge.’, she pointed at her black bandana. ‘This may not be a dream come true, but for someone with nowhere to go it is more than enough.’

‘At first I wasn’t sure.’, Twilight shook her head. ‘When Garrote said that they didn’t speak for the Kingdoms I figured out that they’re all… outcasts?’

‘Well, aren’t you a clever birdie…’

‘But since the last griffon king passed away,’, the purple mare said, almost seeing a history book she once read, ‘the Twelve Clans are using this kind of ostracism only for the most serious offenses! Are you telling me that we’re surrounded by criminals?’

Gilda stood up.

‘Criminals? Hay no!’, she busted and started walking around the trunk, waving her hands angrily. ‘Let me tell you something. The system sucks! Shitheads of the Clans are using it to get rid of inconvenient griffons that didn’t do a thing!’

‘Is that what happened to you?’, Trixie cut in.

‘Damn right!’, Gilda continued her rant. ‘Long story short, about one year ago I was accused of some bullshit I didn’t do. Wretched Clans’ business, let me spare you of that. There was a trial and I got myself and Goriel kicked.’, she stopped for a while, then went on with a sadness in her voice. ‘Sure, there was one gyal that could prove my innocence, so I went to find her, talk about old times and ask to testify in my defense. But it didn’t exactly work out.’

There was a moment of silence with only Gilda’s heavy breathing being heard.

‘Did Goriel was also accused of that… of those bad things?’, the azure mare asked after a while.

‘Nah, he just couldn’t stand that I’m going down.’, the griffon sat back at the trunk. ‘So he formally resigned from our clan’s affiliation.’

‘Can you do that?’, Twilight asked. ‘I had never heard of such a procedure.’

‘It’s ‘cause it’s not a procedure.’, she said and giggled. ‘He showed his middle claw to the clan’s leaders. Literally. And got kicked out with me.’

‘Literally, I suppose?’, Trixie asked with a blink in her eye.

‘Funny.’, Gilda frowned.

‘So this is why you’re so worried about Goriel.’, Twilight drew a conclusion. ‘There are many griffons in here, but he is your friend.’

The griffon leader sighed. It seemed that she really needed to get that of her chest.

‘Yeah, I guess you could say that.’, she smiled. ‘You know what, I feel kinda lame now. I should have refused those bits and told those archeologists to buzz off. Good luck in finding that pony castle. I just… I feel like I’ve sold Goriel to death.’

‘Don’t give up on him.’, Trixie said. ‘We share a common enemy now. We will help you, but only if you’ll get us to the castle. Can we count on you?’

‘Well, duh!’, Gilda rolled her eyes. ‘If that Moonwarden of yours will pluck a feather of Goriel’s wing,’, she grinned. ‘I’ll tear his heart out. Literally.’

‘That’s the spirit!’, the azure mare clapped her hooves. ‘I guess we’re done here?’

‘We have to wait ‘till morning for the blizzard to calm down. You’re welcome to stay overnight.’

‘Excellent! Now excuse me.’, she got up from the sofa. ‘One of your guys offered me a drink and I think I’ll go for it… for a better sleep.’

Twilight watched Trixie as she dispelled the door and trotted out of Gilda’s office.

‘Thank you, Gilda.’, she said. ‘And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry you got banished.’

‘Don’t mention it. Just…’, the griffon hesitated and ultimately turned her back on the mare so she couldn’t see her face. ‘Just say hi to RD when you see her.’

‘I will.’

Twilight left the office to find Trixie and make sure she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

Chapter 10

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 10

Gilda sniveled.

Never before had Trixie seen a griffon crying. It wasn't exactly something she could have expected, at least not according to the general opinion, as the griffons were usually perceived as proud, sky-reaching aviators that achieved dominance over their lands through prowess and uncompromising attitude.

The wet feathers underneath Gilda’s golden eyes, however, said otherwise.

Soaked with heavy tears, they were saying that, deep inside, the mighty griffon kind did not differ much from the ponies, that even those who soared high above the ground could fall and that even someone as tough as Gilda had her fears.

But, in turn, hadn’t revenge-driven, overworked unicorns had some as well?

‘Here, take my cloak.’, Trixie unhooked her dark blue wear and passed it to Gilda, which she immediately rejected. She didn’t even look up at the mare, only kept on mournfully stroking Goriel’s crimson coat.

‘Get lost.’, she replied in a feeble attempt to sound blunt and rude. ‘I don’t need it, just… just go away!’

Because it was in Trixie’s very nature to rarely do what she was asked for – or, at the very best, do it her own, specific way – she moved closer to Gilda, feeling that it was a right time to put some tricks she had learned over the past few weeks to good use. Befriending someone was one thing, but providing moral support – that was a whole new level of expertise for her. Luckily, Trixie had great teachers on that matter.

‘Oh, it’s not for you, featherbrain.’, she said softly. ‘Cover him, or he’ll catch cold.’

As if by magic itself, Gilda’s initial reluctance was gone. She looked at Trixie with helplessness written all over her face.

‘It’s my fault…’, she said, her voice trembling. ‘I should have known that…’

Trixie didn’t let her finish, but offered a comforting hug instead, knowing that Gilda was but a step from falling apart.

‘Don’t blame yourself.’, she whispered. ‘And keep in mind that it’s not over yet.’

Though Gilda was now a little bit more serene than before, she still didn’t seem convinced.

‘You see, I enchanted it several times in case of cold weather.’, Trixie assured, pushing the cloak in her talons. ‘Don’t say anything! He… he needs it more than I do.’

Another tear soaked into Gilda’s snow white feathers when she hugged the mare back, but unlike those of despair and sadness, that one was filled with gratitude and joy. With a genuine ‘thank you’ look, but not saying a single word, she took the cloak and spread it underneath unconscious Goriel and partially covering him.

Apparently, even the smallest of things could be considered great and of powerful impact – or maybe especially the smallest of things.

‘Good idea.’, Twilight, who came around, said. She just finished melting the snow and warming the ruined courtyard’s stone floor around them. ‘It’s the least we can do for now.’

Then she trotted by Trixie, giving her a meaningful look and making it clear she wanted her to follow. The mares walked away from Gilda and Goriel.

‘How is he?’, Trixie asked when they had gone a certain distance.

‘Not well, I’m afraid.’, Twilight shook her head. ‘He seems to be in some kind of magic-induced coma. I didn’t want to bring it out earlier,’, she hesitated, ‘but whenever I tried to reach into his consciousness and wake him up, I found only… emptiness.’

‘Like, the one in the crypt?’, Trixie inquired, to which Twilight nodded. She shuddered at the memory of mind-flooding lack of magic. It was a miracle Twilight managed to get Goriel out of there. ‘So you can’t help him, can you?’

Twilight kept on trotting back and forth.

‘If I only had more time, then perhaps.’, she replied. ‘Mental structures are sufficiently complex and difficult to understand, but given magic as one of the factors… well, I don’t know if I could do anything.’, she stopped. ‘By the way, it was a really kind gesture with that cloak of yours. Not only for Goriel, but for Gilda, too.’

Trixie blushed and kicked a pebble.

‘I caught it from Rarity, I guess.’, she smiled and pointed at her indigo scarf. ‘I still got this, so I’ll live. Besides, it feels good to be generous.’

‘It sure does!’, Twilight grinned. ‘So, what’s our next step?’

Before she could even reply, Sunseeker and Rarity approached them.

‘Well, whatever you’re planning to do, do it fast.’, he joined the mares with his usual enthusiasm. ‘I just spoke with Gilda’s scouts. They found fresh tracks of three ponies and a carriage in the Red Oak Valley – that would be the valley we flew over on our trip here. They estimate that Feldora must have left shortly before we’ve arrived. We might still catch her, but we need to move, like, now.’, he concluded.

‘But we can’t just leave!’, Rarity opposed. ‘We must help Gilda and her poor friend! I mean, the griffons have welcomed us like royalty – let us not speak about the balloon incident, shall we – so it is only the matter of propriety to help them now.’

‘You do realize that if Feldora exploits the Staff of Star Swirl the Bearded, the very state of magic in Equestria will be threatened?’, Twilight asked. ‘The outcome… just unthinkable!’

From the corner of her eye, Trixie saw Gilda listening to their conversation on the side. It wasn’t hard to guess that the ponies were about to choose between the fate of their homeland and the fate of her kinsbird. And Gilda, with her military mindset, had no illusions about that.

Yet, pursuing the cult and abandoning Goriel would result in his likely demise, as neither Gilda not the griffon outcasts of the Amber Aerie had any idea about magical affections. Besides, Trixie suspected that the crimson griffon wasn’t just any guy in Gilda’s ranks – he was someone special. Because of that, she could imagine herself in a similar situation, when somepony she deeply cared for would be lying there, on a stone floor, covered by but a cloak…

And so she was torn in between.

