As Twilight, Sunset, and Spike followed Chrom through the hallways of the palace they were in, neither of the two Equestrians or the Dragon present knew where they were going, or even if they should say something to try and start a conversation with the Exalt. Chrom seemed to be occupied with leading them to their destination, whatever that might be, and the three of them didn’t particularly want to distract him.

That was the case, until they exited the palace and entered the grounds of a smaller estate-like building that lay next to a training ground, stables, a firepit, and a row of small sheds.

“Welcome to the Shepherds’ barracks.” Chrom said, as he opened the door to the main building. “Hopefully Miriel and Robin got everyone here in time. Not that it should be an issue by itself, anyway.”

“Why is that?” Sunset asked.

“Because the realm’s at peace, and apart from training recruits from the regular Ylissean military, paperwork, or other forms of business, there hasn’t been much to do that requires the Shepherds’ attention.” Chrom explained. “There are a few of them that are abroad at the moment, but if they show up later, we’ll introduce you to them.”

The three Equestrians nodded, and as Chrom led them into a large dining area, packed with wooden tables and chairs around a firepit and kitchen, they were met by a plethora of people who had already taken their seats, and were spending time amongst themselves in various ways. Most were talking, but two men off to the side were arm-wrestling.

The first contender was a burly and well-muscled man with blonde hair, wearing a Berseker’s light armor. The other contender had brown hair with a noticeable cowlick, who wore a set of green Paladin’s armor. A woman with short, curled, pale red hair, wearing the same armor, was cheering on the man with the cowlick.

Next, they saw Robin, who was speaking, and holding hands, with a blue-haired woman wearing a set of blue and field gray clothing with some silver armor, styled like Chrom’s own regalia. A sword that also looked identical to Chrom’s own blade lay sheathed at her waist. Twilight, Spike, and Sunset could clearly tell that they were dating or courting, judging by their facial expressions and body language. Or by the way that the blue-haired woman was leaning on Robin’s right shoulder.

Miriel was speaking with another man with red hair, who was wearing sorcerer’s robes and a thin set of glasses. His attire was colored a shade darker from Miriel’s, but otherwise, the design was practically identical. A plethora of magical tomes lay on the table in front of them.

Everyone else that was present were strangers, and as Twilight and Sunset sat down, Spike hopped up onto the table to get a better look at the assembled company. Chrom stood there for a while, watching the company pass the time for a few moments, then cleared his throat loudly enough to gather the attention of everyone present.

The assembled Shepherds jumped out of their seats and snapped to attention, and Chrom simply replied with “As you were”. The two men who were arm wrestling promptly restarted their match once they sat down.

“Looks like we’re all here.” Robin said as he and the blue-haired woman came forward. Twilight could now see the woman’s left eye bore the image they had seen on the guards who had first met them in the plaza, minus the wings. Upon turning to Chrom, the three saw his right shoulder also had the same image in blue, almost like an Equestrian cutie mark.

“Who are we missing, Lucina?” The Exalt replied.

“Say’ri is still in Chon’sin with Yen’fay for a festival, Walhart didn’t respond at all, Aunt Emmeryn’s still abroad with Priam, and Gangrel declined our invitation, for good reason.” The woman, apparently named Lucina, replied. “I’m sure you’ve had that problem come up before, father. Am I correct?”

Twilight, Sunset, and Spike each did a double-take upon realizing that Lucina was Chrom’s daughter, and now knowing that, they could see the family resemblance in shape, posture, and air of authority.

“Indeed. Having the former Mad King of Plegia inside the capitol of Ylisse?” Chrom chuckled. “Certainly not a good idea..”

“Agreed.” Robin replied. “So, let’s get this meeting started. Everyone, eyes here!”

The two arm-wrestlers again ended their test of strength as the eyes of all present turned to Robin, Lucina, and Chrom. Miriel soon came forward and stood beside the Exalt.

“I thank you all for coming here on such short notice.” Chrom began, then he stopped. “Wait a moment…Lucina?”

“Yes, father?”

“Where’s your mother and Cynthia?”

“They went out riding for a bit, I thought you were told that earlier.” Lucina replied with a raised eyebrow.

“I think he was, but he was halfway out of the palace gates when it happened.” Robin replied. “In any case, they should be here shortly.”

