***Neighven***
Mahanon looked down from Neighven’s battlements at the makeshift training camp that had sprung up just outside the fortress’ walls; a small, rickety wooden fence created a dueling circle where ponies and a few of the Inquisition members were sparring, testing themselves against styles and techniques never encountered on their home continents.
The Inquisitor smiled; more and more ponies were coming each day to Neighven, flocking to a chance to do some good. It was no army, but it was still a force to be reckoned with. Trixie and Fancypants’ connections were helping, being able to pull in things such as craftsponies or smugglers. The Equestrian Inquisition was rapidly becoming a respectful force.
“Inquisitor?” he heard a voice come from behind him.
Mahanon turned around to see Armored Ward looking up at him. “It’s good to see you, Private Ward.”
“You can drop the ‘Private’ as well, Inquisitor,” he said, moving up next to him and looking out over the forested mountain. “What brings you up here, by the way?”
“Just adoring our new headquarters. I could ask you the same question, you know.”
“Pretty much the same response,” he said nostalgically. “I like it up here. I came from Manehattan, so the only trees I got to see were in the park. Weird not being near the ocean, too.”
“How long have you been with the Royal Guard?”
“Not very long,” he shrugged. “Joined pretty much after the Breach opened up, haven’t been home since.” He turned around and looked at Mahanon. “What about you?”
“My clan travelled all around the Free Marches,” he explained. “We stayed mostly in the north, but went all over. This place reminds me of the land south of the Vimmark Mountains, near the Planasene Forest. Ferelden too, but not as much.”
“I have no idea where any of those places are,” Ward said bluntly.
“It’s all right,” Mahanon chuckled. “I’m still trying to learn the land here, and everything I know is second-hand. I learn it from Scout Harding, who learns it from Twilight.”
“I’m glad she’s here,” he said, slightly optimistic. “We all look up to her, everypony in Equestria does. She’s an inspiration to all of us. Having her with us gives me hope that we can be victorious.”
“How come? Every time I try and ask her about her status, she just blushes and says she’s no more important than anyone else.”
“She just likes being modest,” he smiled. “She’s saved Equestria multiple times, all the while teaching us about the Magic of Friendship.”
“So that’s why a lot of the ponies keep calling her the ‘Princess of Friendship’,” Mahanon concluded.
“I think everypony in Equestria could tell you everything about her life,” he laughed. “I’ll let you ask her about it, though. There are a lot of rumors about her that I’m not sure are real. Ask her if the one about her breaking into the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives to travel back in time and warn herself not to worry about her traveling back in time to warn herself about something she couldn’t finish because she kept talking over herself. I’ve got 10 bits with one of the Guards here that that one’s fake. I mean, come on; why would she break into a place she’s allowed free access to?”
“I’ll...try and remember all that,” he replied, trying to grasp exactly what it was Ward had just told him. “What do you think of the Inquisition as a whole, so far?”
“I like it,” he said eagerly. “Princess Celestia is keeping us all safe while the Inquisition can work without having to worry about being bogged down by protection. It’s a perfect combination!”
“We still need to protect all the ponies, though,” he pointed out. “And I imagine Princess Celestia would appreciate the help. And any help we give her is more she can give us.”
“I guess,” he said, not fully convinced. “Still, everypony’s worried because we don’t have the resources to fight back. Equestria has enough to just fend all the demons off, and even then we’re barely scraping by. Wouldn’t be hard to argue that even then we’re not.”
“I’m glad we got here when we did. It sounded like Equestria was getting desperate.”
“Yeah,” he replied somberly. “Mail service is terrible, but I still get letters from my family sometimes. They say Manehattan’s practically a ghost town now, and it’s hard to survive because they have to go all the way across the city just to get supplies sometimes, and when they get there, it’s not guaranteed that they won’t be out. But my mom always loved gardening, so they’re at least generating a little food and sharing what they don’t need with our neighbors.”
“Awfully generous of them to share their food instead of saving it for the future.”