‘What I was trying to say,’, Rarity stated firmly, ‘was that I had a lovely chat with the Nightguard stallions. They’re saying that they are able to take only two ponies on the sky carriage, shouldn’t we want to sacrifice their speed.’, she explained. ‘I am well aware that the fate of the unicorns hangs in balance, and that preserving the status quo is still the top priority for the Conclave, but it would seem that we can’t all go, anyway.’

A solution came to Trixie’s head, one that was pretty obvious, but equally hard to take.

‘We split.’, she decided.

The ponies looked upon each other. They all knew that as long as they were together, they were unbeatable. Going apart, however, carried a risk of becoming more vulnerable and ultimately losing everything they were fighting for.

A necessary risk they had to take.

‘If so,’, Sunseeker began, ‘the two most magically skilled unicorns should go, as stopping Feldora and her wicked band is crucial. I say Trixie and Twilight.’, he stated.

Trixie chuckled. For once it was a fact, not a boastful stage exaggeration. They were, indeed, the most appropriate candidates for the job, and there was no way in denying that their magic was notable stronger. Besides, they had already fought together against overwhelming odds, like that Diamond Dog empowered by the same emerald that was now in the Staff’s head, so they had best chances to deal with it quickly.

‘Sunseeker and I shall stay, then.’, Rarity said. ‘We’ll try to help Goriel, fix the balloon and catch up with you as soon as possible.’

Twilight stared in disbelief.

‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’, she asked. ‘I imagine the Griffin Kingdoms aren’t exactly a place you’d spend your holidays in.’

‘Oh, I’ve been in worse places, believe me, Twilight.’, she winked.

They all walked towards the moon-ornamented sky carriage. The Nightguard began to fasten their harnesses, and soon Trixie and Twilight were ready to go. Sunseeker and Rarity, who were joined by Gilda in the meantime, moved back so the pegasi could make a running start.

‘To the village of Hollow Shades, sirs!’, Twilight asked, and the stallions whinnied and began to trot across the courtyard towards the castle’s open gate.

‘Hey, Trix!’, Gilda shouted. ‘Kick their butts for me, will you? And… you know, thanks!’

‘You got it!’, Trixie replied, feeling that they were moving faster. ‘Take care of Rarity!’, she shouted to Sunseeker, then sit back on the carriage’s soft seats.

‘I will!’, he assured, trying to keep up with them. ‘And Trixie…’

Trixie had no idea she could jump up and turn around so quickly. Sunseeker halted and was now shrinking in the distance, so she leaned out of the carriage, as she felt that he was about to say something extremely important.

Some part of her even expected that ‘something’.

‘Good luck.’

Trixie smiled.

After a while, when they were already soaring over the ancient ruins of King Aurum’s castle, Trixie could have sworn she saw Rarity running up and slapping Sunseeker in the face, but when the clouds obscured the view she could not see anything else.

* * *

It is said that coming back is always faster than going somewhere.

When Twilight Sparkle heard it for the first time, and that was long before she even got her cutie mark, she conducted a series of elaborate – for her age – studies on the subject of steps and heartbeats on her way to a local library and back home. It turned out that she had gone the exact same distance at the exact same speed both times, hence proving that it’s not scientifically possible for the return trip to be any faster. Time equals distance over velocity, and nothing could change that.

The given coefficients, however, could be altered.

For example, the velocity with which the Nightguard pegasi flew was far greater than the one achieved by a balloon. The distance remained mostly the same, though a small adjustment on the fact that Hollow Shades were a bit closer than Ponyville, was still vital. Therefore, since the former value was greater and the latter was smaller, the overall quotient had to be… greater. Science!

‘Bandit.’, Trixie said unexpectedly.

‘Excuse me?’, Twilight replied, snatched out of her brain-stimulating pleasures.

‘What?’, she looked at her from the other side the sky carriage, equally puzzled. ‘Oh! Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just wondering how to name my pet raccoon.’

‘The one which you, more than once, called ‘annoying pest’?’

‘The very same.’, Trixie giggled. ‘So, Bandit. What do you think?’

The black-grey raccoon was the actual reason Twilight had a chance to meet Trixie during the Everfree Fire. He made a terrible mess in the library, then guided her to the Everfree Forest where she found unconscious Trixie. Many of Twilight’s closest friends – actually everypony but Rainbow Dash, if you think about it – had a pet to play with and take care for.

‘I think it reflects his… personality?’, Twilight tried to guess.

‘Yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking. Thanks.’

‘Naming a pet…’, she decided to pursue the case. ‘It didn’t come to you just like that, am I right?’, she asked. ‘You’re nervous.’

‘No I’m not!’, Trixie protested. ‘I’m just a little…’

Unfortunately, she couldn’t find a proper word describing her current state.

‘Nervous?’, Twilight innocently suggested.

‘Nervous, fine.’, she unwillingly agreed. ‘I mean, the stakes are high and making a mistake is not an option now.’

‘Do you want me to go over the Plan A once more?’

Trixie waved her assent. Although she worked best with a considerable dose of spontaneity, Twilight’s thorough analysis was invaluable. Besides, she really beamed when she could plan, supervise, maintain and drill down into the details on every single step.

It was safe to assume that Feldora had to perform some sort of ceremony during which she’d strip unicorns of their magic, probably in front of her followers to demonstrate the power of the Staff and her own. In other words, Trixie and Twilight had to stop that ritual before it hits. Since they failed to track down Feldora over the last few hours of their flight from the Griffin Kingdoms, their best chance was to strike during a window of opportunity when she’ll be gathering her cult and preparing the ritual.

According to How To Test If You’re Evil 101 – which Twilight had read for theoretic, non-applicable scientific purposes only – one needed to make an obligatory speech before world-shaking events, occasionally burst into maniacal laughter and, if possible, arrange some lightning and thunder in the background.

Trixie noticed that if Feldora was that type of leader, their window of opportunity would be quite wide.

‘Well, yes, you could say that.’, Twilight added. ‘But in case something with Plan A goes wrong, we’ll be severely outnumbered…’

‘Always outnumbered, never outgunned!’, Trixie replied with passion. ‘We go in, snatch the Staff, then run and set fireworks all the way.’

It was early afternoon when they crossed the borders of Equestria. Cold, barren wastelands were soon replaced by a much more pleasant to look at fields of green, colorful patches of farmlands and vast woods. Simply put, Equestria was a place where the sky was bluer and the grass greener, so no wonder that its founders had chosen it for their new land. Twilight knew that story very well, as it was performed annually on a Heart’s Warming Eve, and as much as she was ashamed to admit, she would love to play a part in that spectacle one day.

‘We’ll be arriving at Hollow Shades soon, madam!’, the Nightguard informed when they passed the deafening roar of monumental Neighagra Falls, one of Equestria’s many landmarks.

‘Put us down on the edge of that forest!’, Trixie pointed ahead at a thin line of green in the distance. ‘We’ll go on hoof from there, we don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention.’

‘Right away!’

After few minutes, with a grace of highly skilled fliers they were, the Nightguard landed at their destination.

‘Wait for us here.’, Trixie commanded, jumping out of the sky carriage. ‘We might need an emergency exit in case something went wrong. Should we not come back within an hour, you are to return to Canterlot, report to Princess Luna and request support in the matter of… arcane equilibrium. Do you understand?’

The pegasi nodded, and so the mares were free to go into the forest embracing Hollow Shades. It was definitely more like the Everfree Forest than, say, White Tail Woods, with its gloomy density and palpable coolness in the air. There were, however, no bizarre creatures every two steps beyond the regular wildlife, so Trixie and Twilight could safely advance towards the village undetected.

At least until it happened.

They were just passing through a small clearing when a beam of emerald light shot into the sky, no more than a few hundred meters from them. Trixie felt the currents of magic around her tremble, then stop for a while, only to return to their usual flow shortly afterwards, as if nothing had happened.

Something had happened nevertheless, as she was getting the impression that some magic currents had been erased from existence… or rewritten, perhaps? The only certain thing was that the phenomenon knocked her and Twilight down.

‘What was that!?’, Trixie asked, frantically checking if her horn was still in its place. ‘Please, don’t tell we’re too late!’

Twilight hastily enveloped Trixie in a magenta mist and lifted her from the ground. Her horn shimmered as usual and there was no indication of her unicorn magic working any different.

‘It’s seems everything is fine.’, she said, moving Trixie around the clearing.

‘Great.’, Trixie rolled her eyes. ‘You can put me down now.’

‘Oh, sorry!’, she released Trixie over a nearby trunk.

‘Was that the Staff? If so, why weren’t we affected?’

‘Perhaps the ritual didn’t work!’, Twilight guessed with hope. ‘Anyway, we need to hurry!’