At that, the sound of hoofsteps and quiet whinnies could be heard outside, and as they quieted, the door opened. A woman wearing an elegant lavender dress along with silver armor, who had pale gray hair, entered the room and gave Chrom a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down.

She was followed by a girl who shared the same hair color as Lucina, with an eager attitude and poise. She had her hair done in short, twin tails, and she wore a set of gray armor with some blue highlights and trim.

“That’s Chrom’s wife, Sumia, and Cynthia, their second daughter and Lucina’s sister.” Robin whispered to the three Equestrians. “Just so you’re all aware.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.” Twilight whispered back as Chrom called for attention for the third time. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chrom introduced Sunset, Twilight, and Spike as the three newest members of the Shepherds militia. After a brief introduction to the various members who were present, Chrom and Sumia departed for the Palace, leaving Robin in charge until they returned.

At first, no one really knew where to begin a conversation with the new recruits, but Nowi, upon learning Spike was a dragon, broke the silence. Sunset eventually started a conversation with the Feroxi Swordsmaster Lon’qu, and Twilight ended up talking with Robin and Lucina.

However, in the minds of all three Equestrians, there was one common thought.

“What’s going on back home?…”

====

Back in the Crystal Empire, the general air among both Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and the Guardsponies was, simply put, one of frustration. After the mysterious mirror portal closed, there had been several frantic attempts to reopen it by Shining Armor, Cadance, and even some of the Crystal Empire’s archivists.

All of these attempts were not successful, and as the mirror remained cordoned off in a secure room of the Palace, Princesses Celestia and Luna had both arrived once they had learned of the situation on their hooves.

“So where do we stand right now?” Shining Armor asked a Guardspony, who was overseeing the efforts by the Empire’s scholars to dig up any information about the portal, in a room close to the portal. “Any new developments?”

“Nothing so far, your Highness.” the Guardspony replied. “The Scholars have searched every section of the Royal Archives for any bit of useful information, and have found nothing yet.”

“Keep at it.” Cadance said, as she, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia approached. “Shining, will you come here for a moment?”

As Shining was led to a conference room, Celestia sighed and began to speak.

“I believe I may have a lead for us.” She said quietly. “But it is…dubious at best. Allow me to explain.”

“Shortly before Star Swirl the Bearded vanished, he left behind his personal journal and a series of notes that may be of use to us.” Celestia produced a leather-bound book and some faded, ancient-looking texts. “He spoke of a magical ritual that would allow him to cross between worlds that were linked to Equestria, once every thirty moons.”

“What do you mean by “linked?”” Cadance asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“Think of the multiverse as a large spider’s web.” Luna spoke. “Certain realms are the joints, and the ways that they connect are the lines. These web-lines, so to speak, are weak-points between realms. And some of them are traversable enough that we could, theoretically, use Star Swirl’s ritual to search for Twilight, Spike, and Sunset Shimmer. That would be the thief’s name, just so you’re aware.”

“She was my former student, much like Twilight was. She attempted to access the Canterlot Archive’s Black Vault, and I had to cast her out.” Celestia continued. “But we can discuss that later. First things first.”

“So how does this help us?” Shining asked.

“Because we know that only the realms that are connected to Equestria are the ones that Twilight, Sunset, and Spike could’ve been sent to. Once we find Equestria in the metaphorical web, we search for any connected realms, and from there…” Celestia said. “We use the ritual to locate this world and we travel there to retrieve our missing ponies and the Element of Magic.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Shining mused. “So what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that the ritual has yet to be perfected, and the dimensional web is constantly changing. Around every single moon, the web is reformed and the list of connections expands and contracts.” Luna sighed. “We have thirty moons in total, so we’ll need a two-pronged approach.”

“I get it. One set of ponies works on restoring the ritual, and the others search for the realm we need to go to.” Cadance nodded. “Once both sets are ready, we go get Twilight, Spike, and Sunset.”

“Then let’s get started.” Shining nodded, heading out of the room already. “We don’t have much time!”

Cadance sighed in a loving and yet slightly embarrassed manner, and she, Celestia, and Luna moved to follow.

Author's Note

Update!

There was a lot of info-dumping in this chapter, so bear with me. The next chapter will have some weapons and magic training, among other things.

Stay tuned!