“Yeah,” he said warmly. “My parents always said making a sacrifice and going out of your way to help somepony who needs it was the best thing you could do, because then they’d remember your kindness in the future and help somepony in need, and then your small action would help hundreds of ponies after that. Suppose that’s why I joined the the Guards, and now the Inquisition; I just want to help ponies who need it.”
“Definitely a good mentality to have. If everyone thought like you and your family did, a lot of our problems would be solved.”
“Yeah,” he said with a small laugh. “It’s naive to think that something like sharing a few tomatoes with your neighbors could solve huge problems, but it’s better than doing nothing.” He walked to the Inquisitor’s side, then turned to go back to the interior of Neighven. “Good talking with you, by the way. Nice to know the Inquisitor may tower over me and be able to manipulate tears in reality with his hand, but at the end of the day, he’s still a pony like the rest of us.”
“Elf,” Mahanon smiled.
“It’s an expression,” Ward replied with a wave of his hoof. “I have no idea what to call the rest of you when saying we’re similar. Either way, it’s nice to know you’re just one of us. Anyways, I have to go; I have no idea what an ‘imekari’ is, but Iron Bull said he’d stop calling me it if I could beat him in a battle.”
Mahanon smiled. “Good luck, you’ll need it. Bull doesn’t go down easily.”
“He will soon!” he proclaimed triumphantly before running away, presumably to the armory to get his weapon and armor. Mahanon smiled at his enthusiasm, then walked to a bonfire in the center of town where Twilight was sitting.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked her.
Twilight turned her head to him, then smiled at him. ”Sure, go ahead.”
Mahanon sat down next to her on one of the log benches hastily made for the Inquisition. “You know, I don’t think we’ve really had a chance to talk in all this chaos. First we had to stop the Breach, then rescue Trixie and Fancypants.”
“It’s a lot in a short time,” she agreed.
“So I suppose I should ask; why would Princess Celestia send you? Not to sound offensive or anything. I’m just curious.”
“Sometimes I wonder that myself,” she blushed. “I don’t really have any experience with military. I guess I was just the only pony free.”
“Ward said you’re an inspiration to Equestria. Could that have something to do with it?”
Twilight blushed even more, turning to a bright shade of red. “I guess, but charisma alone wouldn’t help.”
“Well, we’ve certainly done a lot in a short time, you even said so yourself. Maybe you weren’t the last choice after all.”
“Most of that was you guys,” she admitted.
“Who else would you have sent ahead of you?”
Twilight looked at the fire, mulling the question over for a bit. “I don’t know. Any of the three other princesses, but they’re all busy.”
“Three princess?” Mahanon echoed. “I know of Princess Celestia, who are the other two?”
“There’s Princess Luna, Princess Celestia’s younger sister. She’s trying to understand the Breach since she’s more in touch with magic of that sort, and since you said we visit the Fade in our dreams, she will probably be the best at understanding it since she can walk around in and manipulate other ponies’ dreams.”
“Impressive,” he said under his breath. “What about the other one?”
“That would be Princess Cadence.” A small smile grew on Twilight’s face. “She’s in the Crystal Empire with her husband and my brother, Shining Armor. They should be down here soon.”
“So she’s your sister-in-law?” Mahanon chuckled. “Your parents must’ve been happy to have two children and a daughter-in-law be royalty.”
She laughed lightly. “Yeah, they’re both really proud of us.” She sighed, releasing a lot of pain and becoming sadder. “They’re trapped in Canterlot right now. I just hope they’re still okay.”
“I’m sure they are,” he comforted her, putting an arm around her back. “And also, might I ask how you became a princess in the first place?”
“I didn’t really do much,” she replied, going back to blushing. “Just showed everypony how powerful friendship could be.”
“Some of the ponies claim you once defeated a creature who physically altered the world into one of chaos by reminding your friends of what it meant to be friends.”
“Well...yeah,” she admitted.
“Sounds worthy of becoming a princess,” he pointed out.
“I guess,” she said uneasily. “But it wasn’t just me; I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my friends.”
“Are they all back home, as well?”
“No,” she said sadly. “Rainbow Dash, the pony Spitfire told me about, was one of my closest friends, and you know where she is.”