The mares galloped across the clearing back into the forest, trying to head towards a place from which the emerald beam fired. The forest path was surprisingly well-trodden, and led them to the brink of Hollow Shades, to a lumber mill. The mill consisted of a few huts with thatched roofs, wood logs lying in designated areas, as well as fields of scrubs covering the grass. Judging by sets of axes and saws thoroughly put by one of the huts, the mill was still active, although it was past working hours and there was no one there.

No one except a stallion, who was watching the mares from between the huts ever since they had entered the mill, but revealed his presence only now. He stepped forward, and although he was still hidden in the shadows, Trixie recognized him without much trouble.

‘Twilight, we’re not alone in here.’, she whispered, then spoke towards the shadows. ‘Zaeer.’

His crooked grin flashed in the darkness.

‘So, at last…’, he spoke. ‘I was eager to see you again.’

‘Hardly a compliment! Now you tell me where the Staff is or I’ll punch it out of you!’

‘Like you did with poor Drizzle Tail, so wrongfully imprisoned in Canterlot?’, Zaeer laughed, content that he caught the mare off guard. ‘Yes, Trixie, you will suffer for what you did…’

‘Leave her alone!’, Twilight interceded. ‘We're going to end this, so you better step back!’

‘It has been already done, unicorn!’, he replied, then turned again to Trixie. ‘I couldn’t compete with you back in Hoofington, but I have received a gift from my mistress and Star Swirl the Bearded himself! We all have received that gift!’

More than two dozens of ponies – pegasi and earth ones – stepped out from the forest and entered the lumber mill, spreading out around the wood logs and huts. Most of them were dressed in the cult’s official robes like Zaeer, which consisted of a black, body covering suit with silvery thorn-like markings around their hooves and along the back.

They stared angrily at Trixie and Twilight.

‘Acolytes, allow me to introduce!’, Zaeer boomed. ‘Trixie, agent of the Conclave! The leash that has been keeping us, earth ponies and pegasi away from magic for centuries! She is the one amongst many who have so greedily grasped such power for themselves, leaving none of it for us!’

The crowd muttered, seemingly agreeing with Zaeer’s every word.

Well, there’s go the part of ‘secret society’ for the Conclave. Curse you, Moonwarden!

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’, Trixie replied casually.

Zaeer laughed, clearly flaunting with his supposed superiority.

Trixie didn’t wait for him to finish.

She was in top form thanks to countless training sessions in Canterlot gyms. Her horn shimmered with an aura similar in color to Twilight’s, but much brighter. She casted a volley of magical missiles at Zaeer that would be enough to strike down three stallions of his size if they hadn’t been avoided in time.

Zaeer, however, did nothing to dodge them. But was not hit by her attack, either.

The projectiles halted in mid-air, just in front of the stallion who watched them with interest. Only now, when the blinking missiles had illuminated him, Trixie could see his face.

His stare glowed with emerald fire, and a similar mist seemed to be coming out from within his eyes. The veins on his neck and face were much more visible – they were casting a green light, giving the impression of the stallion being highlighted from the inside. Also his disfiguring scar, that was coming from over his eye down to the cheek, was glowing.

Zaeer stepped forward and blew at the missiles, just as if he was blowing out the candle.

And they vanished!

‘Better future,’, he said, raising his hooves to stomp on the ground, ‘begins NOW!’

It was understandable that earth ponies, often associated with manual labor, were physically stronger than unicorns and pegasi, but what happened in the lumber mill was beyond all understanding.

A powerful shockwave ruffled the earth on a path from Zaeer to the mares, and although it was relatively easy for them to avoid it, a colossal stone spike that came from the ground and its subsequent explosion was impressive nevertheless. Something like that could not be caused by mere physical strength.

It must have been caused… by magic.

Zaeer, the earth pony, used magic!

‘Go, brothers and sisters!’, Zaeer shouted, green mist coming from his eyes. ‘For the sake of equality for us all!’

Similar green mists appeared among the eyes of the pony crowd. Their veins shimmered, and plethora of short-lived, concentrated magical phenomena – more commonly known as spells – come into being, be that bolts, spears of blades of green energy.

And they were all tossed at the mares at the same time.

‘That’s impossible…’, Twilight mumbled in confusion.

‘Plan B!’, Trixie shouted, grabbing her and immediately creating a protective bubble. ‘RUN!’

Trixie and Twilight braced themselves for the overwhelming force, but did not expect anything like this! Trixie’s shield soon shattered after absorbing to much magical energy, and if it wasn’t for Twilight, who had set an improvised palisade out of wood logs, they’d probably severely injured. Their only option was to withdraw and rethink their strategy, so they galloped back through the forest, hoping that their lift was still waiting.

Running away from a furious crowd was never an easy task, but Trixie and Twilight had to be exceptionally careful this time. They had to watch out for both fitness of the earth ponies who ravaged through the forest, trampling everything like mad, and agility of the pegasi who kept assaulting them from the air. As if that were not enough, every single pursuer was now empowered by magic, and was taking full advantage of that!

Well, most of the time.

A poorly shaped blast hit a tree just after Trixie passed it.

‘They might have magic now,’, she shouted, breathing heavily, ‘but they’re like foals trying to lift their first pebble!’

‘Sure!’, Twilight shouted back, still running like crazy. ‘But they’re like avalanche! Besides, how is that even possible!? I was certain that…’

‘Leave that for now!’, Trixie said, then a thought came to her mind. ‘In fact, leave me and save yourself!’

‘WHAT!?’

‘I’m slowing you down! You can teleport out, right? I’ll draw their fire so you could concentrate!’

‘There’s no way I could leave you here! We’re in this together and…’

‘Watch out!’

A group of pegasi cultist created a tornado just in the middle of the forest. It wasn’t that kind of tornado from which a pony society could benefit, one that could lift water from a reservoir and transport it to weather factories. No, that one was a ravaging twister of excessive force, throwing emerald thunderbolts and spreading rough, viridian hail around the area.

‘Come on, we’re close! Just a little bit!’, Trixie shouted.

Suddenly, Twilight screamed.

‘TWILIGHT!’, Trixie looked back.

A strayed bolt of energy from the twister hit the purple mare, braking through her shield and knocking her down. She was lying helplessly, and the stampede of ponies was getting closer.

Before Trixie could even react, she tripped on a branch.

Only one thought came through her mind: Oh, how much she’d like to get out of here!

Poof!

Epilogue

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Epilogue

Poof!

The sound of a resolving teleportation spell was heard and Trixie appeared inside a pink cloud of smoke, just to fall on her face. She stood up hastily, ready to fight the attackers.

But there were none.

In fact, she was no longer anywhere near that destructive twister. She wasn’t even in the forest.

Trixie was standing in a grassy field with cold, whipping wind as the only companion. It seemed that she had landed on the plains north from the forest embracing Hollow Shades, judging by a high, solitary Canterlot mountain to the west. She realized what just happened only after the initial shock had worn off.

She actually used magic to teleport! That was a reason to celebrate! Just wait until Twilight hears…

Trixie froze. Twilight Sparkle was nowhere near, but if Trixie was able to teleport away, surely the other mare could, too. She’ll surely materialize any moment now. Any second…

She didn’t.

‘No, no, NO!’, Trixie protested, looking up at her horn. ‘Stupid, unpredictable unicorn magic!’

She felt as if she had abandoned a friend, and since there were only a few ponies in Equestria Trixie considered to be her friends, not being out there for one of them in the time of need was utterly devastating.

‘I’m not leaving you out there!’, she shouted, dashing towards a distant line of trees, but stopping shortly after. ‘But I can’t take all those… magicalized ponies by myself! What to do, what to do?’, she started trotting in circles. ‘Think, Trixie, THINK!’

She was trying to come up with some bold plan to save the day, but instead found herself walking into a statue of griffon that suddenly – from her point of view – appeared in the field. She stepped around it, mumbling an excuse.

Wait, what?

That was no statue – it was a living being. Trixie approached him with caution. He had a silver coat and was much larger than the average griffon, not to mention he was quite muscular. Standing still and staring blankly into the distance, he really look… statuesque. What was he doing here, anyway? He couldn’t possibly live here, he had to…

Oh.

The Amber Aerie was missing one griffon when Garrote gave her report to Gilda the other night. One that could supposedly fly all the way from the Kingdoms to Equestria without breaking a sweat. What was his name, again?

‘Are you Gabriel of the Amber Aerie?’, Trixie asked and move closer, but immediately jumped out upon seeing that his eyes were veiled with silvery mist.

She had seen that look before.

‘Long time no see, agent.’, a well-known voice from behind said.

Trixie, now pale a sheet, slowly turned around. For a brief moment she had actually believed she saw a ghost. A ghost who looked exactly as she remembered him from that memorable Nightmare Night gala in Canterlot, minus the cape, which was revealing his moon and shield cutie mark. He stood still, keeping a straight face and not revealing any emotions, as usual.

‘You…’

Without further delay, Trixie charged at Moonwarden, sparkling up her horn.

Chapter 1

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 1

‘Again.’

‘Are you sure, agent? It’s been over an hour now…’

‘I said, again!’

An old dueling hall on the outskirts of Canterlot had seen better days.

What had once been a place for noble skirmishes and enlightening training, was now nothing but a shadow of its former glory. It was raining outside and water was dripping from the leaky roof. Wind got inside as well, through wooden walls, now bitten by the tooth of time. Nowadays, ponies would rather spend their time in modern facilities, like fitness and gyms, leaving this place of tradition abandoned and forsaken.

Which was a good thing, considered what was happening here right now.

A group of four unicorns took up their positions in the hall. Three of them were standing on a temporarily painted silver ring, at equal distances from each other. The fourth unicorn stood alone inside the provisional arena, facing two ponies and having one at the back.

‘Begin!’

Colorful auras appeared around the horns of the three unicorns. The air became dense and heavy, infused with the crackling magical energy as they simultaneously casted their spells. One of the unicorns gathered enough water from the floor to freeze it and form up a massive icy comet, the other raised a wooden stick with a telekinetic grip, imbuing it with explosive energy. The third unicorn enchanted a large pile of rubble and joined the forceful assault, sending a heavy stream of stone and wooden shards towards the middle of the ring.

Three against one was not a fair fight.

Yet the lone unicorn smiled, quickly evaluating the situation. She turned around and dashed forward, lowering her head and pretending to slide underneath the upcoming explosive stick. Her opponent spotted that and decreased the altitude of the improvised bomb. A second before the stick would hit the mare, she jumped. While in midair, she performed an acrobatic flip and used her magic to gently alter the course of the spinning projectile. Its wielder was not able to compensate the change on time, which resulted in the explosive collision between the stick and the icy comet coming from behind. Fragments of ice were scattered around the arena.

The mare saw the stream of rubble heading her way. She easily conjured three smoke bombs and concealed herself in a dark fog. Over the years she found that simple spell pretty useful for anything from impressing the audience to fooling the enemy. Or covering her escape...

The stream flew inside the pillar of smoke but, oddly enough, didn’t come out on the other side. The three unicorns slowly walked towards the dark fog but immediately stopped as the sound of something spinning got louder. They also saw chunks of ice rolling on the floor towards the center of the arena.

‘Are you okay, agent?’

‘What the…’

Soon, the smoke was gone.

‘Snake! Sweet Celestia, it’s a snake!’

The giant serpent made of ice and stone was towering over the unicorns, hissing frightfully. Every glacial part of snake’s long body was iridescent with at least a dozen of colors, with shades of blue and purple being the most common. With a single glare of its creator, the serpent dived at the unicorns. They were desperately trying to find cover but wherever they went, the massive body was blocking their path.

One of the unicorns was soon launched in the air with the serpent’s tail, ending up being hopelessly struck in the roof. The other was trying to escape the immobilizing constrict, while the third one was sneaking towards the exit, aware that the battle is lost. He looked back to see if it’s safe, but when he turned around, the mare was already there. She stomped both of her front hooves to create a powerful telekinetic blast at a point-blank range.

‘Not fair…’, the unicorn managed to squeak before being send across the hall.

Indeed, three against one was not the fair fight, because even at their finest, the three unicorns were no match for that particular mare.

* * *

Just outside the main hall, Sunseeker approached an old janitor pony, who was sitting in front of large, wooden doors with the faded word GYM on them.

‘Hi, have you seen Trixie?’, the white stallion asked. ‘About this tall, azure coat, looks as if she could conquer the world by putting a hoof on a map?’

Suddenly, the doors flew of their hinges, shattering over the opposite wall, burying the surprised janitor and one of the fighters under dozens of oaken bars. Sunseeker barely managed to avoid the unexpected blow.

‘Never mind!’, he said, smiling down at the pile of shattered wood.

Sunseeker entered the hall and saw her.

The azure unicorn mare, known as Trixie, one of the most prominent agents of the Conclave, stood in the middle of the battle circle.

She had her pale blue mane in a mess, her coat covered in dust and sweat and her hooves in a desperate need of a wellness center. Although the three unicorns were clearly defeated, Trixie was still concentrating at the ravaging snake on the other side of the hall, breathing heavily and putting a greatly painful effort to keep the spell from falling apart.

‘Okay, that’s enough…’, Sunseeker muttered and conjured a fiery whip, which he was about to lash at the mare to break her concentration.

Trixie caught a glimpse of it, so she immediately countered the whip and made it wrap around Sunseeker’s legs, turning him upside-down and pulling through the floor to meet her face to face.

‘You want some, too!?’, she shouted at the stallion.

There was something in her violet eyes. Something both worth admiring and terrifying at the same time. There was a burning passion, an ultimate focus on the goal, full devotion to the cause. On the other hoof, there was that terrifying part, but Sunseeker didn’t want to think about it.

‘It’s okay, Trixie.’, he said. ‘I bring the message from the Council. They want to speak with you.’

Without a word, the azure mare ended her spells, which made the stone and ice serpent collapse. She trotted outside, leaving Sunseeker looking around. Broken benches, demolished floor, roof full of holes, splinters of wood, rocks and melting ice everywhere… Trixie has not been idle.

‘Guys, come on!’, he said to the stallion lying on the floor. ‘Clean up this mess, will you?’

The unicorn stuck in the ceiling finally freed himself and fell down.

‘You can start with the roof.’, Sunseeker added, then went outside to catch up with Trixie.

* * *

Trixie went out of the ruined dueling hall and headed back to the city. She’s going to need a new place to train. Again. The azure mare pondered upon her duel, grading her performance as poor. She should have taken out her sparring partners sooner, and that snake would have been bigger if she had used the roof tiles. Anyway, assuming that three opponents…

‘…to you. Trixie, are you even listening? The Council thinks that you should be suspended!’, she heard a voice from behind, pulling her out of the pensivness.

She looked back without stopping and saw Sunseeker.

‘What? Who came up with that!?’, the mare asked angrily.

‘Firehoof, I guess.’, the white stallion answered. ‘But it’s not important. I’m trying to tell you that I think you’re a bit distracted lately!’

‘What are you saying!?’, she shouted back, upset at the world. ‘I’m in a great shape, what makes you think I’m distracted!?’

‘Because,’, Sunseeker answered patiently. ‘You forgot to take your cloak, didn’t notice that it’s raining and you’re heading the wrong direction.’

Trixie halted to slowly think about what the white stallion just said.

Her dark blue cape was tightly packed in her saddlebag, so what’s the deal? Oh. The bag itself wasn’t on her back, but on Sunseeker’s. It was raining, but she wasn’t wet. Why wasn’t she wet? Sunseeker was wet. Isn’t the rain making everypony and everything wet? She noticed a bluish force field hovering over her, repelling the water. Its color was very similar to the stallion’s eyes, and his horn was glowing. It seemed he was unable to sustain two force fields at the same time and he chose to shield Trixie over himself.

And there was that wrong direction thing. Indeed, instead to the Archives she was on her way to the Royal Castle. She went back with her thoughts to the events of the Nightmare Night and what she saw back then…

Trixie walked towards the nearest building to look upon her reflection in the window. What she saw scared her. She didn’t quite recognize the mare on the other side of the glass. Sure, she knew it was her face, but was different from what she had in mind. This Trixie was clearly tired of whatever she was doing lately and she surely didn’t get enough sleep, judging by the bags under her eyes. The expression on this Trixie’s face was full of weakness and grief, grimaced in a sorrowful manner. It seemed that this mare was likely to get distracted, Trixie had to admit that.

She turned around at Sunseeker and saw his short red mane being flattened under the falling curtain of rain.

‘I’m sorry…’, she murmured and conjured a force field over the stallion.

‘That’s nothing, really.’, Sunseeker answered. ‘Look, I understand what you’re going through…’

‘I’m fine!’, she interrupted, grabbing her cloak and saddlebag.

It was the obvious lie and the white stallion saw right through it.

‘You’re not, but I’m not going to push it. Just remember that you’re not alone.’

You’re not alone. It sounded well, but then why she felt so abandoned?

Trixie tried to find an answer on her way to the Conclave Tower, but came up with nothing.

* * *

Betrayal. That was the word she was looking for. It didn’t fit the language she was recently trying to learn, but who had time for it when stuff like that happens. Anyway…

Somepony poked her. It was Sunseeker, who was standing beside her. He pointed at the stallion sitting on the middle chair.

‘Agent Trixie, would you please focus?’, said Councilor Stormcoat. ‘You seem a little bit distracted.’

Oh, not that again.

‘Yes.’, she answered, moving her attention back to the middle of the well-furnished top floor of the tower. Rain was drumming on the colorful windows of the Conclave headquarters. ‘You were saying…?’