“But are the rest of them?”
She shook her head. “Some of them. My friend Pinkie Pie moves around, boosting spirits of Guards that have been fighting the longest so they don’t completely lose hope. My friends Applejack and Rarity stayed in Ponyville; Applejack is working on her family’s apple orchard like she always does to provide the Guards with food, and Rarity is making clothes for the Guards and using any leftovers to make clothes to donate to refugees who ended up in places with bad weather. And one of my friends, Fluttershy, left town and moved back in with her parents almost as soon as the Breach opened.”
“We’ll fight for them, then. Fight to bring them all home.”
“Yeah,” Twilight said softly, hope starting to build in her voice. “Anyways,” she said, getting up, “Scout Harding said she had something she wanted to go over with me in the war room.”
“I won’t keep you waiting,” Mahanon replied, getting up as well. “I should go meet with our new advisors and see what they have to bring to the Inquisition.”
Twilight shot him a quick smile, then walked up to the command center. Mahanon walked to the small center of town, where he found Trixie glaring at a cart, almost as if she didn’t want to take her eyes off it.
“Is there something wrong with the cart?” he asked worriedly.
Trixie emitted a low growl. “Trixie just doesn’t trust wheels.”
Not entirely sure how to respond, Mahanon simply stood there for a moment, hoping Trixie would change the conversation. She didn’t, causing him to change it for her. “So, I was hoping to talk a little about what you can bring to the Inquisition.”
“Sure,” she replied, turning around, but not before shooting the wheels of the cart another dirty look.
“I was just wondering what will make you a good spymaster.”
Trixie laughed, then became serious when she looked at his face. “Oh. You’re not joking, are you?”
“I don’t really know you, I was just hoping to learn a little about what skills you’ll be bringing to the Inquisition.”
“Secrets are everything,” Trixie said, bringing a hoof to her chest. “And I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, know lots of them.”
“What about contacts?” Mahanon asked. “Networks? Espionage?”
“A magician never reveals her tricks,” she said slyly. “I have ponies who are willing to do anything for Trixie.” She raised her eyebrows. “Anything…”
“So you do have ponies who can work without being noticed?” he reaffirmed.
“Oh, of course,” she scoffed. “What do you think I am, somepony who feeds off attention?”
Mahanon remembered everything Twilight had said about Trixie, which made him unsure how to respond.
“...Wrong answer.”
The two stood there in awkward silence, until Trixie started walking past him. “Anyways, The Great and Powerful Trixie has an appointment in the command center,” she said.
“I guess I’ll see you around, then?” Mahanon asked awkwardly.
“Sounds like it.” She walked through Neighven to the command center, and Mahanon walked to the residential area of the fortress to Fancypants’ house.
Going up to the house, he knocked on the door. “Hello?” he asked.
The door opened, revealing Fleur on the other side. “Are you here for Fancypants?” she asked.
“Yes, I am,” he confirmed. “And how are you, Fleur?”
“I am fine,” she replied emotionlessly, turning into the house. “Fancypants, the Inquisitor is here,” she called out.
After a few seconds, Fancypants emerged from the depths of the house and smiled at Mahanon. “Good to see you, Inquisitor.”
“And you as well,” he responded.
“Come with me, we will walk to the command center together,” he said, exiting the house, but not before giving Fleur a kiss goodbye.
“'The command center together'?” he asked. “Was there a meeting I wasn’t informed of? Twilight and Trixie both said they had to go there.”
“Were you not informed?” Fancypants asked. When he shook his head as a reply, Fancypants got a look of shock on his face. “Odd. Somepony was supposed to tell you. I think. Did we not tell somepony to tell you?”
“I guess not.”
“Hmm,” Fancypants said in thought. “Anyways, we have not had much time to know each other. Is there anything you wish to ask me?”
“Not really,” Mahanon said. “You experience is fairly self-explanatory, at least; somepony with your standing must have a lot of connections all over the place and be well-versed in politics.”
“Yes indeed,” he confirmed. “I have friends in high places all over Equestria, and many of them owe me favors. Some of them give me information, some of them are skilled diplomats, and some control powerful businesses and can donate us materials or money.”