The trio of councilors exchanged glances and sighed. Trixie was working with the Conclave long enough so they got used to the azure mare’s behavior, which was annoying and obnoxious at least, while insufferable and unbearable at most. But she was one of their best agents, if not the best one.

‘As you might know, we were considering to suspend you… please, don’t interrupt,’, said Councilor Firehoof, waving at Trixie. ‘And we have every reason to do so.’

‘How possibly could you get banned from every single gym in Canterlot?’, Stormcoat asked. ‘Your recent behavior was inappropriate and reckless.’

‘In my own defense, that was last week.’, Trixie answered.

‘But since Canterlot was infiltrated so easily, as we recently witnessed, we decided we cannot let you go.’

Of course they couldn’t. The mysterious cult which she encountered in Hoofington was still a threat, and Trixie had the biggest experience in fighting them.

‘So, your mission will be to track down stallions responsible for the unfortunate events of the last Nightmare Night. And of course do what you can to end the threat.’, said Firehoof. ‘But first, we need to know if you’re capable of doing that. We understand that it became personal for you. Just say a word and we’ll find somepony else for the job.’

Even if she wanted to consider the offer, Trixie knew there was only one answer.

She will not let him destroy everything she recently discovered she valued.

‘No. This is my responsibility.’, the azure mare confidently answered. ‘I can confront him, but he’ll be extra difficult to track down. I can’t… I prefer not to do this alone.’

Before the Everfree Fire incident, Trixie would have never considered teamwork worth pondering upon. But she has learned a lot since then.

The councilors nodded.

‘You may begin with questioning the cult member we’ve captured.’, Councilor Icemane joined the conversation and passed Trixie a small scroll. ‘This safe-conduct will grant you access to the prison.’

She turned her attention at the white stallion.

‘Agent Sunseeker, you are now indefinitely reassigned to help Trixie with her task.’

‘But… what about my duties in Hoofington?’, he asked.

‘We’ll send somepony, don’t worry.’, the mare assured. ‘I am sorry to keep you away from home, but this is the priority one task. Not to mention you already fought the cult.’

Trixie could swear she heard a silent ‘but they know me there…’ and felt bad that she stood between Sunseeker and his regular life. Like if she wasn’t upset enough. Could it get any worse?

‘Sunseeker isn’t the only one who will be helping you.’, Stormcoat added. ‘We’ve managed to get some brains for your magical brawn… ah, there she is.’

Ornamented ivory doors opened and as a well-known mare entered the room, Trixie realized that it could get worse.

It was Twilight Sparkle.

Chapter 7

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 7

Moonwarden leaned out of the silver pegasi-drawn carriage and looked at an ancient castle below. It was barely visible through a thick layer of clouds, but at least snowstorms that were so annoying the other day were gone. He really should have taken a scarf, though.

Goriel, their feathered guide flew by. He was a crimson-coated griffon with white spots along the neck, and a rakish stare in his steel gray eyes, now covered by a pair of flight goggles.

‘This is it!’, he yelled. ‘There is an abandoned road nearby where you can land!’

‘Take us down.’, Feldora commanded and the pegasi acolytes began to descend, following the crimson streak to the snow-covered clearing.

When they reached the ground, the caped stallion got out of the carriage first. He took a deep breath of fresh mountain air, which instantly washed away his drowsiness. The cold night he and the cultists had spent in an uncomfortable cave was far from rejuvenating. Especially due to crackling snoring of the pegasus acolytes, who were now taking off their harnesses. But even if the night itself wasn’t as appealing in this middle of nowhere as it was in Canterlot, it had provided a necessary rest…

…for the big day. Moonwarden heard a voice in his mind. For today.

Indeed. I have to admit, this is the most intricate intrigue I have ever participated in…

But you’re not the weaver! You’re merely a thread!

True, but I am being interlaced at right angles, and the fabric cannot be made without me.

You’re replaceable.

Not in this craft.

Once again he struggled to silence his inner disputes, shifting attention to the green mare, who stepped out of the carriage and was immediately joined by her pegasus guards on both sides.

‘Are we in the right place, Moonwarden?’, Feldora asked, taking a mistrustful glance at Goriel. ‘Or did our ami à plumes not earn the bits we have paid?’

It seemed that ever since they had encountered the griffons, the pegasus mare wasn’t too fond of the newly met companion. He probably didn’t fit her perfect equation of ‘balance’ and ‘better tomorrow’. But, it was either hiring one of them or being torn to pieces by all of them. A simple choice.

Not to mention Goriel and his kind could still prove themselves useful.

‘He certainly did, mistress.’, the unicorn bowed in response, hopefully for the last time. There was only one mistress for him in Equestria, and it certainly wasn’t that mare. ‘This is the Red Oak Valley, from which Princess Platinum had led the unicorns to the south.’

There was a mountain towering over the valley, on which the old castle was settled. It had a long, partially cracked stone bridge leading to it, obviously designed to be the only way in or out. A necessary precaution in case of any earth pony incursion at the time of the tribes. Adjacent to the castle’s back wall was a demolished tower, with stone blocks covered with frozen mud and snow. It must have once served as the overlook for guards so they could spot any threat around the fortress and above it. Another necessary precaution, in case of a pegasi squadron storming the place from the air.

All in all, the castle’s architecture was a symbol of adversity among the ponies of the past.

The adversity which lives on, perhaps?

‘This,’, Moonwarden continued. ‘This is the castle of King Aurum, the last of the mighty unicorn kings and the father of Princess Platinum.’

‘Or rather what’s left from it, if you ask me.’, Goriel said, joining the conversation. ‘It is a ruin and most of the goods were either taken by your kin or… commandeered by the… most respected griffon clans.’

The way he pronounced these words was much different from his usual laid-back attitude. His barely opening beak as well as an expression of contempt and disgust suggested Moonwarden that it was better not to ask about his clan affiliations. The griffon reached inside his bag and began putting flight goggles back on.

‘But I guess it’s exactly what drives you archeologists. Just some dust and rust to satisfy your lust, eh?’, he shuddered, then spread his wings. ‘Well, my work is done here.’

‘Please, pass our compliments to your leader.’, Feldora said. ‘We en sommes reconnaissants that you have brought us here.’

‘Mistress, if I may,’, Moonwarden cut in, trying to sound as polite as he could. He looked at Goriel. ‘You were hired to be our guide.’

‘And… I guided you here, as requested.’, the griffon answered, slightly confused. ‘C’mon, the castle is, like, five minutes from here.’

The unicorn shook his head and trotted around Goriel.

‘I believe your leader’s exact words were: ‘Geez, that’s a lot of bits, take them wherever the heck they need to go and help them’, am I correct?’, he said firmly, building up a mask of somepony who greatly cares about his duties. ‘We would appreciate your company in investigating the area underneath the castle.’

Persuasion was one of the arts the dark grey stallion considered himself to be good at. But now, without magical augmentation, he could only hope that his reasoning was enough to keep the griffon nearby.

Oh, how he’d like to use a simple mind-affecting spell!

But Feldora was watching. She had gladly accepted Moonwarden as the unicorn so very ‘agitated’ by her vision of everlasting equality. Maybe she even began to trust him after he had proven his loyalty by stealing the emerald, which was now safely hidden in his cape. But any usage of magic beyond duties she had committed him to would most likely compromise the stallion. If the green mare wanted Goriel gone, Moonwarden wanted him to stay, as it was always good to have another of these around. And should she had any doubt, he could easily talk himself out of it by telling how much he cared about her safety.

Good one.

The crimson griffon blinked at the unicorn, then sighed and looked up at the sky.

‘Oh, Gilda… I hate you so much.’, he smiled in an incoherent manner, which was quite odd and puzzling for the stallion. ‘Alright! I remember an old bet I made that involves examining those ruins, so I’ll come. I see that you are interested in what the dead had left there, down in the castle crypt, hmm?’

‘Precisely.’

Goriel walked along the snowy road towards the castle, and the rest of the group followed him. Feldora approached the unicorn.

‘Is it really necessary?’, she said, making sure that the griffon was outside hearing range. ‘Surely you and my… acolytes are enough ponies to explore the crypt.’

See? That’s why I plan ahead.

Oh, how astonishingly clever of you, really...

‘But mistress,’, Moonwarden replied, hating himself so much but still showing his best mask of kindness and care. ‘He could help us, the griffon’s talons are much more precise than our hooves…’, he explained, then whispered to the mare. ‘And we can send him first to check for traps.’

Feldora nodded reluctantly, accepting the stallion’s idea.

Sweet Princesses, you’re quite an actor!

‘You know that there might be traps inside?’, Goriel asked and turned around. ‘Mechanical, magical… I heard spooky stories about the unfortunate griffons who ventured there…’

‘Rest assured, I will dismantle them.’, Moonwarden replied, passing by the griffon and taking the lead of the group. ‘All of them.’

All but one. And you don’t really know what it does to griffons.

Forgive me, Goriel.

* * *

They were by far the most peculiar archeological team ever – three equality-seeking pegasi cultists, one ex-Conclave unicorn agent and on completely clueless, yet hard-working griffon.

After almost an hour of digging through the rubble and snow they managed to uncover what they were looking for – an entrance to King Aurum’s castle crypt, where Star Swirl the Bearded was supposedly buried, along with his prized Staff, which was missing only the emerald in its headpiece.

It makes you wonder, you know.

What is it?

If Star Swirl came back… why didn’t he take his Staff with him in the first place?

Good point. Why didn’t the supposed ‘Star Swirl’ come here today?

Feldora’s heart touching story just doesn’t add up.

Yes, it will be most entertaining to finally see it crumble.

‘Yo, you’re coming or what?’, Goriel asked.

Moonwarden opened his eyes. He saw the griffon holding a provisional torch and illuminating a spiral staircase. Feldora and her guards were waiting for the unicorn expert to come in first.

The stallion trotted downstairs, relying on his own horn to provide light, and the rest followed him. He levitated a small, blue notepad out of the cape and skimmed through his scribbles. Everything that he had ever learned about Star Swirl’s resting place was here. It certainly pays to read, contrary to what some bigger and louder ponies from his colthood were more than once trying to prove him of.

To his knowledge, there were three security measures between them and the Staff, with a large, iron gate being the first obstacle. It looked like a round hatch, made of six rings, with bigger surrounding the smaller ones. The rings were covered in symbols carved in the iron surface, which wasn’t even remotely rusted despite the old age of the crypt. There were letters, numbers and various shapes, and none of the symbols appeared more than once on each ring.

‘This one is easy.’, Moonwarden said. ‘The crypt was designed and secured by Star Swirl’s apprentice, Clover the Clever. Those runes she had carved onto rings,’, he pointed at the letters, ‘can be activated. All you have to do is to input her name and the gate will open.’

‘Proceed.’, Feldora said. ‘There is a C on the outer ring, then L and O… ‘CLOVER’.’

The stallion chuckled.

‘And this is where I come in. You see, her full name was Clover the Clever, so you need both words to break the lock.’

‘But there’s only six rings, and Clover plus Clever makes…’, Goriel frowned. ‘Twelve, right?’

‘These words are very similar.’, Moonwarden said, sparkling up his horn and activating the first two runes, which shined with viridian glow. ‘They only differ by one letter…’

Instead of lighting either O or E as third choice, the unicorn used his magic to illumine a small relief of a simple three-leafed clover. He then proceeded with the rest of the word, activating runes up to the letter R on the smallest ring. The sound of metal rubbing the stone was heard, the rings began to spin, gradually folding into the walls and opening a passage.

‘Oooh.’, Goriel expressed his amazement. ‘Clever.’

‘You mean, Clover?’, the caped stallion smiled and proceeded inside.

There was a giant chasm splitting this part of the crypt. It seemed that the only way out was to follow a thin, unsettling rock path connecting the entrance with an exit. It was impossible to tell exactly how high the ceiling was or how deep beneath the mountain the chasm went, because the pitch-black curtain veiled one and the other.

‘I see a way out. And it is opened!’, Feldora said, pointing at the golden, ornamented doors on the other side of the chasm. ‘Flying there is a solution, isn’t it?’

‘I’m afraid not.’, Moonwarden replied.

He took a stone from the ground and threw it at the ceiling. The stone not only disappeared in the shadows, but is also never fell back down.

‘You see,’, the stallion explained, guiding the group through the rock path. ‘Clover the Clever believed that the earth ponies would be too ignorant and uneducated to figure out the first trial. And that the reckless pegasi would lack patience and just… fly through the chamber.’

‘So anything that reaches a certain altitude of this place,’, Goriel said. ‘Is trapped? But how?’

‘You don’t want to know.’

They got to the other side and went through the golden doors.

That was it.

They were inside the tomb of Star Swirl the Bearded, the most important unicorn of the pre-classical era, creator of more than two hundred spells and the father of the Conclave itself. The spacious round room, illuminated by crystal candelabrums of an unknown origin was filled with bookshelves, full of ancient tomes and scrolls. One could have even mistook this place for a library, if it weren’t for a rectangular alabaster tombstone in the middle.

‘Here lies Star Swirl the Bearded,’, Goriel read an inscription. ‘Revered wizard, beloved teacher and blameless friend. He died protecting what he cared for most.’, he whistled. ‘Sounds like a cool guy.’

Moonwarden remained silent, with even voices in his head ceasing for a while.

‘And here is his famous Staff…’, Feldora’s eyes widened as she trotted towards a stand on the other side of the chamber. She completely ignored the tombstone. ‘I guess it’s protected by magic. Do your part, Moonwarden.’

‘As you wish.’

Are we ending this?

We are.

There was one thing that nopony but Moonwarden knew. Clover the Clever intended not to protect her master’s legacy from just earth ponies and pegasi, but from unicorns as well. That was why she had developed one final spell to ensure Star Swirl rests in peace.

The stallion approached the Staff and gradually enveloped it in a subtle, silver mist.

He had already known the nature of the spell. Once the emerald was placed in the headpiece, the Staff would create an arcane phenomenon, temporarily disabling any flow of magic in the area.

So it hits hard on unicorns. Why are you still here?

Moonwarden understood the true nature of magic. Contrary to a popular misconception, it wasn’t something exclusive to the unicorns. In fact, earth ponies had a magically ingrained connection to the Earth, which was helping them with animals and plants. Pegasi were able to control the weather one way or the other, walk on clouds or create weather-related wakes such as rainbows.

Magic was the binding force of all living creatures, but it was expressed in more subtle ways in case of non-unicorns.

So, the effects of magic suppression are going to be subtler in case of Feldora and her guards?

Oh, by all means no. Actually, the more magic a pony has, the weaker the outcome. It will disable my magic for a while and probably cause severe dizziness, but that’s all…

And the pegasi?

Anything from deprivation of consciousness, through coma, up to the most extreme… death.

Feldora had become an icon in the eyes of her followers, and the cult she had created was a threat to Equestria. She couldn’t be stopped in Hollow Shades, as the royal influence there was feeble and unstable. Taking her down would turn her into a martyr, and create a backlash of hate against the Princesses, so there was only one way to solve this. Separate Feldora from the cult and then dispose of her in some remote place, say, the Griffin Kingdoms. Without the leader, her followers would scatter… with or without encouragement.

It is funny. Feldora herself, on a silver plate, gave me the way of dealing with her.

And the griffon? A necessary casualty?

His kind is tougher than the pegasi. He’ll hold on. Besides, how else am I supposed to bring three ponies to justice in Canterlot?

I thought you had arranged that already.

I did. This, and more.

Moonwarden finished investigating the Staff, leaving the trap-spell intact.

‘It is safe now.’, he said and levitated the emerald to Feldora. ‘Do the honors… mistress.’

The green mare took the gem and put it into the Staff in the solemn manner.

‘The future… begins… now.’

A pulse of emerald light launched from the Staff and went through Moonwarden, the pegasi and the griffon. The stallion felt cold throughout his body, then another pulse came, bringing the experience of emptiness. He heard a griffon cry and saw Goriel falling to the floor. Third wave sliced through his mind, just as if he had been cut from the most important sense he relied on. He looked at Feldora and saw her… smiling?

Indeed, the green pegasus mare was still standing, casually observing waves originating from the Staff.

But that should not be possible!

You’re in trouble.

‘Seize him.’, Feldora ordered. ‘He is now defenseless.’

The acolytes dashed to Moonwarden. He attempted to break away, but he was too weak, and it seemed the pegasi weren’t affected by the spell at all.

Feldora laughed. She turned around and approached the apprehended stallion. The Staff’s emerald began to glow stronger, releasing a final wave which washed over the mare.

And changed everything.

Her coat began to alter, taking darker shades of green, finally to become a sleek, tar-like black carapace. Teeth grew larger, especially fangs which were now coming out of her mouth. The mane was gone, leaving a bald head with a horn, chipped ears and a pair of deep blue eyes, in which there was no way to distinguish the iris from the pupil. She had shear wings and holes in her legs. The creature looked more like an insect, than a pony.

‘What… what are you?’, Moonwarden asked, feeling that something went very wrong.

Feldora – or the creature that was Feldora the Pegasus just a minute ago – laughed again. Although the stallion had heard her sinister laughter before, this time it sounded like if it was multiplied inside her throat.

‘We are the heralds of upcoming doom for Equestria!’, she yelled. ‘Our Queen is preparing something special for your world, and we found an opportunity to make our kin even more powerful! But first, we need to test it on ponies…’

‘You want to take away unicorns’ magic!’, the stallion shouted. ‘Why do such a thing!?’

‘Bah! You’re more foolish than we had suspected!’, the creature replied with contempt. ‘We have never said that. We will give you equality, as promised. Tell us, are you familiar with the concept of… equilibrium?’