“That will certainly be helpful down the road,” Mahanon said. “And what about Fleur? Or do you two mostly have the same connections?”
“She has connections, but I doubt the kinds that will help us,” he laughed lightly. “She is a model, and I don’t think knowing the best photographers or fashion journalists will be an incredible asset to the Inquisition.”
“I suppose you never know when we need to write a hard-hitting piece on new fashions,” Mahanon joked. “One thing you’ll learn about traveling with the Inquisition is that not all the things we need to deal with are ordinary. You never know when contacting somepony with a fashion critic might play to our advantage.”
When they reached the command center, Mahanon opened the door and let Fancypants walk in ahead of him. The two walked through the corridors until they reached the war room, where Trixie, Twilight, Scout Harding, and Cassandra were all standing around a table.
“Good to see you made it, Inquisitor,” Cassandra said, looking up from the table.
“We have a bit of a conundrum,” Harding said, getting straight to business.
“Oh?” he asked.
“As you know, we need to start recruiting for the Inquisition,” Twilight said with a mixture of sorrow and regret in her voice.
“...And we need you to make a decision about our allies,” Cassandra finished.
“What about them?” he asked.
The room stood silent for a few moments before Scout Harding spoke up. “We need you to choose who they’ll be.”
“Sounds simple enough,” he replied, walking up to the table. “Who do we have?”
“He have two choices,” Twilight said. “The Crystal Ponies, and...the Changelings.” A little bit of spite came through in her last word.
“I don’t know who either of those are, so I suppose I should be filled in on the ups and downs of both of them.”
“The Crystal Ponies are fewer in number, but they’re very strong,” Twilight explained. “The Changelings have more of them, but they’re weaker individually..”
“So it’s a question of quantity versus quality?” Mahanon asked, leaning his hands on the table.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Fancypants spoke up. “Equestria has a history with both of them, which puts a lot into our decision.”
“So neither of them are very fond of us?” he asked.
“The Changelings aren’t,” Fancypants corrected. “The Crystal Ponies are.”
“Sounds like it’s an easy decision,” Mahanon said, ready to end the meeting.
“Again, not really,” Trixie joined in. “The Changelings have never liked Equestria, but some of my ponies have overheard that they’re talking about inviting us into their homeland to discuss teaming up to close the Breach.”
“And I imagine it’s more complicated than that, too?”
“The Crystal Ponies have not returned any of our contacts,” Fancypants said. “Any messengers we send there simply haven’t come back.”
“So our enemies want to meet with us, and our friends want nothing to do with us,” Mahanon said. “Neither of those sound good. What are all of your thoughts?”
“I say we go after the Crystal Ponies,” Fancypants asserted. “There’s probably just something between us that’s preventing communication.”
“The tracks that lead to the Crystal Empire have been torn up,” Trixie said. “That means they don’t want us, or anypony else for that matter, there. The Changelings at least want us there.”
“To lead us into a trap, no doubt,” Fancypants said back.
“I want to go after the Crystal Ponies,” Twilight asserted. “My brother is in the Crystal Empire; he wouldn’t let them completely cut off all ties with Equestria. There must be a simpler solution.”
“Who can say if he’s even still in charge?” Trixie pointed out.
“What about you?” Mahanon asked, looking at Cassandra and Harding.
“I don’t really know,” Cassandra admitted. “You are right; neither of those sound like good options. But if I had to pick one, I would choose the Changelings; it may be a trap, but if we go in expecting one, we may be able to thwart it.”
“Which is why we should go to the Crystal Empire!” Twilight protested. “If it’s a trap, then they won’t want to side with us!”
“The Breach threatens us all,” Cassandra rebuttled. “They’d be foolish not to help at least a little bit.”
“Harding?” Mahanon asked the dwarf, who had not said a single word the whole exchange.
“I don’t really know,” she said. “I’ll let you pick. You are the Inquisitor, after all; these types of decisions are better suited for someone of your position.”
“Well then?” Cassandra asked. “You’ve heard all we have to say. What is your decision, Inquisitor?”