‘It is a state in which all competing…’, he mumbled, trying to recall an excerpt from a scientific book he once read, experiencing a painful aftershock of the suppression spell. ‘All competing influences are balanced.’

‘Yes, and does it have to be achieved by reducing the amount of magic here?’

Moonwarden gathered the remnants of his shattered mind.

It was all clear now.

Taking the magic away would cause problems, but granting it to those who opposed the Princesses, for example a group of cultists in Hollow Shades, would be a disaster. It would eventually create rifts between royalist ponies, and those who’d blindly accepted Feldora’s gift. Authority of the Princesses collapses, ponies are against each other, Feldora and her Queen’s influence spreads… and even if that had failed, Feldora would be still in possession of the Staff of Star Swirl the Bearded, which she could use to empower her ’kin’, whatever she was. Either way, more and more are accepting Feldora as their leader…

Leading to a downfall of Equestria.

And he made it possible.

Feldora saw a sudden realization in Moonwarden’s eyes and laughed again.

‘Kill him.’, she ordered to her guards, who became altered as well and were now indistinguishable.

‘And the griffon?’, one of them asked.

‘Leave him to rot.’

Just before the guards dragged Moonwarden out of Star Swirl’s tomb, he heard a voice in his head. And it wasn’t his own, for a change.

It was… a memory.

In time of thy need, speak my name. It shall grant thee strength.

Chapter 9

Arcane Equilibrium
by Prane
Chapter 9

The blizzard ceased on the following morning.

Although the ponies considered its sudden subsidence disturbing, the griffons read it as a good sign. It simply meant that Windigos, the malevolent spirits of winter that had been haunting the Kingdoms' skies for over a thousand years, had roamed away for some time. Because of their presence, the climate there was much more unpredictable than in Equestria, where every cloud was scheduled and every snowflake carefully manufactured in weather factories, like Cloudsdale.

Cloudsdale...

Gilda soared far above the ground, reminiscing about her youth, classes during Junior Speedster Flight Camp and how she and Rainbow Dash used to cut them. She was reminiscing about the good, old days...

'Is that the place?', Trixie's voice sounded over her ear.

In her reverie Gilda almost forgot that she was carrying the azure mare on her back. As there were hardly any sky chariots or carriages in the Amber Aerie, and the ponies' balloon was fouled up beyond all recognition, the only way of getting to the ancient unicorn king's castle in time was to provide... well, a sky taxi. Neither Gilda nor the other griffons complained on that matter - it was all personal for her, but the rest was smart enough to know that losing Goriel would eventually become their loss, too.

The pony kind had a wise saying: 'a friend in need is a friend indeed', whereas griffons had even wiser one: 'unlucky involvement turns a friend insolvent'. Oh yes, they surely knew how important it was to help a kinsbird in need. And Goriel should really stop betting or someone would end up owning him.

'Hello, this is your captain speaking!', Trixie moaned impatiently. 'The castle is directly below us! Shouldn't you be descending by now?'

'Shouldn't you, I don't know, shut up?', Gilda muttered back and glanced below. Indeed, their destination was directly beneath them.

'Oh, you have wings, granted,', the poor mare was oblivious to what was about to happen, 'but doesn't make you-'

Her words quickly turned into a scream when Gilda performed a daring aerial roll, folded her wings and headed down with a wild cry. With Trixie barely holding on, the griffon dived for quite a few seconds before ultimately spreading back her wings and slowing down, just before they would turn into an avant-garde smudge on the castle's courtyard.

'You twisted beak!', the mare jumped off Gilda's back, struggling to stay still. 'Don't get me wrong, I love skydiving in the morning, as much as I love pancakes or a cup of tea in the morning, but you could have at least WARN ME!'

Gilda grinned.

'What's the matter, equine? Is your hangover kickin'?'

'I do not have a hangover, you featherbrain!', she pointed at the griffon condemningly, then put a hoof to her chest. 'I drink responsibly.'

'You. Responsible. Last night.', Gilda drawled. 'C'mon, I know what I saw.'

Trixie straightened her dark blue cloak.

'Well, I'm working on it!', she noticed Gilda's searching look. 'What? I had my share of irresponsibility and recklessness in the past, but it's the present that makes me who I am!'

'Seriously? Philosophy time?', she cocked her head in disbelief. 'Fine, consider this: isn't everything we've ever done simply leading us to 'today'?'

'Perhaps, but what if something we've done mislead us?', Trixie replied. 'I have learned that whenever the past is, shall we say, less-than-likeable, you need to leave it behind and give yourself a chance to change something. After that - it's already over the hump.'

Gilda didn't reply. She went with her thoughts back to Ponyville. It had never occurred to her to give herself a chance in a way Trixie proposed.

Unfortunately she couldn't ponder on the subject any longer, because the griffon warriors with Sunseeker and the Ponyville mares had just landed.

'Okay, listen up!', Gilda addressed her squad. 'There are possible lame-os in the area, namely one unicorn and three pegasi. Should you run into them, report to me at once. I will be staying with the ground team, you scout the Red Oak Valley for anything suspicious. And remember, it's a S-A-R for Goriel, so he's the priority. Any questions? No? THEN MOVE!'

The griffon warriors launched to the sky.

'What's a S-A-R?', Trixie asked.

'It's jargon we use for search and rescue, duh.', Gilda answered. 'Try to catch up, will you? Geez, you'd make a terrible outcast.'

'Considering the story of my life, I beg to differ.'

Gilda and the ponies gathered around Trixie in a semicircle.

'There must be a tomb entrance somewhere in the ruins, so we spread out to find it.', the mare spoke. 'Twilight, see if you can detect any unusual magical auras in here. Sunseeker and Gilda, sweep the ground floor for any cultists lurking in the shadows. Rarity, with me.', Trixie finished issuing commands. 'We're here for Gilda's friend, kicking the cult's flank and F-A-R the Staff of Star Swirl the Bearded.'

It was time for Gilda to be clueless.

'F-A-R? As opposed to 'N-E-A-R'?'

'Finding and retrieving.', Trixie grinned, to which Gilda could only roll her eyes.

Then they all nodded and trotted around the courtyard.

'Well, well...', Rarity said when they were far enough from the rest of the group. 'I've told you that you'll make an excellent leader.'

Trixie moved a portion of boulders and ice chunks from the stone floor.

'I feel more like an administrator or a manager than an actual leader.', she replied. 'When I look at Gilda... she's an icon for these griffons. Her presence is inspiring and I don't think I could do the same. If anything, it shows me how much more is ahead of me.'

'Not that much, I assure you.', Rarity stated and casually strolled to the side, pretending to pay attention to the floor, magical auras and finding the entrance. 'So... what about Sunseeker?'

The question surprised the azure mare, but fortunately she didn't have to ponder over it from a scratch. The white stallion's case concerned her greatly ever since Rarity had stated - with utmost certainty - that he would never betray or abandon Trixie. She even came to some conclusions, but she didn't feel like sharing them with her pony friend just now.

'What about him?', she reverted the question, taking a closer look on a partially smashed unicorn statue. 'Did he give you a hard time during your magic combat training last night?'

'No, not at all. He is extremely patient, you know.', Rarity replied, then continued in a slightly singing manner. 'One of his many virtues, I must say...'

Trixie didn't reply.

She wasn't a naive school filly anymore! She knew exactly what Rarity was trying to pull off, but she had absolutely no idea on how to respond. The truth was... she was very fond of Sunseeker's companionship and owed him a lot, probably more than she could ever repay him. With him around she felt safe and, more importantly, genuinely-yet-illogically happy.

Trixie was never particularly interested in committing herself to a relationship with another mare or a stallion. Especially that kind of relationship Rarity was merely trying to suggest for some time. It was because she was too afraid she'd blow it to smithereens, and since she valued Sunseeker far too much to jeopardize that, she dreaded the idea of getting involved.

On the other hoof, wasn't the concept of friendship essentially the same thing back in the days? Trixie had ultimately taken the risk of accepting Twilight's help and she had no regrets whatsoever. Then she had confided her greatest fears to Rarity and it actually turned out pretty well. And now she knew she valued Sunseeker. A lot.

Although Rarity was, by no means, imposing herself, Trixie felt that she's expecting some answers, judging by the fact that she'd been inspecting the same rock for the third time.

Luckily, Trixie found a way not to participate in her games.

'I think I found something!'

'About yourself, darling? Well, it's about time!', she threw the rock away and trotted by, disappointed by what the mare showed her. 'Oh, that. What's that?'

Trixie used her magic to lift a creased, black cape from the ground.

'It's a cloak.'

'It was a rhetorical question, dear, and this is actually a cape.', Rarity corrected her and took a closer look. 'They are usually shorter than cloaks and serve more as a decorative ensemble rather than actual clothing. Hmm... it's not Canterlotian by design, that's for sure... see those cuttings here? They're something very common for fashion houses in...'

'Trottingham.', Trixie finished.

'Very good! I did not realize you were into fashion?'

'I'm not.', she simply stated. 'It's Moonwarden's cape.'

'A very stylish one, I must say.', Rarity turned it over. 'Oh my, is that... is that blood!?'

Trixie inspected the cape, spotting irregular, crimson red stripes covering the inside. There was no mistake. Those were, indeed, resembling traces of pony blood.

'What is the meaning of this?', Rarity asked.

'Moonwarden was a unicorn deceived by Feldora's lies.', Trixie replied quietly. 'When he served his purpose and guided Feldora to the tomb, she must have used the power of the Staff to kill him. Which means we're too late. I bet the Staff has already been taken...'

She felt relieved. Not by the fact that the stallion she'd been chasing in body and running from in soul, had apparently ceased to be, but by a sudden realization that she was free. Free from her own anger and the urge to take righteousness vengeance over the one that betrayed her, the Conclave and the whole unicorn kind. She simply didn't need that anymore. Funny... when she finally felt she was prepared to face him, the confrontation had been denied.

And Trixie was glad, actually.

'But there is no body...', Rarity observed. 'And we still need to find Gilda's friend. Maybe we'll find some clues on the way.'

Trixie nodded, then cast a spell to set the cape on fire. The flames devoured the fabric quickly, leaving a pile of black, glowing ashes standing out against perfectly white snow. It was almost symbolic to her... she had already found reasons to live beyond petty revenge, thanks to Twilight, Rarity and... Sunseeker.

'You know it's... all for better now.', Rarity whispered and offered a comforting hug. 'You don't need to go through it anymore.'

They kept staring at a dying fire for a while, until they heard Sunseeker's voice.

'Over here!', he yelled. 'We've got the entrance! Come, quick!'

Trixie and Rarity galloped towards the stallion. Moonwarden might have been dead, but their mission went on. They still needed to bring those responsible for the events of the last Nightmare Night into justice, which meant Zaeer and Feldora were still on the list. They found Sunseeker struggling to restrain Gilda, this time with bare hooves instead of magic. Twilight joined them shortly afterwards.

'I have to... he must be...', the griffon was desperately trying to free herself. 'GET OFF ME!'

'What's going on!?', Trixie asked.

'Short version?', Sunseeker replied and pointed at something that was a likely entrance to the castle's undergrounds. 'Pony tracks leading in and out, griffon tracks leading in and in.'

'Goriel must be inside! I have to go, with or without your help!'

'I say with!', Trixie dashed by Gilda and galloped down the spiral staircase, sparkling up her horn to illuminate the crypt. 'We found Moonwarden's cape, by the way. Covered in blood.'

'Oh, too bad!', Sunseeker said on their way down. 'I liked him before he turned to, you know, the dark side.'

'He had it coming. Twilight, do you sense anything we should be worried about?'

'I think you should see for yourself.'

They walked through a ring-shaped passage in the wall and entered a chamber split by a deep chasm. There were golden doors, ornamented with stars and swirls on the other side of the room, and the only way to reach them was to follow a crumbling rock path.

Trixie closed her eyes and expanded her magical sensitivity towards the doors. Normally it would allow her to see nearby arcane auras, feel the flow of magic in the area and taste glimpses of spells already cast, but behind those doors... there was nothing. She felt nothing.

She opened her eyes and looked questioningly at Twilight.

'Can you feel it?', the purple mare asked.

'Feel what?'

'Exactly.'

Trixie took point and led the group across the chasm while Twilight explained the nature of this emptiness phenomenon.

'There are faint spell echoes in the ceiling and down the chasm, but there is no active magic in here.', she said. 'And there is absolutely no magic beyond these doors.'

'No magic? But how is that even possible?', Sunseeker inquired.

'I'm not sure... it seems that the magic was taken away from there.'

'Pfft... magical crap. I hate that.', Gilda opinioned.

They reached the other side and halted and the golden doors.

'Magic was taken? But how?', Rarity asked, looking around nervously. 'Are we in danger?'

'There's only one way to find out.', Trixie pushed the doors and entered the room.

By the time Trixie crossed the threshold of the library-like crypt, the final resting place of Star Swirl the Bearded, the light coming out from her horn faded a little, illuminating only a rectangular shape in front of her and few bookshelves by the doors.

Suddenly, a wave of magical emptiness flooded her mind. She barely managed to raise a mental shield on time to push it back. The emptiness kept storming, but she could hold on, though casting spells beyond simple tricks was a risk she didn't want to take. It seemed that everything magical in the chamber, including crystal candelabrums, which she assumed served as a light source, was turned off.

'Our magic is being suppressed, as you have probably already noticed.', Twilight looked up at her horn, which didn't seem weakened at all. 'If my theory is correct, we are experiencing the aftershock of something really bad that happened to magic in here.'

As if to confirm her words, the light coming from Rarity's horn shimmered and disappeared. She tried to bring the illumination spell back, but nothing happened. In the meantime, Sunseeker investigated the inscription on the alabaster tombstone.

'Here lies-'

'GORIEL!', the stallion was interrupted by Gilda's scream. She fell to her knees by her kinsbird's body that was lying by one of the bookshelves. Tears came to her eyes as she laid her head on Goriel's chest. She was shaking and mumbling incomprehensibly with lots of 'my fault' and 'sorry' being heard.

Twilight and Sunseeker dragged her back while Rarity approached the griffon's body, put a hoof on his neck and leaned over the beak.

'He's unconscious, but alive!', she said. 'But I wouldn't recommend carrying him out just in case of some internal trauma... Twilight! Can you teleport him outside?'

'I can try, but the suppression aura...'

'Just do it!'

Twilight crouched by the griffon's body and slowly veiled herself and Goriel in a magenta mist, or more like a magenta gel. It was dark and dense, as opposed to its usual volatile form, and moved heavily through the no-magic zone of the chamber. Although it took her more than usual and strained her severely, Twilight finally managed to disappear with Goriel from the crypt.

Still sniveling, Gilda rallied and regained partial self-control. She ran outside and Rarity followed her.

After a moment of silence, Trixie spoke.

'We should leave, too.', she trotted around the tombstone. 'There's nothing for us in here.'

'What about the Staff?'

'It's gone, just as I thought.', Trixie pointed at the empty stand on the other side of the chamber. 'They beat us to it, killed Moonwarden and left Goriel for certain death.'

The unicorns paid their respects by the alabaster tomb of Star Swirl the Bearded, founder of the Conclave, then left the crypt, sealing the golden doors with a simple lock spell.

'So... woah.', Sunseeker exclaimed on their way out. 'I've never imagined I'll be visiting a place like this. You know, there's still plenty of scrolls and books to study... I'm not saying I'd be into that, I'm not really a fan of non-field research, but there are bound to be some agents in Canterlot that are... Do you think we should arrange pilgrimages? I think we should arrange pilgrimages, we could...'

Trixie wasn't listening.

She was trying to sort things out. One, Feldora the Pegasus was now in possession of one of the most powerful magical artifacts Trixie had ever heard of. That's bad. Two, Moonwarden was dead, which wasn't really that relevant due to three, Goriel got hit pretty hard and was probably dying. Four, she had no idea where the cult had taken the Staff. And even if she knew, there was five - being stranded in the north with no practical means to chase them!

'It's seems that we've lost it, you know?', she said to Sunseeker. 'And unless something unexpected happens, I'm out of tricks...'

The stallion stopped just at the end of the spiral staircase, glanced outside and looked back at Trixie with a twinkle in his eye.

'Be careful what you wish for.', he smiled. 'Perhaps fortune favors us, after all.'

When Trixie entered the castle courtyard, she found it astonishingly crowded. On the left there were the griffon outcasts that Gilda had sent to scout the area, but what was really peculiar was on the right.

A pair of gray-coated pegasi with black tails and tufts of hairs on the tips of their ears was standing still in spite of the griffons' menacing glances. They had purple armors and helms with a webbed crest over them. An elegant sky carriage to which they were harnessed was ornamented with black, crescent moons.

Since Twilight was too absorbed with casting spells over unconscious Goriel and Gilda was too busy walking back and forth, it was up to Rarity standing between the griffons and the pegasi to prevent a wrangle.

'Oh, Trixie, thank the Princesses you're here!', she said and pointed at the pegasi guards. 'These handsome stallions insisted on speaking with you!'

Trixie couldn't believe her eyes, but she trotted towards the carriage with a new hope.

'The Nightguard? What is the Nightguard doing here?'

'We were sent by Princess Luna.', one of the pegasi said. 'We were told that you're chasing the enemies of Equestria. We are ordered to provide you with a transport to the village of Hollow Shades.'

Huh. Perhaps fortune really favored them, after all.